Morning by Morning, September 22 - Boldly Speaking Truth to Governmental Authority by the Holy Spirit
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my heart with Your Spirit and my mouth with Your words, as I wait for Your leading and listen for Your voice to begin my day wholly surrendered to You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...
"So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, (Paul and Barnabas) went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of the God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the Proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn to the Proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, 'You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen -- the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.' Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. When the Proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord" (Acts 13:4-12).
I've heard many Christians -- even Christian leaders I dearly love and respect -- say we should stay out of politics, that we should only speak to God in prayer and not spend our time trying to speak to those in governmental authority. But that was not the view or practice of the Apostle Paul in Scripture.
As soon as he was filled up and sent out by the Holy Spirit on his very first missionary journey, just after his commissioning into ministry with Barnabas at Antioch, we see him boldly proclaiming the word of God to the Roman proconsul of Cyprus. The Proconsul was "an intelligent man" and carried with him the weight and authority of the Roman empire in that region. He was also being seduced and influenced by the voice of evil, "full of deceit," and "an enemy of all righteousness" through a false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who practiced the occult as a "son of the devil" and had the ear of the Proconsul in his position of governmental authority.
Paul and Barnabas didn't hide away in their prayer closet with their heads in the sand and their spiritual eyes blinded to signs of the times. But coming from the place of prayer, filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly took their opportunity to speak into the life of this leader of governmental authority and political power. When the Proconsul was open to spiritual truth and "wanted to hear the word of God," Paul and Barnabas didn't hesitate, but seized the opportunity to speak the truth of God's word and share the hope that burned within them.
They were not without opposition from the kingdom of darkness and deceit, furiously resisting the kingdom of light and truth. The Holy Spirit was preparing the way of the Lord in the Proconsul's heart and making "straight paths of the Lord" into his life and the lives of those under his authority and influence in the region. But the false prophet, Bar-Jesus, "opposed" the word and truth of the true Jesus and "tried to turn the Proconsul away from the faith."
No doubt that same spirit of antichrist, of false prophecy, of lies and deceit and deception -- trying to make "crooked" the "straight paths of the Lord" as "the enemy of all righteousness" -- is alive and well today. No doubt that same spirit is still seeking to get the ear and speak into the lives of the politicians and people in positions of strategic governmental authority and influence in our day.
Will we run and hide? Will we shrink back and say, "Whatever will be will be?" Will we submit to some forced form of separation of church and state that means the voice of the church should be silent in the face of government. Will we passively surrender to the onslaught of a culture seeking to destroy all that it righteous and true according to the word and heart of God?
Or will we be "filled with the Holy Spirit" to look intently into the face of the opposition and speak the truth in the power and authority entrusted to us as ambassadors of Christ? Will we be prayed up and also speak up? Will we pray and also vote? Will we dare to believe the power of God to confirm His word with signs and wonders, as in His first church who were on fire with their first love for Him alone?
"Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!" (Ephesians 5:14)
Bar-Jesus was struck blind for a time, when these disciples of Jesus stood up and spoke up. His spiritual influence over the governmental authority was broken by the word and the power of God released through the boldness and courage of Paul and Barnabas as servants of the Most High God. "When the Proconsul saw what had happened, he believed." "He was astonished at the teaching about the Lord" Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit. Fill us. Empower us. Send us with Your voice to speak the word of God with boldness and authority, even to those seated in strategic places of governmental authority. Set us free from our stupor and slumber in the Body of Christ. Deliver us from our complacency and passivity. Confirm Your word You'll speak through us with signs and wonders of Your power and authority (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:4).
As in the days of Your first followers in the Book of Acts, let Your Holy Spirit fill us and empower us to take our stand and declare Your truth in the face of the spiritual forces and influencers that oppose Your word: "And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to Your servants to speak Your word with all boldness while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and sign and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus!" (Acts 4:29-30) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to bolding speak the word of God in every opportunity He gives you to shift our government to the path of righteousness and see His word confirmed by His power and authority, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Please come join us if you can and keep us in prayer if you can't for this exciting opportunity of ministry:
An Evening of Worship, Encouragement, and Ministry
October 1, 2020 at the Kendall Inn in Boerne, Texas Sponsored by Aglow International
Free to Be Like Jesus!
Transforming Power of Inner Healing & Deliverance
New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:
Tommy & Rocio Hays
Messiah Ministries
17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries
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