Who's in Charge Here?

"God has spoken once, twice I have heard: That power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; for You render to each one according to his work." Psalm 62:11
Though I didn't state it specifically in the last post nor in the old journal, the roots of this verse grew down into the soil of me after that first day of reflecting on it.  The context of what gets heard twice:   things of power, and mercy or as some translations put it, lovingkindness--these burrowed down inside me. 


July 14 + 15
Oswald Chambers quote from June 19th entry (I know, I'm behind):  "Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His father, not to the needs of men.  The saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father."  This is a big point for me. As God continues to grow me in prophetic things, I realize any growth I make depends on who I choose to serve with it all.  I must speak because God wants something said, not because people 'need' to hear something.  They need to hear it, absolutely; but that can't be what motivates me.  Otherwise, my service to God with it becomes a divided thing.

Now I'm looking back at Mark 8 and 9.  Overview of the disciples' walk into power and authority and their motivations.  After they were given intimate knowledge of His power, He shared it with them, along with authority in His kind.  Then He sent them out.  They had to go out in faith and take virtually nothing with them, and so they went forth in the same manner He did.  Not long after, Peter confesses Jesus the Christ, thus by leaving His Lord's feet, His shadow and walking out to operate in that authority did not "slow down" his growth or knowledge of his Lord.  The assignment made them participants and thus companions rather than just an audience to His authority. 

Because they were ready for greater spiritual revelation, He began to speak of His upcoming suffering and death, but they for their part began to quibble over who among them was the greatest.  First danger in believing you have a little power and authority:  comparing yourself to others who walk with a little power and authority, too.  Self-absorption and attention to personal rank squelched their authority over demons.  This time when Jesus was not present (He was off experiencing the Transfiguration with a core group of the disciples) they did not have the power to cast the demon out.  Again, putting the focus on personal power,rank and knowledge in their group hierarchy made them too much like the devil to afford any authority over the devil.  (Did being left behind while Jesus took a select few off on a special mission leave them feeling weak and insignificant and thus without authority?)

The same attitude showed up when they assumed they should stop the work of someone who was not chosen to be in the 12-disciple entourage but who was nevertheless successfully casting out demons using the power of Christ's name. 
You can hear their thoughts:  "He can't be doing it right; he's not been here to learn the right way, like we have." 
But Jesus said, "Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.  For he that is not against us is on our part."  (9:39-40)

Then, there is more about this exercise of power:  when it was time to go to Jerusalem, a group went to prepare a 'waystop' in a Samaritan village, but the village didn't want to be a way stop.  Two that were at the Transfiguration asked if Jesus wanted them to call down fire to burn up the village, like Elijah did in days of old.  Power-drunk themselves now, they perceived how great was the power He'd bestowed upon them, which was good; but they wanted to use it against His purposes, which was bad. 
They should have realized that this rejection He was experiencing was itself a thing prophetic given to prepare Him and to offer Him a first-response opportunity. This rejection was as a doorway into a larger rejection that was coming on its heels, one that would encompass more than just the inhabitants of a single village.  He saw the larger meaning, and knew it needed a gracious finish--especially seeing what it foreshadowed. No fire was called down that day.

Bottom line:  Jesus warns us not to get too hyper-active about our authority here, about our power over demons.  Don't fix your rejoicing on these, He says; rather, rejoice that your names are in the book of life.


As I read back over this, I realize how much my relationship with Him really has grown in its childlike stature over the years. 
I don't fear the things I used to fear. 
I don't strain over the things that used to seem a strain. 

"Whoever does not enter the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it," says Jesus in Mark 10:15, and I think about how a child enters a place he really wants to go:
He doesn't do a quick self-check in the hallway mirror first.
He doesn't look to see who else is entering before, after or with him.
He doesn't put all his attention on herding others along, nor does he wait to be herded.
He simply doesn't take time for the likes of these.

What he does do?
He bounds.
He squeals if no one stops him.
He looks everywhere at once.
He owns the place in his eyes and in his voice and in his racing pulse.
That's how he enters.
That's how I want to enter, too.