SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15
Scripture: Mark 10:42

Mark 10:42 says, “But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.’” The Greek words that are used in verse 42 draw a dramatic distinction between the world’s government and God’s government. The Greek word for “lord it over” is kat-ak-oo-ree-yoo-o. Kat-ak means ‘To use governmental authority against, or to subdue.’ Oo-ree- os is the root word here for the Kingly, Judicial Authority of Christ. When you add the prefixes of kat-ak then it means, ‘To take that judicial authority and to use it against or to subdue.’ The very authority God gave to use against the enemy for people with selfish ambition ends up being used against the church to build a personal kingdom. It marks a complete perversion of God’s authority so that we are not using what Jesus bought and paid for to subdue the enemy, but fellow believers. Leaders can be caught using the anointing that God gives to bring people under themselves to enrich and elevate themselves. Jesus said, ‘That is how the world works, but that is not how the Kingdom works.’ It should be obvious why church leaders have little judicial authority. If we do not first pass the mammon test so that we are using God’s authority on the enemy, we end up using His authority on the church to enrich ourselves. When this happens, leaders forfeit the ability to use God’s Judicial authority against the enemy. I have often wondered why, in the process of personal, progressive revelation, the very first book that God gave me was Purifying the Altar. But the longer I walk with Him, the more I understand how foundational the truths of that work are. To understand the anointing of the Judicial Christ dictates that we first pass the money test. Passing that test is the only way we can qualify to use His authority against the enemy.