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Sustaining Your Breakthrough
The
Key to Sustaining Your Breakthrough
Matt Sorger
God is
about to promote people to their next level of authority, influence and power.
There
will be a great need in the days ahead for godly leadership in the body of
Christ.
God
wants us to know and understand not only how to break through to the next level
but how also to sustain the increase He gives. It's one thing to get a
breakthrough. It's another thing to keep it.
Passing
Through the Place of Contention
God is
bringing people into a higher realm of authority, but we must be aware this
won't come without a fight.
Before
David could receive his royal crown of authority, he had to face Goliath.
He had
already been anointed king, but before he could step into his destiny and into
the next level of authority, he had to face Goliath.
The
increase and promotion were not going to come without a fight.
First Samuel 17:23-26 says, "As he was speaking
with them, the champion, Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was going up from
the battle line of the Philistines. And he spoke these same words and David
heard them. When all Israel's fighting men saw the man, they fled from him, and
were very afraid. The men of Israel said,
“‘Have you seen this man
who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel, and it will be that the
man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, will give him
his daughter, and will make his father's house exempt from taxes in
Israel.’"
David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What
will be done for the man that kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach
from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the
armies of the living God?"
Before
you step into the next level God has for you, you will have to face your
Goliath head-on and take it down.
Your
next level will not come without a fight. Understand this about your giant: It
will speak to you.
It will
try to intimidate, limit and constrain you from possessing what is yours in
God.
It will speak to you with words like, "Who do you think
you are? You think God has a destiny for you? You think God will ever use
you?"
The words you hear will come in relation to the area of battle
you are facing. "You think you will be free? You think things will
change? Things are never going to change. You are going to keep going around
this mountain. You are nothing. Just give up and quit!"
A
Sustainable Anointing and Breakthrough
Those
who will move to a higher realm of authority need to understand a sustainable
anointing and mantle are not possible without testing and trial.
Anointing
without testing is not sustainable.
God
doesn't want to just give us a temporary anointing or a momentary breakthrough.
He wants us to be able to sustain it.
The
sustainability factor is crucial in this hour. We must contend for increase and
sustain it.
Before
promotion you must walk through a place of contention.
You
must contend with your giant and gain victory over it before the anointing is
released to manifest in a greater measure of authority. God anointed what was
tested in David's life.
First Samuel 17:36-39 says, "Your servant slew both
the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of
them, because he has reviled the armies of the living God.
“David said, 'The Lord who delivered me out of the paw
of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand
of this Philistine.'
“And Saul said to David, 'Go, and the Lord be with
you.' Saul clothed David with his armor. And he put a helmet of bronze on
his head. He also clothed him with a coat of mail.
“David secured his sword to his armor and tried to walk, but he
was not used to it, for he had not tested them. And David said to
Saul, 'I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.' So David
took them off."
God
anoints what's been tested in your life. God anointed David's slingshot, not
Saul's armor. David couldn't win the battle in Saul's armor. It hadn't been
tested in his life.
David
wrestled the lion and the bear. He had used his sling and stone out in the
wilderness. God anointed what had been tested.
Promotion
will come out of your testings and battles. Smaller battles will make you
skillful in winning larger ones.
Get
happy, because the areas of your greatest testings are about to become the
areas of your greatest anointing.
The
very assignments the adversary had against your life are about to be turned
around against him.
God
will release the deepest anointing and glory in those areas where you have had
the deepest level of warfare and contending.
As
Isaac was entering into his land of inheritance in Genesis 26, we see he
started in a place of barrenness.
As he
planted and sowed seed in that land, he became very prosperous and fruitful.
God accelerated his harvest and in the same year, he reaped a hundredfold. But
God still had more increase for him.
The
Philistines envied him and began to bury the wells of Abraham. In order for
Isaac to break through to a higher level of fruitfulness in his inheritance, he
had to contend with the Philistines.
As he
dug wells, the first one was called Esek, meaning contention.
The
next well was called Sitnah, meaning enmity.
The
third well was called Rehoboth, meaning room.
As
Isaac persevered and endured, God made room for him to be fruitful in the land.
The key
for Isaac's breakthrough was endurance.
As we
endure through a place of contention, God will make room for us and cause us to
be fruitful in our land of inheritance.
Increase
and promotion is coming, but not without a fight. In order to win this battle,
we must endure to the end.
We are
in a time where many are facing their Goliaths. They are in a time of spiritual
pressure and resistance, and what they do in this battle will determine their
next season.
Either
they will sustain what God has given them and experience an increase or lose
what has been entrusted to them.
Usually
the greatest fight comes right before the greatest breakthrough. This is
usually when people give up.
When
they get weary, they are right on the edge of moving to the next level.
As long
as you refuse to give up, God will make sure you excel to your next level of
inheritance.
So get
happy when you see spiritual contention in your life. It means you are on the
verge of breakthrough and promotion. But you have to make the right choices and
pray through to victory.
The
Power of Brokenness
God
wants us to understand the power of brokenness. There is a big difference
between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, between worldly brokenness and godly
brokenness. Let me show you a great example in the realm of leadership.
Saul's
heart had become filled with anger, insecurity, jealously, hate, murder,
rebellion, fear of man and witchcraft.
When Saul was confronted in his sin, he acknowledged it. We see
this in 1 Samuel 15:30a, where he clearly says, "I have sinned."
But immediately following this statement, he says, "Yet
please honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel."
Saul
was more concerned about his reputation before the people than he was about
grieving God and losing the Holy Spirit.
He had
a carnal sorrow. A worldly sorrow will regret being caught and experiencing
consequences. But it's not true godly sorrow.
When a
leader cares more about pubic honor and recognition than he does about grieving
God's heart, there is no godly sorrow or repentance.
Then
there was David. David was not perfect. He committed some bad sins, including
murder and adultery.
But the
Bible still calls him a man after God's own heart. Why? It was not because of
his perfection but because of the depth of his godly sorrow and repentance.
David's main concern was not his reputation.
In
Psalm 51, we see David's heart when he cries out for God not to take His Holy
Spirit from him.
David's
main concern was grieving the heart of God and losing the Holy Spirit. This was
the difference between David and Saul's heart.
One
still cared about reputation and honor before man. The other cared about God's
heart and presence.
The
reason Saul lost his mantle and anointing was because his heart grew calloused,
and he lacked godly sorrow.
Although
David still had consequences for his sin, the reason he was able to sustain his
mantle and anointing was because of the depth of his level of brokenness and
godly sorrow.
In
order for us to be able to maintain and sustain the increase, anointing and
mantle God gives us, we must have the heart of David, one that cares most about
God's heart and has a holy, godly brokenness in humility before the Lord. Godly
brokenness will sustain both leaders and the church in this hour.
We must
be able to sustain the increase God is about to give.
Many
have been under spiritual pressure. They are facing giants they have never had
to face. This is because God wants to promote them in kingdom authority.
With
testing comes the possibility for promotion, depending on what we do with that
test.
The
keys to moving higher will be our ability to endure and our level of true godly
brokenness over what grieves the heart of God.
As we
face and take down our Goliaths, we will be positioned before the Lord for
increase, multiplication and fruitfulness.
The
church is in need of godly leadership in this hour. Out of true brokenness will
emerge a fresh anointing that will bring great breakthrough in the lives of
God's people.
Prayer
Wait on
the Lord and allow Him to break you through every area of battle in your life.
Pray the Word. Spend time in worship. Make godly choices and purge all sin and
compromise out of your life. Pray this prayer with me:
"Lord, I submit and surrender every area of my life to you.
I make the choice to live in a way that pleases You. Forgive me of all my sin
and transgression. Show me any areas of my life that have grieved you. Release
a godly sorrow and brokenness in my heart. May I care most about what you feel.
Give me the strength to endure and the godly brokenness I need to sustain Your
increase in my life. Lord, may the adversary have nothing in me. In Jesus'
name, I take authority over every Goliath in my life that is trying to
intimidate me and hold me back. I command it to come down now in Jesus' name.
Amen."
Matt
Sorger, author,
prophetic messenger, revivalist, healing evangelist, teacher, television host
and philanthropist, has served in full-time ministry for over 23 years,
spanning more than 200 nations of the earth through travel and media ministry.
He hosts a weekly teaching program titled Power for Life. Matt moves in a
unique anointing that fills entire rooms with the tangible glory of God with
many healed, set free and empowered. He teaches believers how to live lives
saturated with the glory of God and brings a great balance between authentic,
supernatural encounter and solid biblical truth. He reaches cities and regions
by partnering with and impacting local churches to see a great breakthrough of
the Holy Spirit. For the original article, visit mattsorger.com.
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When you overcome your Goliath, make sure you
take steps to maintain your breakthrough
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