Romans 12:2 “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Today's episode reminds us of the authority that Jesus gave us and that He invites us to help bring heaven to earth. It reminds us of our call and hopefully encourages you to learn more about the authority and power you have living inside of you! Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
You Have Authority!
Romans 12:2 “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Last night I attended the Encounter School of Ministries Summer Intensive at the Boston Campus. If you have never attended an event from Encounter Ministries, I highly recommend checking them out. They are amazing and filled with the Holy Spirit! The summer Intensive is an overview of the curriculum for the first year. There are four quarters in a year of the Encounter School, and there are 8 weeks in each quarter. First, it starts with a quarter on Identity because you need to understand who you are in the Kingdom of God and why you have the authority that you have. The next quarter is on the prophetic word and hearing God’s voice. In the third quarter, you learn how to be God’s instrument for physical healings. In the fourth quarter, you learn all about inner healing and how to lead people to freedom.
The summer intensive is four nights, and it provides an overview of each quarter over those four nights. Last night, we were learning about identity. Who are we in the Kingdom of God? What authority do we have here on earth, and where did we get that authority? Everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God. God gave us life. He formed us, and He brought us into this world. He sent His only Son to die on a cross so that we might be free from our sins and our sinful nature.
What I would like to discuss with you today is how we use that authority, and I would like to review some scripture verses that demonstrate our call to a renewal of the mind. Let’s look at today’s scripture verse. “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” This verse shows us that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What does that mean, though? How do we renew our minds?
God is the only one who can help us have a renewal of mind. God wanted to bring His kingdom down to earth, and he wants to do that through us. He doesn’t want us to sit by and watch as He does everything. He also doesn’t want us to just pray for the things we want and not do anything about them. Praying is great, and we should all be praying. And also, there are times when we can ask the Lord to allow us to be His instruments here on earth. Wouldn’t it be awesome if, instead of asking God to heal someone, you prayed for their healing and he did it through you? Did you know that Jesus gave us the authority to do things like that?
If we look at John 14:12, it says, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Jesus went to be with the Father, and when He did, He asked the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. If you are baptized, then you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. This means you can do the works that Jesus did and even greater works. Jesus did not perform all his miracles using his divine powers. He performed all those miracles using the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that you have living inside of you.
If you don’t believe someone could do greater works than Jesus did look at Acts 5:12-15. It says, “Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.” There is no record in the Bible of people being healed by Jesus’s shadow and yet they were healed when Peter’s shadow fell upon them. In Acts 19:11-12, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.”
God wants to use you too! He wants us to help him bring heaven to earth. During the talk at Encounter they talked about how when Jesus did the miracle of feeding the multitudes, He didn’t pray over the bread and fish and suddenly there was this giant mound of bread and fish. The multiplication happened over and over again once the apostles started handing the food out. Jesus wanted them to partake in the miracle as well. When it says in the Bible that those who believe will do even greater works than He did, it is not just talking about the apostles. It would be easier for us if He was because then it would take the responsibility off of us. However, He is sending us all out to help bring heaven to earth. In Matthew 10:1 it says, “Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”
It is true that Jesus did send the apostles out to go do mighty works in His name. However, we know that Jesus didn’t reserve doing these mighty works to the apostles because in Luke 10:1-2 it says, “After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Those 70 represent all God’s faithful. Are you baptized? Do you believe in Jesus. Then you are called to go out and help bring others into the kingdom. You have the power and authority living inside of you to carry out mighty works in Jesus’s name!
The devil doesn’t want you to know this. He wants you to believe that you are powerless. He whispers in your ear that you should leave the mighty works to those more qualified. He says you should leave the miracles up to the priests and religious brothers and sisters. He tells you that others may be able to heal but that you are not worthy. He goes on and on about how you have no power. The devil is a liar. (Side note: if you don’t know that song, The Devil is a Liar by Colton Dixon, you should definitely look it up and give it a listen). He knows all about the authority God has given you and yet he hopes that you won’t ever realize the power you have living inside of you. He will do all he can to keep you feeling stuck and powerless and unworthy.
Don’t give the devil that satisfaction of thinking he has won. Fight back. Learn more about the authority you have and then start living in it. As simple way to do this is to spend time in the Acts of the Apostles. If they could do it, so can you. There was nothing special about them other than they believed Jesus when He gave them the authority. They were brave enough to step out, even though they were scared, and give it a try. The other simple way to do this is to start talking to the Holy Spirit living inside of you. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what authority you have. Ask Him to show you how powerfully God wants to use you.
I said earlier that God is the one who renews our minds. Allow Him to do that. Invite Him into your heart and mind and ask Him to renew them for you. You can do all things through Christ Jesus. So ask Jesus to help you become the person He wants you to be. Ask Jesus to show you what He is calling you to and how He wants to use you. Let the Lord know that even though you might be scared, you are willing and available for Him to use you as His instrument. You are more powerful than you think. Don’t come into agreement with the lies of the enemy. Live in the authority and power that God has given to you!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening. Lord, please help us to understand this authority and power that you have given us. Help us understand how to live in that authority and power. Lord, we don’t understand, and we need you to teach us and guide us. Please give us the strength to do the things you are calling us to do, even if we do it scared. We love you so much, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I will be sending info out in a newsletter about the upcoming retreat. If you are not currently receiving my newsletter, I invite you to sign up below the show notes. It is a great way to keep up to date on any offers I might have as well as some great information.
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am your God. Surrender yourself fully to me so that I can use you in my ways. Only if you are used in my way will you become far more productive.”