Authority is a power that is given to one. It is not something that we are born with. God from the beginning of time gave man authority over everything created by God (Ge1:28). But, man because of his poor decision making handed over his authority to Satan. Since then, we have been losing ground on the things God gave us to rule such as the sea critters, the beasts of the fields and the fowls of the air. We have even lost authority at our homes and of our very lives. We have found ourselves seeking help from the medical profession and other because we do not have authority to take over our homes, sicknesses and other problems. If we ever seen a two year old and his tantrum and a parent giving in we will more fully comprehend our lost of authority. But, where do we go to regain our authority? What must we do to get back that which we have lost? It deals with the enrichment of our faith for our authority to come back to us.
Matthew 8:5-10
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Out of so many people in Israel whom Jesus came in contact with he did not find anyone with a full blown manifestation of authority from faith like this centurion. This centurion’s faith fruit began in his home with his closest and spread abroad. He understood how a spoken word of authority backed up with faith gave forth fruit. His servants, because of the centurion’s effective use of authority were treated like immediate family by the centurion. If this centurion had not used faith to exercise authority it would have been taken away from him (Is.22:20). Authority that does not come out from faith is lost. Just like the fallen angels whom because of their poor use of judgment lost their authority (Jd. 1:6) that was given to them, so will all who do not exercise faith will lose their. When we practice speaking by faith and actually believing authority begins to build up. There is a promise for anyone who seeks to regain the authority in God that was lost, and that is that it will be returned (rev. 2:26). Jesus told his disciples that they had been given authority to step over scorpions and even over come the powers of the enemy (Lk. 10:19, Mt. 10:1), and yet in our lives we find ourselves struggling to put up a good fight or even defeating those enemies that come our way. To win a battle in God has nothing to do with physical fighting (it is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord), but its by confessing and believing the battle has been won and waiting in God; the battle belongs to the Lord.