Jezus ontving hen en vertelde hun over het Koninkrijk van God. En Hij genas de mensen die genezing nodig hadden. Lukas 9:11

Seeds of the Kingdom

A Christian’s Authority

by Richard Griffiths

16 March 2025

« Previous Day

The centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof! Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.”
Matthew 8:8, NET

When the centurion told Jesus that He only needed to say the word and his servant would be healed, Jesus saw in him something that amazed Him. This man had a profound understanding of what authority is. As a soldier, he knew all about being in command. He could give orders to those under him and expect total obedience: ‘I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another “Come!” and he comes, and to my slave “Do this!” and he does it.’

What was so significant is this: He didn’t say ‘I am a man with authority’ but ‘I am a man under authority’. If he stepped outside the boundaries set by his superiors, he would have no authority. The little word ‘too’ is significant. He recognised that Jesus was also ‘a man under authority’. For that reason, if Jesus commanded healing, healing would follow.

The key to Jesus’ astonishing fruitfulness in everything that He did and said was His unswerving submission to His Father’s will. It was His ‘food’ to do the will of Him who sent Him (John 4:34). He was always under His Father’s authority.

God wants His children to be able to pray with authority, to speak with authority, to live lives that demonstrate that they have authority over the enemy.

Paul says, ‘We are Christ’s ambassadors’ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Ambassadors represent their nations’ governments. They only have authority when what they say and do is within the boundaries set by their governments. We only have authority when what we say and do is obedient to God. This requires that we bring every part of our lives under His lordship. James 4:7 says, ‘Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’. It’s only when we are submitted to God’s authority in our lives that we can effectively resist the enemy.

It's a challenging question, isn’t it? Who has the ultimate authority in my life? Can I truly say, “Jesus is Lord – Lord over everything?”

Richard Griffiths When Richard retired from full-time Anglican ministry in Chichester in 2009, he and his wife, Sue, moved to Northumberland. He joined the ministry team at Ellel Grange in 2011, where he and Sue regularly ministered at healing retreats. They are now helping on the "Explore" team. They greatly enjoy walking in the beautiful Northumberland countryside and along the coast. Richard loves seeing God bringing people into a strong personal relationship with Him as their Father and the healing that comes with it.

 

Sign Up Now

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.