Spiritual Authority

I Found this on Spiritual Authority...interesting I found it at this time in our lives.....Hmmmm?

Lessons from the Hot Place
Spiritual Authority: An IntroductionOne of the reasons we know that spiritual authority is so important is because of the last prophecy of the Old Testament: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Mal. 4:5, 6). God’s prescribed method for resisting a curse in the land is that fathers and children would turn their hearts to each other, or, in other words, those in authority would begin to care for those under them, and those under authority would submit to those above them. God places authority in each person’s life, and everyone is called to recognize and respond appropriately to that authority. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls . . . .”.
Watch Your SoulsThe scripture in Hebrews that commands us to obey and submit to authority reveals that it is not a burdensome task, nor is it bondage. Obedience and submission is for the sake of freedom. The verse says that “they watch for your souls.” Authority is in our lives to enable us to be proper guardians over our souls. They teach us obedience so that we can fully walk in the ways of God. If disobedience is allowed to remain, than we will lose our souls. Hebrews 13:17 goes on to say that we should not give our authorities grief because “that is unprofitable for you.” Realizing that God has ordain authority to be the means through which we learn guard our souls, it would be unreasonable to make their job difficult. We should embrace everything God gives them to say because to resist them is to resist the order of God, and it communicates that we consider the condition of our souls a trivial thing.
Recognizing AuthorityMany times after we teach on spiritual authority we receive many questions about finding a spiritual father or mother and how to recognize that in someone’s life. First of all, spiritual authority is not exclusively ministers. Your pastor and youth pastor are authorities in your life, but parents are also. Start with the obvious answers. Submit to the authority that without a doubt God has placed over you. This includes parents, pastors, teachers, and whoever else comes to your mind. As you are faithful to honor and respect and obey that authority, then God will begin to reveal who He has assigned to your life that is suppose to walk in closer relationship with you. This spiritual father or mother should ideally be your natural father or mother if they are believers, but many do not have that luxury. Continue to honor and submit to your parents, and God will reveal another person that will have a more lasting voice in your life pertaining to spiritual matters. It could be your pastor or youth pastor or a faithful intercessor that is in the church. Don’t limit God, but open your heart to receive from who He wants to bring into your life.