While in prayer this morning, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Tell them, exercise your authority!” As I began to think about this, the first thought I had was to the Greek class I took, for the word authority in the Greek is εξουσία and to remember this Greek word, I remember saying, exercise authority. This play on words, God used to speak to me this morning, saying, “Tell them, exercise your authority!” So, I say to you, what the Lord said to me, “Exercise your authority!”

Exercise your authority is the decree from heaven, but the process to this begins with identity. Have you wondered why the narrative of the church has been identity? It is because we need to know our identity in order to exercise authority. When we don’t know who we are, we get frustrated and the enemy offers us counterfeit authority, which is anger, as our modus operandi. Let’s take parents for a minute as an example. Parents have been given authority over their children (Ephesisans 6; Colossians 3; Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5), but if parents don’t exercise their authority, they will use the counterfeit which is anger to get done what they want done. Knowing who you are, identity, is the first step to exercising authority.

The understanding of who you are, as created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and exercising the authority you have been given for being created in that image (Genesis 1:27-28) is critical for your success. The enemy knows this, henceforth, why he attacks your identity, undercuts your confidence and causes you to become angry. The enemy’s goal is John 10:10 to steal, kill and destroy, his goal is destruction and that is why he wants you to embrace the counterfeit authority which is anger, for he knows anger is destructive by nature. However, God wants you to know who you are, identity, so you can be productive.

The key that unlocks productivity is identity through which we exercise authority. Proverbs 12:26-28 in the Passion Translation says, “Lovers of God give good advice to their friends, but the counsel of the wicked will lead them astray. A passive person won’t even complete a project, but a passionate person makes good use of his time, wealth and energy. Abundant life is discovered by walking in righteousness, but holding on to your anger leads to death.” Learn your identity, exercise your authority and walk into productivity.

Why is this important right now? Because as Chuck Pierce says frequently, we need a mindset shift for the harvest. The harvest mindset is different than other mindsets. Tim Sheets wrote a book on the New Era of Glory that we are entering and it is an era of harvest. Talk to any farmer, harvest means more work, not less. If you are not prepared to be productive, you will not reap the harvest. We must know who we are, so we can exercise our authority, in order to gather in the harvest. Ruth Ward Heflin has a book called Harvest Glory and this I believe is the era we are entering, an era of Harvest Glory. Rise up church, the harvest is plentiful, Jesus said, but the workers are few. We need to know who we are, so we can exercise the authority we have been given and reap the harvest that is ripe and ready for our arrival. Exercise your authority!