OCTOBER THEME READER’S DIGEST: ENFORCE YOUR DOMINION

We give God all the glory for seeing us through the third quarter of the year and for the great and mighty things he has in store for us for the last quarter of the year. I pray for you in accordance with the word of God in Ezekiel 33:10-11 which says ‘I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings’. May the Lord restore to you all that the enemies stole in your life and increase you and cause you to end this year gloriously in joy, peace and good health in Jesus name.

At the beginning of creation, God gave a decree to man in Genesis 1:28 – be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it and have dominion. However, the tone of this decree suggests that to accomplish the 1st three (fruitful, multiply and replenish) man has to subdue and then enforce dominion. These two terms ‘subdue and have dominion’ are military terms implying that you must possess superior power to suppress and dislodge contending forces and rebellious powers that are working against the fulfillment of this decree, (man’s fruitfulness, multiplication and replenishment).

Remember how Serpent tricked Eve and Adam to disobey God and the consequences of that action in Genesis 3:1-7 & 14-15. Thankfully, God made a way for us to regain the kingdom mandate through our Lord Jesus Christ who restored man to his original position of power and dominion thereby establishing a better covenant by the blood of Jesus, Hebrew 8:6. By Jesus Christ's sinless life and sacrificial death, He reclaimed the dominion from Satan and confirmed this to us in Matthew 28:18 when he said 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'. Man continue to fight against the wiles of the devil to date as stated in Ephesians 6:12. This probably explains why our Lord Jesus Christ has to equip us with power (authority) to trample (enforce dominion) on serpent and scorpion and over every power of the enemies in Luke 10:19.

‘Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you’. Luke 10:19

Serpent and scorpion represent different levels of spiritual authority and wickedness in the kingdom of darkness that we must subdue. Ephesian 6:12. The phrase in Matthew 11:12 "...the violent take it by force" means, the violent in the Spirit take what belongs to him with enforcement.

That is why it is important for a child of God to grow up to maturity in Christ and take possession of his kingdom benefits and inheritance. Galatians 4:1 says that ‘Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all’.

You must know exactly what Jesus Christ’s power is and take dominion of the power He has given the church. Jesus revealed the extent of our authority to have dominion when he declared in Matthew 16:19, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall loosed in heaven".

You may be wondering that if God has launched us into such a realm and reality of dominion, why do we then still live in defeat and fear? The bane of most believers in recent times is lack of knowledge, backed up by lack of discipline. Isaiah 5:13; Hosea 4:6. Not many are willing to ‘pay the PRICE in order to win the PRIZE’, 1Corinthians 9:24-25.

The following principles outlined in the acronym for D. O. M. I. N. I. O. N. will help to enforce our dominion and kingdom mandate:

D = Discover Your Source of Dominion. We must understand the exceedingly great power we have through Jesus Christ and be connected to the source of the power. (Daniel 11:32). Jesus took the dominion from Satan and gave the keys to the church. Matthew 16:18.

O = Obtain Knowledge on the Effective Use of Your Weapons. Just as the conflict is spiritual, so are our weapons (2 Corinthians 10: 3-4). Everyone that is going to enforce his dominion must value PRAYER, LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS and the WORD. Hide the Word in your heart, so that when an attack comes you can use that double-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12, Ephesians 6:17, Hebrew 1:9). Pray earnestly for fresh power and anointing and be filled with spiritual power. Matthew 3:11b, Acts 1:8. 1 Corinthians 4:20.

M = Maintain Your Relationship with the Body of Christ. Christ’s body is a living, moving entity. Stay close to the church (Colossians 1:18). We are in Him and He is in us. We’re in the world but not of this world (Ephesians 2:5). Live a life worthy of Christ Ambassador having good relationship with God. Don’t allow sin to strain your relationship with Jesus Christ, so that the enemy will not invade your life. Remember that a compromiser can't operate in dominion.

I = Identify Your Enemy. How can you win a battle if you don’t know who you are fighting? Identity begins with knowing who you are and whose you are in Christ. 1Peter 2:9, Ephesians 2:5-6. This gives security and confidence to fight the enemy is his territory (Acts 19:15).

N = Never Be Unprepared. Endure hardship and don’t entangle yourself with the affairs of this life. (2Timothy 2:3-4). Don’t ever let your guard down (2 Corinthians 2:11). You are devil-proof by the blood of Jesus, so hold on to your weapons and never lay them down. (Revelation 12:11). Never take your eyes off our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrew 12:2). Take upon you the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-18, 2Corinthians 10:3-5, Psalm 144:1, Proverbs 18:10.

I = Imbibe The Spirit of Praise. Learn how to use the weapon of praise. Punish the devil with your praise. God inhabits the praises of His people, so the devil cannot stand where God is being praised. Acts 16:25; Psalm 67:5-7, 2Chronicles 20:21-24.

O = Obey The Lord Always. Complete obedience to God is one of the keys to a life of dominion. We are ready to punish all disobedience only when our own obedience is perfect (2 Corinthians 10: 5-6). Saul lost dominion because of his disobedience, and he was described as a rebellious person (1 Sam 15:11–23).

N = Never Share of His Glory. God wants us to return all the glory back unto Him alone (1 Corinthians 1:29). Sharing of His glory will amount to pride on our own part. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5).

We are destined to rule in life as joint heirs with Christ, Romans 8:17. Let's move into our rightful position as heirs of the kingdom of God exercising our dominion in Christ so that the enemy would not deny us of our kingdom inheritance.

HAPPY NEW MONTH!