Posts Tagged ‘control’

In the beginning of 2008, the Lord spoke to us about this being the year of new beginnings and let me tell you, it certainly has been. However, I realize now that God was really preparing us for this season called “Now”. What is this now season all about? What does it look like? What do I need to do? I have no doubt that these three questions are racing through your minds right now. Well, let’s search the scriptures for the answer.

What is this now season about?

Isaiah 43: 18-21

18 “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness  and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people,        My chosen.
21 This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.

We see here in verse 19, what this season is all about. It is a season for every beginning seed that God has spoken in your life to spring forth now. Even that seed you have sown, God says it is the time for it to spring forth now. No not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but RIGHT NOW!

What does it look like?

It is a season that while you are harvesting one area, another area is growing up at the same time.

Amos 3:19 NLT

“The time will come,” says the Lord, when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine!

Message Bible

“Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree”. Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once-and everywhere you look, Blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills.

This season shall produce a hundred fold harvest.  I declare that this season shall be the greatest return the Body of Christ has ever seen. In this season there shall be a massive transfer of wealth. During the spring season of 2008, the Lord spoke that word to me about a massive transfer. In a vision I saw who people who owned buildings and lands and  they were placing what looked like deeds or contracts in the hands of the people of God saying these words “Take it, I don’t want it anymore”!

Genesis 26:12

When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. ¹³He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.

Joel 2:25-27

The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.²⁶Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the Lord your God, who does these miracles for you.

Never again will my people be disgraced.²⁷Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced.

What do I need to do?

1 Chronicles 12:32

of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

It is important that we not only understand that this is a now season but also know what we should be doing. God gave me 7 keys or truths that we must apply to our lives in this season. Let’s take a look.

Because I am in a now season:

1. My thinking must change – Isaiah 55:8-9/Ephesians 3:20/Proverbs 23:6-7

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, so are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. ⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.

We must understand and accept that fact that God doesn’t think that same way we do. The bible makes it very clear that His thoughts are not our thoughts. Ephesians 3:20 says that He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly; above all we can ask or think.

Another translation says He is able to do far over and above what we can ask or think. What is this saying to us? We need to start thinking the way God thinks. We cannot come into this now season thinking the same way. God is challenging us to think higher. Proverbs 23:6-7 says that as a man thinks in his heart or within himself, so is he. You are what you think.

2. My attitude (Feelings, Position, Actions) must change

Matthew 5:3-12

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹²Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now I know you may be saying to yourself “What in the world does this scripture have to do with my attitude”? Well, the Lord gave me a powerful revelation on these verses that I believe we must pay attention to, but first let’s look at the definition of the word attitude.

Attitude -manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, esp. of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes

A state of mind or a feeling; disposition

The posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue

Position as indicating action, feeling, or mood; as, in times of trouble let a nation preserve a firm attitude; one’s mental attitude in respect to religion.

There are three words that I would like to pull out of the definition of the word attitude. They are Feelings, Position, and Actions. God says that our attitude (feelings, position, and actions) must change. Now let’s apply this to Matthew 5:3-12. Here Jesus is teaching about the way of life in the Kingdom. Look at the first thing he says here; Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The word poor in the Greek means- to be destitute of wealth, lowly, needy, helpless, powerless, lacking in anything in the spiritual sense. Now to connect this to our definition of the word attitude t, God is saying that in this now season we must change our feelings, position, and actions towards those who are poor naturally and spiritually.

We must also change our attitude about being poor spiritually pertaining to ourselves. In other words, we don’t know it all or have it all. Remember, Jesus said that the Kingdom belongs to those who are poor. The reason why we have obtained all that we have so far is because we have kept ourselves in a lowly state which is the same word for being humble. Only those who have a negative attitude will not receive the Kingdom.

Let’s look at another example: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Now we have always heard this scripture quoted after someone dies but this verse was not just for that. If you look throughout the scriptures, there were times when God told His people to stop laughing and start mourning because of the pending judgment that was to come. Those who obeyed the word of the Lord were soon comforted. There were also those like David who was in a mourning type state because of his sins and received the comfort of the Lord. Once again, if we have the right attitude to what God is saying then we will receive the “For theirs is” and the “For They Shall”, that Jesus was talking about. We will have all what the Kingdom is releasing in this now season.

3. My relationships must change

Genesis 13

¹ Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
¹⁰And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. ¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
¹⁴And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are–northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants ^F22 forever. ¹⁶And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
¹⁸Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^F23 which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

If you have suffered a recent separation in some relationships, it is because God is removing the Lots out of your lives. If you read Genesis 12:1, God gave Abram clear instructions about his leaving which did not include his nephew Lot. The bible said that a dispute erupted between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot which caused Abram to see only where he was. This is important because God told him that based upon his obedience to the word of the Lord that he would receive the whole land, not just part of it. Lot’s name means in the Hebrew veil or covering. There was a veil in front of Abram that prevented him from seeing the whole promise or vision of the Lord. It cause him to just see where he was. God had to remove us from churches, ministries, states, family, and individuals because they were a veil that was blocking us from seeing all that God had for us and caused us to settle where we were. God had to remove us from some Pastors who said that they were our covering and encouraged us to have covering. Well, let me stop right there and expose that lie because #1 God is our covering and #2 the covering that man said we needed was only a plot of the enemy to stop us from seeing and moving. It was also mans way to manipulate and control us. After Lot left, God told Abram to left up his eyes and look northward, southward, eastward, and westward. All of this God said I’m giving to you. My prayer is that we let the change happen so that we can see and move freely in Jesus name!

4. My perspectives, beliefs, talk/conversations, declarations must change –  Exodus 14:13-14/Numbers 13,14/Psalm 30:62/ Kings 6:8-18/ Job 22:28

Numbers 13/14

God is dealing with how we see, what we believe, how we talk, and how we speak. Below is a perfect example of this.

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a    man, everyone a leader among them.” ³So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. ²³Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, ^F15 because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there.

²⁵And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
²⁶Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” ³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” ³²And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³There we saw the giants ^F16 (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Here God instructs Moses to gather together the leaders of Israel and to send them to spy out the land that He was giving them. Please keep that in mind, that’s very important. Moses also tells them to grab some fruit and bring it back with them. That’s another point to keep in mind. So they go and grab these clusters of grapes, see the land, and bring back a report. Now, here is what I want to point out to you about what they said. Let’s look at it again shall we.

²⁶Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

²⁸Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.

The first thing they said in verse 27 was confirmation of what God had spoken concerning the land. They needed to hear that.  In verse 28 they stated a fact, which needed to be heard, however there’s a problem in this verse. The leaders used the word “Nevertheless” which is another way of saying besides. By using this word, they told the people to cancel out the confirmation and focus on the fact. Focus on the fact that there are people occupying the land. Focus on the fact that they are strong. Focus on the fact that the cities are fortified (make inaccessible) and very large. Forget about that God just said this land was ours; it flows with milk and honey, and the fruit we just showed you. This is why Caleb rose up reminded the people that they were well able! Despite the facts, through God, there was guaranteed victory. Unfortunly, as you read on in chapter 14, the people believed the bad report and refused to listen to Caleb and Joshua. That generation forfeited their opportunity to see and live in the promise land. Only Caleb, his descendents, and Joshua were granted access to the promise land. It was said by God of Caleb that he had a different spirit. The reason why we miss our blessing from God is because we make our final decisions based upon the facts. We totally forget about what the Lord said to us and the confirmations we received, to focus on the facts. God wants us to focus on Him and by doing that, we will have the right perspectives, the right beliefs, the right conversations, and will make the right declarations. Some things we were taught growing up was said to be truth from God and we were challenged to believe that, however, that also must change. Even our conversations must change. Yes, our conversations are important because it involves others. We don’t want our conversations to be negative, doubtful, and full of fear. These words can become stumbling blocks for the listener. Ultimately, our Father is listening to every word. What we declare is important. Job 22:28 says you shall decree or declare a thing and it shall be established and the light of God’s favor will shine on your way. Whatever you speak is a done deal. That generation in Numbers 13 and 14 were in their now season and they missed it because of their perspective, beliefs, conversation, and declaration.

5. My walk must change – Psalm 1:1, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:16

Psalm 1:1 Amplified

BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

I can remember growing up quoting this scripture and always thinking that the word walk had to do with just physically walking. Now that I’m older and more seasoned in God, I realize that there is a greater revelation in this scripture. Let’s look at the meaning of the word walk.

Hebrew meaning of walk – to carry, pursue, stand

To carry, pursue, and stand in the advice, plan, and purpose of the ungodly will jeopardizes your “Blessed” state. Your walk is your life. Our lives must be pleasing to the Lord. We don’t want to carry anything that is against His will. When I look at the word carry, it is like a postal carrier delivering the mail. One becomes a carry of words. Think about what people put in letters. There is information, opinions, advice, threats, warnings, blessings, curses, etc… All of this stuff is in one bag that a person carries every day.

God says in this season we cannot be a carrier of their letters of hate, gossip, curses, offense, and perversity. We can’t even stand with them on issues that are contrary to the word of God. Look at the meaning of the word ungodly.

Hebrew meaning of ungodly – morally wrong, perverse, guilty of sin, wicked (hostile to God), offender

Looking at this meaning right off, we think of those who are not saved but let me tell you my friend, there are people in the Body of Christ who are morally wrong, perverse, hostile toward God, offended, and because they are so offended towards God, they are out for blood. Wow, that really sounds familiar doesn’t it? Cain is in the body and because he is so offended at God, he has and is taking his frustration and anger out on Able. Those who stand or side with Cain cannot and will not receive any blessing from the Lord in this now season. When you side with Cain, you have just become a carrier of his offense. We must side with the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Truth), become his companion, and walk or live by the spirit so we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16 New American Standard

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Like we use to say growing up, keep in step with the spirit so you won’t get caught up.

6. My appearance must change – Psalm 30:11, Isaiah 61:10, Isaiah 61:3

Isaiah 61:3

To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Isaiah 61:10

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

When you see the word appearance, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me I think about what people are seeing. Appearance is defined as the act or fact of appearing, as to the eye or mind or before the public, the state, condition, manner, or style in which a person or object appears; outward look or aspect.

The bible says in Psalm 30:11 that God has put off our sackcloth. That is very important. The word sackcloth in the Hebrew means mourning. It was a garment worn in times of mourning. God says I am taking you out of your time of mourning into a season of praise. Some of us have been grieving over our past season. We’ve been grieving over issues, situations, bills, relationships, hurts, pains and have carried that over into this now season. God says that the issues, situations, relationships, and bills may look the same but the results are not the same.

Yes the hurts and pains of the past may feel the same but the ending results are not the same. If you notice, the word of the Lord was not “it will” not be the same but they are right now, in this present moment, not the same. You are in a now season! It is not what will be but what is! God has to change your clothes because the season has change. You don’t ware summer clothing in the winter nor do you ware winter clothing in the summer. You and I must dress according to the season that we are in. God says I’m clothing you with my garment of praise because I’m making you my instrument of praise. I’m clothing you with my garment of salvation (deliverance) because I’m making you my instrument of deliverance. I’m clothing you with my righteousness (justice, rightness, righteousness, as vindicated, deliverance, victory, prosperity) because I’m making you my instrument of righteousness. This is not just for you but for your family and friends as well. When they see you, yes, those who know your story, those who know your pain, they will rejoice. Not just for you but they shall rejoice because as you appear or stand before them, deliverance just appeared for them, prosperity just appear for them, vindication just appeared for them, and a spirit of praise has just appeared to set them free to release an undignified praise.

7. My meals must change – Deuteronomy 8:3/Hebrews 5:12-14

Deuteronomy 8:3

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

The essence of this scripture is not about the bread but the children of Israel understanding that they could not live (Hebrew – to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live forever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health) on anything on this earth alone ( Hebrew – alone, by itself, besides, a part, separation, being alone). I believe God is saying the same thing to us, that we can’t live on just bread, our job, money, relationships, gifts, popularity, etc… alone ( besides, or separated from) God. We must feast off the proceeding word of God.

Hebrew meaning of proceeds – act or place of going out or forth, issue, export, source, spring, water springs

Hebrews 5:12-14

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

If we are going walk in this now season, we must put away the bottles of milk and prepare to eat solid food. In this season, we have to move away from depending on people feeding us and towards feeding ourselves. What I’m saying is that we have to move from expecting someone to give us a word for our present moment and start seeking the face of God for ourselves and stop expecting someone to do it for us. You see babies need that because they are as Hebrews 5:13 puts it, unskilled in the word of righteousness. Babies question a command from the Lord, while the mature just do it. Babies say I don’t feel like it today God, while the mature says whatever you want Lord. Babies like to argue, walk in strife, refuse to forgive, gossip, judge, hate, refuse to worship, and refuse to pray, while the mature walks in the fruit of the Spirit, walks in forgiveness, and lives to worship, and pray.

In closing, let us once again be like the sons of Issachar who not only understood the times but knew what to do.

Blessings

Prophet Brian Pruitt