Tag: destiny

183. The Judgment Seat of Christ

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

Judgment, coming to the house of God

Transformation is the ongoing process of restoring our lives to original condition and purpose; finding our unique true identity and eternal destiny. It is also preparation for God’s judgment that is coming to the church (1 Peter 4:17).

We are the church, an organic structure of relationships in the kingdom. In judgment, God is going to give His verdict (and the root of that word is ‘saying what is true’). He is going to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to the church: He will affirm and authenticate the true church, but there are aspects of the institution that we call ‘church’ that God is not pleased with, and He is going to make it abundantly clear that He is not pleased. Then people will face a choice: whether to stay with the institution, the religious structure, or whether to go for the relationship. And God is calling us into relationship.

Matching scrolls?

God is going to look at the scroll of our lives and see how it matches up with our scroll of destiny, all the vast thoughts God had about us; all that was written about our lives (Ps 139:16-17). Do our lives match up with how God intended them to be? We need to be ready to face that question and receive that judgment.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Cor 5:10).

We know this is not about sin; it is about whether or not we have done what God asked us to do, and with what motive. Each one of us will give an account of himself to God (Rom 14:11-12). The traditional understanding is that this only happens after we die, but my experience is that you can go to that judgment seat now.

If we build with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the quality of our work will be tested with fire (see 1 Cor 3:11-13). It is the quality that is tested, not the quantity. The transforming fire of God will consume and burn up all those things that are not of Him, but will purify and affirm those things that are.

The Lamb and the Lion

In my personal experience of this, I was given a sealed scroll and brought to a place where there stood a Lamb. Many of the encounters we have in the heavenly realms are full of symbolism, and as I laid my hands on the head of the Lamb, just as the high priest laid his hands on the head of a sacrificial animal in the Old Testament, I understood that all my sin was laid on Jesus.

I still had the scroll in my hands, and now in front of me stood a huge Lion. I walked into the darkness of His open mouth. It was a journey into the dark, until I came out into a place where there was a pillar of fire; and the fire had eyes which were looking into and piercing my soul.

The Lamb and the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy to open the scroll (Rev 5). The seals on the scroll sprung open as I walked into that place and stood physically shaking and quaking in the presence of God. Everything I had done for Him was written on this scroll. Some things I knew immediately that He was really pleased about, because they were done in obedience and in the right heart. Others He was not pleased about, things I had done for the wrong motive, and I faced the fire of God’s presence as it consumed all that wood, hay and stubble,.and the scroll was purified.

Then the scroll was turned over, and on the back showed all that I had missed, the opportunities to serve God and to do His will that I had allowed to pass me by. Once the eyes of fire had burned through it all, it was completely wiped clean, and God gave me an opportunity for a fresh start, to see my scroll of destiny fulfilled in the scroll of my life.

It was a humbling, life-changing, difficult yet highly motivating experience.

That judgment seat is about recompense, about reward in the age to come. Our reward is to be able to serve His purpose, to operate in rulership, but only according to the measure that we have fulfilled our destiny in this time.

All of us can have access to that realm in heaven where our scroll gets dealt with in the fire of God’s presence. Ultimately, if we want real transformation, we will be glad to see the wood, hay and stubble burned up. The fire of judgment is not for punishment, but for transformation, purification and refining, so that our lives will better reflect Him.

Coals from the altar

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa 6:1-3).

It is through us that His glory will fill the earth. The more we surrender to His purpose in our lives, to transformation, the more of His glory we will be able to display and the more that glory will fill the earth.

seraph

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined! Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged” (Isa 6:4-7).

In the fire of His presence there is nothing we can hide, nothing that is not revealed. In the presence of God, we see things for how they really are. This was a real experience for Isaiah. He knew he was ruined, undone. But there is something about patterns of sin and iniquity in our lives, over years and generations, which can be purged with the fire that comes from that altar. Angels are coming today, bringing the coals, looking for those who are willing to be refined and purified.

God wants us to pursue these experiences. He is still asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” He is looking for those who will fill the earth with glory. Like Isaiah, let us reply, “Here I am, Send me!”

Such encounters lead us to our destiny. Think of Moses, Joshua, and Saul on the Damascus road. Jesus lived a lifestyle of encountering the Father so that He could do what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). Daily encounters with the living God in the heavenly Holy of Holies not of this creation will transform our lives, and give us direction day by day.

Identity, destiny and authority

We are being called into our identity and destiny as a Joshua Generation, a people transformed and ready for God’s judgment, authentication and mandated authority; a generation of believers who possess our heavenly and earthly kingdom inheritance and fulfil our eternal destinies; a people prepared to receive and disciple a harvest of supernatural labourers into their kingdom inheritance; a people to fill the earth with God’s glory.

As we come to the end of this series on Transformation, I make these declarations over you:

I call your spirit to attention.
Spirit, listen as a true son.

I call forth your identity as the Joshua Generation.
I call forth your destiny to manifest God’s kingdom
on earth as it is in heaven.
I call forth your destiny to fill the earth with God’s glory.

I call forth your identity, destiny and authority as lords
to administer God’s rule on earth as it is in heaven.
I call forth your identity, destiny and authority as kings
to have charge over God’s heavenly courts.
I call forth your identity, destiny and authority as sons
to stand in God’s presence and be displayed on the earth.

I call forth your identity, destiny and authority as sons of God
to answer the groan of creation
and restore to it to original condition and purpose.
I call forth the Joshua Generation
to rise up and take possession of your inheritance.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

Vision Destiny 2015

Free download

Mike Parsons’ 3-session teaching series, Vision Destiny 2015, is available for free download from our website.

We believe that these messages contain important prophetic words for the people of God in 2015.

A reflection of God on earth?

Are we a shadow or reflection of God on earth so He can fully occupy us?

We are responsible for the revelation we have been given:
Are we aligned to that revelation?
Are we acting like forerunners?

“I am going to release the 7 spirits and your assigned councillors in greater measure
to those who will position themselves
and take the responsible seats of government.”

The Lion roars

This year will be the year where the Lion roars,
where Kingship will be revealed
and where enthronements take place,
where authority is released at a higher level.

You are a son of God, called to have dominion;
governmental authority,
in, and through, and around your life.

Judgment is coming

Judgment is coming:
God drawing a line, saying,
“This is me… and this is not”.

Judgment is not a punishment to death
but a decision to call us to choose life.

Impending upheaval

“The very stars are awaiting their repositioning orders, as Sons accept their call to action from their mandated positions of true governmental authority.

“Look to the constellations for the signs of impending upheaval
as the affairs of the nations are administered by the sons of God once more.
The stars will release their light and glory to the sons of God:
the resonance of their light and sound once again restored to divine order.”

You can download this latest 3-session teaching series, Vision Destiny 2015, completely free of charge from our website.

These key teaching sessions release important prophetic words for 2015. Whilst originally delivered in Freedom Church, so that some of the content relates specifically to the local body, much will be of value to the wider ekklesia of God (especially sessions 2 and 3, those titled ‘Vision Destiny 2015’).

Please click here to obtain your free audio mp3s, PDF slideshows (and for session 3 only, streaming video).

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

178. No Spot or Wrinkle

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both bones and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12).

God is looking to see us transformed (Rom 12:2), and bone and marrow are the deepest level of transformation, at the DNA level. The bone speaks of the structure of our lives and the marrow speaks of the source – red and white blood cells and stem cells.

Only 2% of the human DNA genetic code determines our physical appearance and characteristics. The other 98% used to be called junk DNA, but there are sequences, triggers and switches, in that 98% which turn on and off certain hidden attributes. For example, some diseases can be inherited but they only appear at certain times because of these triggers.

After their kind

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so (Gen 1:24).

‘After their kind’ means according to the genetic material within their species. God’s will is not for things to get mixed up between species. Impurity gives the enemy legal rights to occupy areas of our lives and to occupy places of authority that should be ours in heaven. Jesus is returning for a spotless bride, a bride without impurity:

…that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Eph 5:27).

As in the days of Noah

For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like in the days of Noah (Matt 24:37).

Therefore we need to understand what it was like in the days of Noah, and we have posted about this before. There was genetic manipulation taking place in the time of Noah, and even after the flood, giants appeared in Ham’s genetic line.

Today there is a lot of genetic modification not only within species but between them. Scientific researchers are mixing DNA from animals and plants, which has been forbidden by God. GRIN technologies (Genetic, Robotic, Information Technology and Nanotechnology) are designed to transform human abilities. If they have cloned Dolly, the sheep, then certainly someone, somewhere is looking to clone a person, even if this is banned.

All these things are taking place now, in the times leading up to Jesus return.

He shall bruise your head

The Lord God said to the serpent…
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
(Gen 3:14-15).

Satan put in place two strategies to try to prevent the seed of woman ever being born. Firstly he traded with Adam and Eve to acquire human DNA. In killing Abel, Cain demonstrated the nature of his true father (just what Jesus saw in the Pharisees (John 8:44; Matt 23:31-32)). The sons of the evil one in the parable of the tares (Matt 13:38) are his sons genetically, not just spiritually.

Satan has always tried to wipe out the pure seed. He knew the pure seed would be his undoing. On the cross Jesus fulfilled that Genesis 3 prophecy by destroying satan’s work.

Angels who did not keep their own domain

But the enemy had another plan as well:

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose (Gen 6:1-2).

These sons of God were the watcher angels spoken of in Jude:

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 6-7).

Only evil continually

The Nephilim [the word comes from the Hebrew for ‘fallen ones’] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward [after the flood] when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men [Gibborim] who were of old, men of renown… Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:4-5).

Adam and Eve had been made in the image of God, but within 1200-1500 years men were ‘only evil continually’, so that God had to wipe them all out.

The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land”. But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generations; Noah walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen 6:6-10).

Noah walked in the realms of the spirit with God, just like Enoch. And the phrase ‘blameless in his generations’ is very important: God found one man who was genetically pure. We do not know about his wife, or his sons, though if you look at how Ham behaved later (Gen 9:22-25), it is not surprising that we find Nephilim on the earth again even after the flood (Gen 6:4).

We all come from those 3 families, so our DNA may well be polluted. Maybe it already affects us today, or maybe it is ready to be ‘switched on’ to affect us in the future. We need to deal with it so that we become genetically pure. Then God can ‘switch on’ the supernatural abilities that were lost by Adam.

Transformation 2012 15 (1)

Satan fell in eternity. God formed time to contain satan’s sin, and in eternity to come there will be no record of what he did. But through out Old Testament times, satan tried to pollute the seed.

The ‘Nephilim agenda’

Randy DeMain has written extensively about the resurgence of Nephilim today. If the days of Noah were days of genetic impurity, he suggests that so too will be the days leading up to Jesus’ return. The Nephilim will not turn up this time as giants: they have refined their methods and will use such techniques as transhumanism, hybridization, genetic DNA modification; perhaps even hybrids developed by trans-dimensional beings from DNA harvested through what is popularly known as ‘alien abduction’. This may all be starting to sound like the X-Files, but perhaps ‘the truth is out there’.

The agenda is to destabilise financial and government systems, causing chaos and destruction; to use science to establish genetically engineered retroviruses, contagion, and plague agents; to use the media to popularise and desensitise us to such concepts as vampires (there are no good vampires, whatever the creators of the Twilight saga would have us believe), werewolves, zombies and aliens.

We need to be aware of such an agenda, but not fearful of it. The purpose of all this is to rob man of his inheritance. The devil comes to rob, kill and destroy (John 10:10) but Jesus came to destroy the devil’s works.

Demonstrate the power of Jesus

God’s desire is to have the earth full of the sons of God. We are looking to an end time harvest of souls in which people will be rescued, saved, delivered, transformed, healed and brought into wholeness before Jesus’ return. We have a lot of work to do, and we must demonstrate the power that Jesus worked in. When the world is falling apart, we need to have the answers (both natural and spiritual) that people will be looking for.

God wants ‘the church in all her glory’ (Eph 5:27) to represent and manifest His glory, His manifest presence flowing through us. For that to happen, transformation needs to take place in us on each level: separation of soul and spirit; dividing the thoughts and intentions of the heart; bone and marrow (Heb 4:12). We need to be genetically pure: spirit, soul and body.

In coming posts we will look at how we can apply the power of communion, the blood of Jesus and the DNA of God, so that nothing remains in our genetic make-up for the enemy to use to rob us of our inheritance.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

177. Heaven Around Us, Heaven Within Us

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott

And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light (Matt 17:2).

The Greek word ‘metamorphoó’ (the same root from which we get the English word ‘metamorphosis’), is translated ‘transfigured’ in this passage and ‘transformed’ in Romans 12:2 (‘but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’).

When Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration he was representing mankind. He was showing people what it would be like if they were fully able to reflect God’s glory through their lives. They would literally be shining. As we are fully transformed into the image of Jesus and mature into becoming joint heirs with Him, we will begin to shine as He did when He was transfigured/transformed. Something of God’s glory will be seen in us.

Our inheritance

And as joint heirs, God wants us to have our inheritance, which is to do the works of Jesus. Those include all kinds of miracles, healings, and control over nature. It is not surprising that the enemy wants to rob us of our inheritance; but Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus said we were to do greater works than He did. He went back into the realms of heaven to open up heaven for us so that we would do even greater works of authority and power and occupy greater spiritual authority.

Our inheritance is also to be whole, complete, without blame, reproach, sin, transgression or iniquity. The Hebrew word means ‘nothing missing, nothing broken’: nothing missing of what God intends us to have; nothing of His provision that we cannot use because it is broken or damaged; so that so that we are in that place of peace.

He intends us to have (and demonstrate) a life of wholeness and prosperity, excelling to the highest level – spirit, soul and body.

And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) (1 Thess 5:23 AMP)

That word translated ‘coming’ is parousia, which really means ‘presence’. It is one of those translations which has succeeded in reducing the level of expectation (and faith) of too many believers. Since Jesus is with us now, we can expect our spirit, soul and body to be sound, complete and blameless in His presence!

Staking a claim

Have you ever seen one of those old gold rush movies, where the prospectors would ‘stake a claim’ by driving a physical stake into the ground? Strongholds give legal rights to the enemy who has staked a claim on your inheritance. Any fractures in our souls have given an opportunity for the enemy to plant a stake, giving him a legal right to stop God’s inheritance in us being fulfilled.

The enemy is a legalist, and will take advantage of laws such as the law of sowing and reaping and the law of sin and death, unless we give him no ground. We have to deal with anything in us that has given him legal rights. We do that through repentance, applying the finished work of the cross and the blood of Jesus to all sin, transgression and iniquity found in us.

The kingdom of God is within you

The Kingdom of God is a heavenly realm (around us) that is also mirrored within us.

For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you] (Luke 17:21 AMP).

Both within us and around us in the spiritual realm, there is conflict, a battle for control. Whose kingdom rules? We are on the offensive in the spiritual warfare which takes place (both in us and in the kingdom of heaven). Wherever the enemy has established his influence, we contend for God’s kingdom to be manifested on earth as it is in heaven. He does not want God’s kingdom manifested, but his own. His intention was always to rule, and when he realised that God’s plan was for mankind to rule over creation, he rebelled. Now he seeks to manipulate circumstances and do whatever he can to prevent us from fulfilling our God-given destiny.

Our struggle is with the things that go on in the heavenly places, not against people (see Eph 6:12). What we struggle with must be dealt with in heavenly places, not in this physical realm. But we are not alone, and angels are in that spiritual realm to operate on our behalf.

Blocking the gates

We have gates in our spirit, soul and body to allow God’s flow through us and around us. They can be blocked if we allow enemy strongholds to persist, hindering the manifestation of God’s glory. Strongholds empower spiritual forces (in the kingdom of God realm in the heavens) to rob us of spiritual authority.

If we do not realise that we are surrounded by a spiritual realm, we can wander around thinking that this is just what life is like. But because the kingdom is within us, whatever happens on the inside of us is reflected in what goes on in the realms of heaven and whatever goes on in the realms of heaven is reflected in our lives. If we continue to allow strongholds to continue functioning, we are also allowing them to affect the atmosphere around us.

Deny the enemy access

The history of our past generations is stored within us and can affect us today. Our genetic record is 23 + 23 chromosomes. God wants to deny the enemy access by re-writing the record that allows him to occupy strongholds in our souls, and in our hearts.

Put me on trial

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:23-4).

In a trial, witnesses are called and evidence is presented. Generational and genetic iniquity may be the witnesses, and our present struggles the evidence of the areas we need to deal with. We can ask God to show us all this.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5).

We have legal authority and power, weapons that can destroy those strongholds.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

176. Occupying Our Inheritance

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind… (Rom 12:2).

We are to be transformed so that we will know the will of God for our lives, what our destiny is, ordained by God in eternity past, when we were a spiritual being.

We are all unique; we all have an individual destiny, but for each one of us it is to bring the rule of God into our own particular sphere of influence. God called Adam to subdue the earth and rule over it, to bring heaven to earth, so that earth would be a reflection of heaven. If we don’t know what it is like in heaven, we cannot reflect it here on earth.

The Promised Land

The Promised Land is an illustration of our inheritance, both physical and spiritual.

The “-ites” nations occupied Israel’s inheritance and were not about to simply walk out and vacate the land so that God’s people could walk in. Israel was supposed to take possession of the land – and there were things that needed dispossessing.

If we want to inhabit our inheritance and become completely whole, spirit, soul and body, we have to deal with those “-ites” that represent things in our lives. They are hindering and blocking God’s kingdom and the fullness of His provision for us, so we cannot afford to leave behind any little stronghold or pocket of resistance of the enemy, any familiar spirit, anything that can rob us of our inheritance.

When the children of Israel were challenged to enter the land, all kinds of thoughts and fears suddenly surfaced in them. They saw themselves as grasshoppers compared to the giants living there. Only Caleb and Joshua protested, “The Lord is with us; do not fear them”. We too may have giants in our lives: things which intimidate us, frighten us and stop us fulfilling the purpose of God. Thoughts may come into our mind to oppose us, stop us, and cause us to fear. But like Caleb and Joshua, we will come into our inheritance if we believe what God says and act on it in faith.

All the earth

But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord (Num 14:21).

God will fulfil that promise. Not just a small piece of land in the Middle East, but the whole earth. If the nation of Israel had done what the Lord said, they would have taken the whole world (which was actually Abraham’s inheritance).

They did not, but we will.

Spiritual authority

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom 8:19).

Everything in the physical and spiritual sphere, the heavens and earth, is waiting for the true sons, joint heirs with Christ, to enter into in the fullness of our inheritance.

Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! (Psa 24:7).

Heads are symbols of authority, and gates are access points. Each one of us has authority. We are called to be a head and not a tail. We are called to rule in our individual spheres. If we are lifted up to a place of authority we become gates for the King of glory to come into this world through our lives.

As we are lifted up, the ancient (or everlasting) doors are also lifted up, so that the glory comes from heaven to earth. In every revival (outpouring) an everlasting door is open. Everlasting doors are access points for heaven to invade earth, around our lives, in our spheres of influence. Scripture also calls them the ‘windows of heaven‘.

Tr13

The physical and the spiritual

We have to access heaven in order to deal with the nations, the dragons and the giants. It is no good trying to have spirit, soul and body to access the world, unless we have the spiritual authority operating in heaven. The enemy has taken possession of our spiritual inheritance. We have stayed on this side of the “river Jordan”, afraid to go into heaven. Religion has told us we could not go there, that if we did, we would die. But our thrones are there, and we should be ruling on them: we should be exercising the authority God has given us. If we do not rule, someone or something else will rule in our place.

Blood line and seed line

Our blood line and seed line iniquity can enable the enemy to occupy our mountain thrones in the ‘kingdom of God’ heavenly realm and block the everlasting doors.

Let’s consider Ham’s generational line:

When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said, “Cursed be Canaan… (Gen 9:24-25).

Ham was the father of Canaan, and Ham’s sexual sin and perversion can be seen in the increasing depravity of the eleven “-ites” nations and in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Canaanite gods and goddesses engaged in all kinds of sexual acts and their worshippers engaged in ritual prostitution, infant sacrifice and other deviant behaviour. They were totally impure genetically and needed to be wiped out. Joshua was instructed to destroy them to stop the iniquity continuing.

Each of us came from one or more of Noah’s three sons. If we ask, God will give revelation of what is in our generational line which needs to be dealt with. Even if something lies dormant and is not operating, it is just waiting to come to life. If we don’t deal with it now, it can affect us in the future.

The fourth generation

Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete (Gen 15:16).

Abraham was promised all blessings in that territory, but only after the fourth generation had been completed. The fourth generation came, but turned back. Joshua and Caleb were its only representatives who remained in covenant relationship. They became giant-killers, king-killers and stronghold-takers. That is our inheritance.

Our Inheritance can be blocked by blood-line iniquity

Patterns of repetitive sin – rob us.
Negative influences – block our inheritance.

They can be hidden in our blood-lines but affecting us now. That is why we pray:

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful (wicked) way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way
(Psa 139:23-24).

Nations and kings represent enemy activity, familiar and familial spirits, sinful and iniquitous behaviour patterns in our lives. Ian Clayton offers this list of the kings and cities which must be destroyed in us:

Josh 12:9
The king of Jericho, the king of the false Holy Spirit, breath or life or moon
The king of Ai, the king of the twisted perverted sins

Josh 12:10
The king of Jerusalem, the king of bitter waters (waters of false peace)
King Adoni-zedec, the king of the false accuser
The king of Hebron, the king of compromise with wizards and charmers (Some family lines have things like this witchcraft etc.)
King Hoham: the king of a great multitude of problems, who make a sound of war

Josh 12:11
The king of Jarmuth, the king of the high and haughty pride
King Piram, the king of bestiality; wild, acting like an animal, fierce and stubborn
The king of Lachish, the king of the obstinate hard and stubborn sins
King Japhia, the king of the false Christ, bright light, false light

Josh 12:12
The king of Eglon, the king of the false prosperity also a calf or bullock
King Debir, the king of false prophets – false words about God
The king of Gezer, the king of ambushes; high, hard-to-reach places
King Horam, king of religious spirits

Josh 12:13
The king of Geder, the king of strongholds against God

Josh 12:14
The king of Hormah, the king of suicide, secluded religious cult devoted
to death
The king of Arad, the king of lasciviousness, wild, uncivilised, out of control

Josh 12:15
The king of Libnah, the king of false reputation, self-justification, I’m OK
The king of Adullam, the king of Moab justice or violence, rioting

Josh 12:16
The king of Makkedah, The king of the false shepherds, false church leaders
The king of Bethel, The king of false churches, houses of God

Josh 12:17
The king of Tappuah, the king of the forbidden fruit, apple orchards
The king of Hepher, the king of depression, a pit or well of shame and reproach

Josh 12:18
The king of Aphek, The king of entrenched strongholds or sins you are holding on to
The king of Lasharon, The king of false rose of Sharon (Christ), beautiful valley

Josh 12:19
The king of Madon, the king of fighting and arguments
The king of Hazor, the king of problems as big as a castle, walled castles

Josh 12:20
The king of Shimronmeron, the king of the rebellious filthy task masters
The king of Achshaph, the king of the satanic wizards and sorcerers

Josh 12:21
The king of Taanach, the king of the wanderlust, walking blindly
The king of Megiddo, the king of mutilation, the self-inflicted wounds

Josh 12:22
The king of Kedesh, the king of false holiness
The king of Jokneam of Carmel, the king of false repenting and sorrow

Josh 12:23
The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, the king of rebellion
The king of the nations of Gilgal, the king of false liberty, grace to sin

Josh 12:24
The king of Tirzah, the king of selfishness, idolatry

Let’s go over this list and ask God to show us what is there in our generational line, which of these things is affecting our life, hindering the opening up of the everlasting doors. We should:

  • Pray ‘search my heart, O God’ (Psa 139:23-24)
  • Repent of our sinful behaviours
  • Identify patterns of iniquity represented by “-ites” nations and kings
  • Forgive our ancestors
  • Access the mobile court of God
  • Identificationally accept the accusations
  • Repent for the sin of our generations
  • Receive a mandate of divorce separating us from the effect of those things.

Then the everlasting doors can be opened in our lives, and we will be able to receive the fulness of our spiritual and physical inheritance. When we are transformed and changed, nothing in our life can rob us of the fulfilment of God’s promises for us.

Then the earth will indeed be filled with the glory of God.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC
Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Restoration Of All Things

website blog image post event - intensive set

Mike, Nancy, Justin and Lindy were in Barnstaple for this unique event in June 2019. Get the recordings for £80 GBP here!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

174. Iniquity, Transgression and Sin

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

Sold into slavery.

The human race was traded or sold into slavery by Adam and Eve: slavery to sin and with it, a sense of separation from God. It set a pattern. Joseph and Israel were sold into slavery in Egypt, and Israel and Judah were sold into slavery in Babylon, because people turned away from God and followed their own way. David expressed it like this:

Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalm 51:5).

The good news is that Jesus, the second Adam, brought redemption and reconciliation for all mankind. No-one needs to feel separated from God any longer.

God’s Living Word

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analysing and judging the very thoughts, motives and purposes of the heart (Heb 4:12 AMP).

There are three areas where God’s living word is active in us as He brings about transformation:

  • soul and spirit (identifying what is of the flesh and what of the spirit)
  • the joints and marrow, the deepest parts of our nature
  • the thoughts, motives and purposes of the heart

Search me

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (Ps 139:23-24).

God uses the trials we face to bring things to the surface so that we can see them and deal with them in our lives.

Iniquity, transgression and sin

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7, emphasis mine).

What happens in our lives can affect future generations, and what has happened in past generations can affect us.

Three provide government

Iniquity, transgression and sin are three different concepts. They all come from worldly, natural and demonic wisdom, three things which will provide government in our lives unless we deal with them. Heavenly wisdom brings God’s government by three things from the Spirit (righteousness, peace and joy), three things from the Son (the Way, Truth and Life) and three from the Father (judgment, justice and grace).

When Adam and Eve were created, they had spirit, soul and body, with the spirit on the outside. God was intimately involved with them, but He gave them free will. He asked them to follow the pathway of the tree of life, leading to life, peace and joy. But satan came from the outside and gave them another choice, the broad pathway of the knowledge of good and evil, which would lead to death.

1

Break the cycle

Adam and Eve chose the broad pathway that leads to death. Adam’s transgression was a cause of sin. The effect was the curse. As they continued in that, it developed into sin nature, which they passed on. That resulted in more transgression and set patterns of iniquity – which then caused more transgression.

Iniquity (the motive of things in us) creates sin (desire) which forms transgression, which then leads to more iniquity (see diagram at the head of this post).

In Christ, God has given us the power to break out of this cycle, and we must do so, not only for our own sake but for the sake of our generations to come.

Transgression

Here are some dictionary definitions:

  • Wilfully doing something you know to be wrong
  • Wilfully not doing something you know to be right
  • Violation of a law, command or duty
  • Rebellion or revolt

Hebrew: a wilful deviation from, and therefore rebellion against, the path of godly living.
Greek: to go beyond, overstepping the limits.

‘Who will set me free?’

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam … So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners (Rom 5:14, 18-19).

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Eph 2:1b-3).

But God so loved the world – the Greek word is ‘cosmos’, so no-one is left out – that He sent His only-begotten Son (John 3:16), to deal with all these things so that we could become free; so that we could recognise and live from the nature which He created us in, the image of Jesus.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Rom 7:24).

How many of us have felt that way? Here is the answer:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Rom 8:1-2).

In Christ, the condemnation that was passed down from Adam is removed. A higher law has set us free from sin and death.

Sin nature

We have probably all heard that to sin is to miss the mark, to fail to achieve the standard God has set (and when this series first appeared in 2012 I taught that myself). Strong’s Dictionary gives this definition, based on a traditional understanding of Romans 3:23: H2403 (Sins): an offense. Sinning is anything that comes short of the glory of God.

But in the New Testament the most common word for sin is hamartia, a noun (the sin) not a verb (to sin). ‘The sin’ in question is the sin of Adam, following the DIY path of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Religion focuses on behaviour – what we do wrong – but Jesus did not come to deal with our individual actions as much as He came to deal
with the issue at the root of our actions.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23).

The wages of sin is death. When Jesus overcame death, He defeated the power of sin in our lives. We are not of Adam’s line but of Jesus’, the second Adam. It is not that our behaviour is unimportant, but that it can only be changed by transformation from the inside out, when we recognise our true identity in Christ, and not from the imposition of external religious rules or even principles.

Jesus is the answer

Altogether in the scriptures there are 12 Hebrew words and 5 Greek words for sin, falling into 7 basic categories:

  1. Deliberate act against a known law of God – 1 John 3:4 – external
  2. A mental consent to temptation or sinful desire – coveting, lusting – Matt 5:27-28, Rom 7:7-8 – internal
  3. Unbelief – rejecting biblical truth – Rom 14:23
  4. Neglect of known duties or opportunities – James 4:17
  5. Doing the wrong things out of ignorance – Lev 5:17-19 Luke 12:48
  6. Our sinful natures, inherited from Adam – Ps 51:5, Rom 5:19-20
  7. A law, principle or constant force dwelling in our sinful nature that enslaves us – Rom 7:14, 20-23

Four involve guilt through choice, one through ignorance, and the last 2 involve condemnation through inheritance (Rom 5:19, Eph 2:3, 1 Cor 15:50). But through His death and resurrection Jesus has done everything necessary to deal with whatever the accuser tries to bring against us. He has made us alive (Eph 2:5) and we can make a new choice to follow the pathway of the Tree of Life, which leads to peace and joy. So –

  • Iniquity?
  • Transgression?
  • Sin?

– whatever the question, Jesus is always the answer. His death and resurrection enables us to break free from our past and into the future He created us to have and enjoy. We all share in the victory of the cross and in resurrection life.

 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:22).

Two make an arc

Forgiveness and cleansing are two, making an arc which opens the third: the window of power which rests on our lives, enabling us to deal with those internal processes which have bound us to crooked behaviours.

We need to lay hold of forgiveness (and live in the good of it), so that we can be cleansed and then transformed.

…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Consider yourselves dead

We have been bought back (redeemed) from slavery and exile into relationship with God. When we are baptised in Christ, we are baptised into what he did on the cross, and we reckon ourselves dead. That deals with the sinful nature.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (Rom 6:3).

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin (Rom 6:6-7). 

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom 6:11-13, emphasis mine).

Jesus did it, we consider it every day.

2

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which [Christ and] I now live in the flesh [Christ and] I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Gal 2:20).

We can deal with:

  • Transgression or sins – they are cleansed and forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
  • Sin nature – we count ourselves dead through the cross and the death of Jesus.
  • Iniquity (we will see more in future posts – by engaging with the finished work of Christ through DNA transformation in communion; through separation, through divorce courts in heaven; and through seraphim fire).

A daily choice

It is a daily choice and we have free will to decide. What path will we follow?

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Matt 16:24; Mark 8:34).

We choose daily surrender, allowing God to lead, guide and direct us. We take one step, one day at a time. We find fresh mercies which empower us to live a life of godliness, to demonstrate God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and enable us to fulfil our destiny in God.

We choose life.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

eg-homepage-crop

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

173. Godly Trading Floors – Trading (3)

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

In the last two posts we have looked at the negative side of trading, at the deals we may have done with the enemy. Now, although this is not really part of the Transformation series, in this post I want to write about the positive side.

When Ian Clayton first began to talk about trading, some people were confused because they didn’t quite grasp what it meant. The fact is that we all trade, but we might have other terminology we use for it. Trading is about offering something in exchange for something else. It may be money, or goods, or other physical things, but it may also be love, a promise of God, your life, even the blood of Jesus. At its simplest, it is covenant exchange. When I enter into a covenant relationship with God, then what is mine belongs to Him and what is His belongs to me.

Just as there are different demonic trading floors, there are also different godly ones. For example, when I take a an offering and offer it to God, I actually go to the treasury room in heaven, where Melchizedek presides in his capacity as Chancellor.

Sowing and reaping

We have taught financial trading for many years as the principle of sowing and reaping. God promises increase on what we sow: we bring that promise with us and exchange it for its fulfilment, for what we will reap. It gives us access to the hundredfold return (or even the thousandfold of Deuteronomy 1.11, which I prefer).

Effectively, we can trade on God’s word. If we find a promise in the scriptures, or if He has given us a promise in person, we can go and ask that He actually complies with it. He doesn’t mind that: He likes to be reminded of what He has said. By faith we engage it and use His word to bring us into covenant exchange. Since God has spoken it, and we are in Christ in the new covenant, then it belongs to us.

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us (2 Cor 1:20).

We can use a scripture like that to trade with. We can go, because we are in Christ, and receive those promises. That is an exchange, a trade.

The Blood and the Cross

I trade mostly using the body and blood of Jesus in communion, trading that for transformation in my own life and resonating with the frequency of God. It is really me giving everything to Him and Him giving everything back to me, multiplied, and for His purposes (not mine). As we have seen before, the cross is the most important place of exchange for us. At the cross we can exchange our sin for forgiveness, unrighteousness for righteousness, old for new, sickness for health, and more.

Trading on the sea of glass

We know the importance of the motives and desires of our heart. We need to ensure that whatever we are looking for when we come to God is rooted in a pure desire to bring glory, honour and blessing to Him. It is not about elevating or promoting us, about giving us a name: we are not trading to get something for ourselves: we are trading to see the kingdom of God advance and expand. It is all about Him.

So when someone compliments us, affirms us, or praises us, we can come and bring those things to God. Just as the elders cast their crowns before the throne on the sea of glass (which only looks like glass, by the way), we too can offer Him the plaudits and position that men have accorded us. It is not that other people’s opinion of us has no value, but that we choose to value our relationship and intimacy with the Father, and His affirmation of us, more highly still.

Some of the fire stones are trading floors, where we go and exchange our life and receive back the fruit of the Spirit, or the revelation of the precepts of God.

Living sacrifice

We give our life in exchange for a return. So whenever I surrender as a living sacrifice to God on the altar of incense, I am trading. I am exchanging my old for the new that comes from the revelation of being in relationship with Him and out of the intimacy that I have with Him.

‘It is no longer I that live but Christ lives in me’ (Gal 2:20): I exchange my old life for new life in Him; ‘the life I now live, I live by faith of the Son of God’ – I live in union and in connection with Him

I present myself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. I am dead, I deny myself, and His whole life opens up to me.

Planting in my garden

As I mentioned, we should not get religious about the terminology. One time I got some things out of a giant’s belly, and went and planted them in my garden. Someone asked me why I didn’t go and trade with them on the sea of glass. The answer is that I did what my spirit led me to do. I went and planted something in my garden and it grew, and then off the tree came two silver trumpets. When you plant something in the ground, it dies to you so that God can return things to you as a result – usually in multiplication. One seed is sown into the ground and dies, and yet it brings forth life out of that death, in a multiplied form.

There is one particular application of trading that you may have seen in a meeting. When a speaker has said something and people want to engage in it, they come and give a small amount of money to trade into the revelation: they are honouring that revelation and want to receive blessing from engaging with it. If it reflects the desire of someone’s heart then it can be helpful for them; but personally I have never really felt the need to do it, or to encourage it here.

Keep pursuing Him

We do need to make sure we are coming from purity of heart in these things, because it will cause a multiplication for which we have to be ready. God is so gracious. He does not give us everything we want all in one go, because He knows we do not always have the wisdom to handle it. Even revelation comes in progression, rather than all at once. That way, we will keep pursuing Him and recognizing our dependence on Him rather than thinking, ‘hey, I know everything’. Actually, I probably know less than a billionth of one percent of everything. I just want to know more of Him.

For myself, I only consciously trade when my spirit leads me to do it. It is not something I do all the time as a matter of course, because then it would risk becoming a formula (and I don’t want anything to become a formula, I want to be led by and directed by the Spirit). I want my spirit to engage in what I do, and whatever I do, I want it to be in life. If I do not have faith for it, then I am just doing it according to the letter rather than the spirit, and that is of no benefit at all.

There is an old adage that you can never outgive God. He always outgives us, and that is really where any trade comes.

God will restore

The revelation of heavenly trading has been stalled by events that have happened in human history. For example, God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone by His own hand: when Moses brought them out of heaven he was on a sapphire trading floor. He was bringing the engagement of the revelation of God into this realm out of heaven. But when he saw the golden calf and all that was going on in the camp, Moses broke the stones – and an understanding of trading on the sapphire trading floor was lost as a result. I believe God is going to restore that revelation knowledge in days to come. He will unveil much more revelation on how to use the trading floors in heaven, and the seven spirits of God will teach us to understand trading in a greater dimension than we yet know.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Image attribution: The CrossEqualsLove image is Jeremy’s photo of a chalkboard by his daughter Beth Lane at Valley Church, Bamber Bridge, Lancs UK. http://bethwestcott.wix.com/bethanydesign

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

172. Seven Trading Floors – Trading (2)

Mike and Deb Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

No Condemnation

We are going to be looking at some difficult subjects in this post. Please do not get drawn into feelings of guilt and condemnation because of anything we write here. Let’s be sure to remember that there is no condemnation for us. The Holy Spirit will certainly bring conviction of sin where sin exists; but we can repent (that is, stop thinking about ourselves [and how we act] according to our own understanding, change our minds and see ourselves the way God does instead), turn from it and renounce it, receive forgiveness and look for transformation.

Ungodly trading

Adam and Eve traded with the accuser and gave their DNA for position and power to be like God (humanism, rationalism). That inclination to ungodly trading was passed on to each one of us.

Whenever we do not seek first God’s kingdom we are trading for ourselves; seeking to be gods of our own lives (just what Adam and Eve were offered). Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, and we trade today on things that are coming tomorrow.

We even need to consider for whose benefit we are doing ministry: the approval of man is temporal, not eternal. In Matthew 6 Jesus spoke about practising righteousness before men, drawing attention to our giving, fasting and praying: there is nothing wrong with these activities except the motive.

Anything we do should be for God, for His glory, not for us. Jesus introduced a new standard, based not on external adherence but on heart motive. Anger equals murder, lust equals adultery; love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you:

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20).

If our righteousness does not bring glory to God it is not righteousness at all.

Earthly, natural, demonic wisdom

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing (James 3:15-16)

What source of wisdom influences, motivates and directs our decisions?

  • Whenever we seek to use our own knowledge as opposed to God’s we are falsely trading.
  • Whenever we use a substitute instead of God’s provision we are falsely trading.
  • Whenever the motives of our heart are selfish we are falsely trading

This gives access to the demonic world to influence and affect us, to restrict us and take away our inheritance.

Trading floors

When I first came to teach on this subject, I knew I could not do so without having gone through it in my own life, but I kept putting it off. Ian Clayton was a forerunner in this, and he took 8 months to work through it in his own life. In the end, I did it in three weeks, because I was part way through teaching this series already and I was running out of time. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I had to recognise how I had been meeting my own needs in my own way, and deal with the reasons for this in my heart.

There are at least seven ungodly trading floors I have recognised. I went through every one of them, asking God on each one how and where I had traded on them. God showed me in detail, and emotionally it was really difficult to deal with it.

Then I needed to outwork my repentance. I asked God to sharpen my conscience so that I would stop if I found myself going down that route again. I have found that with perseverance, it is possible to take captive the thoughts, to recognize the whispers, before I even get on that pathway.

Seven floors

I will just say a few words about each of the trading floors here, but if you would like to work through them in your own life, you may find it helpful to download the full Trading Floors document which you can find here: Negative Trading Floors – Mike Parsons

1.Tyre – money, materialism.

The King of Tyre ransacked and robbed God’s temple, using the gold to build a trading city for his own glory and gain.

This is often about money taken from God and used for our own purposes. This includes areas such as offerings, gambling, financial cheating and debt.

2. Jezebel – manipulation, control, domination, witchcraft

Jezebel was the daughter of Ichbaal (the King of Tyre), who married the King of Israel to gain control of the religious system.

This covers issues such as the use of emotions, politics, sexual wiles, bribery or blackmail, and using substances to alter how we feel.

3. Athaliah – kingly seed

Athaliah was Jezebel’s daughter (or by some accounts, sister-in-law). She married the king of Judah and tried to control the future seed by killing all the possible heirs. She used the political system to usurp authority, and became the only queen Judah ever had.

Poor self-image, believing lies and familiar spirits, and masonic involvement all belong to this trading floor.

The King of Tyre, Jezebel and Athalia were all Baal worshippers – involved in idolatry, the cult of fertility, sensuality and child sacrifice.

4. Cain – murder

Cain was the son of satan, serpent seed, who murdered Abel his half-brother because of jealousy and the nature he inherited from satan.

This is not only physical attacks, but any kind of anger, character assassination, accusations, and selfishness.

5. Delilah – seduction

She offered pleasure and gratification, seducing Samson in order to rob him of his destiny.

This trading floor is where we find people living in a fantasy (especially romantic or sexual), finding ways to gain (or hang on to) acceptance, approval, or affirmation; and a lust for money, power or influence.

6. Leviathan – gossip, lies, deception

A demonic sea creature, a twister.

This is about lying or cheating to make others think better of you; half-truths; self-promotion, looking to impress, gossip… and what are you sharing on Facebook?

7. Apollyon – opposes the gospel

A fallen angel who opposes preaching of the gospel.

Whenever we have watered down the gospel of the kingdom, offered a cheap salvation gospel, been involved with false cults, been ruled by fear or embarrassment, or failed to share the full truth of the gospel for any reason, we have traded on this floor.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand (Ezek 33:6).

What should we do?

None of this is easy to admit to when we discover it in our lives. But the truth is, we all have it, and plenty of it. It is keeping us from what God has for us. He wants us to come into His glory, but that is impossible with all this in place. We need to get rid of it!

We must be ruthlessly honest about our past, not covering up or pretending. It is really hard to face the horrible things we have done, but the reality is that unless we do we will not be free of them.

Remember that God loves us. His love is a canopy over us, which gives us a safe place to deal with these things. Remember all the things I wrote in the first paragraph of this post. There is no condemnation for us.

This is not easy, but because forerunners have already gone there, they have made it a little less difficult for us (and our doing it will make it a little less difficult for those who follow us). We must:

  • own our past trading and motives
  • confess our trading as sin
  • seek revelation about any family trading that may influence us (we will look at this more fully in a future post on iniquity).

We may find it useful to use this diagram that we have seen before:

Event reactions2

We can use the court system in heaven. The mobile court is a very effective place to deal with all this:

  • Accept the accusation and receive God’s judgment for our own and our family’s trading
  • Repent and renounce false trading (be very specific)
  • Be separated from false trading
  • Invite God to activate our ‘reverence’ and ‘fear of God’ spiritual gates, so that our ‘conscience’ gate will be sensitive and activated.

Armed with this revelation and experience, in future we may recognise when we are going down the route towards negative trading. The earlier we can catch ourselves (or hear the Holy Spirit’s warning) and turn around, the better. We really want to get to the point where our conscience kicks in right away, so that negative trading is no longer even an option for us.

This is all part of the process of renewing our mind so that we can be transformed into the image of Jesus.

Courtroom Prayer

Before using this prayer, I recommend you work through a section (or even just a few lines) of the full Trading Floors document for yourself, so that you can be very specific about each trading floor, and how you have traded on it.

Father, I thank you that you love me
And that your kingdom is based on righteousness and justice.

By faith I step into the court of accusation.
I face my accusers and I accept and agree that I have wrongly traded.

I accept that I have followed the pathway of the knowledge of good and evil
I accept that I have been influenced and motivated
By earthly, natural and demonic wisdom.
I stand here representing myself and my forefathers, identifying with them.

I repent of and renounce all false trading for myself and my forefathers
(be very specific here about what trading you have recognised).
…
I receive the judgment of God
And I am justified and made righteous through my advocate, Jesus.
I release the judgment of God against my adversaries and accusers.
I receive a mandate to be separated from all false trading.

I step back into this realm
With the authority to identify and reject
All demonic, natural and earthly influences and motives.

I choose to be identified as your son
Walking in the light
Following heavenly wisdom on the earth.

Next Post: Godly Trading Floors
Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

eg-homepage-crop

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

166. Tadpoles and Caterpillars

Mike Parsons 
with Jeremy Westcott – 

[We] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18).

We are to be transformed into the image of Jesus. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He adds to me what is like Him, and He takes away from me what is not like Him.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12:2).

Metamorphosis

Transformation (the Greek word is metamorphosis) is a change from one form into another, such as a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog. It is not something which happens just on the surface. The kind of transformation God requires will affect our spirit, our soul (mind, will and emotions) and our body, right down to DNA level.

Look at the life cycles of the butterfly and the frog:

lifecycles

There are similarities, and one major difference. The tadpole gets to enjoy freedom while he gradually changes, a little at a time. The caterpillar is shut into a cocoon and radically changed, all at once. Some of those cocoons look very pretty, but what goes on inside really isn’t. The caterpillar is dissolved, its DNA is completely deconstructed, turned into mush, and recoded to form a butterfly. The emerging butterfly struggles to escape from the cocoon, but that very struggle produces the strength to overcome and fly.

I know which kind of transformation I would prefer.

Now a tadpole can live only in the water, but a frog is at home both in water and on the land. A caterpillar is earthbound, whilst a butterfly can fly in the air or perch on the ground. As a result of our transformation, we are enabled to operate effectively in the dual realms of heaven and earth.

Visions of a dark cloud

A number of people have seen a dark cloud over us here at Freedom. It is not a warning of something bad about to happen: the dark cloud is like a cocoon, a canopy over us, protecting us and enabling us to operate as a safe haven, a city of refuge, even as we are transformed here ourselves. It is the cloud that surrounds His glory:

…there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain…  the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently (Ex 19:16,18).

We can see our place of transformation as a cloud, as a cocoon, a wilderness, a crucible, a furnace. In all of these it will be our situations, circumstances and relationships that God uses to bring about the result He desires. We may find ourselves asking searching questions. Where am I? Who am I? What am I? Why am I?

When the cloud overshadows, the Spirit is brooding, hovering, resonating: causing us to come into harmony with Him. The vibrating energy of the Holy Spirit causes shaking, realignment at the very deepest level, and brings us into resonance, into harmony with our identity and destiny as sons. His overshadowing always produces change:

The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding, vibrating) over the face of the waters (Gen 1:2).

The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…” (Luke 1:35).

Pursuit (the proof of desire)

We can run, we can criticise the fire for being too hot, we can complain that other people are unsympathetic and uncaring. Or we can submit, and allow Him to have His way. Let’s even pursue and embrace the transforming cloud and fire of God’s presence. What is buried deep in us will come to the surface. What is hidden will be revealed. We may feel disoriented; that it is dark, restricted, hot; that we are falling apart (there may be some truth in that). But heat and pressure turn coal into diamonds, and weeds into fertile compost. Our identity as sons is forged in the fires of adversity and challenge.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Rom 5:3-5).

We must fight, press in, press on and not give up. We must pursue our inheritance; not being settlers but pioneers. We must also not cave in to pressure to help others out of their cocoon. We can encourage and support, but we must not try to rescue them from their struggle, because it is the struggle that will enable them to fly.

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force (Matt 11:12).

Ready to move?

God is always moving, and He wants us to chase after Him towards maturity. He makes us uncomfortable where we are: it may be that we find the spiritual techniques and disciplines we have relied on no longer work, that we cannot see or hear as we once did. He is moving us from His presence to His glory.

Are we ready to move when the pillar of fire or cloud moves? He is not where He was; He is not doing things as He was. But His glory and grace depart slowly – in the Old Testament they were unaware that He had left the temple (Ezek 8-11).

God is calling us to transformation because He loves us; calling us ‘deep to deep’ (Ps 42:7) to engage heaven; calling us to a supernatural lifestyle; calling us out of the wilderness into our true inheritance. He wants us living in dual realms so that we can bring His kingdom government from heaven to earth.

Transformation is the only way to maturity, to sonship, and to the true fulfilment of our destiny, which is nothing less than the restoration of the whole universe (Rom 8:19).

I dare you to pray this prayer; I dare you to continue praying it as the heat and pressure build and you engage with the process of change; I dare you not to stop praying it until you are fully transformed into the likeness of Jesus:

Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
(Psa 139:23-24 TM).

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
(Psa 139:23-24 NASB).

Related articles by Freedom ARC
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

eg-homepage-crop

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

165. Mercy: God’s Covenant Love

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12:1-2).

God wants us to be ready for His glory to come in increasing measure. If we are not ready, we would be foolish to venture anywhere near His glory, but God is looking for a people who can stand in that glory and reflect it to the world. We need to be transformed.

Discipline, not punishment

Transformation requires discipline, but let’s not confuse discipline with punishment. We may have been brought up by parents or teachers who punished rather than disciplined, and we will have to overcome that if we are to allow God to discipline us. He is not there threatening us with a big stick. If that is our view of God, then we need to repent (think again, line up our thinking with how God thinks) and deal with that mindset. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4), not fear of the consequences. To be sure, every action has it own consequences, but God is not keeping account of our sins.

…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19).

Discipline is done in love, for the benefit of the person being disciplined.

The Hebrew word muwcar and the Greek word paideia both mean ‘reprove, correct, train, warn, educate, instruct’. Punishment is about payback, about the imposition of a penalty. God does not require us to make amends. He does not punish people (and He did not punish Jesus on our behalf, either) but He does discipline us in order to train us and help us live right.

For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

Discipline is a good thing, because it corrects and trains and transforms us. When we face up to looking honestly at the reality of our life, it can be uncomfortable, even painful in the short term. But if we allow God to work in us, it will produce fruit in us, and bring us into a place of peace and joy as we persevere

Covenant love

The Lord’s mercies [lovingkindnesses] indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness (Lam 3:22-23).

The word ‘mercy’ is checed, traditionally translated ‘lovingkindness’, but it actually means ‘covenant love’. And it is by God’s mercies that we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to be transformed, as the passage from Romans 12 at the head of this post tells us.

Covenant is a commitment, agreement or contract only ended by death, and often sealed in blood by walking through the pieces of an animal sacrifice. It is a total commitment to each other. It binds each party to love one another and do good to one another, to share all they have and to support one another to the death when attacked by an outsider. It carries stipulations and terms which both parties know about before entering into it, and it is ratified by exchange, for example of coats or weapons.

God has always dealt with men through covenant (you can see this with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus). God’s covenant with Abraham was actually with his seed; and Jesus is the Seed, as Paul explains (Gal 3:16). Since we are in Him, we also benefit from that covenant.

And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham’s Seed], then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise (Gal 3:29 AMP).

Heir of the world

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world… (Rom 4:13).

This was not about possession of a little piece of land in the Middle East. This covenant is for the whole world. It is not restricted to one group of people: it is for everybody. In His death on the cross, Christ made the promises available to us. The gospel goes to the ends of the earth, bringing blessing to everyone.

We did not make this covenant, so we cannot break it. The New Covenant is God’s fulfilment of His promises to Abraham, through Jesus. It is totally reliable. God will never break a covenant He has made in the blood of His own Son. And this is the basis on which we can be saved, healed, and transformed.

When Jesus died, I died. He was my representative to deal with the power of sin. Mercy (covenant love) applies the covenant power and the victory of the cross to our lives.

Covenant exchange

covenant-exchange-belonging

This is the covenant exchange that took place at the cross. We can come to the cross every minute of every day and enter into that life which is ours in eternity. His mercy, His covenant love, is new every morning.

Grace

…through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand (Rom 5:2).

We now stand in the grace of God, His divine enabling power, to be transformed. It is not something we can do ourselves by our own power or ability, but only by willing submission and surrender to Him. Because of His grace, we have an opportunity to turn away from our old way of life and follow a different path, turning to the way God has called us to live.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:15).

The Father and the Son

God is a covenant-making God. Covenant expresses his inexhaustible and supreme love. The love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is covenant love, and we are brought into that family of love.

In giving his life for the sins of the world, Jesus entered a New Covenant in His blood with the Father. It was total commitment and self-giving without reservation on behalf of both parties. The Father and the Son entered covenant for us.so that we could come into the fullness of relationship with God. That covenant is stronger than death; it cannot be broken or annulled: it sustains our salvation, and enables our transformation.

That New Covenant means that everything belonging to the Father now belongs to Jesus. And since we are in Christ, everything belonging to the Father now belongs to us. We have access to everything of God. We have access to the omnipotence of God, the omnipresence of God, the omniscience of God: surely that will enable us to fulfil our destiny and our purpose.

Come to the cross

I would encourage you to meditate on scriptures about God’s mercies, His lovingkindness and covenant love, because they are the basis of our transformation. God’s mercies are motivated by His love, and His love motivates us to change.

Is there anything of the old that you need to exchange? Anything which is death to you that you want to exchange for life? Come to the cross. If you have a mindset that is fearful of what God might do if you were to surrender and allow Him to transform you, then come to the cross. If you think God will punish, is punishing or has ever punished you, then you really need to come to the cross.

You can do this in a practical way if you find it helpful. Just as the parties in a covenant would walk through and around the split pieces of the sacrificed animal in a figure-of-eight or eternity symbol, you can walk a path the same shape, and come to the intersection, the crossover point, the point of exchange.

At that point you can break bread, and exchange the old for the new. You can be set free from bondage and from everything that is holding you back, because you walk through the victory that Jesus secured for you.

You can come to the cross today.

Related articles by Freedom ARC
This article is available in other languages
Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider making a donation to sow into and support this ministry. Thank you!

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

eg-homepage-crop

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility
Equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek

Get started today!*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on receipt of payment and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.