Good morning.
I've got a little bit of a different message for you today and it's about honoring authority.
Good morning.
I'm Leanne Friesman and this is Restoring Word.
Have you ever been in a place or a position in ministry where you were not quite sure
you were in agreement with the person or the pastor that you were sitting under?
And I've just got some words of wisdom that I think will help you and I'm going to try
to keep it brief.
This comes out of 2 Peter starting in about verse 11 and it's about trusting God but submitting
to leadership.
Now, there are some principles I want to lay down first.
The kingdom of God is very different from a democracy.
The church is not a democracy.
When you work for a pastor, you submit to his authority and that is your position of
protection.
And when you are operating under delegated authority, let me tell you that's a very powerful
place to be.
That's where the grace of God will manifest in your life and in your ministry.
That's where you will be, literally you will have a download from heaven so to speak coming
from the top down.
It's in a very glorious position to be, a very powerful position to be.
And when I was trying to really put together this message, I really feel like this is maybe
specifically for someone out there that's in a position of ministry.
You've got to guard your heart and you've got to pray that the leader that you're working
for will have a change of heart.
That's number one.
I'm not talking about a leader who's doing something illegal or immoral.
This is about a leader maybe who is feeling a different direction for the ministry and
you're on staff or you're in a position of leadership within the church and you just
don't get it.
Number one, God's either going to deal with you and you're going to get your heart right
or God is going to deal with that leader.
You know when I first started the Praise and Worship Program at Victory, Billy Joe didn't
have the revelation of that.
Pastor Dave and I did and that's where it all started.
But the Holy Ghost dealt with Billy Joe and then all of a sudden, okay, we're going to
have a worship program.
It took almost a year for him to be in agreement that this was what the Lord wanted and eventually
he got it.
I can't tell you how many times I prayed for Billy Joe to get direction from the Holy Spirit.
We had planned a chapel.
We had put together things.
Billy Joe and I never talked about it, but guess what, boom, he would stand in the pulpit
and say, open your Bibles too and all of a sudden, it's right there.
We're all flowing in agreement.
Why?
Because we all hear from the same Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not bipolar.
The same Holy Spirit that talks to you, talks to your pastor, love your pastor, protect
your pastor, cover him in prayer, cover him, guard him by the Spirit of God, okay, guard
your heart by the Spirit of God.
I was trying to put this message together and I was going through all of these things
that I've seen in the city of Tulsa over the last 30 years and I can tell you that submitting
to authority is also your place of protection.
When your heart is connected to your pastor and your church, let me tell you, people may
come against you.
They may lie.
They may spread all kinds of junk about you, but I tell you this, when you have the protection
of your pastor, nobody can take you out of that position of authority, nobody.
Why?
Because your heart is connected truly.
It's not just you're not giving somebody lip service, you know what I mean?
You are truly connected to your pastor.
Number one, your pastor is going to know it, so is everybody else that you're working
for, okay, but the Holy Ghost knows, most importantly, and that's where the anointing
comes from and that's where the presence of God comes from.
If you are working in a ministry or you're working in a place and you're just taking
a paycheck and your heart's not there, you need to resign and you need to find a place
where you can serve, period, okay?
You don't go to work for a pastor or a ministry.
Out number one, loving the ministry and loving the church, loving the pastor, loving the vision,
and then being willing to submit, because that is where the glory and the anointing come from.
If you will honor authority, even when you don't understand, because when you work in a ministry,
you don't know everything. You don't know what's going on. You have to trust that the pastor
who does know everything, probably a lot of stuff you don't want to know, is being led by the Spirit
of God. And what will happen is God will strengthen you. He will protect you. He will guard you.
He will speak to those that you work for. And you will continue to operate in that place of
provision, protection, grace, and anointing. And not only that, but it will also, over time,
be a place of promotion, because you can be trusted. Have a great day, and thank you for listening.
you