ANOINTED DECISIONS

Dr. Ernest W. Stokes, Jr.

Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible (KJV, 1611, public domain); and the American Standard version (ASV, 1901, public domain); and within the specified limits for reprint, by permission, from the following translations: Revised Standard Version (RSV, Copyright 1946, 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the Churches of Christ in the USA);  New International Version (NIV, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.); English Standard Version (ESV 2007 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers); and the Amplified Bible (Amp., Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation).

Copyright 2012

www.mountuptozion@gmail.com

Mount Up to Zion Publications

Table of Contents

Foreword

ONE

Deciding a Thing Is a Creation Gift

TWO

The Authority of the Believer

THREE

Pioneers in Restoring Our Beulah Land

FOUR

Dispossession & Repossession

FIVE

Anointed Sowers Are Abundant Reapers

SIX

Binding & Loosing Principles

SEVEN

Kings, Lords  and God Decide Things

EIGHT

The Way to Wisdom

NINE

God’s Creation Plan: Established for You

TEN

Ten Steps to Your Anointed Decision

ELEVEN

Walking in the Light of His Countenance

Foreword

This book is about you as a decision-maker, and how your decisions can prosper you.  How many decisions do you make each day?  Probably dozens.  But how many are anointed by God?  Anointed decisions are alive!  Each one represents the execution of an idea birthed by God in the beginning, with its declared outcome to be created as new today, at His time certain, just as He purposes and declares.  Thus, God’s decisions are executed by obedient decision-makers, willing vessels who love Him and are called according to His purpose, to execute His perfect will on earth (Isaiah 48:7, 55:ll; Romans 8:28).

Anointed Decisions Produce What God Declares

An anointed decision produces the result of a process God created.  Our Father births every perfect idea, and gives it life by envisioning its form and composition.  God decides the end result of the idea He births and purposes, when and where He wants it to mature and appear on earth, and declares the thing into existence by the words of His mouth.  His ideas blossom exactly as He sees them in His Spirit, just as He sees whatsoever flesh body He knits together for us in our mother’s womb before we land on earth (Psalm 139:13).

To get from Zion to earth, God chooses a willing, able, and trustworthy vessel that He desires to prosper, and plants His idea in the believer’s heart. When we envision the same thing God sees, He has anointed us as His willing vessel on earth.  Therefore, when the thing you decide appears on earth as good, you know that God has rewarded your faith and anointed your vision.

Habakkuk 2:2-4 teaches you how the vision of the thing you hope for appears on earth.  “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its time, it hastens to the end, it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”  God promises you can have what you hope for, but it requires commitment.  You are God’s uncompromisingly righteous child who uses faith in His Word to produce good things on earth, and the words of your mouth to produce victory.  Your victory requires self-discipline.  Faith without works is dead (James 2:17); and words spoken never go away.  You are responsible for them.

This book reminds you of what God’s mind envisions and has declared for you and how you can have what you hope for.  God wants you to put on His mind, and let your words of faith bring things to earth!  Let what you see in your spirit think, speak, and  enable you to live in victory on earth now in this time (Psalm 19:14).  You can decide to prosper.

1

Deciding a Thing Is a Creation Gift

JOB 22:28

You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your way.

PSALM 91: l-2

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High and abides in the shadow of the Almighty shall say to the Lord, ”my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.”

ISAIAH 30: 19-21

Yea, O people of Zion who dwell at Jerusalem, you shall weep no more.  God will surely be gracious unto you at the sound of your cry; and when He hears it, He will answer you.   Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your Teacher will not hide Himself from you any longer— but your eyes shall see your Teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, “This is the way; walk in it when you turn to the left or to the right.”

The gift of deciding a thing is a creation principle God has made available to all His children who live under the New Covenant.  When we learn to use this principle effectively, we can experience the abundant life here on earth each day, and assure ourselves that God’s Word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish what He purposed it to do— and prosper in the thing He sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

God intends to prosper us now while we walk the earth.  But we must first decide  a thing.  We put on the creative mind of Christ that God gave us to continue working His perfect will (Philippians 2:5 & 13).  This is what Jesus commands us to do in John 14:12, “If you love Me, you will do the things I have done.  Even greater things than these will you do because I go to the Father.”

God Said, “Be Fruitful and Multiply, Replenish the Earth and Subdue It”

In the beginning, God created man in His Own image and after His likeness— and that of His Son, to have dominion over all living things that moved on the earth, the birds of the air and the fish of the seas.  When God created man, male and female, He gave them a commandment that made man superior to all forms of life He had created on earth.  God blessed their dominion with the words He spoke out of His Own mouth: “Be fruitful and multiply; replenish the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

God Desires That We Put on the Mind of Christ

This is a multiplication principle that God gave man and woman in the beginning.  He desires for His children to be like Himself.  Therefore, His charge to the first man and woman was not merely for the propagation of their flesh bodies; He desired then and now that His children put on His mind. When we decide to follow His Son, Christ Jesus, our spiritual walk with Him reflects the multiplication of our spiritual fruits in His spiritual children.  The Apostle Paul teaches us to put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5; I Corinthians 2:16).  Thus, the principle of the hundredfold return is in the process of producing kings and lords under the authority of King Jesus, Lord Jesus!

With the mind of Christ working in us as we walk with Him each day, we can reproduce spiritual children and glorify our Father in the earth.  We exercise our dominion in the earth when we plant His Word in the fertile field of our heart; and speak out faith to water His Word so that it will bear much fruit in us.  God gives the increase!  You can create, invent and discover “new” things by putting your   faith to work.  This is His promise to you.

In the Beginning God Showed Man How to Decide a Thing

In the beginning, God envisioned a thing in His Spirit, birthed it as His original idea, and decided when and where He would create it in the earth at His time certain.  He established it and saw that it was good when it appeared.  In Genesis 1, God instructs us about how He followed the same creative pattern every time He created a thing.  He envisioned it in His Spirit, and spoke it into existence.

Job 38:4-16 and Isaiah 40:12 intricately describe God’s creative process.  This process was used for everything He created.  As recorded in Genesis 1:31, God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  You can make anointed decisions just as God made, because you are created in His image, after His likeness (Genesis 1:26).  You can create, invent, and discover.  God searches for hearts that are perfect toward Him (II Chronicles 16:9)— willing vessels to make anointed decisions that accomplish His declared purpose; and determine whosoever He will profit (Isaiah 55:11).  Isaiah 7:9 teaches us the meaning of being established.       You are a child of God.  Because you are, satan will try to steal your hope and tell you that you can’t have the things you need and desire because of your sins and guilt.  But the blood of Jesus redeemed you and empowered you to decide all things.  Nehemiah 2:20 shows how to deal with adversity and doubt by speaking to any contrary spirit that comes against you.  “My God in heaven will make me prosper; I am His servant to arise each day and build, but you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.  Be gone.”  God called Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem for the Kingdom of God.  He willingly answered the call.  The Bible does not say that God anointed him to do this for Him.  Yet we know He did.  Nehemiah made an anointed decision— he never doubted that God had called him.  Like Noah and Abraham centuries before him, Nehemiah  was obedient to God’s call.  He never hesitated in his decision to leave Persia where the Jews enjoyed comfort— despite being in exile, to rebuild Jerusalem where the Jews who had escaped exile were in great trouble and shame— defenseless against all enemies and pilferers; and the city gates had been destroyed by fire (Nehemiah 1:3).  God does not make mistakes.  He knew Nehemiah’s heart.  God chose a courageous man with a proven work ethic who would remain obedient and confidently steadfast against all enemies.

Old Covenant Anointings

Throughout the Old Testament we find such men and women as Nehemiah— anointed by God for the specific purposes He declared: “My Word will not return to Me void, but it will accomplish what I have purposed and declared it to do; and prosper the vessel who received My appointment and acted upon it” (Isaiah 55:11).

The mighty men and women of old were anointed by God for specific purposes.  All the mighty men and women of the Old Covenant whom we consider as our heroes were anointed by God for specific purposes.  They made anointed decisions— in covenant with God.  When righteous Noah built the ark, his anointed decision saved the human race and the animal kingdom from extinction;  and the Noahic  Covenant,  sealed  with a rainbow, is God’s promise that He will never again destroy the earth by water (Genesis 9:11-17).  Father Abraham’s anointed decision is still reaping blessings for us today.  “Leave your homeland and kindred, and your Father’s house, and go to a land I will show you,” God showed what our faith in His Word can do— the Abrahamic Covenant blesses believers in the now when we simply trust God and are obedient to His Word.  Because of Abraham’s faith, reproduced in us, we can bless ourselves (Genesis 12:1-3).

You Have Access to God’s Power and Authority

Your faith in Jesus as Lord, and your commitment to follow Him, gives you access to God’s power and authority; and ensures you that your success is greater than that of your forefathers who lived during the Old Covenant Age.  Because of Christ Jesus and the new creation you have become, you have been given the Holy Spirit.  And because you have received His empowerment with joy, you are not just anointed by God for one specific purpose for awhile— you have been given a multi-purpose anointing to absolutely ensure that you always make uncompromisingly righteous decisions every day you are here on earth in this life.

Did the men and women of the Old Covenant dwell in Zion?  No, Hebrews 11:13 tells us all these died in faith, but not having received what was promised.  They were prevented from entering into Zion, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles in a foreign land other than their homeland.

God Intended for Adam to Have the Abundant Life

God intended for Adam to have His same visions and ideas, and to use the same decision-making pattern He, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit used during the creation.  Genesis 2:7-24 offers a glimpse of what life surely was for them.  Every day was perfect for Adam, the first man God created.  He enjoyed a garden filled with everything needed to make life comfortable; God showed him how to till and keep it, gave him dominion over all the animals on earth, and gave him a wife so they enjoyed the best of everything together.  Today we would say that Adam and Eve dwelled in Zion.  But more to the point, God intended earth to be a mirror of Mount Zion; so their lives were blessed so much that they were constantly in God’s favor and presence.  They lacked for no good thing.  They truly enjoyed heaven on  earth.  They enjoyed God’s presence.

The Open Highway

ISAIAH 35:8

And a highway shall be there, and a way; and it shall be called the Holy Way.  The unclean shall not pass over it.  It shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein.

In the Spirit, we can see the open highway between Mount Zion and earth with no travel barriers, just as Isaiah prophesied.  This highway has been opened for us by Jesus for His redeemed to travel upon now.  You and I have access to this highway— the Holy Way; and we know that the unclean shall not pass over it; and, though in the flesh we are foolish wayfaring children, we shall not err on this highway.  We gain access to it in the Spirit.  No lion or ravenous beast can come upon it; but because we have been redeemed from the curse of the Law, we shall be able to walk upon it.  We are the ransomed of the Lord; and we shall come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon our heads.  We shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:8-10).

Adam and Eve had the abundant life, but they made a worldly decision to disobey their Father and Creator— and accept satan as their teacher.  After they fell from grace and the devil took dominion away from all mankind, God could not find a man on earth He could trust to come to Zion, render truthful judgments, and make anointed decisions.  Because of Adam’s sinful genes that he passed down from generation to generation, God’s creation lost communication with the Creator!  Finally, God found a righteous man in Enoch and took him up (Genesis 5:24); and righteous Noah who believed Him, was obedient unto His Word; and built an ark in the middle of  nowhere to preserve a small portion of civilization from the flood God used to destroy a sinful generation on earth .

We Can Bless Ourselves

Centuries later God found another righteous man in Abraham, a descendant and spiritual son of Noah, because both were men of faith.  Abraham, unwavering in his faith and obedience to God, is known to us as Father Abraham, Father of the Righteousness of Faith; and Father of the Nations (Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 4:12; Hebrews 11:8; Acts 7:4). Abraham’s great faith in God’s Word was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:22; Galatians 3:6).  God told Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a land He would show him: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and by you all the families of the earth can bless themselves" (Genesis 12:2-3). Abraham went, and his obedience blessed us.

God Was Required to Stand by His Word

Yet, two righteous men of the Old Covenant, Noah and Abraham, were never permitted to return to the heavenly homeland they sought.  Neither were Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, King David, and all the rest.  Despite  their  great favor, except for Enoch and Elijah who were taken up (Genesis 5:24; II Kings 2:11), our Old Covenant heroes— righteous men and women, all, were never able to prove themselves worthy before God the Father.  Yes, they were anointed by God to do things on earth He needed them to do in His Name.  But they were descendants of Adam.  Any thought they may have had to return to their spiritual home was impossible.

God stood by His Word; He removed Adam and Eve from the garden, and cursed the ground Adam was to till (Genesis 3:17-19).  They lost the abundant life they had enjoyed as innocents.  And, despite their animal sacrifices, the cleansing blood of the Lamb was not available to redeem them from the curse.  Thus Adam and his descendants were lost— as were even the righteous of the Old Covenant Age.  Because they had no savior and no clean sacrifice to cleanse them of all sin and wrongdoing, they could not be redeemed from the curse— even before the Law was officially given to them.  But we have Christ Jesus.  He is the Perfect Lamb; and because He is the Perfect Sacrifice, we can go back and forth to Zion now.

Jesus Has Commissioned Us

MATTHEW 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

While Christ Jesus was still walking the earth, He went about ensuring that His Father’s Word would be fulfilled.  Jesus was resurrected following His crucifixion, according to God the Father’s perfect will— so that all mankind could be redeemed by His blood, and the ransomed of the Lord could return home.  He ascended into Zion where He sits at the right hand of the Father today.  However, before He left the earth, Christ Jesus decided a thing— He made an anointed decision which forever restored the relationship between God and man.  He prayed the Father to give you and me an equal inheritance with Him of everything His Father had given to Him, including all the power and authority of Zion on earth (John 16:14; Romans 8:17).

God’s Requirements for Our Empowerment

All God requires for believers to enjoy such power and authority is to make an anointed decision: (1) accepting Christ Jesus as our redeemer, (2) being spirit-minded and obedient disciples; and, (3) to ask for and receive power and authority to reign as kings and priests on earth.  This empowerment requires the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the use of His gifts to lead us to victory over evil.

The New Covenant Age began officially with Jesus’ victory over satan at Calvary.  After Jesus stripped satan of the authority on earth that Adam had relinquished, He commissioned His disciples to carry on His work, continuing to fulfill the Father’s Word and our Savior’s words— proclaiming the good news of His victory over  evil, from  Jerusalem to Judea  and Samaria, and to all the nations on earth.  The long awaited New Covenant Age began with Jesus’ resurrection; and He prayed the Father to send the Holy Spirit to anoint and empower His disciples throughout all generations to complete His work, beginning with 120 believers on the Day of Pentecost (Act 2:1-4).  From that day forward, the Baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit have empowered believers.  In order to receive these priceless gifts, man must decide to make anointed decisions.

2

The Authority of the Believer

MATTHEW 28:18-20

And Jesus said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

JOHN 14:12

“If you love Me you will do the things that I have done; even greater things than these will you do, because I go to the Father.”

I JOHN 3:14

We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.

The authority you have as a believer is really so awesome that it can’t be comprehended.  With this authority, you can experience victory over evil in this life every time satan confronts you.  Remember who you are and that Christ Jesus made each day’s victories possible for you when He showed how much He loved you— because He laid down His life for you at Calvary, just as He said He would do, and passed from death to life (John 15:13; I John 3:14).  He showed us how He did it, took us with Him, and there was not one thing the devil could do about it!  You can hear His voice calling out today, “Come, follow Me” (Mark 1:17).

With this commandment, Jesus commissions every believer who will accept the assignment to do exactly the same things that He did while He was here on earth.  You may think it almost unimaginable that you have been given such authority.  Remember: the devil is also a spirit— defeated, yes, but our human flesh is ignorant and evil. All too often, we may try unsuccessfully to stand against him in the flesh.  We cannot.  The Father baptized Jesus in the Holy Spirit to empower Him before He led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days and nights (Matthew 3:16 & 4:2).  If we were fighting against a flesh and blood enemy, maybe we could outmuscle or outmaneuver him.  But, as the apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  With such a battle facing us, we need to be empowered spiritually.

Christ Jesus paid the ransom for you and me with His own blood.  We have a complete and final victory over the devil in the Spirit!  The devil knows Jesus defeated him at Calvary; however, he attacks our flesh because we allow it.  For this very reason, as we stand in awe of such authority, we know we are spirits— and that we were made in the image and after the likeness of both the Father and the Son (Genesis 1:26-27).

The Anointing Offers Us God’s Wisdom and Counsel

You and I have the intelligence to decide a thing, whether our decisions are based on fact, whims, calculation, or by consensus.  But the gift of the anointing offers us the advantage of having God’s wisdom and counsel— the good and perfect gifts of the Holy Spirit that help us make anointed decisions with the dawning of each new day.  As James 1:17 teaches, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights.

Describe your physical or custodial authority before you try to understand your spiritual authority.  We are stewards with physical authority over whatever God gives us for safekeeping.  Parents have physical authority, care and control over their children.  Employers have physical authority over employees while they are discharging their duties; medical doctors over their patients; teachers over their students; law enforcement officials over their areas of jurisdiction.  Property owners on earth have physical authority, or custodial authority, over land, homes and personal property.  By virtue of their positions, elected officials hold status authority in areas of their expertise and are required to make decisions concerning others’ lives and property.  We should always be concerned with whosoever and whatsoever things God has entrusted to us.  Jesus gave us a charge to keep.   He has commissioned us as His ambassadors to do His work.  Our commission and baptism gives us His spiritual authority and power.

Believers Have Spiritual Authority

JOHN 16:13-15

Jesus said, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own authority.  But whatever He hears He will speak, and He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.  He will glorify Me for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.  All the Father has is Mine; therefore, I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.”

EPHESIANS 6:10-18

“Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God that you may stand against the wiles of satan.  For we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against world powers and rulers— against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.  Therefore, take God’s whole armor— that you may be able to stand in that day; and, having done all to stand, stand, girded up in truth, protected by your breastplate of righteousness; with your feet shod in peace.  Take the shield of faith to quench the devil’s flaming arrows, your helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit— the Word of God, and pray at all times in the Spirit.”

Before His ascension, Jesus commissioned His disciples with the spiritual authority He had taken away from the devil at Calvary (Matthew 28:18-20).  There is much confusion today among Christians about God-given authority, even to whom Jesus was speaking in the passage.  John 17:20 helps us to understand that Jesus was not only commissioning His disciples of that day, but also “all those who believe in Me by their word” now.  In the beginning, God gave Adam dominion over all living things (Genesis 1:26-28).  He lost our dominion to satan, but Jesus regained it for us.  All commissioned believers can and should exercise their authority anywhere on earth— except on property given by God to other believers only for their safekeeping.

Abraham and Lot decided to separate themselves from one another, and Lot chose the Jordan River Valley.  But God told Abraham that all the land of Canaan belonged to him and his descendants; saying to him, “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you stand— northward, southward, eastward and westward.  For all this land you see belongs to you and your descendants…  Arise, and walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you” (Genesis 13:14-17).

Our Inheritance is What We Envision in the Spirit

A pentecostal pastor of ours once told me that I could have whatever good thing I hoped for if I had the faith to see it and believe for it.  Indeed, Psalm 37:4 confirms this.  If we delight in Him, God will give us the desires of our hearts.  Abraham was a man of faith.  Certainly he did a lot of actual walking, and surely he had good eyes.  But by his faith, he saw the promised land with spiritual eyes and he took a spiritual walk upon it.  By the faith of Abraham, you and I can bless ourselves (Genesis 12:3).  We have so much more than Abraham had—we have a risen Lord in Christ Jesus.  And He gives us a hundredfold return when the condition of our hearts, where we sow His Word, is sufficiently faithful and humbled to receive it (Mark 4:20).  Use your inheritance— the faith of one Old Covenant man, to claim your promised land, as far as you can see and walk in the spirit— your home, highways, street corners, buildings, schools your children attend, restaurants, stores where you shop, a good return on your investments— and receive the creative mind of Christ as you raise your children, enjoy career success, and experience the abundant life He gave you.

How Do We Know We Are Saved?

We need to emphasize how we know that we are saved.  We knew when we crossed over from death to life because we love the brethren (I John 3:14).  Our authority is not of the flesh— rather it is in and of the Spirit.   Not to say we don’t have authority and control in the natural over those whom marriage, government, free enterprise and the workplace, and society have placed in our care.  We surely do.  But our authority to defeat evil is spiritual.  Because our flesh may cross hairs with the flesh of the unlovely and unlikable— in the natural, we must make a big effort to let our spirit man control our actions.  We may not “like” some of our brethren; and they may not “like” us.  No matter.  Jesus never said that we had to “like” the brethren.  The question for us is always the same:  how can we make anointed decisions and exercise our God-given authority over evil?  As Jesus told us at the Last Supper, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12-14).  God has purposed to save His chosen— you, me and our brethren, each one a city, even evil Nineveh he saved (Jonah 4:11).

Your Love for the Brethren Is the Real

Test of Your Spiritual Authority on Earth

Your spiritual authority on earth is in Christ Jesus: the first New Covenant Man. Thus, Jesus established a blood covenant with you based upon your faith— not because of your unwavering obedience to the Law of Moses!  As Hebrews 12:2 teaches us, Jesus became the Author, Perfecter, and Pioneer of our faith— Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God the Father making intercession for us.

Deciding Jesus Is Lord

The New Covenant Age began for you when you knew that God the Father loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to you, because you believed in Him as Lord and Savior and believed God’s Word that you would receive eternal life in the next age (John 3:16).  You confessed with your lips and believed in your heart (Romans 10:9).  The final confirmation of who you and I are in this life was the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made for us at Calvary when He passed from death unto life.  We know what Jesus meant in John 15:13 when He teaches us that there is no greater expression of love for a man’s friends than when that man gives up his life for them.  Jesus died for us, His friends. We know that we have passed from death unto life—because we love the brethren.  We know that all of us are part of the body of Christ.  As He taught at the Last Supper in John 15:4, “Abide in Me, and I will abide in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine; neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me”.  We are the branches of the Tree of Life.

Dying to Self

Jesus wants us to be willing to help Him carry the cross.  But our cross is not one that causes us to give up our flesh to death.  Jesus did that for us!  But we must die to self—control our evil thoughts, attitudes, and actions.  If not, how can we possibly defeat the devil who will do anything and everything to appeal to our flesh and lie about the truth?  When we can effectively exercise authority over our own flesh, we will love all the brethren— including the unlovable.  We will begin to intercede for them with the Father.  And our spirit man will know with confidence that we have passed from death unto life and are saved for the next age.  When we know that we are a new man in Christ—that we are a new creation, we are ready to make anointed decisions.  The Holy Spirit assures us of this.

Jesus Made the Supreme Sacrifice

Jesus made the supreme sacrifice, the ultimate anointed decision.  He decided to give up His own life for us.  He saw man glorified.  By giving up His own life, He reclaimed all spiritual authority on earth.  By standing in proxy for us, Jesus decided a thing.  He decided to be arrested and badly beaten by the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders of His own faith for our glorification (Luke 22:52).  He saw us with Him in Zion.  The gospels vividly describe the torture Jesus was required to endure.  John 18 & 19 records where Jesus was literally paraded around from one chief priest to another for questioning, and finally sent to the high priest Caiaphas— who had given counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people (John 18:14).  Ultimately, beaten and bound, Jesus was turned over to Pontius Pilate and the Romans where He endured a mockery of a trial, during which He was scourged and ridiculed by the chants of His own people who demanded His crucifixion, and handed back over to the Jews for execution.  After being ordered to carry His own cross, He was nailed to that same cross at Golgotha, between two common thieves, where He suffered unimaginable pain and death by crucifixion.  The prophet Isaiah prophesied all of this centuries earlier (Isaiah 53:2-5).  He described this unrecognizable Man, Jesus, as He hung on His cross for us: He was a Man without form or comeliness, with such a horrible appearance to look at that men hid their faces.  He had no beauty that we should desire Him; He was a Man despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and grief.  Yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.  Upon this Man was the chastisement that made us whole, and by His stripes we are healed.

Jesus Stood in Proxy for You and Me at Calvary

We should be suffering physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain for our sins.  But Christ Jesus preferred to die to redeem us all from a final death in hell so we could be with Him in Zion.  He decided a thing:  He stood in proxy for you and me as He hung on the cross, asking the Father to forgive His captors.

The Holy Spirit Reveals to Us Our Authority

Growing in wisdom and understanding of the Kingdom of God and the nature of the new man we are in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit reveals to us the authority we have on earth.  Our Lord Jesus prayed the Father in Zion to send the Holy Spirit Who would be with us always.  Because we believe God’s Word we know we have received Him— He is in us, as He promised in John 14:23, saying, “If you love Me, you will keep My words, My Father will love you, and We will come to you and make Our home with you.”   And in John 14: 15-17, Jesus said “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  But you know Him, because He dwells with you, and will be in you.”  He reminds us of who we are.

His Staff Is His Name

Since the days of old, the staff has always been the way to recognize and identify the bearer.  It still is today.  The staff of the Lion of Judah, the Name of Jesus, is our God-given authority to confront evil on earth.  Carry His staff courageously— knowing that Christ Jesus, its true bearer, has given you the authority to use His Name.  It identifies you as one of His.

What Does It Cost When We Fail to Use Our God-given Spiritual Authority?

To address this question, look at what it cost the Israelites when they decided they could not take the promised land God had given them.   Significantly, the Israelites could have entered the promised land approximately 490 days after leaving Egypt, counting the 15-day exodus, one year at Mount Sinai, and the forty days the twelve spies were out on their reconnaissance mission.  But because they accepted the evil majority report of 10 of the 12 spies upon their return, and were afraid to go up against the nations of the land of Canaan— fearing they were not strong enough to dispossess those nations, God made them wander around in the wilderness for 40 more years.  After the 40 years, and all those who believed the majority report had died, God appointed Joshua for a big assignment.  Joshua was a man of faith and one of the two spies who issued the good minority report 40 years earlier that said that the Israelites could drive out the inhabitants of the land God had promised to give them.  Joshua was appointed to finally lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and lay claim to the promised land by meditating in the Word day and night, by being very courageous; and by  stepping  out on the promised land in the very face of the Canaanites (Joshua 1:1-9).

We Are Children of God & Children of Abraham— Jews, All of Us Spiritually

We know we are the children of God by faith; and not by our genetic bloodline that can be traced back to Noah, even to Adam.  Yes, we are in a covenant relationship  with God—by the  blood of  the New Covenant in Christ Jesus.  The key for us is putting our faith to work.  The reason Abraham is known as Father Abraham to all of us who are not Jews by nationality is because we are “Children of Abraham,” Jews by faith, and not by bloodline.  We gentiles cannot trace our genetic bloodline back to him, but the Abrahamic Covenant is one of obedience to God through our works of faith.  Spiritually, it is a blood covenant which requires the circumcision of our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6; Philippians 3:3).  In Romans 2:28-29, the Apostle Paul confirms our spiritual relationship to Abraham, saying, “For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.  He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual, and not literal.  His praise is not from men, but from God.” Our flesh cannot accept the fact that we are Jews, but since our identity as Jews is true in the spirit, surely we can understand that our authority over evil as well as all things God has entrusted to us is spiritual.  As His holy people (I Peter 2:9), this spiritual authority appears on earth as physical authority.

The Abrahamic Covenant of Faith

Is Both a Spiritual and Blood Covenant

Although you may think of the Old Covenant as a covenant based upon obedience to the Law, it is also a blood covenant.  By Abraham’s faith, children of God from all nations on earth shall bless themselves (Genesis 12:3).  So, for us children, faith-driven people, who understand how we are the children of God, brethren of Christ Jesus, we can understand why we are also descendants of Abraham spiritually.  In the same way, God refers to Jerusalem as where we reside while we walk this earth.  Why?  Because Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria, although real places in the physical realm, are generic references to where we reside temporarily on earth— whereas Zion and Mount Zion, although real places in the spiritual realm, are references to who dwells in us now and to our dwelling place in heaven.  Because we are children of God and His holy people, we can dwell in Zion at Jerusalem each and every day (Isaiah 30:19).

Use Your Spiritual Authority on Earth

You are a city dweller in Zion.  Because of where you dwell and who you are, you can enter into the Father’s throne room anytime.  While you are there communicating with Him, discuss with Him the realm of your authority in the earth— in the presence of our High Priest and Intercessor Christ Jesus.  He opened the door for you to enter, saying, “Ask, seek, knock, and the door will be opened for you and you will receive strength for the battle that you will fight against the devil when you return to Jerusalem” (Matthew 7:7).  You will be able to stand when you return to earth having put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11); and will be able to show yourself strong in the very face of the enemy.  By faith, you will dispossess satan from your land, married to Beulah Land in Mount Zion, and your territory and possessions God has entrusted to you for safekeeping; and you will be enabled and empowered to repossess your land and territory that he stole from you or you gave over to him in your ignorance (Proverbs 6:31).

Our War Is Always in the Spirit

EPHESIANS 6:12

“We are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places…”

You often hear people say, preachers preach, believers proclaim, “we give the devil too much credit.” We certainly need to control our flesh and not yield to temptation.  As Ephesians 6 teaches, the devil is the problem.  He is the antagonist.  If we are having trouble keeping our flesh under control, we are still struggling with our “New Man” identity, behaving as our old man.  We will falter and each time need forgiveness, but the very moment we receive the self-assurance that we are a new creation, the old man has passed away, and the “New Man” is in control of our life, we can begin our victorious defense and attack against satan.  It’s far, far too easy to say, “the devil made me do it;” and almost in the next breath, “we give the devil too much credit.” Of course, “the devil made me do it.”  The question we must ask ourselves, “What are we going to do about it?”  We cannot allow the devil to take anything from us.  We need to catch him in the act.

You Can Expect Evil to Show His Face When You Believe You Are a New Creation

We all must face up to what the Holy Spirit desires for us to discover about ourselves.  Psalm One is an excellent self-examination.  Verse 1 asks us to examine our relationships and how we feel about our own brethren.  Has anything changed?  Or, “Am I still walking in the counsel of the ungodly; standing in the way of sinners; or, sitting in the seat of the scornful?”  And if we say, “No, I’m not doing those things any longer;” then we must declare ourselves to be the willing and greatly blessed vessel of Christ, as well as the condition thereof as described in Psalm 1: 2-3, “My delight is in the Word of the Lord, and in His Word do I meditate day and night.  I am like a tree planted by rivers of water, that yields its fruit in its season; and my leaf does not wither.  And whatsoever I do shall prosper.”

If we can declare the truth about ourselves by using Psalm l as our self-examination and a daily confession, then we are indeed a new creation and ready to engage in battle against evil.  We can recognize our enemy even when he disguises himself as a friend.

Placing Ourselves in Our Christian Walk

Once we place ourselves, and know that we are a new man in Christ Jesus, we can begin to understand and use our spiritual authority on earth; and experience how God intends for us to exercise that authority over all our territory here in the earth.  And as we do, we can understand why it was necessary for Jesus to come to earth, show mankind how to live again; and to regain the God-given dominion on earth He intended, purposed, and declared for man to have and use in the beginning.  It begins with our understanding that God desires to prosper us.  He has appointed each of us to experience Beulah Land on earth; and reap the benefits of a purposeful life.  He is counting on us to fulfill His declared purpose for our lives and His expectations of us here on earth (Isaiah 55:ll).

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Pioneers in Restoring Our Beulah Land

Some might say, “The promised land in the Bible is not our land.  We live in the United States.”  And if we look at it only in this sense— in the physical realm of things composed of matter that our physical senses understand, in the natural or in the flesh, we can easily conclude that, of course, no land in Israel or the Middle East is physically ours.  But God does not operate “in the flesh”.  This is why it is so important that we look at what God really meant spiritually when He gave the promised land to Abraham and his descendants.

We Have Dominion on Earth, Period!

The truth is that we have dominion on earth, period!  God has given this authority to man.  Sure, it is understandable that each of us has authority in our own homes and over our own possessions.  Husbands and fathers, we better know that.  But if we will, we also have authority over the roads and highways we travel; the schools our children attend; the place where the school bus stops to pick up and drop off students; the stores and parking areas where we shop, the hospitals and medical centers we use each and every day; and, yes, over our community resources that we share with our fellow man.  All this is our Beulah Land, our territory.  And we must exercise our God-given claim over our territory.  What will it require for us to exercise dominion?  Believing God’s Word!   God told Adam and Eve to not only take dominion over all living things that moved on the earth, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, He told them to subdue the earth and replenish it from its void state.

Our Land Is Married, Our Decisions Anointed

ISAIAH 62:4

“You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.  You shall no longer be known as ‘forsaken’ nor shall your land be‘ desolate’; but you shall be called, ‘Hephzibah’, ‘My Delight is in Her’ and your land, ‘Beulah’ for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be Married.”

Perhaps the most difficult thing for us to understand is marriage; and what happens when marriage unites two people together as one body—whether husband and wife or Christ and the church body.  Such a union also marries the properties of the two together so that the land and everything they “own” on earth becomes one land.  Such is the spirit of oneship we feel when Christ Jesus is our threefold cord (Ecclesiastes 4:12).  We are “Hephzibah” in God’s eyes—married to His Son.  When we can see Beulah Land, we can also see what God intends the New Jerusalem and New Judea-Samaria to become.

Seek the truth for yourself in His Word and ask God to reveal it.  Understanding that you are married to Christ Jesus, spiritually, having become part of His body—one, in the eyes of God, you can perceive that He has declared your own “Jerusalem” to be a mirror image of His Holy Mount Zion.  You decide these things on earth by putting on the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5 & 4:7).

We Are Restorers of the Breach

Since sweet Beulah Land is our final resting place, as New Covenant believers, (Isaiah 58:12) we find ourselves in a restoration role while we are on earth.  Look closely at the restoration role played by the following Old Testament pioneers who were used by God at just the right time.  They decided a thing in the physical realm, but they used their spiritual authority to make anointed decisions so Beulah Land could be restored here on earth.

Joshua: Chosen by God to Lead

Joshua was the man God chose to lead the Israelites across the River Jordan and into the promised land—on earth.  Remember: instead of the 13-15 months they spent on Mount Sinai after leaving Egypt, the Israelites were required to wander 40 years in the wilderness due to their doubt and unbelief.  Joshua 1: 2-9 records the covenant God made with Joshua; and three commands God gave Joshua when He appointed him to succeed Moses, and lead the Israelites into the “Promised Land”.  Each command carried with it actions required of Joshua, together with God’s assurance of success:

1.     “Arise and go over the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them.  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to them, as I promised Moses.  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, I will be with you—I will not fail you or forsake you;

2.     Meditate in this Book of the Law day and night, and do not let it depart out of your mouth, being careful to do all that is written in it.  For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success;

3.     Be strong and very courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to your fathers to give them.  Be not frightened or dismayed, for the Lord God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua wisely took three days to plan, making all necessary preparations before he tackled the assignment God had given him.  He did not want the same thing to happen as did 40 years before—when, despite God’s word that the promised land belonged to them, the Israelites accepted an evil majority report by ten of the twelve spies.  They told of the people of the land as being much too strong for them.  They said the land could not be taken.  Joshua knew that any doubt or unbelief on his part or by his commanders would result in more punishment.  Joshua believed God when he accepted the appointment, and followed his instructions—knowing, in faith, God had promised the land to Abraham and his descendants.

We Are Expected To Serve God and Help Lead the Brethren

Like Joshua, you have been called to lead the brethren God has given to you—across the River Jordan, into Beulah Land on earth, and into a mature understanding of the power of the anointing.  Open your spiritual eyes that you may see where the Father and the Son reside permanently; and use your spiritual ears to hear Jesus calling you to lead.  God has searched your heart and found you to be a willing vessel—whose heart is penitent, whose eyes of faith see Beulah Land, ever seeking His Word, meditating on it day and night, listening for His voice, showing courage to confront evil, loving your disciples (Joshua 1:8; II Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 19:14).

Nehemiah: Anointed to Rebuild Jerusalem

Nehemiah knew he was the one God had chosen to spearhead a rescue and rebuild mission—to rescue a remnant of the children of Israel who had remained in Jerusalem during the Assyrian captivity over 100 years before; and to rebuild and reconstitute the city.  This contingent of Jews was living shamefully and virtually unprotected with even the city gates having been destroyed by fire.

The Joy of the Lord Is Our Strength

James 1:2 tells us, “Count it all joy when you meet various trials, for you know that the test of your faith produces steadfastness.” Nehemiah not only made an anointed decision, he made it with great joy!  He used this divine joy to encourage the Jews while they were rebuilding Jerusalem, despite the perils they faced.  We now find ourselves in Nehemiah’s shoes, because a lot of restoration work must be done before the New Jerusalem is fully restored and reconstituted (Nehemiah 8:10).

Like Nehemiah, we know that our leadership task will be difficult.  Sometime, like Nehemiah, we find that the brethren God has commanded us to help are living in a troubled  state, with the walls of their once proud city broken down—and their gates open to merciless attacks by the enemy.  We have been called to rebuild and reconstitute the City of Jerusalem, spiritually, with the joy of the Lord as our strength—remembering that each one of His children is a city in God’s eyes.  He has called each of us to serve Him with joy, no matter how tough it may seem.  We will discharge our assignment with great joy.

Esther: Chosen at Just Such a Time as This

Esther’s story shows how God’s time is not man’s time.  He needs us at His perfect time—His time certain, to accomplish His purpose on earth.  Esther reminds us of the powerful effect of our own decrees made as kings, when sealed by the signet ring of King Jesus—in the Name of Jesus.  As we remember Esther, we must also recall what God declared in Isaiah 55:11: “My Word shall not return to Me void; but it shall accomplish what I purposed it to do.  And it shall prosper the thing in which I sent it.”  The thing is a willing vessel—us!  Her story is really our story.  It has everything we need to show us obedience, ready at His time certain to carry out His perfect will—even save a nation!  As her story unfolds, we find Esther becoming queen in a way that only God could have orchestrated.  For whatever reasons Queen Vashti, Persian King Xerxes’ wife, refused to appear at a big state banquet even when he commanded her to do so.  So the king removed her; and proclaimed that beautiful your virgins be sought out and brought before him that he might select one to be his new queen.

Esther 2:7 tells us that Esther was a beautiful young maiden—who just happened to be “in the right place at the right time”.  After her parents died, she had been raised by an uncle, Mordecai—whose great grandfather had been one of those Jews who had been exiled by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.  As we read her story, it becomes evident that Mordecai believed that Esther’s selection would bring favor upon the Jews, and decided that Esther should be among the maidens to be brought before the king for his consideration— warning her not to tell the king of her Jewish family heritage.  As God had planned it and Esther willingly decided to obey, she was chosen by the king as his new queen, gaining the most favored treatment of all the maidens who came before the king.

Still, the king did not know of her Jewish ancestry.  In the course of time, it was discovered that Mordecai would not bow down or do obeisance to the chief prince, Haman, as the king had ordered—at Haman’s request.  Haman, upon hearing that Mordecai was a Jew, sought to destroy all the Jews and was given permission by the king to do so to all who refused to do obeisance to him (Esther 3:2-11).  This prompted Mordecai to ask Esther to intervene on behalf of the Jewish nation, imploring her to do so by his question, “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).  And Esther decided to obey.  As only God could have directed, Haman went after Mordecai to have him hanged, was exposed, and Haman himself went to the gallows instead.  Upon her request of the king and his approval, King Xerxes issued another decree, giving Mordecai and Esther permission to seal his decree with the king’s signet ring, “And you may write as you please regarding the Jews, in the name of the king; for a decree written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked” (Esther 8:8).  Thus, the Jews who were to be persecuted became the victors; Mordecai was rewarded by the king, elevated in rank to become next to the king in authority, becoming great in the eyes of his brethren, and seeking welfare for the Jews and peace for all of the Persian Empire.

Three Principles at Work in the Story of Esther

Thus, we find three important principles in the story of Esther which were at work then as now— what God has declared as done will be done:

(1)   At God’s time certain to carry out

His perfect will through us;

(2)   The Signet Ring seals our anointed decisions

(In the Name of Jesus);

(3)    We are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

David: Anointed by God as King & Priest

Anointed to serve, we find ourselves in the position of David, whose kingdom had been located at Hebron due to the defeat of Israel and Saul by the

Philistines. He had been anointed by God, and now by the elders of Israel as King of Israel, to lead all Israel in the capture of Jerusalem away from the Jebusites.  David's anointing by God was spiritual, occurring long before he would actually be anointed and crowned by the people as their king.  So David captured Jerusalem by the City of David, i.e., Bethlehem, where he dwelled in the stronghold of God—spiritually dwelling in Zion.  And from whence he captured the city from the millo, and roundabout, (I Chronicles 11:8).

David Built a Spiritual Highway

What David did is a microcosm of what God has declared as done in Zion; and He wants us to be instrumental in getting it done for Him.  He desires for Zion and Jerusalem to be linked together by the highway as recorded in Isaiah 35.  God sees Jerusalem as a mirror image of Zion—and Judea-Samaria as a mirror image of Mount Zion.

Our responsibility is to do what we are commissioned to do as kings and priests to make Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria holy—to see them married to Mount Zion.  God anoints us to decide this thing.  His desire is for this to happen where we live in the earth now, in this time-- for our homes, our towns, our workplaces and all of our dominion.  It is His time certain.  He is a God of the now.

The Davidic Covenant: We Are Kings and Priests in God’s Eyes

This is who we are in God’s eyes: “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that we may declare the wonderful deeds of Him Who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9).    David was not only anointed as King of Israel, but he also performed priestly duties usually performed by the Levites.  He desired to build a temple unto the Lord; and he blessed the people while they were assembled together.

King David’s role as priest tells us much about the nature of the Davidic Covenant, and insight into what our responsibilities are today as 21st century kings and priests.  As recorded in II Samuel 6:18, when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the Name of the Lord of Hosts.  II Samuel 7:12-17 tells us that the Davidic Covenant is a forever covenant, assuring us that we are also royalty.  Psalm 110, written by King David, unmistakably gives the Melchizedek Priesthood to the Davidic King in verse four, the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”  We know that David’s revelation knowledge is confirmed in Hebrews 5:6, 10.  As recorded in II Samuel 8:18, the Bible also tells us that David’s sons were priests.  These references are prophecy because Jesus is the Son of David—and so are we, by adoption.  Just as when David was anointed by the prophet Samuel as King of Israel during Saul’s reign, long before he was actually crowned (I Samuel 16: 1-13), Jesus required no formal crowning to be anointed both king and priest (I Peter 2:9).   But, as Jesus proclaimed when He was on trial before Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), we must also realize that our kingdom is not of this world.  We are strangers in this land (Psalm 119:19); and our royal priesthood is not earthly.  We are anointed by God as kings and priests in the same way our Lord Jesus was anointed and is both the King of kings and the Lord of lords, forever!  Ours is a spiritual anointing, as was our Lord’s—as was David’s when Samuel anointed him King of Israel.

We can Experience the Highway

That David Built in the Spirit

When David connected Bethlehem, known thereafter as the City of David, with Jerusalem, he was actually constructing a physical connection between the two cities—a highway, just like a road construction we see occurring everyday in the natural, physical world where we find ourselves in the present age.  But the New Covenant is all about things we can experience in the Spirit.  We need to pay very close attention to how David connected these cities. He built a highway, captured and repopulated Jerusalem—through the millo and roundabout.  Jerusalem was virtually an impregnable city at the time, and was occupied by a substantial Jebusite armed force—many of whom were lame and blind (II Samuel 5:6-8).  They did not think David could take their city, but they were wrong.   David’s highway is ours to use today in dispossessing any enemy we face who dares to occupy our Jerusalem.

Historians have concluded that, to take the city, David and his men found a natural fault line used as a tunnel to provide the city with water from Gihon Spring, penetrated the spring, and crept along the tunnel; and climbed up the water shaft and entered the city from within—catching the Jebusite defenders by complete and utter surprise.

II Samuel 5:6-9 describes it like this: And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, because the blind and lame will ward you off,” thinking “David cannot come in here.”  Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the City of David.  And David said on that day, “Whoever would smite the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul.”  Therefore, it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into David’s house.”  And David dwelled in the stronghold, and called it the City of David.  And David built the city roundabout and from the millo inward, encircling the Jebusites.

The Mark of Cain on the Jebusites?

Genesis 4:8-16

After Cain had slain his brother Abel, God cursed him from the ground…And Cain said, “Behold, this day thou has driven me away from the ground, and I shall be hidden from Thy face; and I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth.  My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Whoever finds me will slay me.  Then the Lord said to him.  “Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”  And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.  Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord.

We know from Judges 1:21, that the Jebusites, who were probably of Hittite origin, were not driven out of the city by David—remaining there until this day.  So, what can we conclude from what occurred?  Historians debate this, but this writer believes that through genetic tracing, the Jebusites bore the mark of Cain, who went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelled in the land of Nod after slaying his brother Abel (Genesis 4:15-16).  God promised them protection (verse 15), and this may be why the Jebusites felt that they were protected from harm by David—because they bore Cain’s mark, were blind and lame; and why they believed that David obviously would not kill them.  Yet, David did not want any trace of blindness and lameness in his house, accounting for his decision to terrace the hillsides outside of the city, and reconstitute and repopulate the city from roundabout inward (II Samuel 5:9).  Therefore, even though David allowed the Jebusites to remain in Jerusalem, he kept them away from Jewish settlements by deciding to repopulate Jerusalem from roundabout inward—meaning that by terracing the hillsides surrounding the city, and filling them in, the Jewish settlements would be separated from the Jebusites, preventing them from mixing with the Jews.

The Devil Cannot Win in Our Promised Land

ISAIAH 35:8

A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and fools shall not err therein.

JOHN 10:2-9

Jesus said, “He who enters Zion by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep.  To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.  When He has brought out all His Own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice…I am the Door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and delivered from his enemies.  And he will go into Zion and go out again, and he will find good pasture in Jerusalem.”

So what can we learn from David’s capture of the city of Jerusalem?  First, we are the redeemed of the Lord; and our responsibility is to locate the spiritual highway between Zion and Jerusalem so that we may travel back and forth.

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Dispossession and Repossession

Beulah Land on earth is our promised land.  Just as God intends for all His children to embrace His Son and accept His hand in marriage (Matthew 22:1-14; Isaiah 62:4; Revelation 19: 9), He has also declared our promised land on earth to be married—to Beulah Land on Mount Zion, making the land in heaven and on earth one land.  He desires for us to enjoy oneship in Him and Christ Jesus; and experience the joy and fulfillment of a new Garden of Eden, a new Jerusalem and Judea, a new Samaria on earth.  From the moment God completed His creation, knowing Lucifer and his demonic army of fallen angels were walking to and fro, up and down on the earth (Job 2:2), He knew that the man He had created, Adam, would be tempted by evil.

This is what the Beulah Land restoration process is about.  Yes, Adam fell from grace, and the devil took man’s dominion away from him.  But, thanks to Christ Jesus Who defeated evil at Calvary and reclaimed dominion over evil—and gave us a New Covenant in a New Age, we can reclaim every inch of the promised land from satan.  We will never be complete in ourselves unless and until we drive the enemy completely out of our very precious Beulah Land.  Wearing our battle armor (Ephesians 6: 11-18), we can and must dispossess the enemy from our cherished land, resources, and institutions God has given us as His stewards while we are on the earth in this age.  God has given us the opportunity to restore Beulah Land on earth; and, with this restoration, win back to Him our children, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and finances the devil has stolen from us.

Dispossessing the Enemy:

Driving Him Out of Our Promised Land

NUMBERS 21:31-35

Thus, Israel dwelled in the land of the Amorites.  And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took its villages; and dispossessed the Amorites that were there.  Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and King Og and all the people came out against them.  But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him and all the people into your hand.”  So they slew him and his sons, and all the people, until there was no survivor left; and they possessed the land.

ISAIAH 54:2-3

Thus says the Lord, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide and do not hold back…For you will spread out to the right and to the left.  Your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.”

Brethren, understand that we have a defeated enemy force that continues to occupy our promised land.  Although Jesus paid the ransom the Law had required with His Own blood, and which the spiritual powers had previously enforced, until satan is driven out we will continue to be plagued with sickness, disease, drugs, crime and all those things that are under the curse of the Law.  Satan knows that God has built a hedge of protection around our dominion (Job 1:10), ever-expanding as our faith in His Word grows.  Our question is plain: “Do I have the courage to catch the thief and prevent him from stealing the goods God gave me—even casting him out while he poaches on my very own promised land?”  Some may ask, “Why not just ask God to rebuke the devourer?”  There’s nothing wrong with prayer.  Praying in the Spirit, under the power of the anointing, and speaking with authority to evil moves mountains (Luke 17:6; Ephesians 6:18).  God expects us to act upon our faith, catch the thief, and make him repay seven times (James 2:17; Proverb 6:31).

I Would Have Come Sooner, but I Was Detained

DANIEL 10:12-13

Then the man said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, O man greatly beloved, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before God, your words have been heard—and I have come because of your words.  The prince of the kingdom of Persia detained me for twenty-one days until Michael came to help me.”

Several years ago my wife prayed earnestly about a certain matter.  She had prayed for it in faith, believing that she had received what she asked for. And she saw it manifested on earth with her spiritual eyes.  Since it was a relatively minor request for goods to come to her, she knew that she would surely receive the goods sooner rather than later.  She had carefully sought God first (Matthew 6:33); and she knew that God intended for her to have the desires of her heart (Psalm 37:4).  And before she presented her written petition to the Father, she had asked penitently for His forgiveness of her sins and her body to be cleansed with the blood of the Lamb.  She declared it all done, and waited patiently for the thing to appear on earth.

Weeks passed, then months.  My wife’s “apparently unanswered prayer” petition was still in her prayer book, opened where all the angels who read it could run to get it done (Habakkuk 2:2).  But the thing had not appeared on earth.  Then one night she had a dream; and in the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to her saying, “Daughter of Zion, your prayer request that you made of the Father has been answered.  I would have come sooner with your answered prayer for the thing to be manifested on earth, but I was detained.”  And suddenly she was awake.  In just a few days she received with great joy her request of the Father, and saw it appear on earth as a good gift from God.  She pondered in her heart what the angel had said about being detained.  Then she remembered.  She had prayed in her English language—but never in the spirit, in her prayer language, about the thing she had hoped for.  She now knew the enemy had intercepted her prayer in her English language—because he, too, understood it, and prevented it from getting to the Father.  She learned a hard lesson; some things we pray for require the full armor of God to get to and from Zion.

We are fighting a spiritual war on earth.  The thief is both here on earth and in the heavenlies.  Just as what occurred with the prophet Daniel when he was touched by a vision and told by an angel that he had been detained (Daniel 10:5-15), my wife knew that a similar thing had occurred with her prayer.  Although God deeply desires that we prosper, we do not always receive our needs or what we hope for when we are praying with our understanding—in our native language.  As the Apostle Paul teaches us, we need to pray and sing with our understanding and in the Spirit (I Corinthians 14:15).

Following Paul’s teaching in this matter, pray both ways as we praise and worship God—thanking Him for being our Creator and the source of all good and perfect gifts given from above by the Father of Lights (James 1:17).  We do not know what may be happening in the spiritual realm as we pray.  But if for any reason our prayers are not being answered, and we know that what we are praying for is in His perfect will, something is amiss and our prayer language is needed.   We need to experience the results we hoped for.  Sometimes our own sin, guilt and doubt prevents us from basking in the glory of   God’s presence—and we should be aware that only a mature Christian walk will dispossess the devil from our territory.  In such cases, we need to put on the full armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11-18).  We must realize we are going up against a strong man—against the principalities, against the powers and world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Repossessing: The Sevenfold Return

PROVERBS: 6:30-31

Do not men despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry?  And if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give up all the goods of his house.

Look closely at circumstances and situations when the thief has stolen your goods, killed your joy, and destroyed your hope (John 10:10).  Admit it—he has done it, mostly because you were afraid to confront him.  Starting today, you can repossess all the things he has taken from you.  The Bible says you can if you will!  Jesus has already reclaimed your goods!  But it is presumptuous to think you can simply pray and expect them to be returned.  If you doubt your faith in God’s Word or are unwilling to confront the enemy, he will continue to hold your goods hostage.  Christ Jesus won the battle for you at Calvary, but you must face the enemy now!  Take back what belongs to you in the Name of Jesus.

The highway to Zion is for believers only; we will not err therein.  The unclean cannot pass over it.  We are guaranteed access now in the Spirit (Isaiah 35).  Surely the cherubim guard access to it just as God assigned them to do over the Garden of Eden to prevent Adam’s access to the Tree of Life after his fall (Genesis 3:24).

We are reminded of Joshua’s instructions to the officers of the Hebrew nation in Joshua 1:11: “Pass through the camp, and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in and take possession of the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess’. “  Joshua had been chosen by God as the Commander-in-Chief of the nation.  Today’s application?  We know that with the change in the priesthood and Jesus as our High Priest now, we are both kings and priests in Zion—under the authority of Christ Jesus, King of kings, Lord of lords (I Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14, 19:16).

Because of who you are in Christ Jesus, you do not need to tolerate the devil’s presence anywhere in your promised land.  When he appears on the scene, recognize him and regard him as an unwelcome, uninvited intruder in Jerusalem who still occupies your land, and would have you believe that he belongs; but satan has no claim to your goods or to your land.  Therefore, dispossess him and his band of demons, and drive him out.    We  can  “Mount up to Zion”whenever we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He will take us up.

Spiritual Authority Wherever We Go

HEBREWS 1:1-3

God has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholds all things by His Word of Power—when He had by Himself purged our sins, and sat down on the right hand of the Most High God.

Spiritual authority on earth can be given only by Christ Jesus.  During the Old Covenant, there was no savior on earth.  The devil was free to dislodge and overcome the authority of kings and priests established by God.  Satan had been given supreme authority on earth by Adam—including dominion over all the animals of the earth; and, he boldly used his bravado, bringing charges against each and every man and woman.  God was bound by His Own Word, so no matter what animal was offered to God as a sacrifice, its blood was polluted and could not atone  for man’s sins.  No matter how much faith our Old Covenant heroes demonstrated, even with the power of God’s anointing given to select servants of God for specific assignments, the human race was condemned.  Armed with the power and authority to condemn the entire human race, satan tempted our Lord Jesus during the 40 days He spent in the desert after His baptism by offering Him authority over all the kingdoms of the world.  One of Jesus’ three temptations, we hear satan speaking to Jesus in Luke 4: 5-6, and the devil took him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to Him, “To You I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.  If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be Yours.”  But Jesus used the Word against him, saying, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve’.”

When and How Does Evil Enter into Our Lives?

The devil’s three temptations failed while Jesus was in the wilderness because of the Word of God and the holiness of Jesus.  Satan realized that he had no charge to bring against Jesus, and no sin to report to God.  Yet, when he departed from Jesus, he looked for another opportunity to tempt Him (Luke 4:13).  But the devil would never enjoy such success against our Lord Jesus—because he was attacking His flesh.  When Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit, He received and was filled with divine spiritual power more than sufficient to bring down the strongholds of evil (Luke 3:21; II Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:11).  Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 4:1); and He returned to Galilee after His 40 day ordeal in the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit, having been anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty all who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:14-19).

The problem satan faced was a spiritual one.  In attempting to find a chink in Jesus’ physical senses, he ran head-on into the empowered Son of the Living God.  After His Baptism in the Holy Spirit and His Father’s voice of approval (Luke 3:22), Jesus was equipped with spiritual weapons of warfare that satan could not match—He was dressed in the whole armor of God (II Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:10-18); and He used the sword of the Spirit—the power of the Word (verse 17) against him.

The Battle Belongs to God: We Must Take Our Position

II CHRONICLES 20:15-17

“Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat!  Fear not and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  Tomorrow go down against them; behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.  You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf…Fear not and do not be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them and the Lord will be with you.”

Three years after Jesus’ wilderness trial satan would surrender all his power and authority to Him at Calvary; and, before He ascended, Jesus gave us His spiritual authority in the earth (Matthew 28:18-20).  A defeated devil has been relegated to counterattacks against you and me—the disciples of Christ Jesus in the Kingdom.  The devil has already lost!  We must always remember this truth, and be willing to confront him whenever he launches his counterattacks.  The battle belongs to God.  But He expects us to take our position, and dressed in the whole armor of God, show ourselves to the enemy.

Study II Chronicles 20 closely.  The Word of God came to King Jehoshaphat and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem—through the prophet, Jahaziel (verse 14).  And the king believed the Word of God.  He had his army “take a position” in full battle armor, and show themselves to the enemy.  He made sure that his army understood what would be required, in faith, to win the battle.  On the morning of the battle, Jehoshaphat told the people to “Believe God, and you will be established, believe the prophets and you will succeed” (verse 20).

The Holy Spirit is speaking to us today in a similar manner—telling us not to fear because the battle is His, but to “take our position”, confronting the enemy in full battle armor.  This Jehoshaphat lesson is prophetic and vitally important for us.  God wants to establish us as warriors.  He wants us to succeed.  Each time the enemy comes, we must decide victory.  In the Spirit we will not be required to fight a defeated enemy, but we must take our position and stand.  God assures us that the battle is His, He even tells us where the enemy can be found.  He is Jehovah Nissi—our Banner.

When Do We Receive the Anointed Power of the Lord?

ACTS 1:8

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Day of Pentecost must have brought quite an exciting culmination of the faith of believers in the early church.  When Jesus told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8), great expectations were surely in the minds and hearts of the faithful.  But they had no idea how this power would be manifested.  So, 40 days later, when 120 believers were gathered together in the upper room of the house where they were staying, they must have been in great awe at what occurred.  As recorded in Acts 2:1-4, there was a rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And suddenly, there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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Anointed Sowers Are Abundant Reapers

The Word of Power Births Anointed Sowers and Abundant Reapers

MATTHEW 9:36-38

When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, for they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.”

Make a distinction concerning power and authority now.  Acceptance of Jesus as your savior, and knowing that you love the brethren gives you the authority needed on earth today, to praise, worship, teach, counsel, administer, and help others through intercession with the Father to sow and reap.  Each of these activities requires you to decide a thing.  The harvest is filled with Christians, but too few are seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Some are carrying around their “old man,” hanging on to their old habits, counselors, and circle of friends.  Like the multitude that Jesus had compassion for in Matthew 9:36, they are not growing into maturity as God intends them to do in order to prosper.  They have not sown the Word in their hearts.  Jesus envisioned them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  He wanted them to have spiritual power.

Are you living in abundance?  Jesus desires for all of us who are mature in Him to activate our own spiritual senses, receive the power of the anointing—and make anointed decisions to lead the “harassed” and the helpless to the feeding trough, so they can receive Christ Jesus in all His glory—so they can live the abundant life for which Jesus came to earth to give them.  God looks for Word sowers.  Sowers of the Word are always abundant reapers.

Three Principles of Sowing and Reaping

MATTHEW 9:36

And when Jesus saw the multitudes, He had great compassion for them because they were distressed and lying like helpless sheep without a shepherd.

GALATIANS 6:7

Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked.  Whatever a man sows, he shall also reap.

AMOS 9:13

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed…”

By faith, a growing number of Christians are anointed with power today—and even more are seeking the anointing.  These believers are the laborers God trusts to get the job done—anointed sowers who will serve and lead the brethren, for truly God needs more laborers.  In the Parable of the Sower, as recorded for us in Mark 4:1-20, Jesus provides us with an excellent vision of what happens

when an anointed sower plants the Word of truth in his own heart and in the hearts of willing vessels he is discipling.  Otherwise the harvest will not be produced.  This valuable lesson shows three essential principles of sowing and reaping:

(1)   The Seed is always the Word of God, and it must be sown in fertile ground to produce;

(2)         God searches for the fertile ground of a man’s heart, and sows His Word into the heart of whosoever has the faith to receive it;

(3)   Because we are children of Abraham, by using our faith in the same manner in which he used his, our own faith at work will yield the harvest we desire—for both the Shepherd and the sheep.  And what things can we expect to receive from God as we reap?  All the things we hope for.  That’s right!  Our rate of return is based on the strength of our faith.

Sowers

Who is an anointed sower?  Paul teaches us in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”  Jesus had compassion over the multitudes because they appeared to be harassed and helpless, as sheep without a shepherd—and they listened.  Romans 10:14 addresses this question, ”How can we hear without a preacher?” The real questions for each of us who desires to be a sower of the Word are, “Am I sowing the Word in my own life?” and “Will I teach and disciple others?”  Surely someone prayed, declared, and proclaimed over us when we too were “drinking milk”. When we are obedient to God and willingly accept the commission given to us by Christ Jesus Himself to do His work on earth, Amos 9:13, assures us: “The day is coming when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed.”

Using the Word of Power in

Sowing and Reaping

ACTS 1:8

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Just as God gave Moses a rod that he used against Pharaoh—even to part the Red Sea, when any believer receives the Baptism in the Holy Spirit the Father gives whosoever it may be a rod—that is the amazing Word of Power, the Name of Jesus, available whenever and wherever the creative force of the Word is needed to decide a thing.

Do you want a 100-fold return?  Decide to use the rod in your hand—the Word of Power, i.e., the Name of Jesus, in sowing the Word and reaping the harvest.  At the Last Supper our Lord Jesus prayed the Father to give us all that the Father had given to Him (John 16:14-15), making us joint heirs with Him in the Kingdom of God (Romans 8:17); and Christ Jesus has commanded us to use His Name in prayer (John 14: 13-14 and 16:23-24)—to the glory of the Father.  Further, in his letters to the Ephesians and Philippians, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the use of Jesus’ Name in exercising dominion on earth, including confrontations with evil.

Paul teaches us in Ephesians 1:20-23, “God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, and made Him sit at His right hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority,  power, and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  And He has put all things under His feet, and has made Him the head over all things for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.”      In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul teaches us again about the Name of Jesus, “God the Father has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth; and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  His Name is your authority on earth.

Just as when God anointed others in the Old Testament, He anointed Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit at the River Jordan, immediately when he came up after John the Baptist had baptized Him with water.  This was no ordinary anointing.  The anointing God gave His Son Jesus was so powerful that the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness thereafter to be tempted by the devil.  In many ways, Jesus’ Baptism in the Holy Spirit is difficult to understand.  Here was the Son of Whom the Father was very well pleased.  You are also a child of God with the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you, prompting you to use the Name of Jesus.  God is searching for sons and daughters who are willing, able, and trustworthy vessels.  Signing on requires a commitment.

Be willing to assure God He can trust you—that you will gladly decide to accept your commission from Christ Jesus, and agree to do whatever God asks while here on earth to ensure that His Word will not return to Him empty; that through us it will accomplish His declared purpose (Isaiah 55:11).  It means that you bind up false testimonies, bad teaching, associations—any force contrary to God’s perfect will (II Corinthians 10:4).  The Parable of the Talents teaches us what God expects us to do with the Word He gives us (Matthew 25:14-30).

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Binding and Loosing Principles

MATTHEW 18:18-19

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you if two of you agree on anything they ask, it will be done for you by your Father in heaven.”

We begin learning these principles when we understand that evil things must be bound up and good things must be loosed before the vision we hope for can be manifested.  Make no mistake—the strong man must be bound up and the powers of evil dispossessed, because the devil and his demons occupy our promised land as unwelcome squatters.  Our goods that the devil has stolen from us must be repossessed—that is, loosed, to return to us.  We go to Zion to tackle this task on earth.  And while we are there, we get prepared to discuss the mountain—i.e., identify whatever the obstacle is, and get God’s help removing it.  That means we must bind whatever or whoever put it there; and loose what belongs to us.  Jesus has already done this for us in Zion.  But we must receive what He did, recognize our authority on earth and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to make spiritual decisions.

We should know that no decision we make in the natural with our flesh in charge can stand against the powers of evil in the world.  We will never be strong enough in the flesh to defeat the devil.  Fear pervades our physical senses when we try to use our physical authority to drive out evil.  We may have our salvation; we may love the brethren; we may go to church every Sunday; we may tithe and give to the church and other causes regularly; we may say we have great faith in God; we may even spend time every day meditating in the Word.  But if we want our decisions to stand against the wiles of the devil, we must be empowered by the Holy Spirit so that no weapon formed against us can prosper (Isaiah 54:17).

Establishing and Protecting Our Vision

Habakkuk 2:2-3

And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

Any anointed decision begins with a vision of the thing we hope for.  This requires us to be in the Spirit realm and use our spiritual senses.  Believers need the Baptism in the Holy Spirit to establish and protect the vision God gives them.  Write down your vision; make it plain and place it where the angels can see it, seal it with the Name of Jesus.

Remember: seal your vision with the Name of Jesus, your Signet Ring, and pray in the Spirit.

When “Ask, Ask, Ask” is Insufficient

All believers desire to be part of a praying church.  However, if we just keep “asking, asking and asking”, for the thing we desire, we are destined to remain as spiritual babies on a diet of “milk” only, with no solid food of the Word, no evidence of growth—virtually unable to help ourselves and of little use to the Kingdom of God.  We know that our faith comes from hearing and receiving the revelation knowledge of the Word; and the Word from the testimony of believers and what is taught, preached and applied to our own circumstances.  The Apostle Paul makes this point in I Corinthians 3:2, as does the Apostle Peter in I Peter 2:2.  Christ Jesus, our teacher, wants us to believe the Word of God, love Him as He loves us and gave His life for us, and obey His commandments by doing the things that He did; and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Him.  (II Peter 3:18, John 14:12)

In Matthew 7:7-11, during His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs us regarding three aspects of prayer, which are: ask, seek, and knock.  Jesus said unto His disciples, “Ask and the thing you ask for shall be given unto you; seek and you shall find the truth, the way, and the abundant life; knock, and the doors of Zion shall be opened for you—even the door to My Father’s throne room.  For what man is there of you if your son asks for bread will give him a stone, or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, evil in your thoughts and ways, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to you who ask Him?”

As all of us mature, we meditate in the Word much more, and experience applying the Word to our daily circumstances.  Notice the sequence of the three principles: Ask, Seek, Knock.  God intends for us to grow in the knowledge of Him and His Word.

“Seek, Seek, Seek” Required Action: Diligently Seek God, Be Very Courageous

Numbers 13 relates the 40-day account of the occasion when the twelve spies were sent out by Moses to spy out the land and the reports they rendered upon their return.  Only two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, believed God that the land could be taken; and reported this to the people that they could dispossess the nations that occupied the land, despite their size and great numbers; and that indeed it was a land flowing with milk and honey, just as God had promised them; and they should go in without delay!

Yet, the other ten reported that the land was inhabited by giants, believed the people who occupied the land were stronger than the Israelites, doubted that the land could be taken; and convinced the people that Israel could not dispossess the occupants.  The result was 40 more years in the wilderness for the people of Israel until all the naysayers died.

Knock, and the Door Shall be Opened

After the 40 years passed and Moses had died, God chose Joshua, one of the two trustworthy men of Israel who had spied out the “Promised Land”, to lead the people across the Jordan River and into the land.  When God gave Joshua the “go-ahead” to make preparations for crossing the Jordan River, God commanded him, “Meditate on this Book of the Law day and night, and do not allow it to pass out of your mouth, but observe to do according to all that is written therein.  Then you shall make your own way prosperous: and then you shall have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

It took meditation and three times of God commanding Joshua to be very courageous.  Why?  Because seeking God requires action on our part.  God knows this!  It takes knocking—and more knocking!  We must do more than ask for help—we must step out in faith and search for the truth.

Joshua led the nation of Israel across the Jordan River.  As you step out to where God wants you to go, seeking the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), you should know what lies ahead.  However, unlike Joshua, you and I have the Holy Spirit in us.  When we step out, God sees our faith at work (James 2:17).  Instead of asking God to continue doing everything for us, we can bless ourselves.  Our faith at work shows we have taken big steps toward maturity in our walk with God.

Deciding a Thing Is a Process with a Sequence to Follow

There is a sequence that will need to be followed to see the thing we decided appear on earth.  Remember the fig tree that Jesus cursed and it withered away?  He knew that His disciples would need to decide many things in this life, so He exercised His faith in a way that is difficult for some Christians to comprehend.

This principle held true then as now because Jesus desires so much for us to receive whatever we hope for and ask for in our prayer petitions.  In Mark 11:24 Jesus tells us, “Believe that you have received what you ask for and you shall have it.“ And the prophet Habakkuk tells us how to receive this vision, but instructs us to wait patiently for the thing to appear while angels read the description of our vision, and go immediately to get the thing from Zion and bring it to Jerusalem  (Habakkuk 2:2-3).

Jesus makes it known in the sequence of verses in Mark 11 that we cannot receive what God gladly gives us if we do not understand, and first apply the principle of speaking to the thing.

Jesus commands us to speak to the mountain in Mark 11:22-23.  Otherwise, we cannot cast the mountain into the sea.

There are ten steps in making anointed decisions we will discuss later.  A good decision starts with a vision of what we hope for, and anointed decisions require applying the spiritual principles of binding and loosing.

The Enemy Camp

Before we can visualize a thing we hope for, and declare the thing to appear on earth, we need to understand our enemy and where he camps out.  He cannot win a battle against us in the Spirit—Christ Jesus won that battle at Calvary.  A good example of the importance of knowing our enemy and using spiritual warfare against him is found in the Old Testament story of Gideon and his 300 men (Judges 6-7).  The people of Israel had sinned against God; so, He had allowed the Midianites, Amalekites and the people of the East to establish strongholds in Israel; and they were destroying the produce of the promised land, laying it waste, and taking all their sustenance.  Finally the people turned back to God; and He chose Gideon to break the bondage that the people of Israel were suffering.  A reluctant Gideon amassed an army of 32,000 men to go up against the enemy, but God told Gideon that this was too many.  Gideon tested his men, reduced the army to 10,000 men, but God further reduced it to 300; and instructed him to go into the enemy camp under cover of darkness to hear what the enemy was saying.  God told Gideon that afterward his hand would be strengthened to go down against the camp (Judges 7:9-10).

Gideon obeyed God and found a man telling his comrade of a dream, whereby God had given the camp to the sword of Gideon into whose hand He had given Midian and all the host.  Gideon worshiped and immediately awakened his 300 men; and, following God’s instructions, went down and encircled the enemy camp.  The 300 took trumpets and torches inside of jars; blew the trumpets on every side of the camp, and broke the jars shouting, “A sword for the Lord and Gideon”.

The enemy became so fearful and in such disarray that they set every man’s sword against his fellow, and fled.  The 300 never had to engage the enemy in battle.  They took their position and watched as the Lord destroyed the enemy.  Gideon decided a thing.  He obeyed God, got to know what the enemy was thinking, and the result was victory for him and Israel.  Similar victories based on anointed decisions were given by God for Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 20) and Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:1-38).

Like Gideon, we must know what the enemy is planning to do against us; and beat him to the punch.  When we bind him spiritually before he attacks, the battle becomes God’s—not ours.  We can dispossess him from the territory on earth we currently occupy, or is ours to claim as God’s stewards, repossess the territory that he has stolen from us and still illegally claims authority over; and spiritually loose the things we need and want to come to us.  Christ Jesus defeated satan at Calvary.  We have our risen Lord’s own declared Word of that fact (Matthew 28:18).  Yet this defeated thug still dares to “raise his head” against our flesh, and attempts to prevent us from enjoying our dominion over our own territory.  He insists on playing the victor in a psychological game, often using the “little foxes” to ruin our vineyard (Song of Solomon 2:15).

Bind the Strong Man, Take Dominion in

Sowing and Reaping

Jesus taught us to seek the Kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33); and not allow the cares of this world, the delight of our eyes, and the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:19) to choke the seeds of the Word that we so carefully and joyfully sowed.  He also taught us that no man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).  To avoid this occurring, we bind the strong man in all situations and circumstances in our lives; and loose the bonds around the things we need and desire that prevent the Word from working for us.

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Kings, Lords and God Decide Things

REVELATION 5:10

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy art Thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for Thou was slain and by Thy blood did ransom men for God every tribe and tongue and people and nation; and has made them kings and priests to our God, and they shall rule on earth.”

Before we discuss the decision-making process and the pattern of creation, God wants to show us how He used it in the beginning, and that we are created in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27).  We need to again closely examine who we are in God’s eyes—and where we belong.  Like our ancestors of the Old Covenant, we wandered far away from the Master; the jailer arrested us and was holding us for ransom under condemnation of death.

We were being held without bail, and could not be released.  But unlike our ancestors we somehow heard Christ Jesus calling us by name.  We knew His voice, and answered Him—and professed, “Jesus is Lord.”  So when we ask forgiveness for our sins, we come home as prodigal sons (Luke 15:11-32); and God the Father welcomes us home and forgives our sins.  His willingness for His Son’s blood shed at Calvary to serve as a ransom for our redemption, and blot out our sins so we can enjoy eternal life with Him and Christ Jesus in Zion is the everlasting hope of our calling.  We can have the abundant life now—beginning today.  Jesus came to earth to make this life a reality for us (John 10:10).

Jesus Tells Us Who We Are

And the Holy Spirit Declares It So

At the Last Supper Jesus told us who we are when He promised to send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us (John 14:17 and 23); and that the Holy Spirit would declare all things of His to be ours (John 16:14-15).  He has done just that for us—if we can just believe His Word and act upon this knowledge in faith, knowing who we are in Jesus.  Listen to His promise to us in John 14:15-17: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments; and I will pray the Father, and He will send you another Counselor, to be with you forever—even the Spirit of Truth Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  You know Him because He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Are We Gods?

So much is to be done while we are on earth.  Friends of Jesus now, yes we are (John 15:14-16)—but we are so much more.  God’s children, and joint heirs with Jesus of all the Father has given to Him, yes (Romans 8:17), but even more.    God gave the Kingdom power, and glory to Jesus; and the Holy Spirit declared it to us.  In our Father’s eyes, we know exactly who we are, spiritually, if we will dare accept the truth and act upon it.  Psalm 82:6 tells us who God Himself says we are, “You are gods and children of the Most High God.”  Did we hear this correctly?  John 10:34  records the words of Jesus as He confirms exactly what His Father had said verbatim!

When confronted by Jews who were about to stone Him for blasphemy, in John 10:37-38 Jesus challenges them to examine His works as proof that He was Who He said He was by saying to them, “If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me.  But if I do them, even though you do not believe I am the Son of God, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father.”

Kings, Lords and Gods

Jesus tells us who we are in His Sermon on the Mount, follows it with instructions, and then with a commandment.  As recorded for us in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hid.  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand; and it gives light to all the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven.”  In John 8:12, Jesus tells us, “I am the Light of the world.”  Do these verses contradict themselves?  Is there an error in translation?  No!  Remember, we are in Him and He is in us.  We are joint heirs with Jesus of the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit has declared to us all that the Father gave to the Son.  It is all ours.

As recorded for us in Matthew 28:18-20, after Jesus had been resurrected from the dead, but before He ascended, Jesus commands us what we are to do, and He gives us His power and authority to act in His Name.  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

Could it be any clearer?  We know that we have been commissioned to do Kingdom work—with His power and authority to do it.  But it’s ultimately up to us.  God will never let us fail if we step out in faith.

He Went to the Cross for Us

Believers know that New Covenant Christians are shareholders in the Kingdom of God.  This is why we must abide in His words and carry out our commission (Matthew 28:18-20).  Our inheritance assures us that we can have what we hope for—the things we dream of, the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37: 4).  We can visualize all these things in the Spirit, we can see them.  They are ours (John 16:14-15).  Jesus has given us His power and authority to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18).  We are kings, lords, and gods (Psalm 82:6; John 10:34; I Corinthians 3:15).  We decide things.  This is why we must exercise spiritual skills and make anointed decisions (Hebrews 5:14).

It is very significant that immediately following what Jesus reveals to us in verse 18, Jesus authorizes us to bind and loose, “Whatever you  bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 8:18-20).  This affirmation gives us God’s Word of crucial reinforcement—reassurance.  Yet, this promise is followed by yet another crucial key to the Kingdom when He promises us, “If two of you agree on anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven; for where two or three of you are gathered together in My Name, there I am in your midst.”  And again in John 15:7-8, at the Last Supper, Jesus also confirms this promise, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you by My Father in heaven; by this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

Jesus Carried All Our Proxies to the Cross

What Jesus did for you and me at Calvary is like unto a corporate stockholders’ meeting called by the chairman of the board of directors where all the stockholders who are not present at the meeting may vote by proxy, i.e., submit their proxies to the CEO or the board chairman, asking to have their votes counted as if they were there in body.   The usual procedure is for the CEO or the board chairman to certify and vote all proxies submitted by stockholders who cannot be present.  Jesus did just that for us at Calvary,  except  that this CEO was the devil himself.  He was in charge of death.  But when Jesus presented Himself to the cross at the request of God the Father, carrying all of our proxies that His Father had certified and given Him, He stood in proxy for all of us who should have been on the cross instead of Him—condemned as sinners and crucified as He was.

Instead, our sins have been redeemed; the devil hopes he can find weak Christians who fall prey to his wiles.  We have a hedge around us just as the devil said about Job (Job 1:10).  With His blood, Jesus paid our ransom to the jailer; and, in His resurrection, Jesus set us free from the chains that bound us; and God reopened the highway to Zion that had been closed since Adam fell from grace.  The Father gives His permission for us to go home now—because His blood covers our sins, and gives us access to the abundant life on earth, victory over evil, and assurance that our heavenly home on Mount Zion awaits us, providing us with a safe haven today and from everlasting to everlasting.  Jesus made the way for us by dying in our place at Calvary.

We Are Little Gods, Kings and Priests

As we discuss our “godship”, giving us the ability to “create” and make anointed decisions, God’s Word confirms that the Holy Spirit’s anointing has made us kings and priests.  However, many Christians have neither heard nor accept this teaching; and, in their ignorance or efforts not to be self-pious, they believe that somehow the cherished gifts of the Spirit have passed away—thereby rejecting their own heritage.  For them, our anointed power and authority as kings, lords, even gods or “Little Jesuses”, seems ridiculous if not blasphemous.  Others have received the anointing and know that the Word of God confirms who they are—yet, they refuse to reign.  All of these are members of the body of Christ; I know because I was there.  It’s time for all of us to reign as kings, lords and gods to decide a thing, to step out and set foot on our own promised land as we claim it (Genesis 13:17; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:3), dispossess the devil and take possession of our own territory and where he has stolen our goods, to catch him and repossess what is ours in the Name of Jesus, thereby forcing him to give up all the goods of his house (Proverbs 6:30-31).  We want what is  ours returned to us sevenfold with interest!

We can and must decide to dispossess the very presence of evil from what is ours; and repossess what he has taken from us.  We can then begin to live in the victory on earth Jesus came to give us.

We Can Make Anointed Decisions

In Revelation 2:9 Jesus identifies Christians who refuse to reign in His letter to the church in Smyrna as those who say they are believers, but refuse to “practice” what they believe—and yet slander those who do.  But regardless of the skepticism or how much some Christians refuse to live as Christ’s ambassadors and carry out the commission Jesus charged all His disciples with before His ascension, the absolute truth of His Word will never change nor should it dissuade us from proclaiming it boldly.   We are told in I Peter 2:9 that we are the blessed generation.  Because He died for us, Jesus has given us His power and authority to make anointed decisions on earth.

Christ Jesus is King of Kings, Lord of Lords

Proclaim Christ Jesus as your King and High Priest from the housetops—and proclaim yourself as the king and lord you are in Him.  Why not tell the truth to the nations?   May our brethren forgive us if they consider that we are boasting.  In II Corinthians eleven and 12, the Apostle Paul boasted about who he was, of his visions and revelations of the Lord.  But as he wrote in II Corinthians 12:6, “If I wish to boast by who and what I am, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth.”  So very correct he was.  We refer again to what God declared in Psalm 82:6, “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you!”  Jesus confirmed this in John 10:34-38, when He was accused of blasphemy by the Jews; “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?”  Revelation 5:9-10 confirms that we are gods, that the Master, our Lord Jesus Himself—the Worthy Lamb of God, has crowned us kings and priests unto Him.  “Thou  was slain and by Thy blood didst ransom you for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and has made you kings and priests to the Most High God—and you shall reign on earth.”

The Apostle Peter affirmed who we are to God in I Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s Own people—that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  Don’t forget what your faith in His Word teaches you.  God told “Father Abraham” in Genesis 12:3, “By you, all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”  We have the credentials to identify ourselves as God’s children; and, most importantly, we have the Word of God the Father that we are gods on earth—and, as such, we can bless ourselves.  Jesus’ declaration: “I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:3), so that you can be there with Me now and forever;” and the anointing of the Holy Spirit with Jesus’ declaration: “The Holy Spirit in you will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is Mine; therefore, I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14-15). Jesus made us children of the Kingdom of God—joint heirs with Him.

Surely with such an endowment we should be ready to reign as kings on earth.  Decide to reign!  Knowing how to reign and counting the cost are the requirements of kings.

Accepting Our Commission

EXODUS 3:4, 6

When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside to see why the burning bush was not burned, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”  And he said, “Here am I”…And God said to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God…

It is vitally important that all of us accept our commissions to reign as kings.  Although the Good Shepherd Himself has crowned us, the Apostle Paul rightly reminds us in I Corinthians 4:8 that we not only must reign as kings, but as we do we must remember the shepherds who have discipled us from babes in Christ into maturity.  Paul tells the Corinthians, “Already you are filled!  Already you are rich!  Without us you would have become kings!  And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!”  Paul reminded the Corinthians that without glorifying their shepherds, they were not reigning as kings.  The message is clear for us, we did not get to be kings because of any great worldly deed—nor because of whatever reputation we have on earth.  We are kings on earth because we belong to Christ Jesus.  God sent others to ensure that we would abandon our worldly pursuits and return to Him.  Surely we desire for these saints to share our reign with us.

Glorifying Our Shepherds

Brethren, remember to give God the glory for your kingship on earth.  It is also very important that the shepherds who disciple you should share in your reign as a king.  As we glorify our shepherds and give them the deserved glory for the work that has been done in us, we are assured of their protective cover—and God’s as well.  This is what Jesus meant in John 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine; neither can you unless you abide in Me.”

Jesus was really giving us an important key to the Kingdom—the principle of abiding.  Jesus was really saying, “Let Me abide in you, and as you do, you will be glorifying Me—so that My Father in heaven will glorify you on earth.”  But this promise is contingent upon us abiding in Christ Jesus.

This is really what God told Moses when He selected him to bring the people out of bondage in Egypt.  Moses was to abide in God.  As Moses abided, he was giving the glory to God—and God was glorifying him in the eyes of Pharaoh and his own people.  As we abide in the body of Christ, we give Jesus the glory; and our Father glorifies us here.  We are abiding in Him.

Why Was Moses So Reluctant to Accept God’s Call?

If we are not reigning, despite having been commissioned by Jesus as kings and priests (Matthew 28:18-20; I Peter 2:9), we should ask ourselves, “Why am I not using the authority of the anointing God has given me to reign as a king and lord in Christ?”  Often it is because we are still babes in Christ, not using the faith God gave us.  We are child kings.  Solomon admitted to God that he did not know how to go in and come out or how to govern the people, so he asked for wisdom and knowledge instead of riches, and God gave him the abundance of everything (II Chronicles 1:7-10).  Such an admission will surely bring us the same result.  Our flesh tries to keep us from going the spiritual way, but God has shown us what is good—do justice, love kindness, and humble ourselves before Him (Micah 6:8).  As we read the full account of God’s call to Moses (Exodus 3:2 and 4:17), we know that God’s angel appeared to him as a flame of fire out of the burning bush, and Moses said, “I will turn aside to see why the bush has not been burnt.”  When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside, He called out of the bush, “Moses, Moses;” and Moses said “Here I am.”  Moses was tending a flock of his father-in-law’s sheep, but he made a decision.  He turned aside to see why the bush was not consumed.  From the moment Moses turned aside God knew that Moses was His chosen one.  It took much convincing on God’s part before Moses decided to accept His call.  He was counting the cost.  He had killed an Egyptian before he fled Egypt and knew not what to expect in retribution; and who was he to confront the mighty Pharaoh—he could not even speak well.  But because Moses turned aside God convinced him to tell the Pharaoh that the great “I Am” had sent him.  God gave Moses a rod of power that he could use to prove to Pharaoh and the people of Israel that God had sent him; showed him how to use it; and gave him his brother Aaron to go with him and speak for him.

Moses had to be convinced that God was sufficiently empowering him and showing him how to reign as a king over Pharaoh before he decided to accept the appointment.  He had to learn how to reign, and had no Bible to show him how, no Book of the Law in which to meditate, no textbook to consult.  God had to show him “what to do, where to go, what to say.”

Kings and Priests Must Know How to Lead

The story of Moses is one example of why man must be willing to reign and know how to reign before he can reign.  And a child king of God must know to give God the glory for what he decides and declares.  Otherwise, like the Corinthians, his so-called reign will be impaired and his success very likely limited.

We should remember faithful Josiah who turned out to be one of Judah’s best kings.  Josiah ruled as King of Judah for 31 years, but was only eight years old when he began to reign (II Kings 22:1-2)—due to the untimely death of his evil father Amon, assassinated  by  his servants  in his own house (II Chronicles 33:24).  His grandfather Manasseh was even more evil.

But, surely we need to ask, why then was Josiah so beloved by his people, but his grandfather, only 12 years old himself when he began to reign, so evil and unloved?  In fact, Manasseh was so profoundly evil that II Chronicles 33:9 tells us he seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so badly that they did more evil than all the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.  How did Manasseh become so evil?  After all, his father was the great king Hezekiah.  But his mother, Hephzibah, became his in-house shepherd—while Josiah, too, was raised by his mother, Jedidah.  We can only conclude that Hephzibah was an evil shepherd for young King Manassah; but, because of Jedidah’s good influence, young King Josiah began seeking the God of David while still a boy 16 years of age (II Chronicles 34:3).  Manasseh went down another road—probably because of his own mother’s bad shepherding.

We owe much to our good shepherds; and we can expect to reign as kings on earth when we acknowledge their contributions to our kingship.

Deciding To Do the Works Jesus Did

We are City Dwellers—God’s beloved children and Jesus’ chosen disciples; and, yes, we are kings and priests—and gods, yes, we are “Little Jesuses.”  It is up to each of us to decide to do the works of the Father as His beloved sons and daughters—just as our Lord Jesus did on earth.  Jesus has chosen us as His 21st century disciples, to bear fruit by our good works of faith, to plant word seeds as His investment in the hearts of the nations of Abraham.

As James 1:22 instructs us, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only.”  This is what discipleship is all about—wisely investing the Word in our circumcised heart to get a hundredfold return—as Jesus taught us to do in Mark 4.  Today God’s eyes still go to and fro over all the earth searching the hearts of men to find consenting disciples whose hearts are right and strong toward Him, whom He can use for specific Kingdom jobs (II Chronicles 16:9).

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The Way to Wisdom

JOB 28:23-28

“God understands the way to wisdom and He knows the place of understanding.”

Genesis 1 and 2 tells the familiar story of the creation from the very beginning.  It is an interesting and instructive synopsis of what took place during each of the six days God the Father worked— completing His labors, blessing the seventh day and hallowing it because on it He rested (Genesis 2:2-3).

We are not sure how long it took God to complete the job—in terms of time.  However, because He made us in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:26), we know that He intended to show us “how to” do the things that He did so that we would do likewise when our time came to sojourn on earth.  While Genesis 1 and 2 provide us with a good starting point, we need to explore further in the Word to get it right.  The combination of what God said in Genesis 1 and 2, and what else God did in Job 28, Job 39 and 40; Psalm 104; Psalm 139, and Proverbs 8 gives us a clearer pattern of divine creation. When God declared and decided a thing, He followed it all the way through until it appeared; and He saw that it was good.

God’s perfect creation was contaminated by the fallen angel Lucifer and his demonic army, and completed in perfection when Jesus came to earth in the flesh, was crucified and resurrected.  What remains to be done in the now is our responsibility.  When we have accepted His commission (Matthew 28: 18-20)—we are pledging to enforce God’s Word which He declared in the beginning, “My Word will not return to Me void; it will accomplish what I have purposed it to do, and prosper the thing to which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

God Has Shown Us Exactly How He Decided Each Thing He Created in the Beginning

Since we are His children, throughout His Word God is showing us “how to do” so that we may be the creative force on earth He intends for us to be.  This is why Christ Jesus came to earth, saying to His disciples in John 14:12—“Truly, truly, I say to all who believe in Me, you will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will you do because I go to the Father.”  Jesus was really saying, “Friends, soon I will be going home and won’t be here to tell you when and show you how and what to do every moment.  But I have shown you the Way and the Truth so that you may see the Light, and I give you My Peace.  Remember what I have told and shown you as you carry out My Father’s will.  I will send you another Comforter to be with you always.  Don’t be anxious.  He will cause you to be ever fruitful.”

No, Jesus is not here on earth now—in the flesh, but His Spirit is with us and in us (John 14:23).  It is important for us to remember God intends for us to reign in our domain on earth just as He reigns over all of us and just as His Son, King Jesus, reigns in heaven and on earth.  For this purpose, Jesus commissioned us in Matthew 28:18-20 to continue God’s work, so that whatsoever God decided in the beginning will not return to Him void, but will accomplish that which He purposed it to do and prosper the thing He declared it to do (Isaiah 55:11).

After His victory over the devil at Calvary but before He ascended into heaven, Jesus passed on to us His power and authority to assure us that He is now fully in charge on earth—satan can no longer make that claim as he did when he tempted Jesus while He was in the wilderness, as recorded in Luke 4:5-6.  Jesus regained man’s dominion on earth at Calvary.  We have dominion, but we must reign!  We are branches of the Tree of Righteousness planted by the rivers of living water, yielding fruit in season, ever alive and producing fruit (Psalm 1:3).

Jesus  explained to us in John 15:16 that just as we are the branches of the Tree of Life produced from the seed of the Word planted firmly in us—that He is the Tree, the Vine.  For as long as we abide in Him, we will prosper.  We are willing vessels, and eager to receive and act upon the Word.  We must be students of God’s creation principles and learn as much as possible about the exact pattern He followed, and intends for us to learn—as we discover, decide and establish things we need to live the abundant life today.  These principles and the orderliness of creation hold true in everything God made, and in how He made it.

Where Are “All These Things”?

To see all these things through until they are manifest on earth means that they are first located in Zion.  James 1:17 confirms it, saying, “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

This may be the most important lesson Christians must learn:  the things we need on earth—and the desires of our heart that we hope for are not to be found on earth at all.  They are in Zion, and God wants us to have them all—in this life.  Even our vision itself is in Zion.  We must decide the things we envision in Zion to get them from Zion to Jerusalem.      The entire process of decision-making that God gave us is a creation gift.  And Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 to get our priorities in order so we can receive the things we need and hope for.   We must seek God first and invite him into the process of making our decisions.

God had three witnesses in the beginning to decide a thing.  I John 5:7 states there are three witnesses in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.

We Decide a Thing—God Establishes It

JOB 22:28

“You shall decide a thing and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your way.”

God has given us a higher gift—our authority to decide a thing.  He intends for us to be fruitful and multiply what He has given to us.  To do this requires that we decide to prosper.

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God’s Creation Plan: Established for You

Your Plan in Deciding a Thing

HABAKKUK 2:2-4

“Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

In the beginning when God decided a thing He revealed a pattern of creation to all believers.  The earth didn’t just happen.  It took the infinitely powerful Most High God to create the heavens and the earth.  The world and today’s scientific theories of life on earth would have us believe that God and science are incompatible.

The theory of evolution of the plant and animal kingdoms occurring over millions of years dismisses creationism as inaccurate, especially Genesis 1:24-26 which documents that animals are reproduced after their own kinds, and that God made man in His Own image and after His likeness.  God is the Father of science and mathematics—biology, chemistry, and physics.  And He used the scientific method and scientific principles to create heaven and earth—and all forms of life on the planet.

In the beginning, our awesome God of the Universe made the earth and the heavens; all planetary bodies in our universe and beyond; placed the earth on its perfect axis and in a perfect orbit around the sun; determined the length of a day and made it equal to the time, distance and speed of the earth’s rotation; made the moon and the seasons; and determined the  length of a year, and made it equal to the speed, time and distance of the earth’s revolution  around the sun.  He gave the earth a perfect atmosphere to support life forms which He also created using the combination of elements in the earth’s crust, determining the cellular structure of all things and giving each plant and animal kingdom the ability to reproduce its own species by cellular fusion and division.

Our magnificent Father birthed Jesus, and we are born of Him; our spiritual substance is part of Him; and, thanks to Jesus, God the Father intends for our new man to “create” things into existence, spiritually—causing these things of substance that we envision in the Spirit to take the form of things of matter when they appear on earth.  This transitional process is similar to how life began on earth.  Here  the physical union of man and woman begins as a vision of substance in the Spirit, but the end result is the creation of an earthly being composed of matter produced by the union of man and of woman.  “How does this occur?”  The only answer that makes any sense to us is that we were birthed of the Father Who is Spirit.  We are spiritual beings encased by an earthly body.  Another analogy the Bible gives us, perhaps more understandable, is how Eve appeared on earth (Genesis 2:21-23).  God took part of Adam’s earthly body—a rib, and, obviously through cell division, made a woman’s body—“Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh”.

The reason you can “create” is best explained as a systematic Ten Step Plan for deciding a thing like God did, requiring an exact order of things and a high degree of self-discipline to see your vision of a thing become a reality on earth.   You must have a vision to prosper the thing—where there is no vision, God’s people perish (Proverbs 29:18).  There are components of any plan and sequential steps to be followed.

The scientific method which is really God’s invention can be clarified by reading the following scriptural references:

Genesis 1

Job 38-40

Psalms 8, 19, 29, 104, 139 and 148

Isaiah 40: 22, 42: 5, and 44: 24

Jeremiah 10: 51

The whole Book of Ezekiel

Zechariah 12:1

God envisioned, declared, decided, and constructed all good things.

God gave assurance to the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).  Through and for you He desires to establish on earth the thing you see in Zion because He knows you will glorify His Son—you are His sheepfold.

God intends to prosper you—indeed, your vision is His vision!  He and Jesus are glorified, and you become well motivated to do His bidding on earth.  Through the Holy Spirit at work within you, God intends to prosper you as you go about establishing your vision, glorifying the Father and His Son, Christ Jesus.

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Ten Steps to Your Anointed Decision

Step l.   See a Vision of the Thing in the Spirit

Step 2.   Pray in the Spirit and with Your Understanding

Step 3.   Go to Zion and Present Your Petition to the Father

Step 4.  Declare the Thing Done  in Zion and  the Earth

Step 5.  Write the Vision Down on Paper, Sign and Date it

Step 6.   Seal the Decree with the Signet Ring

Step 7.  Proclaim the Thing Done

Step 8.  Publish and Post the Decree

Step 9.  Wait Patiently for the Vision to Appear

Step 10.  Praise and Thank God for the Answer

Step 1

See a Vision of the Thing in the Spirit

What is the thing you hope for and where is it?  The spirit of a man can envision an idea, even a concrete object before it is conceptualized in the human mind.  Our spirit man sees reality in Zion long before the thing seen appears in the natural on the earth.  Therefore, the first step in anointed decision-making to have the thing you hope for is to see a picture or mirror image of the thing in your spirit man.  The Holy Spirit will help you to stay focused on the vision your spirit man sees until it actually appears on earth (Habakkuk 2:3-4).

Step 2

Pray in the Spirit and with Your Understanding

How do you get the thing you hope for and see in your spirit from Zion to earth?  Prayer!  Christ Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:33), “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things that you hope for will be added unto you.”  This Word from Christ Jesus causes you to trust in God with your whole heart and lean not to your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).  Go into your prayer closet and first pray with your understanding, with your angels standing by.  This will cause your mind to hear the words come forth from your own mouth to confirm your desire for the thing you are praying. Then pray aloud in the Spirit for this thing—in your prayer tongue, a heavenly language known only to God.  Your angels will become couriers, and will transmit your prayer to Zion.  It is important that this transmission is in a language that cannot be intercepted and deciphered by an unwelcome encroacher.

You surely want your prayers to be received and heard in the utmost secrecy.  Also, you want to protect your couriers so they will not be subject to an ambush somewhere in the heavenlies; and your prayer not reach Zion in a timely manner, nor the answer return to you until perhaps a lengthy delay has taken place.  To avoid such delays from occurring, pray in the Spirit often concerning the matter (Ephesians 6:18).

Step 3

Go to Zion and Present Your Petition to the Father

While you are still in your prayer closet, ask God the Father for a conference in His throne room to present and discuss your petition.  Ask Him also for a transport.  The Holy Spirit will take you up to Zion where your High Priest, Christ Jesus, awaits your arrival.  He will open the door to the throne room and remain with you while you present your petition to the Father and receive His counsel (John 10:9).  Jesus teaches in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but by Me.”

Step 4

Declare the Thing Done in Zion and the Earth

While you are in God the Father’s throne room, have presented your petition to the Father, and have received His counsel, you declare the thing done first before the Father (Isaiah 41:27).  Jesus teaches us in Matthew 18:18, “Whatsoever is bound on earth is already bound in heaven; and whatsoever is loosed on earth is already loosed in heaven.”  Therefore, when you return to earth, declare the thing done that you have already declared as done in Zion.

Step 5

Write the Vision  on Paper, Sign and Date It

It is important that you write the vision on paper so that you always have a record of the thing you have declared as done both in Zion and on earth.  You have prayed the Father for this thing, presented your petition to Him and you consider it done.  Sign the document which is now a king’s decree, and date it.  You have now formalized the decree and it is in effect.

Step 6

Seal the Decree with the Signet Ring

You are a king under the authority of King Jesus.  Revelation 1:5-6 and 5:9-10 teaches that you are a king and a priest, a vassal of King Jesus.  And even though your decree is in full effect, Jesus has given you the authority to use His Name, the Signet Ring, to seal your decree.  Therefore, seal your decree by signing “In the Name of Jesus” at the bottom of the document just under your own name.  This means you have a fully executed Holy Decree, approved by God the Father, and sealed with the Signet Ring of His Son, Jesus, the Lion of Judah.

Step 7

Proclaim the Thing Done

With your spiritual eyes you see it coming down from the Father of Lights (James 1:17); and being delivered by angels.  You shout loudly, “It is done” (Matthew 10:27).  The words of your mouth declare it done by faith.  This thing that is not yet seen in the physical realm very much exists in the spirit realm.  Each time you say with your own mouth that it is a reality,  brings you that much closer to seeing it in the natural realm,  “…faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the senses” (Hebrews 11:1).

Step 8

Publish and Post the Decree

“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it” (Habakkuk 2:2).  Publish the document on paper or poster paper with magic marker in bold print. Place it on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror or somewhere in your home where you will see it constantly and the angels who go by may read it hastily and go about retrieving it in Zion and bringing it to earth for you.

Step 9

Wait Patiently for the Vision to Appear

This step may be the hardest part.  God wants you to have whatever you hope for in this life, but He has a time certain for it to appear on earth. So, if it seems slow, wait for it (Habakkuk 2:3). “He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and so shall your plans be established and succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).  Keep on proclaiming it done as you are waiting.

Step 10

Praise and Thank God for the Answer

Praise and thank God in advance because you know that He has heard and answered you in His perfect time. “He shall call upon Me, and I will hear and answer him…” (Psalm 91:15).  When the answer appears in your natural world in the earth you will most likely be shouting for joy and praising Him again and again.

11

Walking in the Light of His Countenance

Psalm 89:15

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.

God is doing the impossible on earth today—through us while we are still in our flesh.  He roars from Zion, and utters His Word in Jerusalem (Joel 3:16).  Through and by us we are doing His bidding in the Spirit.  His Word guarantees us that we are lords and kings under the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is the abundant life—and we can experience it now, in this age.  James 1:17 is one of those very familiar verses we know so well: Every good endowment, every perfect gift is from above, coming down to us from the Father of Lights with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.   Of His Own will He brings you forth by the Word of Truth that you should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures (James 1:17-18).  We are birthed and brought forth by the Word of Truth.  The Most High God decided, declared, and decreed us into existence by Christ Jesus, Who commissioned us as kings and priests under His authority on earth.

We Are Not Fighting a Worldly War

As we accept our commission from Christ Jesus—this perfect gift, bestowed upon each of us by the Father of Lights, we know that though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war.  “The weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but have divine spiritual power to destroy strongholds—and we cast down imaginations and destroy arguments to every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ Jesus”(II Corinthians 10:4-5).  “Put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, powers, world rulers of this present darkness, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12).

Decide, Declare, Decree

Isaiah 43:1-3

Thus says the Lord God Who created you: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name because you are Mine.  When you pass through the waters I will be with you; the rivers shall not overwhelm you; the fire shall not burn you and the flame will not consume you.  For I am the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

We were created as kings on earth by the Most High God; and commissioned by Christ Jesus to decide, declare, and decree things on earth.  God wants to see all things we decide appear on earth as good because they come from Him.  In the beginning,

God created light on day one of His creation.  He saw the light was good; and separated it from the darkness (Genesis 1:3).  God saw all things He created as very good (Genesis 1:31).

Learning Things of the Spirit

As we learn and develop an understanding of things of the Spirit, God is the only one Who knows what we are going to ask for even before we ask.  Christ Jesus is our teacher, we are His students.  In Matthew 7:7, He teaches us to ask, and the thing we ask for in His Name will be given to us (John 14:13-14);  seek the truth and we shall find it; knock, and the door to our Father’s throne room will be opened to us.  The closer we examine this instruction from Jesus we see the sequence in ask-seek-knock.  It is all about our maturity and ability to declare a thing.  Our first declaration should be to profess each day, “Jesus is Lord of my life”.  We begin praying for His help in all we do and believe for; and God blesses us each and every day.  We receive most of what we ask for—even if it is not the best He has for us.  His permissive will generously allows us to have things that are of little or no value to us.  But as we mature in our knowledge of God and His ways, and begin to win skirmishes with the devil that we previously lost, we get off our self-satisfying course to have what we want when we want it.  Once we shed that old man, we can begin to seek God’s perfect will for our lives in earnest.

Experiencing the Truth Each Day

God has empowered you to make anointed decisions.  In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to learn—how to ask, seek and knock.  The closer we examine what Jesus desires for us to get from this lesson, the more we discover and experience the truth.  Study the sequential nature of the lesson: (1) Jesus teaches us how to ask.  God expects us to humble ourselves before Him when we have a need or desire—a supplication.  He expects us to present our petitions to Him.  Once we learn how to ask for the things we hope for to appear on earth, and have received what we hope for, God expects us to grow in our spiritual knowledge; (2) Jesus shows us how to seek the way to wisdom, truth, and the abundant life.  As we find this way, God endows us with gifts of the Spirit—including the anointing; and (3) Jesus shows us how to knock on the door to the throne room, how to enter in, and how to enjoy the presence of the Father.

Search for His Perfect Will

Our search for perfection leads us to Zion—and to the very door of our Father’s throne room.  Anointed decision-making requires us to know how to ask, be willing to search for wisdom, and seek the truth.  When we are ready, willing, and eager to go to Zion, to see the Father, knock, and the door will be opened for us.  Jesus opens that very door, the door to the throne room of the Father (John 10:9).  And we suddenly realize that the prophecy in Isaiah 43:1-3 is about what God so deeply desires for us because He loves us so much.  He wants us in His presence.  He wants to renew our strength.  And as we receive the abundance of His love, we seek His constant presence in our lives.  His goodness overwhelms us as we realize that God carried us while we were still babes in Christ; and now, finally, in our maturing years, we are able to accept and discharge our commission—and lead so many of our brethren into Zion to experience the gifts of the Spirit God has reserved for us.  The key to finding these gifts is in our hearts.  The Holy Spirit dwelling within us teaches our spirit man.  When we earnestly desire to be like Him—committed, we will put on the mind of Christ, think like He thinks, speak things into existence, and serve our fellow man (I Corinthians 2:9 and 16; II Corinthians 10:5).

Decide, Wait, Receive on Earth

God listens to us and answers our prayers.  Sometime He answers us while we are still praying; at other times the thing we pray and hope for may take weeks, months, even years before we see it manifested on earth.  There is a time to wait, and our waiting period is directly related to our patience and willingness to wait for the Word to bring it to pass.  Doubt and unbelief have no place here; while you are waiting, be patient and steadfast.

Stand and Watch

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 teaches us that there is a time for every matter under heaven.  This means that there is a time to decide a thing—to pray, seek, knock, and receive.  Yes, there is a time for everything.  And there is surely a time to stand and watch what God will do.  When we decide a thing, we must stand against our doubt or fear, believing that we will receive the thing we decided.  This requires us to stand.  And time is not the same in Zion as here on earth.  Proverbs 16:3 teaches us, Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established, roll your works upon Him, and He will cause your thoughts to coincide with His perfect will.

Habakkuk 2:1-3 teaches us how to receive what we hope for.  God says to all of us: “Take your stand and watch.”   The prophet was complaining to God because He had allowed the Chaldeans to punish Judah and destroy His own people due to their sinful ways—although the wickedness of the Chaldeans, whose god was their own might, was far greater than Judah’s sinfulness.  We hear an anxious prophet deciding to stand:  “I will take my stand to watch, and station myself on the tower, and look forth to see what the Lord will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” And the Lord answered me, “Write the vision, make it plain upon tablets so that he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end, it will not lie.  If it seems  slow wait for it:  it will surely come,  it will not delay. "

A Time to “Be Still and Stand”, a “Time to “Go Forward”

Victory is ours when we decide to stand against the forces of evil.  It is a period of waiting, but we can surely use the power and authority God has given to us when it is time to “go forward”.  Recall our earlier mention of Moses when he was leading the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, with Pharaoh’s army in close pursuit; and the people fearing for their lives.  But Moses told the people to “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The Lord will fight for you.  Only, be still and stand.”  Then God spoke to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me.  Tell the people to go forward.  Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry land through the sea.”

A Time to Listen

Before Jesus left this earth, He commissioned each of us as His disciples; and gave us His earthly power and authority (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:20-26).  The rod God gave Moses is available to us today—all who have accepted the gifts of the Holy Spirit; and believe we have been empowered to do whatsoever is necessary to combat evil.  There is a time when God intends for us to use each of these gifts—including God’s command to “go forward” during a period of our obedient waiting.

One decision can change the course of history.  Abraham decided to leave his homeland to claim the promised land; Noah decided to build an ark; Habakkuk decided to take a stand and wait; Moses decided to turn aside when he saw the burning bush; Rahab decided to hide the Israelite spies; Nehemiah decided to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall; Esther decided to help her people; Ruth decided to remain with her mother-in-law after her husband died; Isaiah decided to serve the Lord; David decided to face mighty Goliath with his slingshot; Jehoshaphat decided to take his position and watch God destroy his enemies, the Moabites and Ammonites; Jesus decided to be baptized with water; Jesus decided to die on the cross for us; the Apostle Paul decided to serve our Lord Jesus Whom he had persecuted.  Once they made their decisions, they neither looked back nor faltered.  The blessings of their decisions benefited countless generations and gave us hope for the abundant life.

Prayers Answered

Sometimes God answers us while we are still praying.  After Jesus had been baptized with water, while He was still praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, as a dove, and He was filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment (Luke 3:21-22). Jesus prayed for all of us to be one in Him and the Father (John 17:20-26).  His prayer is still in process and we are all waiting and watching.

Anointed Decisions Are Ours to Make

As we mature in our spiritual walk, we produce more fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23); and our relationships with God and our brethren become much more personal and heartfelt.  We learn what to ask for, seek after and experience wisdom and truth in Zion as we knock on the door and enter the throne room to receive God’s best for us.  As our faithfulness grows, God gives us more of His anointed power and authority to decide things on earth.  This gift carries with it the charge Jesus gave us in His Sermon on the Mount:  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may  see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

You and I can make anointed decisions because of who we are.  Our Father loves us so much that He has anointed us, by Christ Jesus, to do His bidding on earth now.  Because of Jesus, we know the way to Zion; that we can go in and come out, and find good pasture here on earth (John 10:9).  Jesus came that we may enjoy the ABUNDANT LIFE NOW.

Our most important decision is to decide, declare, and decree, “Jesus is Lord” of our lives.

Father, I come before you with praise and thanksgiving for all the wonderful things you have done.  In the Name of Jesus, I ask for forgiveness for all my sins and those of the reader of this book.

Cause the words of this book to be planted in the readers heart and to produce an abundant life for the reader, now, in this time, an abundance of all things they desire and need in the earth.

Open their eyes and ears to see and know the truth of Your Word.

Your Word promises anything I ask in Your Name that you will do, and I thank you in advance for hearing and answering me.

I ask all the above in the Name of Jesus, my Signet Ring.

Dr. Ernest W. Stokes, Jr.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Foreword

1 Deciding a Thing Is a Creation Gift

2 The Authority of the Believer

3 Pioneers in Restoring Our Beulah Land

4 Dispossession and Repossession

5 Anointed Sowers Are Abundant Reapers

6 Binding and Loosing Principles

7 Kings, Lords and God Decide Things

8 The Way to Wisdom

9 God’s Creation Plan: Established for You

10 Ten Steps to Your Anointed Decision

11 Walking in the Light of His Countenance