A little thought gleaned from Jude <3

Hey! 

A quick thought and then it’s off to the races. 

In the Jackie Hill Perry study of Jude, she talked about authority and dominion in the video last night. 

She said that Jesus has both dominion and authority to rule and to judge, meaning He has both the power and the right to be Sovereign over all things and people. 

Having dominion – having power to rule over someone or something – without the authority to do so….the right to do so…is what we see as oppression or abuse. But to exercise dominion coupled with authority, is a whole other story. 

I was thinking today of a very practical example. 

When Zach and Rachel leave their children in our care, they will remind the kids that we are in charge. We may do things differently, ie. I may not serve the same fruit at lunch that mom said would be served or manage the school work the way Dad said it would be done, but they basically deputize us, given us the authority (right) to exert domination (leadership and disciplined behavior). 

God has given them authority and dominion over their children and they have the right to pass that along to someone else when needed.

They do this, because they trust us. 

They know that our heart desire is to treat their children and home as much on the lines of their order of things as is humanly possible. 

They know that we won’t do it exactly the way they would, but in the end our primary goal is to support them as parents and keep the flow of the home going according to their values, hopes and standards. 

We have been deputized by Jesus as well. 

He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to bring His Kingdom into our every day lives. 

Not so we can exercise our power, but so that we have the authority and power of God to do what HE would have us do. 

We bear His Name and we uphold HIS goals, standards, plan. 

Interesting. 

Of course He has the final say on all things, but we can know that He will guide us and lead us as we lean into Him and learn more about what His mind is like. 

Blessings…gotta go exercise some dominion and power of the troops.