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Ruling & Reigning Enthroned in Christ

By Bobbie Jean Merck

The

glory

of

God

must

go

before

us,

must

be

in us,

&

must

be

our

rearguard,

because

we

have

never

gone

this

way

before!

~

Just

because

we

are

down

for

a

season

doesn't

mean

we

are

going

to

stay

down,

for

with

our

God

there

is a

lifting

up!

~

Faith

&

grace

will

prevail!

...But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:20,21

   The Church of America today is in a time of great transition. Greater things are in store for us such as we have never before experienced. As in Joshua Chapter 3, the glory of God must go before us, must be in us, and must be our rearguard ~ because we have never gone this way before. These new challenges and transitions we are experiencing bring a new battle for our faith as our faith is being contended for by the enemy.
   At the heart of this transition, Jesus is bringing forth a mature Bride, with "every joint supplying." This happens when we are where God has ordained us to be, doing what He has chosen us to do! Not our will, but Thy will, O Lord, be done! This Bride is an overwhelming threat to the demonic kingdom.
   You have a God-appointed, anointed position to occupy ~ a throne from which you exercise God's authority and power to bring forth His Kingdom in the earth. Your throne is the place God has chosen to put you, and it is there where your authority is. The enemy at times has been given an entrance into our lives to wear us down by us ~ by our decision to disobey and get out of position. We then wonder why things are hard and we can't seem to prevail, indeed, why we are weary!
   In this transition, people are having to make decisions between God's way and their own ways. Isaiah 40:29-31 in   the King James Version tells us how our own ways weary us. The Everyday Bible expresses these verses in Isaiah in this manner,

He gives strength to those who are tired and more power to those who are weak. Even children become tired and need to rest, and young people trip and fall. But the people who trust the LORD will become strong again. They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; they will run and not need rest; they will walk and not become tired.

   Weariness enters the Body of Christ when Christians are out of their God-appointed places of service, and resist adjustments to bring them into their proper position in the Body. Where there has never been any correction or rebuke, the result is that the Body is thrown out of rank and order (as Joel 2:7 sets forth), and they begin thrusting one another through!
   We must stay tender and receptive to the correction of the Lord, with an obedient spirit in the fear of the Lord, that we might operate in our anointing of authority.
   Proverbs 3:11 exhorts us in this manner, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction." In this great transition God is setting His Body in order by correcting, realigning, and readjusting lives and people. Some will hear and do and some will choose not to. The Word says those who refuse His correction are not His children.  So don't get weary of God correcting you, nor of the correction that comes from those He has appointed over you to care for your souls!  It is a blessing!

   God provided a way of escape in Moses' time, and He provides a way of escape today.  In this transition, we are going to get where we are supposed to be in the Body of Christ, and the truth is, it will be pleasing to us and satisfying!  We are going to like what we are doing where He puts us, and we will no longer "thrust one another through!"

   Your throne speaks of dominion and ruling.  You have to fight to keep, and stay, and stand for what God gives you.  The very fight you are having is indicative that God wants you there and the devil does not.

   Our obedience to God activates our anointing of authority and power that causes us to be victorious fighting "the good fight of faith."  Otherwise, we have no dominion or rulership over the enemy and his attacks.  Don't give up your throne.  Stay where God wants you!

   One of the first rulership and dominion authority principles God gave to Adam was to guard his garden.  Every man is to guard his garden, to guard that wife and those children.  Guard that household!  He is to be the priest of his home.  Your garden and my garden is everything that concerns us.  It is people, it is places, and it is things ~ it is America!

   Second Samuel 23:8-12 brings illumination to help us understand what to do today as we face battles over our "gardens" and encounter weariness along the way.

   These be the names of the mighty men whom David head:  The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

   And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

   He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

   And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.  And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils: and the people fled from the Philistines.

   But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.

   Consider that in these verses of Second Samuel, the son of Dodo was weary, but he would not let his body tell him what to do.  He persevered to fight until the battle was won.  All of us should walk circumspectly as those that are in this for the long haul.  This means we must take care of this body we live in.  I have to make myself rest, because the anointing can make one feel as if you can just go, and go, and go!  Yet, as demonstrated with Eleazar, there is a difference between pacing ourselves and resting, and relenting and forfeiting in the midst of the battle!

   We must take care not to stop short of victory, thereby relinquishing our throne. Cleave unto the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and His Holy Spirit and do not let go in the midst of the battle as you guard you "garden," all that concerns you.  Then the time will surely come when the devil will be overthrown, and you and God will have the great victory which you and those with you and those connected to you will benefit.

   Next, notice the mighty battle over a pea-patch!  That is what lentils are ~ peas.  Peas seem insignificant, but this pea-patch was his, and he stood firm in the middle of the pea-patch until he prevailed.

   Sometimes we may feel our battles are costly, but insignificant, and there doesn't seem to be much worth fighting for.  But saints, it is worth it!  It is our garden, our land.  It doesn't matter what someone else has - what do you have that God is entrusting to you to defend?

   Back when I attended Bible College, one thing that helped me was that I saw and understood that anything that was coming against me was not because I was so special, nor that I was being individually singled out by the devil, but that everyone that is obeying God is going to have to fight the good fight of faith.  Also, those (seemingly) small victories bring the great victories!  This understanding gave me strength and fighting power.

   You are not in this alone.  First Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that what we face is common to everybody.  Everybody goes through these things!

    In Galatians 6:9 weariness literally means cowardice. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (New International Version).  Many did not stand with David's mighty men when the time came to battle. It means to lose heart and in Ephesians 3:13 those who have succumbed to faintheartedness have literally become unfortunate and desperate. Thank God that, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles!" Just because we are down for a season doesn't mean we are going to stay down, for with our God there is a lifting up as we return to Him!
   Nahum 1:7 declares, "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." God is the Apostle ~ He finishes what He begins!
   God will help us to keep our focus and stay in our God-appointed assignment so that weariness will not have a chance to overtake us. We looked at how people can grow weary and leave their God-appointed position, their throne and forfeit the victory God had in store. Yet the other side of the coin is that we can do too much, and what wearies us is doing more than what God has told us to do. It is so easy to do more than God tells us to do and that God expects us to do. So when I get weary or burdened, I must go back to God and seek Him for the adjustment to show me where I have gotten off by doing too much. God's yoke is easy and His burden is light.
   We can sometimes convince ourselves that what we do, we do "for Him," but how much is really bearing ever-lasting fruit for His glory?
   My throne is in Toccoa, Georgia. In my own battles with soul weariness, I have "moved" from Toccoa, GA (in my mind) more times than I can remember. Yet I have stayed in Toccoa and successfully resisted the temptation- particularly present in the early years - to leave my post. God has me here for a purpose. His love for Toccoa resonates within me, and I love Toccoa, Georgia!
   I am here to tear down the opposing powers of darkness in this county. It has been prophesied by Apostle Caballeros of Guatemala that I have a direct line from Toccoa, GA to Washington, D.C. I have seen it in the works and it is about to explode. This is where my place of authority is and the devil wants me out of here.
   Much has happened here in times past. R.G. LeTourneau, a Southern Baptist, made millions and gave ninety percent of his earnings to God. He built Toccoa, GA. That anointing for prosperity is in this county. Yet today, this county is a poor county ~ some of the people don't want anybody else to come into the county, because they will have to pay higher wages to the people who live there. But God is going to move in this county. I am not going to grow weary, but I am going to stay until I see God's breakthrough come.
   They have just named a fiftieth voting district in Georgia and Toccoa is one of the cities in that new district. The number fifty stands for Jubilee and Liberty! God is on the throne and He is working. I am making a determinate decision today that I am going to go around as the will of God allows it, and I am going to bless, bless, bless and watch the rising come up!
   Everything in God has a timing, has a "due season."  If we grow impatient we will weary ourselves. We must remember that if we faint not, we will reap in due season. No matter how rough it gets, I have never looked back on my life and regretted any delays or in between times before God's "suddenlies" came to pass, for it always came forth greater than what I had been believing for. Those delays we experience are not denial, but literally Ephesians 3:20 at work, for our God will do "exceedingly, abundantly, above all you could imagine, ask, dream of, or think."
   Complete surrender to God is a prerequisite to living victorious lives in Christ. When we surrender completely, submitting to God in ALL things, the refreshing and ALL that God is becomes freely available for us to draw upon. But, you say, "Didn't Jesus pay it all? Is the kingdom not free?" This is the bottom line. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation." It is among you. It is in you. We need not look here or there for the kingdom of God! WE MUST DO SOMETHING.
   God believes in us more than we believe in ourselves, and He is opening up so much for us! To succeed will require that we are clothed in the Lord's energy, and operating out of His desire, His heart, and His will ~ in faith. We are called to walk with God in places where flesh will fail, but faith and grace will prevail!

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