‘For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.’ – Amos 3:7
‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ – Proverbs 4:23
One day I was just sitting with Jesus when I felt him say to me ‘your perception of the world changes it.’ I was kind of taken aback at first by the authority that it sounded like he was saying I had. I had a little think about it and then realised, in some ways, this was pretty obvious. I mean, obviously if I see a deficit somewhere and act to change that I will change the world through my perception of it. However, as I continued to mull over what Jesus had said, I felt that there was something much deeper that the Lord wanted to show me here – the power of thought and the things I set my mind on.
Jesus started to teach me through different verses how this worked. He started with Amos 3:7. If, in the Old Testament, the Lord did nothing without revealing things first to the prophets, revelation must have preceded every ‘move of God’. As I thought this through, I fet the Lord nudging me towards the conclusion that this was now true for revelation any of us had, because whereas the Spirit rested on individuals as they prophesied, the Spirit of the Lord is now dwelling inside each of us believers, and it has been poured out that we all might prophesy, among many other reasons. So, now, this side of the cross, the same applies – moves of God, in general, follow revelation, but now that revelation could be any of ours.
All authority has been given to us by Jesus, but the enemy tries to convince us that we do not have that authority so that he can continue to do things. If we don’t realise the authority we carry, we don’t walk in the fullness of who we are and we leave room for the enemy to continue to do things that he doesn’t actually have legal access to do. So, knowing the authority I carry truly does change the world because it controls who has what ability to do things in the world.
I’ve always wondered how we can know what truth really is if everyone’s beliefs help perpetuate themselves to some extent. I am not saying that if we believe in unicorns we will find unicorns, as my sister pointed out I might be saying, but we do see this in the simple example of an optimist. They are looking for the good side of things, and so they have more of a chance of seeing it, which then makes them believe that life is good, which then means they are more likely to see the good things, and so on… The belief that life is good can build momentum for itself. People have such different beliefs across the wider church family, so how can we know what is true if this perpetuation does happen? I was pondering this when Jesus reminded me that truth is actually a person – Himself. So, we know that we are creating heavenly reality in our lives and living in truth when we actually actively live in Truth.
As I believe what Jesus says to me directly or through others, my world is transformed. He creates new worlds when he speaks, and I explore them as I put faith in what He has said and believe it to be true.
Helpful tip: 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us that three things will remain: faiths, hope and love. So any idea that is not overflowing with these things will not help create a heavenly reality, but a lesser one.
So why is this idea about revelation helpful? Here are three things that immediately follow:
Prophecy: This idea shows us a new side to prophecy. When we give someone a prophetic word, we are giving them something new that they can choose to believe in or not, which will define the reality they live in. It creates a doorway in the spirit that that person can choose to walk through in faith or not. The ability to give others the possibility to establish a new normal is exciting! When we are all in the habit of prophesying and speaking life over each other, we create an atmosphere of freedom where new doors are opening for people to step through all the time, and people get to find out who they are and what really is possible. Want to know a way to expand the Kingdom? Prophesy and speak life!
Meditating on Jesus’ testimonies: As we share and meditate on testimonies, we remind ourselves and show others what is possible with Jesus. This again will open up doors in the spirit for people to walk through in faith to change their reality, and so Jesus will get to do the same things again! The book of Revelation back this up when it tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). This means that when we share a testimony we are prophesying that Jesus will do it again!
Imagination: Imagination is a powerful tool. We know that Jesus ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’ (Ephesians 3:20 NIV) and I think this is actually a challenge from the Lord to imagine and ask for the most ridiculous things possible, because He can do even more! Recently though, Jesus started to teach me how I can use my imagination to experience more of Him and see Him at work in my life in increasing measure. The same works here as before with the whole revelation creating reality thingibob. We can imagine God in His greatest form possible – the most loving, the most kind, the most glorious, the most awesomely powerful… And let it become our reality of who God is. Due to the challenge already set us to imagine, and the truth that our minds will never fully comprehend His marvellousness, we know that we won’t, and can’t, overdo this. Matthew 5:8 tells us that ‘the pure in heart will see God’, so with a sanctified imagination we can just continually see more of Him! I believe we already have sanctified imaginations as we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:13), and we get to see them in action as we keep watch over what we let our minds dwell on. Using our God-given creativity helps to activate our imagination and expand how we can use it too.
Why not give it a try? Ask the Lord to direct you, and use all your senses to make it the fullest experience possible. What you imagine God to be will be enriched the more we use not just our eyes, but how what we are imagining would make us feel, how it would smell etc…
The same works as we imagine what Christ in us looks like, and how much glory we carry as a consequence.
Other things you might want to ponder: What could it look like for Heaven to invade my work or school? What could happen as I, a child of God, actively love those around me? What could my family and friends be like in a year’s time? What would it look like for me to live in complete freedom from fear/anxiety/insecurity/shame? Even greater is possible. Let the Lord use this to enhance your prayer life and see these things come to reality!
Sidenote: I have spoken a lot about faith and so you may be thinking that it is great for those who have faith, but I actually believe that the Lord has already given us all the faith there is. After all, ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.’ Ephesians 1:3 NIV (underlined by me). We also see that Abraham ‘grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God’ (Romans 4:20 ESV). So Abraham actually took it for himself as he thanked God.
If you want more faith, know it has already been given to you and a way to access it is through thanksgiving!
Have fun letting Father shift your world!
The Abundant Life 