The Apostolic, the role of an Apostle is as a leader, a head. It is a father like placement in the Body of Christ. An Apostle brings forth sons and daughters of the King. He operates in a unique authority... yet it is not related to him or her, it is related to the KING under whom he operates.. the creator of all the universe.
As such, a special imperative is available if the Apostle understands it. Knowing is one thing.. Operating in it is another.
Jesus carried this. Demons cried out when He entered into their presence. They recognized and bowed down.
Peter as an apostle carried this. His very shadow healed people over whom it passed.
Why did these things happen. Was it an anointing? We would quickly answer that it was.. but that is about the man. Was it because of an intense expectation on the part of those so touched by Peter's shadow? Yes, faith is strong and it doesn't take much in that atmosphere. But there is something more. Like Jacob who saw a ladder ascending and descending, the presence of an Apostolic office (if it's genuine) manifests certain God opened Portals. Places where openness happens.
It's not just the authority of the Apostolic office that carries this weight that opens these portals of healing, deliverance, provision, protection, blessings, peace and yes, Prosperity. It is the father headship present in the authority to bless, to release, to created by declaration and the creative word an expectation.
The person who operates in this gift does not have to OWN the outcome of the blessing he provides. You don't have to be healed to operate in authority for healing. Smith Wigglesworth suffered terribly in his body, yet was powerful in authority. In fact if you look at the word, you will see that many times God places men of authority in places where they are outside of what they thought they would be. King David was hiding out in the Cave of Adullam and men who were in debt distressed and discouraged came to him. In the story King David (not yet on the throne) says, I am a POOR MAN. Yet the men who came within a few years became powerful and prosperous men. Not because David had anything to give, but because of the authority God had invested in him. He didn't need to be rich to make others wealthy.
We don't understand the old wineskin that was word of faith prosperity teaching. Seed. Give to get. Send $58 and God will send you ten, twenty a hundred fold return. Those days are gone. Sure the principles of sowing and reaping are valid, but they are very much a wineskin Father is discarding.
This is NOT condemnation. It's all we knew. For the kingdom to advance there will need to be money found. We did what we could. We always knew that the breakthrough our congregations needed was in our pews. That it was in our hands to find a way to release the abundance of grace for wealth... we just kept following the leaders that went before and we have missed the most essential truth. Authority is what brings healing, deliverance, wholeness, peace, joy, Shalom, and release. It also brings prosperity, protection and provision.
Part of what has driven the old wineskin ways of prosperity teaching is a flawed eschatology. One that talks of a soon coming end of the world. One that will end in rapture or some such. That when the Anti Christ comes money will be no good. You might as give it away now.
Many ministries have focus that operate in an authority level:
- Healing
- Deliverance
- Prophecy
- Teaching
- Glory Manifestation
- Worship
- Spiritual Warfare
- Old Wineskin Prosperity teaching
As I list these, if you have watched Christian TV, or been around for a while, you can put a name and a face to each of these categories. Like Benny Hinn in Healing.
What makes these things work, even without the authority to open a portal for them? Expectation. Yet the authority and the expectation driven by a high faith are what work together to open the portal. Great Faith Jesus called it. Sometimes that comes after high levels of worship. People see themselves as coming out of their current situation and into a better destiny.
That's what happened as Peter walked the streets at sundown a shadow being cast over people receiving healing.
There is much good in Preaching and Teaching expectation. One such that teaches this is Joel Osteen. You may not agree with what you see as a soft gospel message. I am not here to argue that. I am saying that while he may not operate in deliverance his encouragement has people in the seats in the flock he is over probably at a higher level than many of our churches. You can make it he says. He doesn't teach old wineskin prosperity.
If we are going to help people enter into that portal of prosperity that opens when an apostolic authority is present and expectation is high, we will have to teach our people a level of overcoming higher than they are in now.
A level that allows them to bounce back after hard times. That says like the Apostle Paul, I'm knocked down but not knocked out. That helps people develop a forehead like flint that doesn't lurch from crisis to crisis and setback to setback always the victim. We can help them see themselves higher and develop the earnest expectation that Ephesians talks of.
If you stand as an Apostle before your people, the expectation is high, there will open a portal of prosperity that as you bless them, never cursing them for not giving, bless them and declare goodness over their lives, you will see a release of new levels of prosperity you never thought possible. Here's the part you need to grasp as an Apostle. You don't have to be experiencing it yourself to release it for others. In fact, it's the upside down Kingdom that often manifests in exactly that way. It's time to begin to Bless, Empower, Encourage and allow for training that helps them access the power to get wealth.
Too much of the Body of Christ lives in a fantasy that some wealth of the wicked is going to write them a check. That the next scheme presented them is their breakthrough. It can happen, but probably won't. God will use whatever you have in your hands and if you expect... if your people expect and when the portal is open they enter into it the angels will ascend an descend bringing exactly what is needed.
The old wineskin is dead and not a second too soon. The new Apostolic wineskin is here.
Enter in, open the portal, develop expectation and watch miracles happen right before your eyes. The same power that raised JESUS from the dead, healed the sick and destroyed works of the devil in the first century, is still there. Let's do this thing.
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