-----Choose You This Day!
------“The Heart and Mind to Accomplish God’s Shift”
By Chuck D. Pierce
http://www.glory-of-zion.org
I recently awakened and heard the words, “VALLEY OF DECISION.”
There is a process occurring in the earth realm that is bringing the
winepress to a new place of fullness. We are at Shechem, the
“place of choice,” in Church history!
This is causing us to choose God’s covenant
purposes in the earth. How the Church chooses is how the
conflict of the nations will be determined. How the Church
makes this choice will release the Lord’s inheritance in the earth for this
generation. Most of us are reflecting this place of “choice” in our
personal lives. I see you making key choices right now in relationships,
positions (both territorial as well as vocational), and ministry
alignments.
Our Choices Will Determine our Supply
for the Future
I also see that the choices we are making now will release our supply for
the future.
Remember, this is the defining year!
As I researched this “decision valley” in
Joel 3:14, I found that this was the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat had
made reforms that had changed the course of his nation, but was now facing
his greatest external threat. Not just one enemy, but an alliance was
coming against him producing insurmountable odds for victory. His
first step was to humble himself in the midst of this great trial.
Three elements of spiritual discipline put God’s covenant people
in a right position for victory: Fasting, Prayer, and Praise.
With these spiritual dynamics working, Prophecy and Revelation could be
released so that in this valley they would emerge victorious. Their battle
was one of praise and worship. God’s battle was to dismantle and remove the
enemy by dispatching the Hosts of Heaven. I declare this same scenario over
you.
Another key place of choice in the Word of God was at Shechem. In Joshua
24:14-15, at the end of Joshua’s time of leadership, he
admonished the people to “put away the gods which your fathers served on the
other side of the River … Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to
serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether
the gods which your fathers served …or the gods of the Amorites in whose
land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”
Shechem was located in the valley between
Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. It provided a large, natural amphitheater for
a gathering of all the tribes. In Joshua 8:30-35, we see that this place
was the spiritually significant defining place of meeting before they went
in to fully possess the land. The invincible place of Jericho had been
overcome, and the mistake of Ai had been rectified. They had utterly
destroyed everything in Ai and all the inhabitants of Ai, and the spoil of
that city would be their supply to advance. Then Joshua worshiped and
renewed God’s covenant. He read all the words of the Law, the blessings and
the cursings. The people gathered in this beautiful valley and heard this
being shouted from one mountain to the other antiphonally. They heard it
perfectly; there was no confusion in their hearing.
The First Step: Stop and Worship God
The first step in making our choice is to stop and worship God.
Exalt Him for your key victories and thank
Him for His grace even in your past mistakes. As we present ourselves to
God without reserve and empty ourselves before Him, we can clearly hear
without confusion the choice He has before us. Confusion is always linked
with a spirit of Babylon, where the devil has authored a structure filled
with deception. The Lord would bring our heart and mind to a place of
peace. Peace means wholeness.
There are three generations now
standing at Shechem! They are listening carefully to the choice that is
before them. This day is filled with blessings or cursings!
The blood of our Savior can deliver us from
the curse and cause us to enter into the eternal blessings in heavenly
places (Eph. 1:3). However, we must look through the confusion of Mammon
and Babylon to make the correct choice at this time. When we hear the
choice of our blessing, God writes the boundaries of that choice upon our
heart. The power of His Spirit allows us to move freely by grace within
those boundaries.
If we will make His Presence our
central theme, the voice of blessing will become louder than the voice of
cursing.
If we choose blessing, then the events of
the world will line up with the choice of God’s people. When we align
ourselves with the Head, the manifestation of that choice will set the
course in the earth realm. The Lord is opening His TREASURE in heaven based
upon this choice that His people are making. Activate your will NOW and
align it with God’s so that the confusion that is occurring in the world
will not cause you to shake, but will cause you to stand steady in the midst
of the war ahead. Watch the next generation receive the benefits and
results of this choice.
How Long Will you Hesitate Between
Two Opinions?
How long will you be halted between two opinions? Elijah was in a contest
on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal. This was to determine who was
Lord of the region. The people were double minded. Through
circumstances, God was bringing them to a place of choice.
But they kept going back and forth between
God’s worship and the confusion linked with Baal’s revelation in their
society. God defied all human reasoning at this point. It was Elijah
against the 450 - impossible odds in the natural – yet nothing was
impossible with the Lord. However, the people needed to get ‘unhalted’!
To halt means to walk with a limp or
become lame; to stand in doubt between two courses or paths; to display
weakness or imperfection; to put things on hold; to cease marching or
journeying; to discontinue or terminate a project for lack of funds.
Again on Mount Carmel, worship became the turning point. Elijah built an
altar in the name of the Lord and allowed the “river of God” to flow. Then
the fire from heaven fell. This caused the people to see that “God, the
Lord, He is God!”
In this choice, we must be willing to
confront our enemies and to worship in the midst of our enemies. We must
also demonstrate God’s power in such a way that a religious world who has
only seen a form of godliness and denied the power thereof will have no
question that we must have supernatural help and intervention at this time
in history.
How to Choose To Make the Shift that God is
Requiring NOW in our Lives, at the Crossroads of History, and the Blending
of the Generations:
1. Develop His MIND. Don’t lean on your own
understanding. You will never make the right choice with your limited
knowledge. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus… who made Himself of no reputation, taking the form
of a bondservant … He humbled Himself and became obedient.” Romans 12:2
says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.”
This simply means don’t let Satan’s scheme
fashion you to the thinking of the world. Also, don’t let outward
appearances deceive you, causing you to miss what God is doing. We must
prove the voice of God, and practice in everyday life what God’s will from
heaven is declaring to us. Romans 8:7 says, “The carnal mind is in enmity
with God”. Declare that the Lord will put His finger on every area of
carnality in your thinking.
2. Learn to express His heart. Prophecy is expressing
the mind and heart of God. Let the Lord deal with your emotions so that
they do not cloud you in communicating His heartbeat. Declare that all self
pity and hope deferred is being removed from you. Allow bitterness and
unforgiveness to leave so that you can express what God is thinking. Don’t
let inordinate affection cause you to misalign inappropriately. The heart
can have weights or attachments. I declare a “free” heart over you.
3. Change your atmosphere! Speak faith!! Jesus could
do very little in Nazareth because the atmosphere was so filled with
unbelief. Jesus was the all-powerful God walking the earth, capable of
signs and wonders. Yet the atmosphere created a barrier for intervention.
Break the negative atmospheric presence around you by prophetic declarations
of victory!
4. Do exploits! Optimize resources! Remember, this
is a year to “optimize.” That means to see things from a positive
standpoint. Daniel 11:32 says “the people who know their God shall prove
themselves strong and do exploits for God!” To do exploits means to take
the resources you have and create new resources or bring them into a new
level of fullness. This is one of the things that God means when He says to
optimize resources.
5. Watch for the “suddenlies!” We’ve heard
about the suddenlies happening, but this year we will see them.
If hope deferred and weariness is ruling you, you will miss it when God
moves on your behalf. If fear is influencing you, you won’t understand when
God starts breaking through on your behalf. The Process that
you’ve been going through is moving toward a Suddenly.
6. Learn the process of going “OVER”! This is a year
where we must have an “over” mentality. Overtake or be overtaken.
Overthrow or be overthrown. Overturn or be overturned. Overcome or be
overcome. Be sure you are being overseen. Also, define the sphere that you
are overseeing!
7. Develop a Kingdom mentality. The Kingdom of God is
within you. We build the Church, but we get keys to the Kingdom. Study the
Kingdom. Matthew 11:12 says, “.. now the kingdom of heaven suffers
violence, and the violent take it by force.” The Kingdom advances in
victory. This occurs through violent spiritual conflict and warfare.
He uses John the Baptist and Elijah to teach us to move forward. Fear not!
The Church is God’s warring agent. Worship and War! The Kingdom
increases. Understand the sword and the fire because they are both
important in the battle ahead.
8. SHIFT! A “shift” is a change of place, position or
direction. A shift also includes an exchange or replacement of one
thing for another. A shift is a change of gear so you accelerate. A
shift can also be an underhanded or deceitful scheme. Therefore, in our
shift we must recognize that the enemy is plotting to stop it. A shift also
entails a scheduled time. Shaking occurs during a shift. Think of a fault
line. To shift means a change in frequency.
God is ready for us to shift.
Shift with Him! I am praying that you make this DIVINE SHIFT!
Blessings, and Glory,
Chuck D. Pierce
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