For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it. Luke 7:8.

How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11.

We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 88: Satanic power bruising the Redeemer’s heel. Psalm 22:20-21: Deliver my soul from the sword, my only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth, from the horns of the wild oxen You answer me. And, Hebrews 2:14: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had power of death, that is, the devil.

The above verse in Hebrews made so much sense with the devotional this morning in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “The Divine Choice of Weakness – God chose to enter into human history in complete weakness. That divine choice forms the center of the Christian faith. In Jesus of Nazareth, the powerless God appeared among us to unmask the illusion of power, to disarm the prince of darkness who rules the world, and to bring the divided human race to a new unity. It is through total and unmitigated powerlessness that God shows us divine mercy. . . It is very hard – if not impossible – for us to grasp this divine mercy. We keep praying to the “almighty and powerful God.” But all might and power is absent from the One who reveals God to us saying, “When you see Me, you see the Father.” If we truly want to love God, we have to look at the man of Nazareth, whose life was wrapped in weakness. And His weakness opens for us the way to the heart of God.”

Once we begin to seek Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, and the understanding He brings, we begin to see that all power and might and truth belong to Him. It is amazing that in the first Scripture verse cited above, the centurion understood authority. I don’t know what he understood about faith or God. He knew that if Jesus said the word for his servant to be healed, he would be healed. And the servant was healed at the very moment Jesus spoke, as the centurion was able to verify speaking to his servants sent to Jesus. Think about that! By His word alone, Jesus, not even present to touch or to treat in any way as a physician would, the servant was healed by Jesus. Jesus said to Philip, his own disciple, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” John 14:9-11. The centurion had heard of the healing work of Jesus and that was enough for him who understood what the authority of a kingdom was. The kingdoms of this world, with all their might and power, are not the kingdom of God. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18. He spoke those words to His disciples after He had risen and right before He ascended back to the Father. Can we believe Him today? He showed us the Father, and what faith in our Father is while He lived among us. God doesn’t give His children might and power. He gives us so much more! He gives us Himself – His love, His truth, His Spirit.

***THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love, leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore! How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own; how for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! ‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing, ’tis a haven sweet of rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me; and it lifts me up to glory for it lifts me up to Thee! Samuel Trevor Francis, “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” 1875.***