Day 176 "Our accusers will fall into their own trap if we will be willing to get out of the way."

Day 176 Matthew 21:23-27 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” The authority by which any believer operates within the world’s system should always be that of the Master, not that of their own. Jesus demonstrates quite clearly how one who is operating under proper authority responds to those who are questioning their authority. His example is one that bears further review by all who operate as believers. First of all, we see that the divine authority of God in His house is not something open for debate; it is, after all, His house, not ours or anyone else's. Therefore, everything that takes place in the house of the Lord is under His authority and should be held to the standard which He Himself has set; hence, the reason Jesus entered the temple and restored proper order and authority. We must acknowledge, however, that Christ had been given this authority by His Father, the master of the house; therefore, He was acting under the covering and at the direction of the Master. In our houses of worship today, God has appointed certain individuals to be the ones who represent God as the authority over them. He has given them the responsibility to hear His voice, follow His direction, and ultimately be responsible for the outcome of those decisions. The senior pastor of any congregation truly is the one whom God is holding accountable for what occurs in that body of believers, both good and bad; hence, this is, of course, a very serious responsibility for those who are called to shepherd. Jesus, being wise and led by the Spirit when His authority was questioned, did not go on the defensive. He did not try to make His point nor did He argue for His rights. He, instead, listened to the Spirit and allowed His accusers to trap themselves. Jesus was the master at allowing others to trap themselves when, in fact, they were seeking to trap Him, something all of us could learn from. The primary point here, I believe, being that He did not go on the defensive. He didn't argue nor did He play their game. He, instead, took control of the conversation and led His accusers into a trap of their own making. How often do we fall into a trap by reacting in the flesh when, if we allow the Spirit to lead, our captors would be the ones trapped? Far too often, I'm afraid. You see, when we are confronted about an issue or our authority is questioned, our tendency is to go on the defensive, raise our voice, change our posture, and attempt to convince people we are correct by our actions and our emotions. However, when we wait upon the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, the conversation takes on quite a different tone. He takes over, gives us confidence from above, and moves us in a far wiser direction that tends to disarm our attackers; hence, giving us the victory and God the glory. The only negative being that rather than being able to brag about our great battle, we now must acknowledge that without Him nothing good would have come from the confrontation; hence, recognizing our own weakness and need for our savior. By the way, if you're confused, yes, admitting our need for Him is not a bad thing; I can think of no one I respect more than those who are willing to admit that without God there is no battle they can win in the eternal perspective of things. Let’s face it, we are ill equipped to go head-to-head with the enemy of our souls as long as we leave God out of the equation; however, when we allow Him to be our strength, we cannot be defeated. How about you? Who is fighting your battles? Daily Prayer: Father, please forgive me for those times I have fought on my own against this world. May You always be my strength and my direction as I submit to You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "Our accusers will fall into their own trap if we will be willing to get out of the way." Pastor Gene Burroughs