Wed.’s Devo - We Need Authority and Love

Read: Esther 8:1-10:3, 1 Co. 12:27-13:13, Ps. 37:1-11, Pr. 21:23-24 The underlying story is about Mordecai. He was a man of obscurity who rose to be the second in the land much like Joseph. In chapter eight, Esther and Mordecai were blessed with Haman’s wealth but they couldn’t stop there or their future would have been very short. They had to get authority to fight. I think this is where we are tempted to stop. We get some reprieve from the enemy and think everything is going to be alright, when really we haven’t even reached the main battle. Blessings and position are not enough. We have to take the devil out. His desire is to kill, steal, and destroy. I pray that Israel gets this in their war with their enemies. There is no peace treaty with the devil that will work. We need to get authority to fight. The devil needs to know our names and tremble. They knew Paul’s name. Authority comes from intimacy with God. It is knowing our commander in chief. The more we know God, the more we know how powerful He is and how in control He is. I couldn’t put it better than our Psalms today says it. First Corinthians teaches us that a gift is just that - a gift. Anyone can have the “gift” of prophecy and he did nothing to deserve it. But love is a fruit and it has to be cultivated and grown through practice. It is the “how” to our gifts. Whatever gift we have, if it is not performed out of love it is not worth having. Love should be our mode of operation for our gifts. Lord, we pray that we gain authority with You as we draw close to know You. Let love be our goal in all that we do.