Chuck
D. Pierce
Do we really understand this “Presence-and-Glory
War” that is being fought all around us?
A better way to approach this may be from an
understanding of the atmosphere.
According to the American Dictionary of
the English Language, the atmosphere is the whole mass of fluid, consisting
of air, aqueous and other vapors, that surrounds the earth.
The word is rooted in the interaction between
vapor and the earth’s sphere. Vapor consists of the fumes, moist floating
substance or invisible elastic fluid that encompasses the earth’s sphere.
The Bible even refers to this
in Psalm 39:5 when it says, “Certainly every man at his best state is but
vapor.”
Yet when most of us speak of “the atmosphere,”
we’re referring to a generic sense of an airborne aura surrounding us.
What does the atmosphere have to do with a war
over God’s presence?
In Glory Warfare, Becca
Greenwood has captured much revelation to help you develop this crucial
understanding.
We have an atmosphere about us that affects the
way the earth operates. The atmosphere we carry affects the land we walk on.
The more we are in union with God and His
purpose for the earth, the more we create a right atmosphere around us.
To usher in God’s presence requires a change in
the atmosphere, and we are assigned the task of bringing this about!
The Bible establishes that
Satan is the god of this world, the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
Yet how is this so if Psalm
24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness”?
First, we must understand the terms used in
those two verses.
The Greek word for “earth” is topos,
while the word for “world” is cosmos.
This means that any structure that protrudes or
is above the topos is subject to warfare.
Second, we must realize the Bible establishes
that there are three heavens.
God and all His heavenly beings dwell in the
third heaven.
Satan, as the ruler of the air, attempts to rule
from the second heaven to illegally legislate in the first heaven — that place
where we physically stand above the earth.
God’s manifest presence must be free to rule any
particular area of our lives necessary for the fullness of God’s destiny to
manifest.
Once evil is confronted in our atmosphere, then
God’s presence has the liberty to replace evil with glory.
Did you catch that?
God’s desire is to flood this
earth with His glory. Habakkuk 2:14 says, “For the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
The thing that prevents God’s glory from doing
so is the evil in this world, and this is the essence of the presence-and-glory
war.
There is a fierce war that wages over occupying
the atmosphere of this earth.
Neighborhoods, cities, regions, nations,
continents — each has atmospheric boundaries that have either been declared for
the purposes of darkness or for housing God’s glory.
If we read Habakkuk 2:14 with this
understanding, we see that the Lord already has a plan to remove evil that is
blocking His presence and glory from invading the entire earth realm.
His Word declares that “the earth will be filled”
(emphasis added), which means that the plan of fullness He has for the
earth must be manifested.
Becca Greenwood’s book, Glory Warfare, is a
wonderful read of practical examples and revelatory insights concerning the
GLORY WAR that is raging around you.
In the midst of our conflicts, we must never
forget that God has a plan for our lives.
Many times, darkness wants to rule through fear
to stop us from entering into the ultimate plan the Lord has for us. We must
never forget that His plan is good.
We are familiar with the account in Jeremiah 32
in which God asked the prophet to stake his claim on the future by buying a
field that was about to go into desolation.
In the midst of all the darkness that was
surrounding Jerusalem, Jeremiah prophesied that God would eventually restore
Israel and Judah, and a remnant would be saved.
If we stray from the Lord, He offers a way to
bring us back and restore His plan for us. He has a future of prosperity for
us. Jeremiah 31:23-33 says:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel: ‘They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and
in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The Lord bless you, O home
of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ And there shall dwell in Judah itself,
and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. For I
have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
“After this I awoke and looked
around, and my sleep was sweet to me. “Behold, the days are coming, says the
Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed
of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched
over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to
afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant…
“Behold, the days are coming
that I will make a new covenant… not according to the covenant I made with
their fathers… but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel… I will put My law in their minds and write on their hearts and I will
be their God and they shall be My people” (NKJV).
Once Jeremiah staked his claim on the future, it
really didn’t matter that there was darkness that would attempt to overcome his
land — because God had a plan.
If we trust Him in the midst of our warfare and
obey Him to do the faith acts He requires of us, God will secure our future
even in the midst of war.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to
Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and
hidden, which you do not know [do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge
of and understand]” (AMPC).
Because God has a great future for us, we can
shout loudly and get His attention in the midst of our warfare so that He shows
us things we could not normally see.
In the midst of whatever haziness presents
itself in the now, He will show us our future.
Most of us are used to watching out for what we
presently have and what is dear to us. But we must also watch after our future.
Glory Warfare helps
you to understand the war over your future. This book builds faith!
We can neither watch after or for the
future if we do not have the presence of the Lord. It is His presence that
allows us to see into our future.
Sadly, many Christians get nervous when talking
about seeing into the future. We give this the same stigma associated with
fortune-tellers and palm readers.
Let me say this as clearly as I know how: God’s
people must have foresight! We must have vision for what lies ahead, or we will
be unprepared.
And in these times, preparation and readiness is
essential. Glory Warfare will
prepare you for the future.
One of the primary reasons God allows us to see
into the future is to keep hope of an expected end occurring in the midst of
adversity around us.
Another reason is for the benefit of the
generations who are arising. We must prepare the way for God’s best in the
lives of those who will follow.
The Lord doesn’t give us glimpses just to
titillate us or make us long for better days ahead. The vision of God — which
we all need —a lways has a divine purpose.
Yet another reason God supplies prophetic vision
is simply for strategy. We cannot be victorious against the forces of darkness
that rule our world without the precise, perfect plans of the Lord.
You will learn much about this as you read this
book. The enemy can only mimic the truth. This has always been the case.
We find plenty of people in the Bible who were
able to predict the future, yet they had aligned themselves with the enemy.
How much more, then, is the God of all truth
willing to reveal His plans for the future to His own children? Prophecy —
which is simply the testimony of Jesus’ reign in the coming days — is all about
vision.
And in the presence of God, there is perfect
vision. Habakkuk 2:1-4 says:
“I will stand my watch and set
myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will
answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the
vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the
vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will
not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will
not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall
live by his faith.’” (NKJV).
When we live in the Spirit and see by the
Spirit, we gain vision for our future. Not only does God reorder our time, but
He positions us in a place so that He can extend the horizon line of heaven and
cause us to “see” what He sees.
This is what makes us a prophetic people. Acts
17:24-27 says:
“God, who made the world
and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in
temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He
needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has
made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their
dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope
for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (NKJV).
When we are at the right place at the right
time, the Lord “pro-horizons” us, or extends our horizon line so that we can
see farther than ever before.
We are not a people limited to the finite space
that we are in. We are a people filled with vision. We can sense His
presence, feel His presence, see His
presence, and move in His presence.
As I mentioned before, God has promised to cover
the earth with His glory (see Habakkuk 2:14).
I believe this was His original intent when He
planted a Garden and gave it to the human race. He wanted us to cultivate that
garden and live in communion with Him so that He could give us a vision of how
to effectively invade the whole earth with His presence.
However, when we listened to the enemy, our
perfect communion was broken with God and our vision became hindered.
The same principle applies today. If we adhere
to the plans of Satan rather than listening to God’s voice, we limit God’s
presence from moving through us and increasing our boundaries.
Because of this, there is a huge war raging over
His presence. The enemy does all he can to prevent us from seeing what the Lord
wants us to see.
Satan longs for us not to have vision for our
future. Remember, without a vision, we perish (see Proverbs 29:18).
Let vision arise within you as you read this
book. See His glory! Enter your war ahead with a mind to triumph!
Glory Warfare will build up your faith and
help develop your thought processes of triumph in every conflict you face in
days ahead.
Chuck
D. Pierce is vice president of Global
Harvest Ministries and president of Glory of Zion International Ministries. He
is the former director of the World Prayer Center and coauthor of the books The
Future War of the Church, Possessing Your Inheritance, Ridding Your Home of
Spiritual Darkness, The Best is Yet Ahead and Receiving the Word of the Lord.
Chuck, his wife, Pam, and their five children live in Denton, Texas.
Destiny has been called to publish biblically sound, prophetic
words to the Body of Christ. To that end, we seek to create a community founded
on content that has an anointing to direct, encourage and strengthen the church
as a whole.
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