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| God's Time is NOW!!! |
God will give us grace to endure what is going on in our temporal world until we come into the fullness of our eternal destiny. But God has a wonderful plan for our temporal existence that will flow into our eternal communion with Him.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, NKJV)
God has given us promises for salvation, inheritance and spiritual life on which we can base our future. We discover His plan for our destinies through our covenant relationships with Him.
He may reveal His desires to us through an urging or intense desire that He stirs within us. We may also have supernatural encounters with God through His Word, or through dreams, visions, miracles or prophetic words that we receive.
Each time we respond to the Lord in obedience, we see progress in the realization of our earthly purpose. God works all things together for good to position us properly so that His plans can be fulfilled. This process and progression is called prophetic fulfillment.
GOD'S NOW TIMES
In the natural cycle of life there are seasons, and every one of them has a time frame. Some seasons are filled with desolation, but there is a time when God's promises are manifested—when desolation ends and prophetic fulfillment begins.
In the natural cycle of life there are seasons, and every one of them has a time frame. Some seasons are filled with desolation, but there is a time when God's promises are manifested—when desolation ends and prophetic fulfillment begins.
That was the case in our family when 10 years of barrenness came to an end with the birth of the first of our six children. When a time of desolation or wilderness ends and a new season of promise begins, those are God's now times.
In Daniel 9 we see a biblical example of the end of desolation and the beginning of a season of prophetic fulfillment. When Daniel began reading the prophecies of Jeremiah, Israel had been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years and was still in bondage (see v. 2).
Suddenly, Daniel understood that now was the time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. The 70 years of desolation Jeremiah had prophesied were completed, and the time had come to break out of captivity (see Jer. 25:11).
Daniel came to an understanding that the season was changing, and Israel needed to break out of captivity. He turned to God through prayer and supplications and began to deny himself through fasting (see Dan. 9:3).
By doing these things, he reconciled himself with God, as a representative of Israel, and broke out of the season of desolation. This allowed the Israelites to begin to move into their future.
Through His promises to us, God is breaking off desolation personally, corporately and territorially-and hell hates it. Any time you are getting ready to break forth into a new season of prophetic fulfillment, Satan will oppose you and try to keep you in the desolation of the past. As you move forward, be aware of the following three-step process:
1. God gives an intercessory call.
Intercession always proceeds what God is doing to break desolation from our lives. We need to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to align ourselves with His mind and connect with His heart. As we come into agreement with God through His intercessory call to us, He will propel us out of desolation and into prophetic fulfillment.
Intercession always proceeds what God is doing to break desolation from our lives. We need to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to align ourselves with His mind and connect with His heart. As we come into agreement with God through His intercessory call to us, He will propel us out of desolation and into prophetic fulfillment.
"Intercession" is defined as reaching or meeting someone to pressure them strongly to change a situation. Hebrews 7:25 states of Jesus, "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."
The Spirit of God will co-labor with us and reveal our way out of desolation. But we must pray until we gain the strategy for moving forward and taking a stand against the enemy, who will seek to keep us bound. God will not only break us out of our wilderness, He will cleanse, renew and restore us to a place of communion with Him.
2. God revives unfulfilled prophetic destiny.
Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel would go into captivity and serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. As Daniel received the prayer burden from God, he was able to understand this word that Jeremiah the prophet had spoken and know that it was now time for the power of desolation to be broken and restoration to begin.
Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel would go into captivity and serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. As Daniel received the prayer burden from God, he was able to understand this word that Jeremiah the prophet had spoken and know that it was now time for the power of desolation to be broken and restoration to begin.
Some of our grandparents and great-grandparents had incredible destinies that were never realized. We need to know how their prophetic inheritance became captive to the enemy. We also need to see how the generational blessings of God have not been fulfilled in our families.
My father was a man with a great deal of potential, but the path he chose brought corruption and defilement. He died a premature death, and his destiny was never fulfilled.
When the Lord revealed to me His overwhelming love for my earthly father and the incredible plan He had for my father's life, I said, "Lord, let me not only come into the fullness of my own life, but let me accomplish the things that were meant for my father in his generation that were sent astray by his alignment with the enemy."
Prophetic destiny is often tied to the generations of our families. To have prophetic fulfillment in our own lives, we need to allow the Lord to revive the unfulfilled prophetic destiny in our family line and give us a success mentality of completion and fulfillment.
3. God calls you to prophesy your destiny.
God has chosen to use us to bring His will to Earth. He calls us to come into dialogue with Him, listen to His voice and gain prophetic revelation so that the hope of our calling can be fulfilled. He asks us to take that revelation and prophesy it into the earthly realm.
God has chosen to use us to bring His will to Earth. He calls us to come into dialogue with Him, listen to His voice and gain prophetic revelation so that the hope of our calling can be fulfilled. He asks us to take that revelation and prophesy it into the earthly realm.
DECLARE YOUR FUTURE
Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God's people making prophetic declarations into their situations in order to see His will come about. Such was the case in Ezekiel 36 and 37.
Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God's people making prophetic declarations into their situations in order to see His will come about. Such was the case in Ezekiel 36 and 37.
The Lord told Ezekiel that even though Israel (signified by the "bones" in Ezekiel 37) had been scattered, He was going to bring them back together. Then God gave Ezekiel an understanding of Israel's prophetic destiny that he was to declare into the earth.
Ezekiel 37 contains four levels of prophetic declaration that can help us to understand the process of prophetic fulfillment. In each level, there comes a place where prophetic fulfillment can stall. Understanding how the process can stall will help us proceed into the next dimension of prophetic fulfillment.
1. Coming together.
When Ezekiel took the words that God gave him and declared them into the desolate situation that had overtaken Judah, things began to happen. The same is true with us.
When Ezekiel took the words that God gave him and declared them into the desolate situation that had overtaken Judah, things began to happen. The same is true with us.
When we see God's prophetic destiny in our lives and begin to declare it, something will happen. However, we have to release faith before we can see the results with our eyes. Faith comes first.
When Ezekiel first prophesied, there was a rattling noise and the bones came together, and then the sinews and flesh covered the bones. In the first level of prophecy, when we prophecy what God has promised us, we hear a new sound and see a new structure coming together. We even gain a portion of the plan to move forward. However, just having a plan is not enough (see Ezek. 37:7-8).
2. The breath of life. Ezekiel had seen the bones come together and the flesh appear, but there was no breath in them. Something was not yet working to produce prophetic fulfillment. So the Lord said, "Go back and prophesy to that part that has not received life" (see Ezek. 37:8-9).
Notice that He told Ezekiel to prophesy to the part that was not working and command it to come in line with God's plans and purposes. When we encounter a snag in declaring God's word, it does not necessarily mean that we have not heard God or that we have failed. It often means that we need to enter into another level of prophecy in order to see life begin to emerge.
3. Spiritual warfare over hope deferred. Ezekiel saw an army result from his prophetic declarations. But as those in the army began to speak, they said that they were filled with despair (see Ezek. 37:10-11).
When we become filled with despair, our faith for the future can easily be depleted. Lost hope often works with rejection and causes us to feel isolated, as was the case with this great army. Hope deferred can also release a spirit of infirmity (see Prov. 13:12)
We must fight against whatever the enemy is doing to try to steal the life that God has breathed into us. Deal with the issues that have discouraged and defeated you. Facing the problems of the past releases you to move forward into hope.
4. Hope for the future. In Ezekiel 37:14, notice the verse: "'I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord." This was the prophetic destiny released in Ezekiel 36. The word of the Lord had come full circle!
But what if Ezekiel had stopped pressing forward after the bones had come together and there was no breath? That's what we tend to do in the body of Christ.
When things don't turn out as we thought, we give up. But as Ezekiel prophesied, resurrection power was released so that the graves could be opened, and the people brought into their own land.
If we keep moving forward through the levels of prophecy, God will perform His will in us. Discouragement has no place in us as God's people.
We all have wilderness seasons that are ordained of God. The Israelites were held captive in the wilderness because of their unbelief and hardness of heart, but Jesus resisted the devil in His wilderness season and came out of it filled with power for His future (see Num. 14:33-34; Mark 1:13).
If you are willing to press toward your prophetic fulfillment in God's time, your season of desolation will not be prolonged. However, if you allow the enemy to overcome you with discouragement, hopelessness and a lack of faith, you too may find yourself in a prolonged season of desolation that leaves you wandering for many years.
Begin prophesying your destiny and declaring the fulfillment of God's purpose in your life. Receive His wisdom and declare that every strategy of the enemy that has interrupted God's plan for you will be exposed.
Let your faith be stirred and your strength renewed. And may God's glory be seen in your life. Your best is yet ahead!
Chuck D. Pierce is president of Glory of Zion International Ministries and vice president of Global Harvest Ministries. He and his wife, Pam, live in Denton, Texas, along with their six children and numerous grandchildren.
Rebecca Wagner Sytsema is co-author with Chuck D. Pierce of several books including,God's Now Time For Your Life, published by Regal.
