heavenly realms

182. Not Of This Creation

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).

Spiritual service of worship

We are spirit, so this is what we were created for. ‘Service’ and ‘worship’ are exactly the same Greek word, and they go together. You cannot worship Him without serving Him; nor serve Him without worshipping Him. My service, my worship, is God’s will for my life, my eternal destiny; and it will be revealed as I come and offer myself as a living sacrifice.

A living sacrifice

We can treat this living sacrifice as an analogy, as most of us have probably always done, or we can experientially present our lives as living sacrifices, by faith, in reality. It can be a real thing we are doing in a real place, in the presence of God.

The altar for this sacrifice is in the tabernacle in the heavenly realms. On a macro scale, the tabernacle is a pattern of the heavenly realms, but on a micro scale it is also an actual dimensional realm of kingdom authority.

The sacrificial lamb was prepared by the priest. It did not prepare itself. We cannot transform ourselves, however hard we try. We need the presence and power of God to change us. All we have to do is surrender, and let Him do the rest.

The priest slit the animal’s throat and drained the blood; skinned it, split it open and washed its inner organs; and split open the backbone to reveal the marrow. As we have gone through this series we have seen what some of those things represent.

Head and legs

Finally he chopped off its head and cut off its legs.

The head is all about government, rule or authority. We surrender our choices, our rights and our decision-making; our own head is severed, and we become connected to the Head: Jesus. We have the mind of Christ. We seek first the Kingdom; God’s rule in, around and through us. We seek His righteousness, ‘His way of being and doing right’ (Matt 6:33 AMP). ‘His way of being’ manifests as the fruit of the Spirit; ‘His way of doing’, as the power of the Spirit. We are under authority and we exercise authority, confidently expecting God to add to us all that we need.

Our legs are symbolic of our walk and lifestyle: we walk a surrendered walk, a walk of obedience. The one who says he abides in Him (Jesus) ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked (1 John 2:6).

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

Now we can walk by faith, not sight; not swayed by what we see around us. Having a heavenly perspective, we see things through God’s eyes. God blessed Adam: He empowered Him to succeed; and then told him to be fruitful and multiply; to subdue and to bring the rule of God to the earth. He is still calling us to do the same today.

Jesus is the only way

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

There is no other way we can come. The only access point we have into a relationship with the Father is through Jesus and what He did on the cross. He is our only means of access into the presence of God in the heavenly realms.

Not of this creation

Jesus went into the holy place in the heavenly tabernacle, and the same passage of scripture says that we can go there too:

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation… For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb 9:1, 24).

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:19-22).

We can enter the same holy place (there is no other holy place any more), and be cleansed, changed, transformed into the image God has of us.

Know the will of God

And in that holy place is the ark, containing manna, the tablets, and Aaron’s rod. The manna (bread of life) is the will of God (John 4:34); the tablets are the Word of God, now written on our hearts (Jer 31:33), enabling us to recognise Him in what goes on around us; Aaron’s rod is God’s authority, anointing and power to do His will and purpose (Matt 6:10).

I want to know the will of God for my life every day, so each day I step in to where God’s presence rests over the ark, and I take what is in the ark and apply it to my life. The blood of Jesus is always on the mercy seat, so I always have access to come and make a connection.

My spirit needs to resonate and harmonise and agree with the contents of the ark. When I come into agreement with God, I can expect God to reveal His will, His word, and His heart, and to release His authority. I get the thoughts of God, and I ask Him to show me if there is anything He wants me to do today, anything I need revelation of, anything I need specifically to do. If not, I ask Him to touch my heart so that my heart will see and recognise Him around me.

God’s will has a frequency. Resonance happens when I vibrate at the same frequency as God, to produce harmony and agreement; that is when authority and confidence come. Since God has told me to do something, I can be completely confident that He is going to give me everything I need – the authority, the power, the resources – to accomplish it.

Practice

I administer the kingdom government of God through my life, with authority and power, in the sphere of influence He has given me. But it is heaven first, earth second: I need to know the will of God in heaven before I can outwork it here on earth.

I encourage You to practise engaging until You can live and operate out of the revelation you have accumulated, and it becomes a pathway of entrance.

When you learn to drive a car, at first the driving instructor has to constantly remind you to think, be aware, look in your mirrors, step on the gas, apply the brakes and so on. But once you can drive and have built up some experience, you do it all without thinking; it comes as second nature to you.

When I first began to access heaven, it used to take me quite a long time. I was going through the process, learning to present all the different parts of the living sacrifice. Now, I can go from here in this dimension right to the very presence of God in one step, following the pathway I have learned. This is what we mean by learning the protocols of engaging heaven, so that we can step into whatever realm of heaven we need to, whenever we need to, in order to bring the rule of heaven to earth.

We need to live on the other side of the veil, in the realm of His presence. The earth responds when we govern from beyond the veil, no longer looking to live on the earth out of the supply of heaven (great though that sounds), but living our life both in heaven and on the earth, in dual realms, at the same time; no longer trying to get heaven to come down to earth, but to be in heaven, and bring heaven to earth with us.

Let’s engage as we step in:

Jesus, I thank You that You have opened up the veil.
You are the door, the matrix to the Father
into the realm of His presence

I thank You that You have torn the veil.
So today by faith I step through the veil of the natural world
into the realm of Your presence.

I thank You that while I am standing here in Your presence
I am a gate of eternity.
I open the gate of eternity in me
and I receive the realm of eternity.

I receive the fullness of the breath of God into my body
[breathe in]
that my body would take on the reflection
of who I am in the kingdom as Your son.

Father, I engage that and I push and pull it in
and draw it into my spirit being.
I ask You to breathe into me while I am in Your presence,
Breathe Your spirit and Your being into me.

I draw it into my spirit being
so I become one with You

I step back into the atmosphere of the earth
to administer the breath of God.
[breathe out]
I breathe out the breath of God
into the atmosphere of the earth around my life
to establish Your kingdom.

I step forward into the realm of Your presence.
I open my life to expose my inner being to Your presence.
All that I am, Father, I make open
for Your presence to gaze upon.

Jesus, You are my high priest,
You take my living sacrifice and make me clean.
I receive Your purity and holiness
through the absolute cleansing of Your presence.

Lord I breathe You in,
Baptise me afresh in Your Holy Spirit.
Bring me to the house of wine
to the banqueting table of Your presence
under the covering of Your government and love.

I ask You to fill me with the wine of Your love and presence.
I drink the wine of Your presence
and engage this as provision for my life
out of the realm of heaven.

I step back into the realm of earth
and release the wine and atmosphere of Your presence
into this atmosphere around my life.

I release it out of my spirit being
through the matrix gate of eternity
into the atmosphere of the earth
to administer Your kingdom through me.

You can find your own words; you do not have to use these. But as you practise stepping in by faith day by day, you will start to engage. And as you step out, things will begin to change. You will be bringing God’s kingdom into the atmosphere around your life, to His glory.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation 20-part audio series with slides (this post is based on extracts from Mike’s notes for session 19).
Preparing For Destiny (audio series and blog series).
Freedom Apostolic Resources website.
Freedom Apostolic Resources’ profile on Pinterest.

← PreviousNext →

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).

← PreviousNext →

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.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation 20-part audio series with slides (this post is based on extracts from Mike’s notes for session 14).
Preparing For Destiny (audio series and blog series).
Freedom Apostolic Resources website.

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.

← PreviousNext →

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‘.

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.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation 20-part audio series with slides (this post is based on extracts from Mike’s notes for session 13).
Preparing For Destiny (audio series and blog series).
Freedom Apostolic Resources website.

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

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.

← PreviousNext →

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.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Trading (Much of the content of this blog post has been drawn from sessions in this YouTube playlist)
Transformation 20-part audio series with slides.
Preparing For Destiny audio series and blog series.
Freedom Apostolic Resources website

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!

171. Information for Elevation – Trading (1)

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

The deception we are living in.

We find it hard to judge ourselves. We are used to thinking the way we do, used to meeting our own needs in our own ways. But God will go deeper, revealing and judging the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. By revelation of His word and His Spirit He will show us the reality of our motives.

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 (Psalm 139:23-24).

The difference between how we see ourselves and how God sees us is the deception we are living in.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Our motives are formed by past experience and decisions, in our own lives and in those of our ancestors. Our hearts bear the record of previous generational blood line decisions, and we may have been programmed through generational patterns of iniquity. These in turn form patterns within our hearts.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the pathway and source of all self. Its roots are sourced from satan’s trading, ‘I will ascend, I will be like God’. Trading is a pathway we follow when we seek to meet our own need. The fruit of this tree is always shiny on the outside, but it is death to us. If we could see beneath the attractive skin, see the rottenness and poison within, we would never fall for satan’s seductive lies.

Trading is exchange. It is based on the desires of our hearts, which are corrupted by sin in our nature, from Adam onwards. All sinful trading is rooted in the heart’s desire to be like God. Satan’s was the first negative trade, before time began. The first negative trade on earth was between satan and Adam and Eve: he offered them something and they gave him something in return.

The covering cherub

Over the ark of the covenant were two cherubim with wings outstretched, covering the revelation that came from the Presence of God. When they released their wings, the light of that revelation shone onto the stones that covered their body, and was reflected out into the created order.

Lucifer (one of the covering cherubs, who would become satan) gained revelation of God’s plan and purposes, and saw that the future destiny of the universe was not to be subject to him and the angels, but was assigned to mankind. He traded on that information to lead a third of the angels in rebellion, seeking to stop the outworking of God’s plan (see Ezekiel 28). He traded for future position.

Adam and Eve

Now that he is cast out of heaven, he can no longer see into God’s plans. But because he knew God’s plan for Man, Adam and Eve became his target as soon as they were created.

He came to them in the garden (Gen 3:1-7), and began by twisting God’s words, creating doubt about God in their hearts (Adam was standing right there with Eve throughout this whole scene). Eve responded by adding something of her own – ‘or touch it’ – to what God had actually said, and he moved on to an outright lie – ‘You will not surely die’. He offered them a pathway to fulfil their own destiny apart from God: ungodly, corrupted wisdom, ‘You will be like God, knowing good and evil’.

As soon as they accepted the offer, they began to follow their own source of supply and provision, sewing fig leaves together to make a covering. And Man has been covering himself with religious self-effort ever since.

Humanism

The trade of information for elevation, that you can know and be like God, is the root of all humanism (elevated human capacity) and rationalism (elevated human reasoning).

Meeting our needs

God has put in us a need for acceptance and love; a need for affection, value and worth; for approval and significance; affirmation, for identity and purpose; security, safety and provision. All these needs He intends to meet Himself, through our relationship with Him. Any attempt on our part to use another source or method is trading on demonic trading floors: offering something in exchange for the meeting of a need.

Nothing good can come from this pathway. All pathways of the knowledge of good and evil produce death, even the ‘good’ ones. They substitute happiness for joy, satisfaction for fulfilment, leisure for peace, good causes for destiny; things which may appear really attractive, may make us feel good, but on this pathway they all lead to death.

Trading floors are demonic substitutes for God’s provision. They offer a perverted altar on which to sacrifice. There may be generational patterns drawing us into these trades, and familiar spirits which activate and operate them. They come with strings attached, putting us into bondage to sin and death.

When we take the pathway of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; when we opt for a shortcut to gratification, success, money, position, influence or power; when we derive our identity from performance, work or ministry, we are trading.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 John 2:16).

The temptation of Jesus

Satan’s temptation of Jesus was an example of how he tries to lure us into this (Matt 4:3-10). He cast doubt on what God had said, twisting God’s word and taking it out of context; and tried to get Jesus to meet His own needs apart from God’s provision. Jesus’ answer was ‘it is written’. Unlike Eve, He added nothing to what God said.

When he took Jesus to a high mountain (it was not in this earthly realm – there is no physical mountain from which you can see all the kingdoms of the world), he showed Him His own inheritance, and offered Him a shortcut, bypassing the cross. Jesus’ reply?, ‘Go, satan’ (we need to say the same to the whispers in our head), ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ To serve ourselves is to follow satan’s pathway.

It is quite challenging when we start to consider the thoughts and motives of our hearts.

Jesus passed this test and went out in the power of the Spirit, working miracles and destroying the works of the evil one. Had He succumbed to any of these temptations, He would never have been able to do the works of the kingdom, and would never have been able to go to the cross. Satan will make us similar offers, often through the familiar spirits assigned to our lives.

Ruthlessly honest

Let’s present ourselves to God for examination, and examine ourselves regularly. Let’s be ruthlessly honest about our past, remembering that He loves each one of us. Let’s own our past trading and motives, confess our trading as sin, and seek revelation about family trading so that we can confess and deal with that too.

Father I thank you that You have made a way
For me to access your heavenly presence
By faith I step in through the veil of Jesus, through the way of the cross
Jesus, my high priest, I present myself to you in surrender as a living sacrifice

I submit to the authority of the living word in my life
I step through the veil of truth into the Holy Place
I stand in the light of your truth

I ask you to search me
Reveal my blind self to me
Show me the hidden motives of my heart
Show me where I have followed the pathway
Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Show me where I have accepted satan’s deceptions
Reveal where I have followed earthly, natural or demonic wisdom
To meet my own needs

Show me where I have traded
By taking the shortcut to gratification
Through success, money, position, influence or power

Show me where I received my identity
From performance, work or ministry

Show me where I have formed relationships
To meet my own needs
For love, acceptance, affirmation and approval

Show me where I have sought to meet my own needs
Through humanism and rationalism
Following the forbidden pathway of self

I submit and surrender my life
To following the pathway of the tree of life as my source
I commit myself to a lifestyle of repentance for all negative trading
I repent of the patterns of sin in my heart

I commit myself to a lifestyle of renunciation of all negative trading
I renounce my sin where I have followed the pathway
Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
As my way of life
I renounce all my defence, coping and survival mechanisms

Give me revelation of my true identity as a son of God
Give me a heart secure in its identity
Renew my mind to the mind of Christ
Meet all my unmet needs in yourself
Heal all my unhealed hurts
Restore my soul to original condition

I receive your unconditional love,
Acceptance, affirmation, and approval
From the source of the tree of life
I stand transparent naked and unafraid before you
I hear you say ‘I see you and I love you’
I receive your value, esteem and worth

I choose to follow the pathway
That leads to my source, the tree of life, Jesus

I step back into this realm to walk in the ways of your kingdom
Manifest your glory through me on earth as it is in heaven
So I will fulfil my eternal destiny

Next Post: Seven Trading Floors – Trading (2)

← PreviousNext →

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation 20-part audio series with slides (this post is based on extracts from Mike’s notes for session 8).
Kingdom Realms (audio series and blog series).
Freedom Apostolic Resources website

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.

Your first two weeks are free when you set up any payment plan. Find out more about the Engaging God programme and get started today!*

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

168. The Fire of Transformation

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott

Refiner’s Fire

There are three things you need for fire: heat, air, and a fuel source. God’s presence is the heat and the wind of the Holy Spirit is the air (the more the wind of the Spirit blows, the hotter the fire). Now, who is willing to be a fuel source? There is no other fuel for this fire. To enter glory we must go through the fire of transformation. We are being prepared so that He can turn up in person.

Fire changes the composition of a substance at a molecular level. Chemically, this is the process, and there will be parallels for us in our lives too:

Heating – temperature rises
Transition – softening of bonds
Degradation – bonds break
Decomposition – release of gases
Oxidation – combustion
Transformation – change of substance (e.g. wood to charcoal)

Fire from heaven

We can see instances in scripture where the fire of God fell:

Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces (Lev 9:24) [see also 2 Chron 7:1, 1 Chron 21:26, Rev 8:5].

But we are not dependent upon fire falling from heaven. We have access to heaven, where the fire is. We can enter into the fire of God’s presence every day.

Pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God (Matt 5:8).

Our lives become an offering when we go through this process of refining and purifying. Purity means there is no mixture. We gave God the go-ahead for this when we prayed “Try me, O God” (from Psalm 139) a little earlier. ‘The Lord tests the heart’ (Prov 17:3), and ‘when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold’ (Job 23:10).

We can count it all joy when we go through trials (James 1:2), because we know the end will make it all worth while. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, we are not alone in the fire, and when we come through we will not even smell of smoke.

A new heart

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26).

We need pure hearts, because the heart carries the testimony record of our life and past generations. The heart forms from the sperm and the ovum joining to form the first cell and contains 23 + 23 chromosomes from our mother and father. It contains the DNA record of our seed line and the cell memories of our past generational blood line.

Transformation is the process of rewriting our hearts (2 Cor 3:3). This is what will happen when we start dealing with these generational things in our lives:

You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place (Deut 12:3).

What are your idols?
What are your family idols?
Where are your high places?
Where are your family high places?
Where have you sacrificed?
Where has your family sacrificed?
What have you traded with?
What has your family traded with?

This is all coming as we ask God to transform us.

We are to lay our lives on the altar, and come as a living sacrifice. That altar is not in a physical place on earth, but in the tabernacle in heaven.

This is a diagrammatic representation of seven realms of heaven. Between each of these realms or dimensions are gateways, and there are protocols for passing through them. The two cherubim and fiery sword are there to block the pathway to the tree of life, but Jesus has unblocked that pathway for us as we come through Him, through the cross.

When He described Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, (the names of the veils between the various parts of the temple), His contemporaries understood very well that He was saying, ‘It is (and always has been) only through Me that you can access the realms of God’s Presence and the realms of heaven’.

The seraphim and fire

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).

We may well exclaim ‘Woe is me, I am ruined!’, or in more modern language, ‘I’m totally wrecked’ because that is how we feel when all the impurities come to the surface in the heat of the fire. The burning coal purges our sin and takes away our iniquity when we engage the seraphim. If you have not yet experienced that, then that too is coming.

A living sacrifice

We have looked before at what it means to come as a living sacrifice. Please feel free to read those blog posts now if you have not done so before. By faith we enter through the veil, to the brazen altar, to Jesus our High Priest, who prepares the sacrifice. Our part is to come and present ourselves.

Jesus told us that this is the protocol if we want to come after Him: to deny ourself (surrender), take up the cross (the place of exchange) and follow Him (Luke 9:23).

Walk in the light

If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7, 9).

How many of us have only ever applied this scripture to this earthly realm? But it is in the realms of heaven that we are cleansed from sin; it is in the realms of heaven where Jesus is, walking in the light. That cleansing comes as we step into His presence through the cross. We can experience cleansing here in this realm only because we can do so in that realm. And we can do it in an instant by learning to step into that place, to go through the veil of the cross and exchange old for new, sin for righteousness and so on.

Here are some declarations you can use every day:

Father, I thank You that through your mercy
You have made a way for me to access Your heavenly presence.

I choose to deny myself, take up the cross and follow Your way.
I choose to lose my life to gain your life.

I step in through the veil of Jesus, through the way of the cross.
I step into the realm of Your government.
I come to trade on the brazen altar of covenant exchange.

I exchange my sin for Your righteousness.
I exchange my rejection for Your acceptance.
I exchange my guilt for Your forgiveness.
I exchange my sickness for Your health.
I exchange my old life for Your new life.

I exchange my old identity for Your new identity.
I exchange my old name for Your new name.
I exchange my old nature for Your new nature.
I exchange my old bondage for Your new freedom.
I exchange my old records for Your new record.
I exchange my past for Your future.

I exchange my darkness for Your light.
I exchange my weakness for Your strength.
I exchange my thoughts for Your thoughts.
I exchange my character for Your character.
I exchange my ways for Your ways.

I step back into this realm
Forgiven, cleansed, and clothed with righteousness.
I am empowered for transformation
To manifest Your glory
Bringing heaven to earth through my life.

I would encourage you to do this every day. Step in and step out; exchange old for new at the cross. Be transformed. Make this a way of life, daily denying yourself, taking up the cross, and following Him – into the realms of heaven.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation 20-part audio series (this post has been drawn from Mike’s notes for session 5).
Preparing For Destiny (audio series and blog series).
Freedom Apostolic Resources website

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.

162. Spheres of Influence

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

Rule

Your destiny is to rule, to bring God’s kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. This is His ‘Plan A’, and He has no other plan. God said to Adam and Eve when they were first created:

Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule (Gen 1:28).

He intends us to bring His will (His kingdom) from heaven to earth. It is our individual destiny, and also the destiny of the church: the mountain of house of the Lord will be raised up above all other mountains (Isa 2:2).

But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17).

It is in relationship with Him that we become one. It will take time, dedication and obedience, but the more we are in tune with Him, the more His will and purpose and kingdom will be outworked through us. Our destiny to rule comes only through relationship with Him, and is based in love.

Spirit, soul, body senses

This is a picture we have seen before, showing how we can relate to God and how He can flow through us.

At one time we had no concept that the glory of God could be inside us. Our First Love Gate was closed. We had no connection to God and our spirit was dead to Him. But we now know that He lives inside us, empowering us to live, to change, to be transformed.

We all have a body, soul and spirit. Our body enables us to relate to world; our soul to relate to ourselves; our spirit to relate to God. Our destiny flows through a strong spirit, but can be blocked by a dominant soul. So it is vital for us to have our soul restored and refined, and spirit – soul – body in the proper order, not the other way around.

When we are born again, we become a dwelling of God’s presence. Heaven is a spiritual dimension all around us, and we are now connected to it through God who is in us. We have a flow of abundant life flowing through us like a river from heaven (from the spiritual realm), and we can experience the goodness of God, on the inside.

This means that everything we are used to getting from the outside, God can give us much more effectively from the inside. God is love, so we can now experience the love of God from the inside instead of looking to meet that need for love from somewhere else (which is ultimately unfulfilling). God is light, so we can receive understanding and knowledge from Him, on the inside.

The river flows from heaven through God in us, to our spirit, soul, and body, and from there into the world around us. God’s will (His kingdom rule) in heaven is able to operate in us, through us and around us. Every single person reading this can be a world-changer. Even if it is only your own world you are changing, that is still something of eternal significance.

Spiritual blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:3.)

In our relationship with Christ we are blessed. And those spiritual blessings can be manifested in the physical realm, equipping us to succeed in life. Those heavenly blessings can flow to us, through us and around us.

But more than being connected, we have access to actually enter into those heavenly places:

…and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6).

So we can engage with the eternal things of God and manifest them here and now.

Flow

A flow of revelation comes from heaven into our lives through God’s presence. Rather than trying to build up our intellect from the outside and get worldly knowledge (which may be good to have, but is not of eternal value), we get revelation knowledge from God. In that flow there are also resources, authority, light, glory, God’s presence and power, all coming from the unseen spiritual heavenly dimension into the physical realm through the gateway of our lives.

…the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, from, for) eternal life (John 4:14 AMP).

He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water (John 7:38 AMP).

In the world, everything flows from the outside in. But with God, everything flows from the inside out. So if we are looking to change, to be transformed, then we can be changed from the inside out rather than picking away at the symptoms of our behaviour, and peeling away the onion layers one by one. We can go straight to the root, from the inside out.

Higher

This physical realm is held together by the spiritual realm, which is higher than the physical realm in power and authority:

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Col 1:16-17).

Spiritual laws or principles supersede natural laws and principles: healing overrules sickness and disease; freedom overrules captivity and bondage, and so on. Jesus is our example of heaven ruling earth through His life – the will of the Father was perfectly demonstrated through Him. He demonstrated the higher authority of the spiritual realm over the natural. He walked on water, turned water into wine, multiplied food, passed through crowds of people and disappeared from natural sight. He made money appear in a fish’s mouth, controlled the weather, stilled the storm, healed the sick and cast out demons, restored limbs and raised the dead – the spiritual realm has authority even over death, proved by the resurrection.

If we are to do the same, and greater things (as He said we would), then we too need access to and familiarity with that spiritual realm.

We have learned how to relate to the world around us through our five physical senses, from the outside in. Our soul also has senses that have been trained from the outside in, by nature, nurture and trauma. But our spiritual senses can only be trained from the inside out, through our relationship with God. We cannot get them trained anywhere else. This will transform our soul and body senses from the inside too.

He is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present – and connected to us, which gives us access to all He knows, everything He does and everywhere He is. Through Him we are connected to everything, everywhere, at every time.

Positioned to receive

We are in position to receive a spontaneous flow of revelation knowledge: inside information. Prophecy, for example, is information from the future: God disclosing to us what is to come. So if we want advance information about what is going to happen, to know all about our day before we live it, we can get in touch with God in the morning and ask Him to show us. God wants to give us an advantage. The information we can get from the physical world will never be greater than the revelation we can get from the mind of Christ who is in us.

The thoughts of God dance in our mind, as Einstein said. The feelings of God move our emotions; the impressions God gives motivate our wills; He causes visions and pictures to form in our imagination. We can learn to tune in, to hear God’s voice on the inside. We can learn to see from the inside – see angels, see that spiritual dimension, the spiritual signals people are giving out. Learn to hear from the inside, that still small voice, sense of peace, the umpire in our hearts; to feel from the inside, moved by the compassion of God; to smell from the inside – spiritual fragrances, which often indicate what God is doing; to touch from the inside – many of us have experienced heat, or vibration, when we have laid hands on someone for prayer.

We need to activate our spiritual senses: the fear of God, intuition, revelation, worship, hope, faith, reverence and prayer. Some of those senses we may use more than others because of our particular gifts and callings, but we all need to use them to some degree.

Channels, conduits

It is when we have these senses functioning that our lives become an open gateway to manifest God’s presence in this world: His rule, as it is in heaven, on the earth, through us. Each of us has a kingdom sphere of influence in which we have authority to rule. For some it may be wider than others, but we all have the power of God’s kingdom to bring godly influence into our home, family, social gatherings, workplace, street, church, and ministry. If where you work is miserable, you can come in with joy and peace to transform it. Let’s start bringing heaven into our workplace, and every other setting in our lives.

We can change the atmosphere, and we can change a situation, because we carry the kingdom of heaven within us. If we see someone sick, we can bring healing. If we see someone in poverty we can bring blessing. We can find the will of God in heaven and bring that will to earth as a manifestation of the kingdom.

Keys of the kingdom

We will need to use the keys of the kingdom.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven (Matt 16:19).

We have to bind or loose it in heaven first. We bind to the will of God, to the truth and so on; we loose from the restrictions and chains of the enemy.

We need to be flowing from the inside out, God’s kingdom manifesting through us. We need to know our identity as sons of God, that we have a right to bring God’s rule wherever we go. Then we can walk into a situation with boldness, knowing that we will affect it and bring change to it rather than being affected and changed by it ourselves.

We can change our lives, and those of others, by being open to God’s kingdom rule.

Your destiny is to rule.
Your destiny is to be a world-changer.

God I thank You for Your presence in my life
I open the gate of first love and invite You into my spirit
I invite You to activate my spiritual senses and flow through me
Jesus I surrender control of my life to Your lordship. You are Lord of my spirit.

Transform me into the image of Jesus from the inside out
Renew my mind, heal my emotions, restore my conscience, cleanse my imagination
Train my senses to hear Your voice,
Know Your heart, see Your vision, be directed by Your peace.
Manifest Your kingdom rule through me to the world around me.

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Transformation teaching series
Preparing For Destiny teaching series [this post is based on session 11]
Freedom Apostolic Resources website

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider sowing into and supporting this ministry with a financial gift. Thank you!

Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits.

Or you can use the blue button to support our work with a one-time gift*.
Thank you!
*Note: This donation is securely handled through PayPal but you do not need to have a PayPal account yourself to make a one-time donation. For repeating donations, if you do not have (or want) a PayPal account please support us through Patreon instead.

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.

158. A Flow of Spontaneous Revelation

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

God speaks to us in a flow of spontaneous revelation. He communicates through thoughts, pictures, feelings, and impressions which we need to pick up. We need to be able to tune in to them; to see, feel, hear, and touch them. Reading scripture may a good place to start, but the Bible is the beginning of experience, not the end of it.

The scripture becomes a doorway to encounters with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, with our Father. It also becomes an anchor for experiences we have now and a platform for further experiences still to come. We can go to the Bible, and find out if there is a scripture which talks about aspects of our experience. That is what I mean by finding an anchor in it.

We sing that we want to meet Him ‘face to face’. That is a reality we can all enjoy, here and now.

Journal everything

The Hebrew word for ‘know’ means ‘to experience by personal encounter’, and it is possible for us to have experiences, encounters, visions, dreams, and revelation. Scripture is full of examples of such things.

I want to encourage you, if you want to benefit from encounters with God, write them down. Journal everything so that you can go back to it, review it, meditate upon it, and draw further revelation. You can also revisit the experience. The more we repeat experiences, the more our brain learns to value and store those experiences, rather than forgetting and shredding the memories.

There are three stages of experience with God that we might identify:

1. Visions

These are snapshot pictures or moving pictures, as seen from the outside, a kind of 3rd person experience of seeing ourselves or someone else.

2. Visitations

In these we experience something in the 1st person, and are involved ourselves in the ‘action’. This may involve being in a trance, such as the one Peter had on the rooftop when God showed him a sheet coming down from heaven full of animals; or even being translated.

If you think all this sounds very much like the New Age, that is because devotees of the New Age have experienced something of what the Bible talks about, but have experienced it in a way that does not connect it with God (to be fair, that is hardly surprising when we have done such a good job of telling them that they are themselves separated from Him. They are not). And now religion tells us that we cannot touch it. Huge sections of the church have swallowed – and proliferated – that particular lie. And if you are worried it is too much like eastern religion, ask yourself where the Bible comes from. Not America. Not the UK. It comes from the Middle East, and that is the cultural setting which must inform our grasp of what it says.

Paul wrote that he didn’t know whether he was in or out of his body when he went into the heavens. The western mindset has a hard time with statements like that. Ezekiel was taken out of his body, and his spirit was transported into Jerusalem so that he could see what was happening there. These experiences are for us, too. The Holy Spirit can come and take us to different places on the earth, and to different places in heaven, and we may not know whether we were there in body, or in spirit, or both.

The reason for all this is to enable us to bring heaven to earth.

3. Habitations

This is when we live in the dual realms of heaven and earth simultaneously, as Jesus did:

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13, my emphasis). Jesus was on earth, speaking to Nicodemus, but said He was in heaven at the same time.

That is how Jesus was able to see the things the Father was doing, because He was in constant spiritual connection with the Father in the heavenly realms. Whatever Jesus did, He has made available for us. He said “You will do the works that I do, and greater works than these, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). He went to open up this door for us, this avenue into the heavenly realms.

Open the eyes of our heart

We can see with our natural eyes, but at the same time we can also see with our spiritual eyes, and flow in revelation which comes from God’s presence. This is where meditation becomes so important. Meditation is a process we can use to open the eyes of our heart to see; to encounter the truth of who God is in practical, experiential ways.

Definitions

Here are some dictionary definitions of meditation: the act of focusing one’s thoughts: to ponder, think on, muse, reflect, contemplate, babble, mutter, imagine; to murmur; to converse with oneself; to ruminate (chew the cud and extract all the goodness from it).

It is not madness to speak to yourself. I speak to myself all the time. As we speak aloud, we are communicating the things of God to our spirit, which will grow and engage with them. And using our imagination is very much part of the process of meditation. If we are ‘just imagining it’, what is wrong with that? It is how God speaks to us.

Music is very useful in meditation. It provides a platform which engages our imagination. The right side of our brain is where creativity and imagination reside. When we speak in tongues, scientists have found that it is the right side of our brain which is engaged in that activity. And the right side of the brain activates better, and more blood physically flows there, when we are at rest. So it is best to meditate when we are in a state of relaxation, which we can achieve by calming ourselves, taking deep breaths, and so on. Again, this is not wrong: it is simple and sensible preparation of our body.

Logos to rhema

Meditation turns the logos (written, fixed word) into the rhema word (spoken, to us, now), stirring faith from which we can live. It turns head knowledge into personal experience, and enables us to hear the voice of God. In meditation, God can use a scripture to speak to us (sometimes completely out of context – He wrote it and He can use it however He wishes), to get across to us something He wants us to hear and understand.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success (Joshua 1:8).

Meditating will enable me to prosper. In my destiny, in what God has called me to do in my life, I want to prosper; I want to succeed and excel to the highest level.

Don’t you want the same?

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider sowing into and supporting this ministry with a financial gift. Thank you!

Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits.

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.

155. A Plumbline, a Doorway and an Anchor

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott

Not in the Bible

This may seem really obvious, but it is a fact that not everything is actually specifically mentioned in the Bible. For example, Jesus said we should do greater works than He did, without being specific about what they might be. We have experiences in daily life which are not mentioned in the Bible – there are no computers or glasses or cars or mobile phones – but it is OK for us to use them. In just the same way, we may have some experiences of heaven which are not in the Bible.

A plumbline

The scriptures can be a plumbline for us though. A plumbline is a string with a lead weight (or plumb-bob) hanging from it, which builders use to check that vertical surfaces are true. So does our experience line up with God’s principles, His character and His nature? That is a safeguard for us, so that we do not go off into flights of fancy which have no basis in God. The enemy will do all he can to cause us to go astray, but we do not have to be frightened of that if we keep true to a clear revelation of who God is. Jesus Himself is that perfect revelation of His Father.

Using our imagination

The scriptures can become our starting point for future experience. When we meditate on a passage, we can picture what it talks about and use our imagination. We ought not to be scared to use our imagination: God has given it to us so that we can see things, picture them, and visualise them. Now some Christians are wary of concepts like ‘visualisation’ because they have been adopted by New Age and occult people. Even meditation is viewed with suspicion in some circles. But these things are not wrong in themselves. It is simply that we have to approach them afresh and learn how to use them in a godly way.

A doorway

If we read Revelation chapters 4 and 5, they tell us about God’s throne, thunder and lightning, the seven spirits of God, four living creatures, angels, 24 elders and so on. Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10 speak of a similar scene. There are pictures in these passages which we can visualise, and this then becomes something we can engage with. It can open a door to encounter and experience.

An anchor

As well as a doorway, the scriptures can be an anchor for further heavenly experiences. I have had many encounters with God in the heavenly realms, following which I went back to the Bible to find a foundation and an anchor for those experiences. That meant I could return to those experiences again, while ensuring that I was standing on a good biblical foundation.

So sometimes our experience comes directly out of meditating on Bible passages. At other times, our experience comes in a different way, but we can still go back to the scripture and make sure that what we have experienced is in line with what it reveals of God. In either case, if it is firmly rooted in scripture we can use that as a prompt when we want to pick up our experience again another time and go further with it.

For example, I had encounters where God took me and opened up scrolls relating to my life, and showed me what was written there. I was not expecting that. I did not know if it was biblical. But then I read in Revelation that there was a scroll written on the front and the back which Jesus would open, and that anchored those experiences solidly for me. As a result I am able to go back there and make sure my life lines up with what is written on my scroll.

Left brain, right brain

To meditate you have to learn to use the right side of the brain, the creative/intuitive area. I used to be a very left-brained person, a scientist, who naturally tended towards the cognitive, logical, and mathematical. But speaking in tongues or meditating, because they come from a flow of the spirit, use the right side of the brain. So we need to learn to activate that part of the brain in order to see, and visualise, and experience spiritual realities, and especially the heavenly realms.

That flow of the spirit is revelation from the inside which comes as spontaneous thoughts and pictures and feelings. If we are not used to tuning in to them, they can slip past and we can miss them. It works like this. The air around us is full of radio and television signals of which we are not normally aware. But if we were to have a radio, turned on and tuned in, we would be able to hear whatever was playing on that particular station. If we had a TV set tuned in we would be able to see what was on that channel. And it is just the same with tuning in to God.

Meditation, imagination

God is sending out signals all the time. They flow through our spirit and are projected into the right side of our brain, so that we can hear His voice, see visions and pictures, and receive revelation from Him. We tune in to that through meditation.

Our imagination is the screen on which God projects things. But it can also receive images from our soul, from our subconscious, and we need to know the difference. Our imagination can play back experiences we have had in life. There may be a song, or a smell or a taste which can transport us instantly back to an experience we had many years previously. We can imagine it, recall it even feel the same feelings we had at the time (whether positive or negative).

We do not want to be led from our soul, and especially not from our past negative experience, but we want to be led by the Spirit of God. We need to learn to let those spirit projections rule over the soulish ones, so that we are tuned in to a flow of revelation which enables us to follow God and do what He has called us to do. We have to learn how to open ourselves up to these things, just as most of us actually learned to shut them out.

Retuning

Every child, up to the age of about three or four, is creative and intuitive. Children of that age can see the angelic much more readily than adults, and have the ability to function in that intuitive way.

By the age of 7, only 10% of children retain that spiritual and creative ability. Our western educational system is very effective at training us to use the left side of our brain. It does not value the right side at all. Because the spiritual is not reinforced and encouraged, but rather dismissed and ignored (or at best, humoured) by our elders and teachers, we learn to focus almost exclusively on the natural realm instead.

But now, empowered by the Spirit of God, we have an opportunity to re-learn how to engage our spirit; how to retune and see things from God’s perspective.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14, my emphasis).

It only comes by practice.

Support Freedom ARC

If our free or paid resources are a blessing to you, please consider sowing into and supporting this ministry with a financial gift. Thank you!

Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits.

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

Find out more and get started today!*

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

Spiritual service of worship

A living sacrifice

Head and legs

Jesus is the only way

Not of this creation

Know the will of God

Practice

Related articles by Freedom ARC

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

Share this:

A reflection of God on earth?

The Lion roars

Judgment is coming

Impending upheaval

Support Freedom ARC

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

Share this:

Our inheritance

Staking a claim

The kingdom of God is within you

Blocking the gates

Deny the enemy access

Put me on trial

Related articles by Freedom ARC

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

Share this:

The Promised Land

All the earth

Spiritual authority

The physical and the spiritual

Blood line and seed line

The fourth generation

Our Inheritance can be blocked by blood-line iniquity

Related articles by Freedom ARC

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

Restoration Of All Things

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

Share this:

Sowing and reaping

The Blood and the Cross

Trading on the sea of glass

Living sacrifice

Planting in my garden

Keep pursuing Him

God will restore

Related articles by Freedom ARC

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

Share this:

The deception we are living in.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

The covering cherub

Adam and Eve

Humanism

Meeting our needs

The temptation of Jesus

Ruthlessly honest

Next Post: Seven Trading Floors – Trading (2)

Share this:

Refiner’s Fire

Fire from heaven

Pure in heart

A new heart

Heavenly realms

The seraphim and fire

A living sacrifice

Walk in the light

Related articles by Freedom ARC

Other resources from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

Share this:

Rule

Spirit, soul, body senses

Spiritual blessings