KINGDOM AUTHORITY

Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise.

Certain incidences had revealed to Agu that he did not have so much spiritual stature and authority in the kingdom. He knew this when he spent time with some missionaries and saw how much of Christ’s authority they walked in and even exerted over their environment.

Jesus could command the storm and speak to the fig tree because of this authority. Paul could effectively be a witness for Jesus in the darkest places of the world and was dreaded by demons because of this authority.

Agu now knew that even though our spiritual authority is inherited, we have to grow into it.

Before he became born again, he was a very wealthy man in this world and was vast in the wisdom of this world. He now wanted the greatness of the kingdom of God, but was still using the wisdom of this world.

Many things in the kingdom of God are antithetical to the kingdom of this world. For example, Jesus says those who are great in the kingdom of God are determined by their extent of service to others, not by the extent to which people serve them (see Matt 20:25-28). But it’s the opposite in this world. Also, in the kingdom of God, it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), but in the kingdom of this world, it is considered more beneficial to get than to give.

If a person thinks he is wise [according to the standards of this world], that wisdom is very useless and cannot take him far in the kingdom of God. If he tries to use that kind of wisdom to advance in the kingdom of God, he will realize that he is making no progress.

One of the reasons we must pay attention to the ministry of the word and prayer is because this is the way God recalibrates our minds to the standards of His kingdom so we can grow.