Dear Friend,
Happy Wednesday! I'm sitting at my counter as it's storming outside, and while I'm no fan of rain, I'm grateful that Texas is cooling off. As I draft this blog post, I can't help but be grateful and reflective for my progress today and for the last few days. It truly feels like I've broken through a new level of spiritual awareness and authority in my walk with Christ.
Of course, this hasn't been easy, but it's been one of the most necessary training seasons of my life because I had to learn how to exercise my dominion.
I've been vocal about how I never wanted to live a powerless and status-quo life, especially when I decided to follow Christ. In fact, I blatantly told Him as we were negotiating my salvation decision that I didn't. In retrospect, I'm so glad that He confirmed that I didn't have to live that way and that it was never His intention for His children to live lowly lives.
Unfortunately, many believers have come into agreement with the lie that religion has spread for generations. You know the lie that I'm referring to:
Our riches are only laid up in heaven.
We have to suffer here to get to heaven.
The disciples lived lowly lives, so we should, too.
I want to be clear before we move forward: Suffering is what comes with this broken world; however, it is not our inheritance. While each of us will have seasons of pain and suffering, the Bible is clear that even they have seasons and time limits. So, I never want you to come into agreement or make something a doctrine that should be seasonal.
And this brings us to today's topic—your authority as a believer.
For far too long, believers have sat back and let life happen to them, and I cannot entirely blame the church for this because we are responsible for our own lives. And since we can all read (or listen to the Bible), it is up to us to study to show ourselves approved. What I'm trying to tell you is that prayer is not enough. If you're not strategic about your prayers, then these could be a few reasons why we find ourselves frustrated.
What's fascinating about this is that I'm talking to myself first.
Sometimes, I like to rely on obedience and the work of my hands rather than spiritual things. Though I know I should be doing both, one feels more natural to me, but that's no excuse not to do what I know.
Essentially, if I want to increase in this natural realm, I must increase spiritually, and increasing spiritually entails understanding my legal and natural rights as a son or daughter of God.
When Adam and Eve fell in Genesis, where did they fall from?
Answer: They fell from dominion.
Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
To have dominion means to rule, so we see that God made us the rulers of the earth, which points us back to why the Bible also says that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14). Here, we begin to understand that since there is a big king, Jesus, and we are co-heirs, then we are the little kings and lords.
So when man (Adam and Eve) fell in the garden, they fell from rulership. Thankfully, Christ died to restore us to our rightful place, which is why the good news is considered good.
It's not just that you won't go to hell, but that you don't have to live hell on earth. You have dominion and authority again, but what good is it if you don't use it?
When Isaiah 54:17a says, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn," it encourages you to use your authority.
In the first half of the sentence, God promises that the weapons won't prosper, which means He is committed to doing His part. However, the second part of the sentence is on you. You have to condemn the words being spoken against you.
Judgment means two things in this case: litigation before a judge and the act of deciding a case.
Here, the tongues rising against you are not just trying to prosecute you but also attempting to pose as judge and jury when they don't have the legal right to do so. This is why you have to use your authority. This is why you have to condemn them.
To be clear, I'm not talking about the people here; I'm talking about the spirits using them and the words being spoken.
When God challenged me to begin legislating in the realm of the spirit, I began to truly understand the power He's given us due to our relationship. When the Isaiah scripture says in the B clause, "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord," it refers to your inheritance.
I've taught extensively on my YouTube channel that our inheritance as kingdom citizens is the Kingdom, as outlined in the parable of the sheep and goats. If this is true, then we must link that back to the dominion we received with Christ's coming.
In a sense, Isaiah points us back to the fact that it is your inheritance to use your authority to defend yourself. In this case, it's not about offering prayers to your Father; this is about litigation and legalities.
When I looked up righteousness, it was fascinating to see that it was
a relational word, which is also used in a legal context.
Here, righteousness means "the right (morally and legally)"; "equity (so this is how you receive justice according to natural law or right)"; "prosperity (which is success or thriving)."
So God is not only informing us that it is our legal and natural right to use our words to protect ourselves, but He's also showing us that this is how we receive equity and prosperity through our relationship with Him.
Ultimately, it's not enough to be a "good" Christian; we have to be strong and informed. Even more, we have to understand our authority as believers and get comfortable with using it.
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