ICS Daily Devotions
Exercise The Authority Given To Us In Humility
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Peter was encouraging Christians not to be concerned with who is going to take the place of leadership or a prominent place in church. As long as we humble ourselves, God will exalt us in due time. We don’t have to worry whether people know of us or see us as leaders in a church or ministry. Our gifts and faithfulness in ministry will make way for us to be promoted for God cares for us.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
The Lord is dealing with our attitude and pride. It takes a lot for us to be humble when we are doing well or we are accustomed to the ways of the world where there are tendencies to boast of our achievements in order to help us look good because our identity is tied very closely to our achievements. There are times when we are obviously the best in the field, talented, gifted, and potentially high achievers. But if it seems that the Lord is holding back the promotion either in ministry or at work, then we have to check our attitude or pride.
If we are honest with ourselves, there may be times that we are not faithful in doing the little things, especially those that are unseen, unappreciated, and thankless. This may also be a reason why the Lord put us through the learning process to humble us and reveal to us the condition of our heart. We will have the same experience again and again until we have learned the lesson of being faithful with the little. Then God is able to entrust us with much! “Well done, good and faithful servant” will only be heard on the condition that we are faithful with the little! As long as we have this attitude of being humble in church, we will also behave in the same manner in the marketplace.
1 Pet 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
How do we resist the adversary? Some of us think that the devil is someone that we will never be able to overcome and some of our former religious background will also cause us to be fearful of the devil. We may not even dare to speak about him because we are afraid of offending him. Thus, evil things may happen to us or the family. It is very clear that the Apostle Peter teaches us to resist the devil, stand firm and stay watchful over the devil’s scheme.
We have to be vigilant and sober because Jesus has already told us that the devil will come to steal the word immediately from our heart. He can also send upon us trials and persecutions. How then do we deal with an unseen enemy? The dominion or reign is in the realm of the spirit. It has to be a situation that we need to pray against or speak to the situation by taking the rightful authority given to us by God. Things have to happen in the spiritual realm before it is manifested in the natural realm. That’s how faith operates.
Ephesians 1:18-23 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The Apostle Paul prayed for the believers that they will fully understand who they are and what they have in Christ, to know the truth and exercise the authority given to us by Christ Jesus. The same power which raised Jesus from the dead is living in us! This is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. This spiritual position is far above all principality, power, dominion and might! Let us exercise the spiritual authority accordingly.
Sermon Series: There is power in the seed
