Once our hearts are fully set on walking the road to seek the King and gain His authority, we begin to walk. The road can be long. We may be fighting sleepiness and lethargy. We may question ourselves and our decision. We may ask ourselves questions about the value of seeking the King.
The King is watching our journey. Perhaps that knowledge alone will enable us to fight lethargy and questions. He watches us to strengthen us. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9, NIV84)
The King also watches us on our journey to see how we conduct ourselves. How we conduct ourselves on the journey is very important. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13, NIV84) God tested Abraham (Gen 22). God tested Joseph. God tested His people (Ex 20:20). His purpose is that our hearts would become totally consecrated to Him. “For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being.” (Deuteronomy 13:3, AMP) Authority is given to those who can walk in it. “On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4, NIV84)
Part of the reason the journey is long is that the process of testing needs to be fully embraced by us. “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” (Psalm 26:2–3, NIV84) In the course of testing our hearts, we learn to test the Word of God and find that the promises of God are indeed true and powerful. As we are tested, we test the Word of God. “Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.” (Psalm 119:140, NIV84)
As we go on the journey, we learn to embrace the testing process and we realize that each test brings us closer to the King. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.” (2 Corinthians 13:5–6, NIV84)
There are questions that we must learn answers to on the journey. There is the question of “Who am I” and “by what authority can I come to the King?” We learn on the journey that authority is never given based on our merit but only on the merit of Christ. We approach Christ because of Christ. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14–16, NIV84)
We learn on the journey that our identity is not ourselves anymore. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV84) We become new through our choices to obey God. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24, NIV84) And in the process of obedience on the journey we find we are transformed. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV84)
We also spend time on the journey how we should honor the King when we enter his presence. We practice the protocol of the kingdom in order to demonstrate our love for the King. It honors the King that we express our love and desire for HIM. “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:2, NIV84) Humility also honors the King. “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:10, NIV84) We honor the King by declaring the truth of who He is. We offer our lives to the King. We worship. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:8–9, NIV84) We come before Him with thankfulness and praise on our hearts. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalm 100:4–5, NIV84)
Our journey to find authority to transform our world is an opportunity to allow the Word of God to changes us. We must use the journey time with purpose. We learn to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the King on our journey. We learn the protocols of the King on the journey. If we fail to use the time of the journey wisely, we will not receive authority when we have our audience with the King.
What we do when we are not in the presence of the King will determine what we receive when we are in the presence of the King.
“”Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:14–30, NIV84)
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