The Spiritual Significance of a Ring

In the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), there is a parable that loads of sermon messages get preached on with some regularity, at least in the United States. In fact, I can’t even count the number of sermons I have heard on this particular passage myself—the subject of the Prodigal Son. Most sermon messages focus on prodigal children in general but tend to focus in more specifically on part with the son’s return in the parable as retold by Luke. However, I had a unique encounter in the spirit one day that made this parable not only come alive to me, but it was the first of a series of occurrences involving a particular object found in that story: a ring.

Now, for those who aren’t familiar with the parable I suggest you read it, but what I am referring to is a moment where a father bestows upon his formerly-wayward son a robe, a pair of sandals, and a ring. I had an encounter once that relates to this story. I was sitting on the floor in my apartment praying and worshiping one afternoon when I perceived in the spirit that an angel had placed a clothing box in front of me on the carpet—the flat, rectangular kind that department stores gift-wrap clothing in. Not able to perceive what was inside the box, I decided to physically act out what I was doing (because sometimes physical action helps engage your will and your spirit to perform spiritual actions), and physically made the motions of removing the lid from the box.

All well and good, but once I did that I still saw nothing inside the box. Now, that doesn’t mean it was empty—simply that I couldn’t see inside what was in front of me in the spirit. As a further act of faith, I reached into the box with both hands and pulled out whatever was inside. As I did so, I was able to see that I was holding a big, white shaggy robe. Having no clue why this robe had been delivered to me, and given how far I had gotten already, I did the next sensible thing and went through the motions of putting it on. The moment I did this, I suddenly became aware that in the spirit, sandals had appeared on my feet and a ring with a golden band and a cut green stone had appeared on my right index finger. All three have symbolic importance, but I want us to focus in on the ring today.

The Lord had been gradually teaching me at this point how to see in the spirit more clearly, as well as about spiritual objects, which is a discussion for another time, but the ring fascinated me. In fact, it was the first of a series of spiritual rings that I was given over time, one of which the Lord gave me as a sign so I would know the wife He had prepared for me—I just didn’t discover that until a few years after I received that particular blue-sapphire ring. If we want to understand the importance of spiritual rings, it helps to get a good understanding of what the Bible tells us about them.

Rings are not actually mentioned very frequently in scripture, but there are 7 passages in the Bible that refer to the use of rings in relation to authority (Genesis 41:42, Esther 3:10, Esther 8:8, Isaiah 3:21, Jeremiah 22:24, Haggai 2:23, and Luke 15:22), but I want us to read a few of them that I think shed some light in the significance of spiritual rings that the Lord may give us from time to time.

Rings in general had a variety of uses, but in this context rings were most often used as a sign or seal of authority. In Genesis 41:42, Pharaoh gave Joseph his signet ring when he made Joseph the second of command over all of Egypt, signifying the level of authority Pharaoh had bestowed upon the man. In Haggai 2:23, the word of the Lord prophesied that Zerubbabel would become “like a signet ring” in context of becoming one with ruling authority. The passage in Luke 15 referred to the wayward son being restored to a position of huios sonship, a Greek word used to denote that one was a mature adult son—one who could operate properly in authority over the household and its affairs. While rings in the Bible have mostly been used in context of kings and rulers, regardless of who is using a signet ring, it denotes authority given to one to make decisions and have them carried out by others.

Another passage that is important to read in this regard is Esther 8:8 which says, “But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.” This passage is referring specifically to Persian law, which stated that when something was signed into law by the king it could not be revoked, but it shows us something of the importance of a king’s ring—that it permits us to make laws and rules and to command others.

Now the Bible calls all of us kings, and tells us that Jesus is the King of kings—a prime ruler who governs over all of us, those who are being brought into maturity as the sons of God to rule and reign with Him. If we are to rule as kings, then we must understand the importance of authority we have been given to legislate, make decrees, and to command others, whether on earth or in the heavens. While we do not have to have a spiritual experience where we receive a ring in order to extend and engage our spiritual authority, it is still important to note that at times, when the Father is promoting us into a new position in the spirit, He may give us an encounter where we receive a ring in keeping with the established meaning and purpose it holds as found in scripture.

I suspect that many people have had encounters they never realized the significance of—a vision where one appeared, or even a dream where they received a gift of a ring. Because rings are so closely tied with marriage in Western Culture, it can be difficult at times to understand the significance they hold in regards to authority and stepping into new positions in the Kingdom. Sometimes people may even give us a physical gift of jewelry! All of these are different ways that God can communicate with us to show us the promotions He is giving us because we have been faithful with what He has provided us in the past. Enjoy the upgrade!

Hearing God: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers

Since my buddy Kyle died this summer, I have been struggling to a certain degree with raising the dead—not in deciding whether to move on or give up on his resurrection as much as with finding an answer and a fruitful way forward in my own heart. I have been wrestling with how to become actually-effective in raising the dead. I have been wrestling with how to become whom I must become to carry the miracle-answer in any situation of need. And I have been dealing with the discouraging fact that every time I pray to raise the dead, the only thing that my Heavenly Dad says to me is how much of a great job I am doing, even when they haven’t returned yet. I suppose I should find what He tells me encouraging but it simply tells me that there is nothing different that I could be doing to be more effective than I am and have the resurrections occur—and to me, that’s rather discouraging.

Well, my buddy Steve reminded me recently of something that I already know, but where in our conversation he helped put it in context of this specific situation—namely that there are rules that govern how God can and cannot communicate with us based on where we are at and how we are able to hear Him. In any given situation it isn’t that God isn’t willing to talk to us, but sometimes He is limited in what He can successfully communicate with us. I have written more in-depth on this subject in a recent article called The Rules of Speaking With God, but I’ll share some details here that relate to where I am going with this article in a different direction. It isn’t that God is limited—its that we limit what we can receive. There’s a reason Jesus told his disciples “there is more I have to say to you than you can now bear.” It’s because they had to become different and grow their weight-bearing capacity before they could handle deeper and heavier things. It is likewise with us, and God has to help grow us from where we are to where we are heading in order to handle things God already wants to teach us and reveal to us right now. The fact is we simply aren’t ready, whether by our unbelief (meaning He will tell us things and we are unable to believe, receive, and/or understand it based on our deficits) or by means of some other lack in our lives. Sometimes it is that the demonic successfully block the messages God is sending us, whether that an angel is carrying a message and they block that angel and/or steal its message, or some other kind of blockage. However it happens, there is limitation in the spirit that reduces or influences God’s ability to successfully get the messages through to us when we ask.

While that is frustrating and at times disheartening, it means that we have to learn to change how we do things. Sometimes we are asking a question but it isn’t the right question, and based on the rules we need to start asking different questions to get the answers we need. Sometimes we are asking the right kinds of questions but we need to stop being broad and get more specific. And sometimes the question isn’t the problem but our level of growth and maturity is—so we must grow in certain areas before we will be ready to receive the answers to our questions. There are different ways we can get around some of this, and while little short-changes the need for growth (other than impartation, and even then it doesn’t fix everything), we can use certain strategies to overcome and move forward.

I was talking to my friend Hope this evening (the evening after I talked to Steve) about this very thing in regard to physical healing. She has been believing God for her healing for years, and God does answer with miracles at times for her—more than most people I know. And yet, she still has dealt with a lot of physical pain and suffering. What I told her is a strategy we can use in any area, but just target it toward the relevant things we are seeking and engaging. What I told her is that while she wakes up every morning with a faith and expectation that her healing has just manifested, she then discovers each day that it has not happened yet. Sure, we can say let’s just continue in that vein and one day eventually it will, and that is generally true. However, it is also safe to say that what she is doing literally isn’t working, so to continue to do that and expect a different result without changing anything might also be unwise. What I suggested she do is in addition to continuing to wake up in faith each morning that healing has come, to begin to ask the Father how she can partner more directly with Him to see it manifest.

What are the wisdom steps she can take right now to help herself on the journey?

What are the things God is trying to teach her or tell her right now that she hasn’t asked about that would move her closer to her healing?

What lessons does God have for her that will help her grow into her healing?

What are the things that are holding back or delaying or preventing the healing from manifesting?

As we start to ask different questions, something about engaging God differently allows Him to move differently. I don’t entirely understand why that is because I don’t quite understand the rules that govern how this works, but there are rules and this is why it works this way. When we stop just expecting or praying for one thing repetitively and start addressing the problem from different angles, we will find ourselves moving closer. Think of it as trying to push through a hurricane to reach the eye of the storm—pure force will make that exceedingly difficult if not impossible. However, if instead of trying to push straight into the eye and/or push against the wind forces, what if someone went at a slant in the direction the wind was moving but consistently inward? While I recognize actual hurricanes have a number of variables that would make this not work, the concept example is what I am going for. Consider that changing the approach from something that is inherently incapable of working to a different method creates an opportunity that didn’t exist before. Asking the Father different questions, praying a different way, and approaching the situation differently all will change us in ways that cause the answers to start to filter through, our prayers to become more effective, and the situations to begin to change. From a perspective of the Law of Sowing and Reaping (I explain this in depth in my book The Power of Impartation), if we start sowing differently, we will start reaping differently. And the end result will be growth, forward movement, and answered prayer!

The Rules of Speaking With God

Like the ideas for many of my blog posts, this one began with a conversation with a friend—in this case my buddy Steve. I was sharing with him that I was having a really hard time with the fact that another dear friend of mine not only didn’t get raised from the dead, but that I had a dream the morning of his funeral where he did get raised and when I woke up it took me a minute to realize I had been dreaming. A total mood killer. for the happiness I was waking up with. Anyway, I was telling Steve what God had shared with me about the situation, and how it was the first time in a long time that God told me something different than He normally does in dead raising situations (God always tells me the same thing—what a great job I’m doing, whether they return or not). Steve reminded me of something I knew but had forgotten, and something we have talked about on other occasions—that there are rules in play that may have permitted God to tell me something different this time than He normally does. I get this is an odd concept for most people, so let’s talk about the rules of speaking with God.

Whenever I talk about spiritual rules and laws, most people get offended. I wish it wasn’t true, but they do. Often, people seem to equate the existence of spiritual rules as being the same as living under Old Testament Law, the law of Sin and Death that Jesus came to set us free from. And maybe to some degree they are either the same or related. Its possible. But more to the point, when Jesus died and rose again, physical laws like gravity and rules of Newtonian Physics didn’t cease to exist—so why do we think spiritual ones would just vanish? For those interested in a deeper discussion of spiritual mechanics and how they influence our lives (and how we can use them for spiritual growth), pick up a copy of my book The Power of Impartation—I go fairly in depth on the subject there. For now, however, I want us to focus on one specific area, the rules that govern our interactions with God.

It sounds weird to think there are rules that govern how we interact with God, but there are. For example, Number 12:6-8A says, “he said, “Listen to my words: ‘When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.'” God clearly explains how with most people God communicates in certain ways—riddles, visions, and dreams. However, because Moses sees God’s form, there is something different about how God can communicate with the man, so God does it face to face with him. Why does that matter? It isn’t because God isn’t interested in talking clearly to us—it’s because there are rules that dictate how the interactions can occur. Why else would there be prophecies about how one day in the future we would all be taught by God directly instead of through prophets and teachers (Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:33–34; Hebrews 8:10–11 and mentioned by Jesus in John 6:45)? It is because God wants to talk to us this way but can’t. At least not yet, not fully how He would like to, but we’re headed in the right direction.

Where else do we see this? All over the Bible. God has very specific things He wants to accomplish, but because there are rules that I don’t even entirely understand, He has to have angels give messages, sometimes cryptically, to have people do things they don’t entirely understand—things that probably would go more smoothly if God would just speak more directly and clearly. And many of us have had similar situations, right? Where God tells us something vaguely, or gives us a cryptic warning dream that we only manage to interpret with the benefit of hindsight, rendering the warning entirely useless. I mean, if God really cared, wouldn’t He give us a warning we can understand easily? He would love to because God is kind and loving and good. But He can’t, because of the rules.

God is limited by a combination of things. Often there are limits to what we are able to hear based on our current capacity and ability. Jesus mentioned this in John 16:12-13 saying, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” Jesus had more He wanted to tell them, but was limited by their capacity to bear, handle, or manage what He wanted to tell them. The same is true with you and me, and it limits what God can tell us. That is why God takes us from one level of truth to another. He might tell one person something that is true to a certain degree, and then years later as they grow in things spiritual God then says something else that might seem contradictory at first to the previous thing God had said—but God was not lying to the person. Rather, he was sharing one level of truth and when the person grew and was able to handle more, God could share a deeper truth. We see the same thing often with denominations. God will move people from one denomination to another as He is growing them because of the truths that they carry and the depths God wants them to grow into.

God is limited in some ways by the level of demonic resistance. Or maybe, instead of saying God is limited, it might be more accurate to say that our receiving capacity is limited in what messages do and don’t arrive to us successfully. Daniel is a great example of this. In Daniel 10, the man Daniel received a very troubling revelation, and then received an interpretation in a vision, and then he began to fast and pray because of how troubling it was. An angel shows up 21 days later but explains that he was sent the same day Daniel began to pray and seek an answer, but that a demonic prince, a fallen Beni-elohim, the prince of Persia, opposed him as he traveled in the spirit to bring the message, and Michael the Archangel, another Beni-elohim prince had to come and fight on his behalf so he could get the message to Daniel. The spiritual battle over revelation is actually pretty intense at times, and those who do inner healing and deliverance know this to be true. Sometimes during a session all spiritual communication simply shuts down as the enemy tries to prevent all revelation from coming through, and if persistent enough, usually the believers praying will break through and the revelation that brings freedom will begin again. It isn’t that God is unwilling to release freedom, but that the battle is real and the enemy sometimes go into overdrive to stop the communication.

I don’t claim to understand all of the reasons why these things are this way, but I do understand they are this way. There is something really good that knowing this does for us though. Because we now understand the underlying problem, we can do something about it. In the case of demonic interference, we can continue to pray, fast as necessary, and break through the demonic blockades. We can do things to enhance our own weight-carrying capacity in the spirit so that God can release more to us. Fasting and praying in tongues consistently are two good ways to do this, but not the only ones. We can also make sure to not just ask questions of God, but change the questions and change the way we word them and ask them. There is something about how we ask questions that sometimes frees God up to answer them differently. Maybe it’s that asking different questions bypasses ways the demonic were blocking them. Maybe it’s that asking different questions lets God answer them in a way we are already prepared to handle them. I don’t know why it works—I just know that it does. Sometimes there isn’t anything different we can do and we simply have to grow into a new place before we can get different communication from God. Whatever the reason, there is a reason, but as we remain steadfast and persistent in drawing near to God, we can trust that He will draw near to us and that our communication will grow deeper, clearer, and better over time.

Warning Dreams Are Good Dreams

The night before last I had a strange dream in which I was talking to a woman who was showing me her garden. In this garden there was a lot of poison ivy growing, as well as some other plants—one of which she said sometimes is poison ivy in disguise. I don’t recall more details of the dream, but it struck me as strange that poison ivy would disguise itself as some other kind of plant that looks nothing like it. On waking, I had to go bury a dead goat before church as one of my stepdaughter’s goats died from a copper deficiency and they were unable to get more of the supplement in time to save it. We had prayed for its resurrection the two days prior and with no results, we decided it was time to bury it, which became my job.

I loaded the goat up in a wagon and pulled it toward the back of our property which is forested and we don’t currently use for anything (other than burying goats), and was getting ready to turn into this one clearing-area when I stopped—because I realized I was about to walk through a patch of poison ivy. Now, poison ivy by itself is really annoying because the oils on the plant create an immune cascade in the body that causes an inflammatory response (the rash and itching) long after you have already washed the oils off your skin. In my case though, the inflammatory response likes to compete inside my body for the title of “Longest Ongoing Ivy Inflammatory Response” so even a week after I was exposed my body will still be creating new rashes—even after it has covered a large portion of my body already. In other words, I get poison ivy really badly and learned decades ago to rapidly identify and avoid it. I just haven’t lived right by woods for a number of years and got out of the habit.

Well, this is where the dream comes in. While I am sure there is more to the dream message than I currently understand (such as paying attention to what we cultivate in the garden of our heart), if I hadn’t had that dream about poison ivy I don’t think I would have been quite as mentally keen on noticing the plant in real life, and probably would have identified it while standing in the middle of it (For those who don’t know, all dreams have messages—you have to learn to interpret them to gain the understanding and subsequent benefit of the dream). If I had to classify this dream, it would fall into the category of warning dreams—ones that have a message warning you about something, whether a current internal/emotional condition, an unsafe personal relationship, or some other potential calamity. Warning dreams don’t sound like good dreams at first glance, but that is a perspective issue. In truth, warning dreams are very good dreams because they make you aware of something so you can fix it. I recently had a warning dream where I was on a battlefield and my gun kept jamming. The warning in that dream was that if I don’t fix what is causing the gun to jam, I won’t be able to stop enemy attacks because my weapons will be ineffective. Again, the dream doesn’t sound good, but the message it carried is very good because it helped me identify something in my life that I need to change in order to prevent the outcome the dream tells me is possible.

Dreams can be messages from God, messages from our subconscious, or messages from the enemy. We can travel in the spirit at night and upon waking we think we had a dream but in actuality our spirit was somewhere else in the night (I talk more about this in my book The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling in the Spirit), and often God will give people spiritual encounters with angels, Jesus, and other saints while they are asleep. Ultimately, all dreams can be considered good dreams with the right internal perspective, but warning dreams in particular are extremely useful to help us make course corrections and keep us moving steadily forward on our life journey. And in this case, my warning dream helped me avoid weeks of health problems as well. And I thank God for that!!

Gemstones in the Land: Unlocking Spiritual Inheritance

One of the things about seeing in the spirit is that you sometimes see strange stuff. And when you start to see that strange stuff consistently over time in different situations and locations, it makes you start to wonder why you are seeing what you see, and what it means. This last week someone posted something on social media, asking a question pertaining to spiritual things, “Has anyone ever seen gems in land?” Well, I’ve been seeing them for years, so while I answered on the thread it also made me think “How many other people see this kind of stuff and just have never heard anyone else talk about it?” So, in keeping with what I often do, I figured I’d share the strangeness here for all of you to read, ponder, pray about, and maybe even begin to encounter.

Gems in the land. Coming from a guy who wrote the book “Gemstones From Heaven,” you’d think I would already have some idea about what spiritual precious stones found beneath different properties would mean. At the very least you might consider that in all of my bible-studying that I’d have come across an answer already. Well, I haven’t. What I have discovered, however, are a few characteristics about these stones that are suggestive, at least to me, of what I am seeing, and they have implications for what we as believers can do with them.

First, spiritual gemstones in the land have always, that I have ever seen been far larger than any actual earthly precious stone could be. Normally they are the size somewhere in-between a 5-gallon bucket and a loveseat, but it often seems that the larger the property, the larger the stone. This isn’t an exact science, and the size of the stones don’t seem to scale to the size of the property, and sometimes a place has more than one, but normally I only see one per tract of land.

Second is the color. The actual hue can vary from place to place, but normally they are vibrant colors. When they aren’t, and look black or dark-colored, that is typically an indication of something bad happening—either active demonic activity, the land that has been hijacked by the enemy at some point and is still tied to it, or something else. At any rate, dark colors have never, in my experience, been an indicator of good things. On the other hand, colors that are vibrant suggest that spiritually that property is faring well. If the colors are light but lack vibrancy, then we can bless the land and watch the vitality return to the stone.

What should we do with this information? I guess that depends. I am of the opinion that each nation, landmass, and even property have their own divine inheritance—a blueprint of sorts from Heaven as to what they are best-designed to do and how those who live on and use the land are best able to partner with Heaven to match with that blueprint. I think of it as a spiritual inheritance that God put in creation that has, in many ways, been co-opted by the enemy and which we, as the sons and daughters of God, have been given authority in Jesus to restore to its rightful place. Romans 8:22-23 tells us that all of creation is groaning and waiting for us, the sons and daughters of God, to release it from its bondage to decay. While I don’t pretend to have the whole picture, maybe what I am seeing, these precious stones hidden inside the land, are a means by which we can bless what has been cursed, to take dominion over the earth, and release the realm of the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!

Numbers, Riddles, and Hearing God’s Voice

Have you ever felt like someone is following you? Well, sometimes I don’t feel like it’s a someone, but a series of somethings–numbers. Right now it’s the number 111, but at times it has been 1222, 1010, 555, or many others. This began for me almost fifteen years ago, and it started with the number 1222. At that time, if I looked at a clock sometime around noon or midnight it was going to say 12:22. I would be driving in traffic and find myself driving behind license plates with the conspicuous number 1222 written in the license, or even at times a combination of the letter B and 2 (B correlates with the 2^nd letter of the alphabet—I have observed corresponding combinations with letters that match the number scheme that is happening at that time) which might look like 1BB2 or 122B or similar. This happened for months before I finally discovered what it meant—12/22 is my now-wife’s birthday (we were not married or even dating at the time) and the prophetic confirmation that a steady stream of the same number combination “coincidentally” showing up all around me served as a powerful prophetic confirmation in a period in my life when I badly needed it. God in His wisdom knew this in advance and provided for me before I entered the season where I needed it.

Numerology has lots of different explanations for the significance of numbers and many different Christian groups have their own beliefs about what numbers are supposed to mean from a prophetic or symbolic perspective. While any kind of number-meaning-guide can be helpful, I find they often fall short of a clear meaning. I find that most interpretations offer some helpful suggestions, but they can miss the mark as well if someone doesn’t understand that numbers are a means that God uses to talk to us. Sometimes it will be a scripture verse God is pointing to, and other times there is another meaning

For me, it depends. Before we moved to Portland, Oregon back in 2009, for months I would see 11:11 on clocks, license plates, etc. I looked up every single bible verse with four 1’s in it, and landed on Deuteronomy 11:11 which says, “The land you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven.” I began to declare this every time I would see those numbers, not having a clue what it meant.. I think we might have lived in Portland for a full year before I realized I had moved to a land of mountains and valleys that did nothing if not drink rain from heaven six months out of every year.

There is a principle related to the prophetic and hearing God’s voice that is found in a conversation God had with Aaron and Miriam. Actually, the Lord was rebuking them for speaking out against Moses and his leadership, but the information provided in the rebuke is interesting. Numbers 12:6-8 says, “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.” God literally descended in a pillar of cloud and told two of Israel’s leaders that He speaks to prophets in riddles, visions, and dreams, but with Moses He speaks face to face. What this says to me is that riddles are one of the ways God will speak to any of us, and having to piece together the meaning of a repeating number sequence seems pretty riddle-ish to me.

While I can never guarantee any specific meaning to any number or number sequence, I have learned a few things over the years. First, each situation is different. What a number sequence meant one time doesn’t necessarily mean it will have the same interpretation another time. And while the meaning can vary from one instance to another, often they will go in “flights” of numbers—where a number will repeat for a few weeks or even months (the longest I have had was sixteen months) and will have the same meaning the entire time. Yet, when there is a break in the numbers appearing or the sequence shifts, it usually means that God is saying something new. Second, you have to search out the meaning. Sometimes it is as simple as a well-known Bible verse like Jeremiah 33:3 which says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Other times it takes hunting, literally combing the Bible for scripture verses and discerning which fits the meaning. On other occasions, like with my wife’s birthday, it isn’t a scripture passage at all and the number has another meaning entirely.

While what the numbers mean and what God is saying to us may vary from situation to situation, one thing is certain: God uses numbers as one of the many ways He speaks to us, and the more we become attuned to the methods He uses, the more readily and easily we will recognize both when God is speaking and what He is saying to us. If you want to read a little more about God speaking to us through number patterns, or other ways God communicates with us, check out an anthology I am featured in called “God Speaks: Perspectives on Hearing God’s Voice” by Praying Medic, myself, Northwest Prophetic, Melody Paasch, Seneca Schurbon (who coauthored Broken to Whole with me) and others!

Revelation: The Power of Inspired Knowledge

Revelation is the supernatural release of wisdom, knowledge, or understanding about something—divine inspiration. It isn’t just a new idea that helps us think about something differently—it causes literal change in our beliefs and understanding and may alter how we approach and respond to situations. When we receive revelation, there is an inner expansion that takes place—a quickening of our spirit. It is usually accompanied by a mental moment where an idea clicks into place. Oftentimes after receiving it, the revelation seems so obvious that we don’t know why we didn’t understand or realize that particular concept before.

Revelation typically comes to us in one of four ways:

Directly by download from the Holy Spirit without prompting stimuli.
Download from the Holy Spirit during a prompting stimuli such as reading, meditation, worship, etc.
Through listening to teachings by others (a very specific prompting stimulus).
Given to us by angelic messenger.

In reality, the Holy Spirit is the one who quickens all revelation within us, so regardless of the delivery method all of them are ultimately His work. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit’s revelation-giving power in John 16:14 saying, “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” The exact manner in which we receive divine inspiration is not always that important. In other words, it doesn’t matter if an angelic messenger delivers a missive or if we realize that same something while reading our Bible. What is most important is the internal transformation that occurs.

To be clear, information and revelation are not the same thing. I can listen to people talk about things I have never heard before, and as a result I will gain knowledge—new information. But something must take place on a spiritual level within me for that information to become revelation, and that is the key we are looking for. Why does it matter if something is inspired as opposed to learned? It comes down to impartation.

When we learn an idea, we have head knowledge. It is a mental construct that has no further ability or power beyond how we apply it with our minds and actions. With any form of divine inspiration, however, it carries virtue with it and creates inner transformation. In other words, when we receive revelation from heaven, we have in that moment received an impartation of something that makes changes in our soul and spirit. And, as we have discussed previously, once we receive something, we can give it away. Yet again, this is also a means by which we can receive impartation even if we are alone—as we engage the Holy Spirit He will reveal things to us, and as He reveals things to us they become implanted within our spirits and we can nurture that inspiration and let it grow and bear fruit.

In order to take advantage of this, it helps to understand how we can position ourselves to receive. Theoretically, receiving new revelation is not something we can make happen at will. By that I mean that if we were to decide right this moment that we wanted new revelation, it doesn’t mean we will suddenly be struck with a heavenly download. All wisdom and knowledge is there for the taking, and desiring new revelation can certainly influence the speed at which we receive it—it’s just not generally as fast as flipping a switch and turning a light on. Matthew 7:7-8 tells us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” If we desire inspiration, we can look at that verse and trust that God will give us what we ask, but we must learn to be patient and go through the process.

This is an excerpt from my book “The Power of Impartation.” If you have found this informative or interesting, then consider picking up a copy of the book, available on Amazon (click here) in both print and e-book, and soon to be on audiobook.

Hold Firm To The Prophetic Promises

There is an important lesson in scripture on holding firm to the prophetic word even when other voices are telling us otherwise. It is one of the harder tests of prophetic maturity, and one that we all will have to be challenged on many times as we learn and grow in the prophetic. However, now of all times it is vital that we understand the importance of this lesson. There have been dozens, if not hundreds of prophetic words, many of them from well-known prophets, about God’s plan for Donald J Trump to take a second term as President. Some of those words came through even before his first term, and Kim Clement prophesied about Trump back in 2013. I want us to take a look at a pretty clear lesson in scripture where life and death was on the line when it came to standing on what God spoke. The passage is long, but it is an important reminder that it is our job to hold firm to the prophetic promises, not backpedaling when situations don’t look good.

1 Kings 13:1-32

By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.

6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”

8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”

16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”

23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.”

27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28 Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”

31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

The man of God had a clear word from God, and when another prophet came along and validated him and then said something contrary to what God had said, the man of God backpedaled and wrongly went with the other guy’s version. The end result was that the man of God was killed by a lion.

Now is the true time of testing for prophets and their prophetic words. Are you standing on what God told you in obedience? Or have you already begun apologizing for what He told you? The test isn’t as much whether you got the word right this week, but whether you are standing firm on that word into next week and the week after. This is going to be a VERY educational time for the Body as to where the various prophets stand and how they either stand or crumple under the pressure. In fact, some have already begun to apologize, and we will find that those who didn’t stand firm will just have to apologize for their apologies in a few weeks.

There’s MASSIVE voter fraud that is being exposed and challenged right now, and the fraud is what is covering up an already-existing Trump Landslide Win. The words are spot-on, and people need to hold firm to them in faith and prayer right now precisely because of the election fraud, not backpedal and waver in doubt.

Visible circumstances are a terrible indicator of what God is doing, and prophetic words are obviously most helpful when situations get rough like they are right now. If there was no challenge, we wouldn’t need so many words from God beforehand telling us the election outcome in spite of circumstances. It is time for believers to understand how the prophetic is designed to function, and then pray and believe accordingly.

Continue to stand on the prophecies and fight in the spirit for righteousness, justice, and truth to prevail in this nation!

It Is Time For A Miracle Reformation

For anyone who has been following The Kings of Eden for some time, you will know that I absolutely love miracles, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and really, every way that Jesus comes and transforms lives. What I don’t love is when we as individual members of the Body of Christ do things that make all of us collectively look stupid. Just this past year we have seen a disappointing end to an extraordinary miracle, and that’s just one example. I’ll explain more of what I mean about that shortly, but I believe that we are stepping into a time we are past due for—the time for a Miracle Reformation!

Back in November of last year (2019), I was driving a trailer of belongings from Oregon to Texas, and kept seeing repeating 111’s. I ended up texting a bunch of photos to a friend because it kept happening just so frequently. Exit 111, 111 miles to the next city, license plates, and more. Normally when this happens to me, God is trying to communicate a message to me. Now, driving at 50-80 mph in a truck with an enclosed trailer isn’t exactly a great time to look up Bible verses, but when I finally was able to look up repeating 1’s and found the following:

“Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.” Exodus 11:10

“He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.” Psalm 111:4

Both of these verses speak of “wonders”, and not miracles specifically, but I think of “wonders” as miraculous happenings that cause people to ask questions, to think, and to engage in surprise and admiration of God. As an interesting aside, if you add 111 + 111 you get 222, and Acts 2:22 says, “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know,” yet again pointing to the miraculous. Ultimately, I think that God wants us to both not-harden our hearts toward miracles and also to remember them. But with so much silliness abounding in the church regarding the miraculous, sometimes it is hard not to let a little hardness or skepticism in.

For example, there is a “study” that has been passed around the internet for almost a decade now about speaking in tongues (you can read the earliest I can find of the many re-publishings of it here). It is supposedly by Dr. Carl Peterson who purportedly published through Oral Roberts University, and it says that immunity can be increased by 35-40% through speaking in tongues. Sounds wonderful, right? Wrong. First off, it is impossible to actually locate the study. I’ve tried and failed multiple times (and if anyone is able to produce it, please send it to me and I will correct this statement, but until then . . . impossible to find). Second, the only thing I have ever seen is the exact same piece of text that has been copied and pasted so many times that no one seems to know where it actually first appeared nor how real it is or isn’t. Third, if one actually evaluates the text of the documentation, it is incredibly vague. It doesn’t reference the title of the study, it doesn’t tell us where the very specific 35-40% numbers came from, and while some of the facts about anatomy and physiology written in the statement are verifiable as true, none of that has anything to do with speaking in tongues, and certainly has no connection to an unnamed, unidentified study that no one can produce. And yet, when I recently spoke with some people who were repeating these same numerical statements, they began to argue with me that they didn’t care if a study could prove it or not because “they believe the Bible and know that tongues is healthy for the body.”

Don’t misunderstand me. I believe speaking in tongues is a good idea. There is are reasons Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:18 that, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” Yet, when someone is challenged on the ability to produce evidence of very specific numerical claims about the effects of the practice on one’s body, I get ridiculed for not having enough faith in God. I’m sorry, but I both have faith in God and enough of a science background to recognize that a study should have actual data associated with it. And when we collectively repeat nonsense enough times that we believe it is true, anyone else with half a brain knows it is absurd and it makes us look stupid. How is that helping encourage people to pursue miracles? It isn’t.

Another disappointment in the past year is the Dalton Bible and its oil production scandal. I have written about the initial miracle here and have a guest author’s article I have shared here on my other website and then my perspective on the scandal here for those who want to read it. In summary though, a Bible began miraculously producing oil a few years back, and at some point early this year it came out that some of that oil may have been planted by a person or persons in the ministry. While the ministry vehemently denied it, the oil stopped flowing, the ministry stopped all meetings, they stopped communicating with the outside world, and then stopped maintaining their ministry web domain, apparently disbanding. While the circumstances surrounding it are sad enough, this is the kind of stuff that causes skeptics to be even more skeptical.

I think it is time we saw a Miracle Reformation—where we not only expect to see and experience signs, wonders, and miracles, but where we also have a high level of discernment regarding what is actually taking place when they occur, as well as intentional accountability that answers the sensible questions of naysayers. Having written multiple books on miracles, with multiple more in the works, I recognize that it is not always possible to provide a so-called “rational” explanation of miracles to those who don’t believe. However, I think sometimes we don’t even try to help people understand what is happening when miracles take place—and I think that is often because we don’t understand what is going on either!

It seems to be a rare breed among people of faith to find those who both seek to operate in miracles and understand what God is doing in and through them. While certainly I don’t think we have to limit God to what we can understand with our minds, I do think that we would be wise to ask Him for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding related to the things He is doing. After all, God tells us to ask Him and He will tell us the answers (Jeremiah 33:3). I believe that God wants us to remember the miracles of the past and not let current failings harden our hearts to the things of the future, but I believe God also wants us to walk in wisdom as we administrate His power in signs and wonders.

Toward that end, I have written and published two books of what is eventually going to be a 6-book series on different kinds of miracle manifestations. In each book I discuss the miracle itself, what the Bible says about it, advice on how we can discern the situation wisely, and how we can partner with God to see these wonders in our own lives. The two currently published are Gemstones From Heaven and Feathers From Heaven, available on Amazon, with additional books on oil, manna, gold, and radiance miracles in various stages of being written (I am taking testimony submissions for those books—email me at thekingsofeden@gmail.com). You can also find more goodies under the “Signs, Wonders, & Miracles category” on this website.

Practical Tips To Engage the Flow of Revelation

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.10″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″]As an author and spiritual teacher, I find the process of engaging the flow of revelation to be an important one. I have found myself pondering at times what that special something is that turns something from knowledge or information into revelation insight that brings inner transformation. At other times, I have questions about things that I simply don’t sufficiently understand, nor do I have anyone I can ask who gets it better than I do. Thus, I have had to learn over time how to engage the flow of revelation from God.

Because I enjoy writing, one of the ways I have learned to engage the revelatory flow is to write. Part of why this works is what I refer to as the Law of Focus, a subset of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. This spiritual law basically states that whatever I focus on and engage, I attract to me. In the process of focusing on a topic, I end up receiving revelation simply in the writing process. I do also study the Bible and relevant material from others, but even as I ponder and study a subject, new ideas come to me. Sometimes when I study I gain profound new understanding as my research turns into an interactive revelatory flow.

In reality, all information is knowable in the spirit, and anyone who knows how to access it can access revelation simply by wanting to. However, multiple factors can influence how easily we do or do not receive that revelation. If we want to engage revelatory flow, we should do things that position us under the spout where the revelation comes out. Prayer and fasting are two tools we can use to help position ourselves, as is surrounding ourselves with others who are headed in the same direction. However, at the end of the day much of what this all does is still make use of the Law of Focus.

While I do all of those things at times as well, this is why writing is such an important key for me. I tend to process well when speaking out loud, but finding someone who wants to listen to me talk something out isn’t always possible, which is where writing comes in. Another great way to do this is to teach or speak on a subject, but that is often limited to those who already have a platform of some kind. While I understand that teaching a subject you might not fully grasp in order to learn about it might seem disingenuous, I believe in championing messages we have not yet fully apprehended. I wrote about this in an article titled “Forerunners and Imposter Syndrome” which explains why I believe this can be important:

The apostle Paul ran into this same problem, to the point that he repeated himself twice when speaking to the Philippians about this in Philippians 3:12-14, saying, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul was very clear that he had not already attained the fullness of the revelation he was preaching, but he didn’t let it stop him from proclaiming the revelation.

I had a dream the other night that seemed to suggest there are two main ways God gives us a message He wants us to carry. The first is as a prophetic revelation, and this typically comes first. Prophetic messages are often those given by the forerunners, as they are speaking of realities that have not manifested as of yet. The second are apostolic messengers—those who have lived out the message, have struggled through the ups and downs as they have pioneered the experience, and who have become the living embodiment of that which they speak. Neither means of carrying a message is better than the other, nor is either inferior to the other; they are simply different. Apostolic messengers carry the experiences within them, while the prophetic messenger is often speaking of things he or she has yet to attain to. It is important to understand whether a message is prophetic or apostolic as defined above, as prophetic messages are those that place us in greater danger of Imposter syndrome.”

The point of releasing a prophetic message is that while we have not yet fully grasped or lived out the content of our message, by releasing the revelation we have, not only do we pull on heaven to give us more but we also help position others to do the same.

While not everyone is an author, teacher, or speaker, we can all make use of simple tools to engage the Law of Focus and activate the revelatory realm. Journaling and discussion with others are two easy ways to do this. Another option is to talk to an empty room. I like to pace while I talk, and if I am on a long phone conversation I can be found doing laps inside the house or wearing a hole in the grass, and have done the same while practicing preaching messages. While at first it feels a little strange to talk to no one, as long as I ignore the fact that I would look like a total idiot to anyone watching, all goes well and it is very fruitful.

Regardless of the method used, whether in public or private, there are a variety of different ways we can actively engage the flow of revelation which in turn will enhance our spiritual growth.

If you have other methods they use to engage revelatory flow, please share in the comments below and let us know!
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