February Newsletter
Vision: Rule and Reign
Father God, I am ashamed and embarrassed. As I write these words my heart fills with tears that burn the rims…my heart hurts because no matter how much I want to deny these words, they are true: I am afraid to live in the supernatural here in this world. It would be so much easier if you would just take me to heaven and let me live there, but to ask me to live heaven here…I am afraid. I am afraid to say with complete, total assurance the words that YOU WILL PROVIDE in EVERY situation. I know this is true because it is written; and because I have experienced it. But to actually mean it, really believe it…I am too much of a coward to completely throw myself into your arms and allow you to be who you are in my life.
I have seen you create every living thing in all three heavens…and yet I cannot trust you enough to ask your opinion on something of little importance. I can trust you enough to know that you will actually keep everything in order and keep life going forever…but I cannot trust you to provide my next meal or pay the next bill. I can believe that you raise the dead in Africa and created Adam and Eve out of nothing but dirt, but I cannot trust you to deliver me from a torment right in my own body.
FATHER GOD, HEAR MY HEART! I repent for my lack of faith, trust and belief. I repent that I have allowed fear to control me and run my life. I repent of being a coward….
I fall on my face and throw ashes on my head for I have been everything I cannot bear, I have lied about your greatness by my lack of trust and lack of faith. Forgive me and teach me. Free me from this burden of false efforts and lying lips. Teach me to speak only the truth–MY GOD PROVIDES! In Jesus' name, amen.
I have been asking for a vision for this next newsletter and I kept seeing only one vision. I saw Jesus holding a fish and the fish spitting a gold coin. I realize that is not exactly as the story in the Bible (because I checked) and I wanted to do a Bible study about it so I would sound really smart...but the Lord took that thought away quickly. But the picture of the fish and the gold coin remained.
I have heard forever that the Lord owns all the cattle on the hill…but so what! It really doesn't mean that much to me and it makes me rather angry when a Christian answers me with that same old christianese when I whine about my lack of funds. It might be wonderful for Him to own those cattle, although He doesn't eat them or wear them, but it doesn't help me one bit. He may own the cows, but I owe the hydro bill and I don't see a Guernsey walking up and knocking on my apartment door. At least that was my argument to the Lord since I wasn't allowed to do the Bible study.
The next thing I heard for 3 days were the words, “RULE AND REIGN!” So here I am only able to see the picture of Jesus and the fish and hear the words “RULE AND REIGN!”
That is our calling. We were created to rule and reign. We are called to rule and reign.
Jesus ruled and reigned while He was here on the earth…contrary to popular belief. And what does Jesus getting a gold coin out of the mouth of a fish have to do with RULE AND REIGN?
Power corrupts and total power corrupts totally. I have heard that saying for years and we have all witnessed this even in our daily lives. Every spring as we prepare to pay taxes it is one more reminder of how power has corrupted our governments and rulers to exact ever increasing amounts from its citizens. Every time we sell ourselves to someone else for a weekly paycheck, we have essentially sold ourselves into the system set out by Lucifer so he can rule and reign over us.
We have become so accustomed to allowing others to RULE over us, thereby allowing them to make the rules by which we must live. We have had six thousand years of some sort of rule over mankind. And if it is not bad enough that we have allowed strangers to rule over our every move, we have a legion of demons inside (thanks Mom, thanks Dad) that have been passed along through the generations ruling everything we do from the inside. (Yes, and even Paul admits to this problem in Romans 7)
Every time I want to buy a movie or loaf of bread, I am forced, or should I say choose, to sell myself so that I can get the money to buy the fruits of someone else's labors. Its called a strong economic base upon which our society is built.
I pride myself that I am outside of the ills of society because I say and do what I want…but it isn't true. I wish it were. I wish I was the free-thinking independent person I would so love to be. But I'm not. I am just as trapped as everyone else in this world. And it is very unlikely I will ever get free unless….
I said earlier that I am going into full-time ministry. Well, I wish that was entirely true…it is and it isn't. Now Jesus did full-time ministry. No other person in the world, except maybe Mother Theresa (but I am not sure about this), has gone into full-time ministry. They do ministry, and then they do fund-raising to get money so they can pay their bills and support their families.
Even Paul was not in full-time ministry. He worked part-time.
But Jesus… He was in full-time ministry. He ruled and reigned.
But what does this mean? What exactly is it?
Does that mean that we will go to other planets where the women will be eternally pregnant and the men will eternally be…well, getting them pregnant…and the man shall rule and reign over a planet full of people? No. No. No. (This would perhaps only be nice for the men).
Does it mean that we will rule and reign over all the angels? No.
What does rule and reign mean? Really?
Revelation 22:5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (NKJ)
Obviously the disciples and their mothers didn't get it. (Matthew 20:21)This is evidenced in the argument over who would be greatest in the kingdom. But I want to get it. I want to stop being afraid of something I do not understand, something foreign to us. I have seen it and felt it and been in the age of New Jerusalem for a long time, and yet, I just can't seem to align heavenly ways with here and now.
As I brought this question repeatedly before the Lord I was shown that He rules and reigns. In fact, He invented it by the very act of being here first and then creating everything else, including us. So, since He created it, perhaps He should be the example.
What is it that God does? What is it that Jesus did and does?
The first thing God did in His office of Godhood…He created. He sort of backward-created everything. What I mean is that He created everything that would be needed before He created the ones who would need it. He created the provision before He created those He was providing for.
I say these words…they flow easily from my hand. But I cannot live them. I say the Lord will provide, but I don't believe it. I can't believe it or else I would be walking it today. And that brings me back to the fish with the gold coin.
Matthew 17:22-27 Now while they were staying in Galilee , Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. When they had come to Capernaum , those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you." (NKJ)
I have never before seen this…until the Lord showed it to me. This little section was written as an ongoing story for a reason. They are two separate stories, but one right after the other.
The first story tells us how someone who was very close to Jesus was trapped in the world's system. For whatever reason, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus?…or the high priest?…it was a tough decision and obviously he understood the world of the high priest. The decision was to choose between Jesus who did absolutely nothing to earn money or the high priests who allowed the money changers to set up camp in the temple. Judas was trapped just as much we are today. And how many times have I betrayed Jesus because I didn't trust that He has provided absolutely everything BEFORE I needed it? If believing Him to provide after I need something is hard, how much harder is it to believe He will provide before I need it?
No one can tell me that some fish heard Simon tell Jesus about the taxes, swam close to shore where somebody was just dropping a coin from their pocket, picked it up and swam back and jumped on Simon's hook. The reality was that before the tax collector demanded the tax, then told Simon about it who told Jesus, who sent Simon out to go fishing, God had provided the money and the delivery system. He provided once again before the need was manifest. Kingdom living made real!!
This story has several points to make.
1. The provision was provided before the need
2. Yes, Simon was sent to work (He was a fisherman by trade) to get money
3. When God tells you to work, He makes it easy because Simon was told to open the mouth of the first fish…not keep fishing for days until he found a coin….I think the Father said He put one there…. (And don't get me going about Adam not having to do major land reclamation with his rent-a-bulldozer)
I have a long way to go before I walk in that kind of faith, and until I can walk in that kind of faith, I will be sorely wanting for the qualities of ruling and reigning.
Someone told me that until I learn how to manage money and come into full “maturity of wisdom” and learn how to act and be a leader I will not rule or reign. I now know this is wrong. It is man's way. We feel the need to learn how to be kings in the land, political leaders that control everything, adding the notion that we would do it righteously.
No, until I learn how to rule like God does I will never be a bride. He rules by providing the provision before the need arises whereas we scramble to provide a Band-Aid provision after someone laments about their need.
Someone once said that “sin comes from the perceived realization that there is some sort of lack in their life.”
Because we have a need does not mean that there is a lack…it means that there is an opportunity for God to reign in our lives by providing the provision for that need…that is God Reigning in our life. Not fear, stress and anxiety reigning.
The moment the need crosses that fine line and becomes a realized lack, sin has entered the equation.
A very good example of this is my knees. I should be in the place where I KNOW that God is supplying my need before I go for surgery. However, even though I have seen so much, I cannot seem to cross that line of faith where I trust God enough to heal my knees so there is no need for surgery. I see my need, and it is perceived as a lack and I have turned to the surgeons for provision by allowing a knee replacement. I should be able to (for all those who think I am a mighty woman of God – I'm not so much) reach into the heavenly realm and get a new knee from the “parts room.” So why can't I? Because I have not reached that point of faith and trust and complete total belief that I need to attain…but must attain some day…soon.
OH MY GOD! HELP ME! I thank you that you have released me to go for surgery despite my lack of faith while still revealing to me that I have a lack of faith. Lord God Almighty, I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)
Pride comes from thinking we can provide for ourselves or that we must increase our labors to help God provide. Who would have thought I was prideful? Well, I must be because I still attempt to fix the problem before I ask God to help. Or sometimes I don't like the way He helps.
I am going to tell you two stories that recently happened.
I am so short I cannot see over the dashboard well enough to judge the distance to the front end of the car. I have personally hit almost all the major curbs in town (I notch my steering wheel very much like a gunfighter notches his gun whenever he shoots someone (joke)). I liked the one in Tim Horton's drive-through so much, I drove two wheels over it while I bottomed out…and I have done this a few times. In my embarrassment, I refused to go to the tire guy to get it dealt with and I also knew it would be about $200 for cheap tires at a time when I did not have $200. But I finally swallowed my pride (yes, I hit the curbs so I may as well be proud of how often) and as I was driving to the store, I asked the Lord to show me favor. They installed 2 new tires and charged me $27 including tire environmental tax and sales tax.
Now, I ask you, why could I not trust the Lord months ago before letting the bulges in my tires get to a dangerous level instead of pleading with Him for mercy when I had no choice?
The second story is perhaps even more embarrassing. Linda finally came back from her ministry time at Iris School in Mozambique . She had not been able to contact us during the whole time away. So we went to the airport after having called her travel agent before we left and found out Linda's flight had been changed. So we sat at the airport for 5.5 hours waiting for Linda to come through customs…which she didn't. I even asked a customs officer if they had someone with her name or description in the back room they were hosing down. They did not. So, instead of asking the Lord where she was and what should we do (which would have been the perfect opportunity to let Him be God) I phoned the travel agent again and found out that Linda apparently had not make her Washington , DC connection. This turned out to be inaccurate information. So we left the airport apparently just as her flight was landing. She slept in the airport overnight without food or money or warm clothes after 4 days traveling across Africa, the Atlantic and North America .
I wish I was one of these people who prays about everything…but I don't. Yet, when I do, the Lord has moved so mightily my jaw has dropped to the ground. I have seen Him do the most amazing things …yet I miss including Him in the inconsequential things (I am sure Linda does not see it this way).
RULE AND REIGN! He provides the provision before the need ever arises. He has already provided! He has already provided! He has already provided! Perhaps if I say it often enough it will sink in.
We don't have to work so hard in life as we do because HE HAS ALREADY PROVIDED THE PROVISION! Don't misunderstand me, we need to work, but only doing what He says to do. Like just get the first fish.
The only exception to this rule that I can see is the creation of Lucifer. Lucifer was created after the throne…so perhaps his only need would have been filled from the throne. In every other instance, the Lord created the provision before He created the ones who would need the provision.
So, RULE AND REIGN is not “lording” our authority and presence over anyone else, it is providing the provision before the need arrives. I am not living there or I would have sent out the visions before the 800+ requests. I am not living there because I still seem to pray about my need instead of receiving the provision already provided. Do you think God didn't know Linda was on the flight from Chicago instead of Washington ? Of course He did! After all, He had His angels escorting her and protecting her…wouldn't they have had to know where to go?
We think so small…I think so small.
Father God, I repent AGAIN that I have a very small vision of you. I repent that I have believed the millennia of lies Lucifer has inflicted on mankind and I have allowed that to prevail in my thoughts and my daily life. I repent that I don't know who you are in reality quite yet, and I haven't allowed you to tell me all about yourself fully. I have just been too busy with the busyness of life that is spun by design and assignment to keep me from you. GOD FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE MY SMALLNESS! FORGIVE MY CRIPPLING YOU IN MY THOUGHTS AND IN MY PRAYERS! God, free me from me. Free me from the lies, habits, mindsets, traditions that I have allowed to be part of me. Lord God Almighty, Free me from the world that Lucifer has distorted and damaged…free me from my bondage. Lord God Almighty, Creator of everything, I declare with the words of my mouth that you knew before I was even created every screw-up I would commit, and that because you loved me despite my mistakes, you also provided the provision for each bad choice. Lord, let me believe you and your truth and your provision. Let me acquire that provision in my life and change my mindset from the trap of realizing my need and begging your help when I think about it…to realizing your provision and thanking you that it was just what I needed at that time before I realized the need was even there. That is a RULE AND REIGN life…walking in the provision and allowing you to rule. God, change my mind and my way of doing things. Create in me a new mind and a new way of reality. Lord God Almighty, thank you for being you and creating me to be the person whom I will become. Thank you for Kingdom living. In Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you
God bless you all
Jessica
