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Understanding Deliverance, Spiritual Warfare, and the Appropriation Systems of God's Kingdom
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Understanding Deliverance, Spiritual Warfare, and the Appropriation Systems of God's Kingdom
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
When we speak of deliverance in the kingdom, we are describing the entire process that leads to the experience of liberty, freedom, and victory over Satan, demonic forces, and negative conditions. Deliverance goes beyond being free from spirits—it extends to being free from negative, anti-destiny conditions so that you can walk in the dominion God intended.
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free." (John 8:36)
"Who had delivered us from the power of darkness and had translated us into the kingdom of his dear son." (Colossians 1:13)
For believers in Christ, the concept of deliverance and warfare is about establishing the victory in your life in experience that has already been finished and received in Christ. This shift in perspective is very important. Many believers approach the subject of demonology, deliverance, and warfare in ways that do not guarantee their victory. If you approach deliverance as a weak, defeated believer, hoping to engage to see if perhaps you will win, you are already defeated by that orientation.
The victory is not something you are fighting for—it is something that has already been purchased for you. Your assignment is to make that victory manifest in your life through understanding and appropriating it.
Language is one of the principal platforms for understanding. When we say words like "love," "God," "failure," "Satan," "victory,"—these words, as unifying as they sound, are complex and subject to personal interpretation. Your victory is derived from your understanding of the language and concepts you use.
Deliverance describes the entire process that brings the believer into the experience of liberty, freedom, total separation, and victory from:
When you walk in the experience of victory, liberty, and separation from all these demonic things, it is said that you have been delivered. You now have the liberty to walk in dominion as God intended.
"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee, let it be condemned in the name of Jesus." (Isaiah 54:17)
"The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and he will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom." (2 Timothy 4:18)
Yes. Absolutely. And this is critical to understand.
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, man-made, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
Paul is speaking to believers in Corinth and introducing the subject of warfare. Even though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Our weapons are not man-made but mighty through God. We are pulling down strongholds and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
"Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and to make manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Note the word "always." It is not a one-off experience. For as many times as battles arise, God causes us to triumph.
"Be sober. Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The Devil is seeking whom he may devour—and the Bible does not specify that he is only seeking unbelievers. He is seeking whom he may devour. This is a concern for believers.
"Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)
Paul begins Ephesians by introducing the extent of Christ's victory. By chapter two, he brings us into the equation: "We have been raised up with him and we have been made to sit with Christ in heavenly places above principalities and powers." By chapter six, he says, "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
There are three principal gateways that allow access to demonic activity in the life of a believer. Only three doorways:
If you see anything that looks like darkness or oppression in the life of a believer, it must have happened through one of these three access points.
Here is a profound truth: The greatest expression of Satan's power over man is not in bringing tragedies, calamities, or sicknesses, but his influence on your spirit and the hijacking of your belief systems.
Satan's real power is not in manipulating tragedies or creating troubles. The real power of Satan in the life of a man is the ability to hijack the belief system, to hijack your spirit, and to hijack your worldview. When Satan hijacks the belief system of a believer, he will cause you to:
This happens whether you know it or not.
You can be genuinely born again and never taste the experience of victory and dominion. You can be genuinely born again, read from your Bible that you have been called out of every tribe, tongue, and nation, and yet see in your life the visible effects of curses, yokes, patterns, and oppression. Your official contribution to that tragedy remaining is your belief system.
If you do not have a deliverance of your belief system, then you were not truly delivered.
Most believers focus on the effects—the tragedies, the sicknesses. God's power is able to attend to those things. But if you want to experience total deliverance, then in addition to casting away spirit influences and prophesying negative conditions to change, there needs to be real warfare against thought patterns.
The real warfare of a believer is not against spirits. It is against thought patterns.
A stronghold is a faulty belief system that has been fortified by the presence of demon spirits to keep the victim perpetually thinking that way and making decisions through the lens of that belief system. If you are in that state, Satan does not need to attack you—it is already a self-programming path to destruction.
Now they are real. But the point is this: Most times, when we are done confessing, when we are done shouting, when we are done jumping, it looks like Satan did not even respect your confession. Why? Because the hijacking of belief systems is really Satan's mission. No matter how you bind and cast that spirit, it can genuinely go—but it will go laughing at you because it knows something will bring it back.
There is an understanding, an orientation that does not need the presence of a spirit. It is software in you—your official partnership toward walking in the experience of victory or remaining defeated.
Worship, prayer, giving, confession—you must understand the value of these tools. Otherwise they become spiritual rituals that do not have power in themselves. Your understanding empowers these things.
There are three vital truths you must know if you want to walk in the experience of liberty and dominion. Ignore any one of these and it will be to your peril.
You must know that Satan is an adversary and that he has an organized system through which he kills, steals, and destroys.
Settle it as a fact: Satan is not a friend. Satan is not an ally. Satan is not a myth. The Bible teaches us to manifest victory over Satan and demons, not to ignore them. Wickedness is real. Spirits are real. Curses are real. Demonic orchestrations are real.
There is an exact demonic organization—a system Satan has organized to carry out his ministry of stealing, killing, and destruction.
"Lest Satan should take an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)
To not know his devices is to give Satan an advantage over you. Not knowing his devices is giving Satan a loophole, a basis for manifesting his ministry. When Satan wants to keep a people bound, one way is to sell them the idea that without doing anything, he is powerless in their lives. That is not true.
Satan is not powerless by default, but he can be made powerless in your life. That is your mission as a believer: to take advantage of the resources of victory established and given to you in Christ and to keep Satan where he belongs.
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
Jesus called Satan a thief. He comes into any life, any destiny, any family, any church, any nation, any territory—except for one purpose: to kill, steal, and destroy. If left unhindered, Satan and all demonic orchestrations will carry out their ministry for sure. Satan is determined. If left irresponsibly unhindered—through pride, ignorance, or sheer carelessness—he will manifest that ministry in your life.
It is not enough to know that Satan is there. It is not enough to understand that there is an organized system and that Satan is the archenemies of God, believers, and the cross.
You must know and believe that Satan and all demonic forces have been defeated in Christ, and that Jesus purchased that victory—not for himself, but for us.
Jesus did not need to purchase victory for himself. He always had it. He is always God. But he stripped himself of that victory, brought us into him by covenant, and got the victory back again. He had it alone, but he did not want it alone.
It is like a professor who was always a professor but, because he was a professor alone, he stripped himself of that doctorate, went back to nursery school, and started again. When it was time to get his PhD again, he made a proposition: "Everything I get from now on, let it be for me and all these other people." Then he got back his PhD—the PhD he always had. But this time, as soon as he was given his PhD, every other person in connection with him suddenly saw PhD appearing on their documents. They asked, "When did we get this?" He said, "That's why I stripped myself. I came back and I got it again. I had it alone, but I did not want it alone. So I put you in the system."
If all you know is that Satan is an adversary, if all you know is that demons exist, if all you know is that Satan hates you and wants to fight you, you will remain defeated. That information is truthful, but it is not enough to give you victory.
"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a public show of them, openly triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)
Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus:
"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:19-23)
I believe Satan is there, but I believe he is there as a defeated foe. It is important you understand his status. Satan can be defeated based on what Christ has done and yet be victorious in your life because of what you believe.
It is your assignment to make sure his status in your life is consistent with what God said he is now in Christ. If the Bible says he is defeated, it is your assignment to agree with the word and engage profitably so that he remains defeated in your life.
Satan can be a winner in your life while being a loser by the word. Although the Bible already calls him a defeated foe, he can look so victorious over your life because your mindset has rejected that report.
"Who hath believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1)
You must believe that Satan has been defeated, that every demon has been defeated, that every curse has been defeated. You must believe that in the name of Jesus—regardless of how long the reign of darkness has been in your family or territory, by reason of the finished work of Christ, regardless what you feel, regardless what you see or do not see.
This is the immutability of God's counsel. You must believe. Even if it is not yet manifested in your life, you must believe and then reckon yourself. The word "reckon" comes from the Greek word logizomi, which means to stand fast until it becomes a reality. It means to indoctrinate yourself so that there is no other way of thinking. You know that Satan is defeated. Plant it in your consciousness.
Every time you mention Satan, do not mention him as though you are sitting on a negotiation table. That is doessic shamanism—a branch of occultism where you sit with spirits and invoke them. You pacify the spirit until it is angry again. Jesus did not pacify Satan. He defeated him.
"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
There is no negotiation. The victory is finished.
If your grandfather was an idol worshipper, feel sorry for that history—but as far as you are concerned, there is a new contract. You were brought into a new covenant.
If you currently have incisions in your body, the power of those incisions is your belief system—your belief system believing that those incisions, simply because they are in your body, give them power. But listen: the nails on Jesus's hands are still there, yet he is King of Kings. He did not consider the nails as weakness. When he looks at the nail, he does not say, "Oh, I gave in to Satan." The nails have become a system of victory. Why are your own scars reminding you that you are defeated? Let them remind you that you were once bound, but now you are in Christ.
The third vital truth you must know is that there are appropriation systems—the ways by which you take that which is finished in Christ and make it manifest in your life.
That it is finished in Christ does not mean it is manifested in your life.
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)
That is the appropriation system of salvation. Anybody who says he is saved and in Christ but did not follow this appropriation system is lying to himself and will go to hell.
Healing has an appropriation system. It is the hearing of faith and responding. When the word of God comes, you hear what Christ has done. Then you release your faith. Then the anointing—the dimension of the anointing that brings quickening to your body—is now released.
How about prospering in the kingdom? There is an appropriation system. There is a power to get wealth, but how do you receive it? You receive it by a change of mind. There is a belief system that must be worked on. You must understand the kingdom structure for your prosperity. When you do understand, the power that backs that system is now released to schedule opportunities, bring relationships, and manifest provision.
Every reality that you read in the Bible that makes for your dominion and your victory is a fact finished in Christ. Your assignment as a believer is not to fight the devil. Your assignment is not to try to fight curses or failure.
The word "fight" does not mean contending where the devil blows and you blow back. The word "fight" means establishing, making manifest that which is finished in Christ.
Your victory was not your effort. Your effort is to take it from the warehouse and bring it to your house. The name of that warehouse is called grace. Grace is the spiritual warehouse wherein all the riches in Christ are stored. By faith and engaging all the appropriation systems, you pick that blessing from that warehouse and make it manifest.
There are two deliveries: delivery from the manufacturer to the warehouse, and delivery from the warehouse to your life. God's responsibility is the first delivery. Your assignment is to DHL the blessing from the warehouse called God's grace to your life where it is needed. You can leave it in the warehouse and die there.
When you prosper next week, it will not be that next week Jesus purchased that victory for you. That will be when your obedience became complete. That will be when the appropriation system became complete over your situation.
If you have been oppressed by the devil for ten years, and in the eleventh year you become victorious, does it mean that in the eleventh year Jesus died for you? No. More than two thousand years ago. Something about your understanding and appropriating that truth became spirit and life, and that is where the victory manifested.
"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:24)
Prayer is an appropriation system. When you pray, believing that you receive, the appropriation becomes complete, and you shall have them.
If I teach you on relationship principles, that is a spiritual appropriation system that brings favor to your life. I can prophesy favor over you, but if you do not understand relationships, you may never have it manifest in your life.
The three keys to wealth in the kingdom are: Productivity, Relationships, and Investments.
No matter what else you learn about finances, if you do not learn these three things, you will remain poor forever. These are the skeletal system of wealth. Someone who is coming from nothing starts with productivity. Productivity introduces you to relationships. Relationships introduce you to investments. This is the pathway.
Warfare is part of the appropriation systems—particularly through the mystery of worship. In the atmosphere of worship, two major things happen:
When the glory comes, it brings encounters and interventions as one complete package. You cannot take one without the other. Some believers press for encounters and ignore interventions. Yet others press for interventions and leave encounters. The understanding now is that as you worship, you expect both.
If someone gets up from a wheelchair during worship, it would not be at that time that Jesus died for that person's healing. It has been finished for over two thousand years. That would be the time when the appropriation system became complete over that person's situation.
Most believers do not know that there is a labor dimension, a participatory dimension to manifesting your liberty. Although you desire your physical conditions to change and your psychological conditions to change, the real warfare is against thought patterns and belief systems.
The Bible says:
"If the enemy comes into a house swept clean and empty, he will gather seven other spirits greater than itself and return, so that the latter end of that victim becomes worse than the former." (See Matthew 12:44-45)
Why? Because there was a deliverance but no renewing of the mind. The house was cleaned of demonic presence, but the belief system—the software—was still attracting darkness.
There is a balance to strike. On one hand, Satan and demonic forces are real. They can use natural forces, dreams, circumstances. I have held charms. I have seen what demons can do. I have seen people wake up with things happening to them. They had dreams, did nothing about them, and they died. Do not make a mistake of mocking the mysteries of the kingdom.
But on the other hand, there is a consciousness of the victory that is in Christ that is a superior path to manifesting dominion. Some believers see demons in everything. A person walks past you with their left hand and you say, "This is a sign from hell." A sign of what? A sign of what?
A pretty lady appears and you say, "This must be the queen of the coast." If we do not manage some of these things, we make foolishness out of the Christian faith.
When you lie down and have a dream where you see yourself being buried, you cannot deny the dream. It happened. But waking up and saying "I did not see anything"—that is being foolish. Rather, you say: "Oh grave, where is your sting? Oh death, where is your victory?" Every time consciousness of defeat comes, you remember the cross. You remember Jesus. You remember it is finished.
The consciousness of victory is superior to the consciousness of demons. Do not live your life suspecting everything. Do not become a demon-conscious believer. Become a victory-conscious believer.
Transformation is not about becoming western or improving your education. Transformation is measured by the degree of word-compliance of your belief system.
You can move from analog failure to digital failure, but it is still failure. True transformation means you submit your belief system to the superiority of the word of God.
But let me tell you, that is hard business. You are already emotionally connected to your belief system, even if it has produced failure in your life. It is not easy to cut away from something you have held all your life. That is where you need the power of the Holy Ghost.
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)
You are casting down every imagination—every thought pattern, every mindset that came into partnership with Satan producing failure. This is the mindset that produces dishonor, disrespect, anger.
Your being disrespectful is not just a character trait. It is the partnership between a poor belief system and the fortification of spirits. Maybe the spirit of anger makes you beat your spouse and you say, "I do not want to do it. Pray for me." But the spirit of anger can leave, and the belief system of anger is still in you. It will attract that spirit back again.
Belief systems are magnets. You attract to your life people, situations, and conditions consistent with your belief system. If you do not take your belief system back from the hand of Satan and transform it through the word of God, the spirits will keep returning.
Jesus did not just die. He believed he could die and come back to life. He believed it. If he had just come and died, there was a possibility of him remaining dead. Who would resurrect him? No man had the power to bring Jesus back. The reason Lazarus died was different from the reason Jesus died. Lazarus was waiting in the grave. Would the apostles or the scribes have the power to bring Jesus back to life?
Jesus spoke. He released a word that "I will die and come back to life." Once it was time, that word swung into motion immediately. If Jesus had kept quiet and just died, the grave would not have opened. By whose command?
If you do not understand the creative power of words, you are missing one of the principal appropriation systems. When you say in the name of Jesus, "I am going from glory to glory," you are engaging a system. You are speaking what you believe. Your confession is part of the appropriation system that makes the finished work of Christ manifest in your life.
The assignment of a teaching priest is to show you how to combine which appropriation system with which to produce what spiritual outcome. What plus what equals healing? What plus what equals influence? What plus what equals longevity?
It is understanding confession, worship, giving, fellowship, and most importantly, taking your belief system back from the hand of Satan. This is one of the greatest spiritual investments you can make. Second only to the knowledge of the Holy Ghost is the journey of transformation—the transformation of your belief system to align with the word of God.
When I prophesy over your life, you must understand that the prophetic is also one of the appropriation systems. When I speak a word over your life, it is your responsibility to receive it and engage it. If you like, say amen. If you like, do not say amen—but the appropriation is now your responsibility.
"The Lord took me by the word, and said, The Lord said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it." (Jeremiah 1:11-12)
The prophetic is a bridge of hope. One prophetic word clears out the debris of resistance so that you can now have the concentration to learn and engage the word. But the prophetic does not replace obedience. It only provides the convenience so that you now have the time and liberty and concentration to learn and engage the word.
Victory for the believer is only in Christ. Being educated is profitable, but it is no guarantee for victory. Being sincere is profitable, but it is no guarantee for victory. Coming from a great family is profitable, but it is perhaps not enough to bring you victory.
The one for whom we are gathered tonight is the basis of our confidence: Jesus, the Son of the living God. The one who was crucified, who died, who is the basis of our victory.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)
If you are in this place and you have been hungry, if the Spirit of God has convicted you that you need Jesus or if you need a restoration of your relationship with him, there is no better time to win that war than now. Come to the cross. Encounter the God of your salvation.
The three vital truths to walk in dominion are:
Your assignment is to learn these systems, engage them by faith, and walk in the fullness of the victory that Jesus purchased for you.
When we speak of deliverance in the kingdom, we are describing the entire process that leads to the experience of liberty, freedom, and victory over Satan, demonic forces, and negative conditions. Deliverance goes beyond being free from spirits—it extends to being free from negative, anti-destiny conditions so that you can walk in the dominion God intended.
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free." (John 8:36)
"Who had delivered us from the power of darkness and had translated us into the kingdom of his dear son." (Colossians 1:13)
For believers in Christ, the concept of deliverance and warfare is about establishing the victory in your life in experience that has already been finished and received in Christ. This shift in perspective is very important. Many believers approach the subject of demonology, deliverance, and warfare in ways that do not guarantee their victory. If you approach deliverance as a weak, defeated believer, hoping to engage to see if perhaps you will win, you are already defeated by that orientation.
The victory is not something you are fighting for—it is something that has already been purchased for you. Your assignment is to make that victory manifest in your life through understanding and appropriating it.
Language is one of the principal platforms for understanding. When we say words like "love," "God," "failure," "Satan," "victory,"—these words, as unifying as they sound, are complex and subject to personal interpretation. Your victory is derived from your understanding of the language and concepts you use.
Deliverance describes the entire process that brings the believer into the experience of liberty, freedom, total separation, and victory from:
When you walk in the experience of victory, liberty, and separation from all these demonic things, it is said that you have been delivered. You now have the liberty to walk in dominion as God intended.
"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee, let it be condemned in the name of Jesus." (Isaiah 54:17)
"The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and he will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom." (2 Timothy 4:18)
Yes. Absolutely. And this is critical to understand.
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, man-made, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
Paul is speaking to believers in Corinth and introducing the subject of warfare. Even though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Our weapons are not man-made but mighty through God. We are pulling down strongholds and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
"Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and to make manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Note the word "always." It is not a one-off experience. For as many times as battles arise, God causes us to triumph.
"Be sober. Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The Devil is seeking whom he may devour—and the Bible does not specify that he is only seeking unbelievers. He is seeking whom he may devour. This is a concern for believers.
"Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)
Paul begins Ephesians by introducing the extent of Christ's victory. By chapter two, he brings us into the equation: "We have been raised up with him and we have been made to sit with Christ in heavenly places above principalities and powers." By chapter six, he says, "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
There are three principal gateways that allow access to demonic activity in the life of a believer. Only three doorways:
If you see anything that looks like darkness or oppression in the life of a believer, it must have happened through one of these three access points.
Here is a profound truth: The greatest expression of Satan's power over man is not in bringing tragedies, calamities, or sicknesses, but his influence on your spirit and the hijacking of your belief systems.
Satan's real power is not in manipulating tragedies or creating troubles. The real power of Satan in the life of a man is the ability to hijack the belief system, to hijack your spirit, and to hijack your worldview. When Satan hijacks the belief system of a believer, he will cause you to:
This happens whether you know it or not.
You can be genuinely born again and never taste the experience of victory and dominion. You can be genuinely born again, read from your Bible that you have been called out of every tribe, tongue, and nation, and yet see in your life the visible effects of curses, yokes, patterns, and oppression. Your official contribution to that tragedy remaining is your belief system.
If you do not have a deliverance of your belief system, then you were not truly delivered.
Most believers focus on the effects—the tragedies, the sicknesses. God's power is able to attend to those things. But if you want to experience total deliverance, then in addition to casting away spirit influences and prophesying negative conditions to change, there needs to be real warfare against thought patterns.
The real warfare of a believer is not against spirits. It is against thought patterns.
A stronghold is a faulty belief system that has been fortified by the presence of demon spirits to keep the victim perpetually thinking that way and making decisions through the lens of that belief system. If you are in that state, Satan does not need to attack you—it is already a self-programming path to destruction.
Now they are real. But the point is this: Most times, when we are done confessing, when we are done shouting, when we are done jumping, it looks like Satan did not even respect your confession. Why? Because the hijacking of belief systems is really Satan's mission. No matter how you bind and cast that spirit, it can genuinely go—but it will go laughing at you because it knows something will bring it back.
There is an understanding, an orientation that does not need the presence of a spirit. It is software in you—your official partnership toward walking in the experience of victory or remaining defeated.
Worship, prayer, giving, confession—you must understand the value of these tools. Otherwise they become spiritual rituals that do not have power in themselves. Your understanding empowers these things.
There are three vital truths you must know if you want to walk in the experience of liberty and dominion. Ignore any one of these and it will be to your peril.
You must know that Satan is an adversary and that he has an organized system through which he kills, steals, and destroys.
Settle it as a fact: Satan is not a friend. Satan is not an ally. Satan is not a myth. The Bible teaches us to manifest victory over Satan and demons, not to ignore them. Wickedness is real. Spirits are real. Curses are real. Demonic orchestrations are real.
There is an exact demonic organization—a system Satan has organized to carry out his ministry of stealing, killing, and destruction.
"Lest Satan should take an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)
To not know his devices is to give Satan an advantage over you. Not knowing his devices is giving Satan a loophole, a basis for manifesting his ministry. When Satan wants to keep a people bound, one way is to sell them the idea that without doing anything, he is powerless in their lives. That is not true.
Satan is not powerless by default, but he can be made powerless in your life. That is your mission as a believer: to take advantage of the resources of victory established and given to you in Christ and to keep Satan where he belongs.
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
Jesus called Satan a thief. He comes into any life, any destiny, any family, any church, any nation, any territory—except for one purpose: to kill, steal, and destroy. If left unhindered, Satan and all demonic orchestrations will carry out their ministry for sure. Satan is determined. If left irresponsibly unhindered—through pride, ignorance, or sheer carelessness—he will manifest that ministry in your life.
It is not enough to know that Satan is there. It is not enough to understand that there is an organized system and that Satan is the archenemies of God, believers, and the cross.
You must know and believe that Satan and all demonic forces have been defeated in Christ, and that Jesus purchased that victory—not for himself, but for us.
Jesus did not need to purchase victory for himself. He always had it. He is always God. But he stripped himself of that victory, brought us into him by covenant, and got the victory back again. He had it alone, but he did not want it alone.
It is like a professor who was always a professor but, because he was a professor alone, he stripped himself of that doctorate, went back to nursery school, and started again. When it was time to get his PhD again, he made a proposition: "Everything I get from now on, let it be for me and all these other people." Then he got back his PhD—the PhD he always had. But this time, as soon as he was given his PhD, every other person in connection with him suddenly saw PhD appearing on their documents. They asked, "When did we get this?" He said, "That's why I stripped myself. I came back and I got it again. I had it alone, but I did not want it alone. So I put you in the system."
If all you know is that Satan is an adversary, if all you know is that demons exist, if all you know is that Satan hates you and wants to fight you, you will remain defeated. That information is truthful, but it is not enough to give you victory.
"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a public show of them, openly triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)
Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus:
"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:19-23)
I believe Satan is there, but I believe he is there as a defeated foe. It is important you understand his status. Satan can be defeated based on what Christ has done and yet be victorious in your life because of what you believe.
It is your assignment to make sure his status in your life is consistent with what God said he is now in Christ. If the Bible says he is defeated, it is your assignment to agree with the word and engage profitably so that he remains defeated in your life.
Satan can be a winner in your life while being a loser by the word. Although the Bible already calls him a defeated foe, he can look so victorious over your life because your mindset has rejected that report.
"Who hath believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1)
You must believe that Satan has been defeated, that every demon has been defeated, that every curse has been defeated. You must believe that in the name of Jesus—regardless of how long the reign of darkness has been in your family or territory, by reason of the finished work of Christ, regardless what you feel, regardless what you see or do not see.
This is the immutability of God's counsel. You must believe. Even if it is not yet manifested in your life, you must believe and then reckon yourself. The word "reckon" comes from the Greek word logizomi, which means to stand fast until it becomes a reality. It means to indoctrinate yourself so that there is no other way of thinking. You know that Satan is defeated. Plant it in your consciousness.
Every time you mention Satan, do not mention him as though you are sitting on a negotiation table. That is doessic shamanism—a branch of occultism where you sit with spirits and invoke them. You pacify the spirit until it is angry again. Jesus did not pacify Satan. He defeated him.
"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
There is no negotiation. The victory is finished.
If your grandfather was an idol worshipper, feel sorry for that history—but as far as you are concerned, there is a new contract. You were brought into a new covenant.
If you currently have incisions in your body, the power of those incisions is your belief system—your belief system believing that those incisions, simply because they are in your body, give them power. But listen: the nails on Jesus's hands are still there, yet he is King of Kings. He did not consider the nails as weakness. When he looks at the nail, he does not say, "Oh, I gave in to Satan." The nails have become a system of victory. Why are your own scars reminding you that you are defeated? Let them remind you that you were once bound, but now you are in Christ.
The third vital truth you must know is that there are appropriation systems—the ways by which you take that which is finished in Christ and make it manifest in your life.
That it is finished in Christ does not mean it is manifested in your life.
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)
That is the appropriation system of salvation. Anybody who says he is saved and in Christ but did not follow this appropriation system is lying to himself and will go to hell.
Healing has an appropriation system. It is the hearing of faith and responding. When the word of God comes, you hear what Christ has done. Then you release your faith. Then the anointing—the dimension of the anointing that brings quickening to your body—is now released.
How about prospering in the kingdom? There is an appropriation system. There is a power to get wealth, but how do you receive it? You receive it by a change of mind. There is a belief system that must be worked on. You must understand the kingdom structure for your prosperity. When you do understand, the power that backs that system is now released to schedule opportunities, bring relationships, and manifest provision.
Every reality that you read in the Bible that makes for your dominion and your victory is a fact finished in Christ. Your assignment as a believer is not to fight the devil. Your assignment is not to try to fight curses or failure.
The word "fight" does not mean contending where the devil blows and you blow back. The word "fight" means establishing, making manifest that which is finished in Christ.
Your victory was not your effort. Your effort is to take it from the warehouse and bring it to your house. The name of that warehouse is called grace. Grace is the spiritual warehouse wherein all the riches in Christ are stored. By faith and engaging all the appropriation systems, you pick that blessing from that warehouse and make it manifest.
There are two deliveries: delivery from the manufacturer to the warehouse, and delivery from the warehouse to your life. God's responsibility is the first delivery. Your assignment is to DHL the blessing from the warehouse called God's grace to your life where it is needed. You can leave it in the warehouse and die there.
When you prosper next week, it will not be that next week Jesus purchased that victory for you. That will be when your obedience became complete. That will be when the appropriation system became complete over your situation.
If you have been oppressed by the devil for ten years, and in the eleventh year you become victorious, does it mean that in the eleventh year Jesus died for you? No. More than two thousand years ago. Something about your understanding and appropriating that truth became spirit and life, and that is where the victory manifested.
"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:24)
Prayer is an appropriation system. When you pray, believing that you receive, the appropriation becomes complete, and you shall have them.
If I teach you on relationship principles, that is a spiritual appropriation system that brings favor to your life. I can prophesy favor over you, but if you do not understand relationships, you may never have it manifest in your life.
The three keys to wealth in the kingdom are: Productivity, Relationships, and Investments.
No matter what else you learn about finances, if you do not learn these three things, you will remain poor forever. These are the skeletal system of wealth. Someone who is coming from nothing starts with productivity. Productivity introduces you to relationships. Relationships introduce you to investments. This is the pathway.
Warfare is part of the appropriation systems—particularly through the mystery of worship. In the atmosphere of worship, two major things happen:
When the glory comes, it brings encounters and interventions as one complete package. You cannot take one without the other. Some believers press for encounters and ignore interventions. Yet others press for interventions and leave encounters. The understanding now is that as you worship, you expect both.
If someone gets up from a wheelchair during worship, it would not be at that time that Jesus died for that person's healing. It has been finished for over two thousand years. That would be the time when the appropriation system became complete over that person's situation.
Most believers do not know that there is a labor dimension, a participatory dimension to manifesting your liberty. Although you desire your physical conditions to change and your psychological conditions to change, the real warfare is against thought patterns and belief systems.
The Bible says:
"If the enemy comes into a house swept clean and empty, he will gather seven other spirits greater than itself and return, so that the latter end of that victim becomes worse than the former." (See Matthew 12:44-45)
Why? Because there was a deliverance but no renewing of the mind. The house was cleaned of demonic presence, but the belief system—the software—was still attracting darkness.
There is a balance to strike. On one hand, Satan and demonic forces are real. They can use natural forces, dreams, circumstances. I have held charms. I have seen what demons can do. I have seen people wake up with things happening to them. They had dreams, did nothing about them, and they died. Do not make a mistake of mocking the mysteries of the kingdom.
But on the other hand, there is a consciousness of the victory that is in Christ that is a superior path to manifesting dominion. Some believers see demons in everything. A person walks past you with their left hand and you say, "This is a sign from hell." A sign of what? A sign of what?
A pretty lady appears and you say, "This must be the queen of the coast." If we do not manage some of these things, we make foolishness out of the Christian faith.
When you lie down and have a dream where you see yourself being buried, you cannot deny the dream. It happened. But waking up and saying "I did not see anything"—that is being foolish. Rather, you say: "Oh grave, where is your sting? Oh death, where is your victory?" Every time consciousness of defeat comes, you remember the cross. You remember Jesus. You remember it is finished.
The consciousness of victory is superior to the consciousness of demons. Do not live your life suspecting everything. Do not become a demon-conscious believer. Become a victory-conscious believer.
Transformation is not about becoming western or improving your education. Transformation is measured by the degree of word-compliance of your belief system.
You can move from analog failure to digital failure, but it is still failure. True transformation means you submit your belief system to the superiority of the word of God.
But let me tell you, that is hard business. You are already emotionally connected to your belief system, even if it has produced failure in your life. It is not easy to cut away from something you have held all your life. That is where you need the power of the Holy Ghost.
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)
You are casting down every imagination—every thought pattern, every mindset that came into partnership with Satan producing failure. This is the mindset that produces dishonor, disrespect, anger.
Your being disrespectful is not just a character trait. It is the partnership between a poor belief system and the fortification of spirits. Maybe the spirit of anger makes you beat your spouse and you say, "I do not want to do it. Pray for me." But the spirit of anger can leave, and the belief system of anger is still in you. It will attract that spirit back again.
Belief systems are magnets. You attract to your life people, situations, and conditions consistent with your belief system. If you do not take your belief system back from the hand of Satan and transform it through the word of God, the spirits will keep returning.
Jesus did not just die. He believed he could die and come back to life. He believed it. If he had just come and died, there was a possibility of him remaining dead. Who would resurrect him? No man had the power to bring Jesus back. The reason Lazarus died was different from the reason Jesus died. Lazarus was waiting in the grave. Would the apostles or the scribes have the power to bring Jesus back to life?
Jesus spoke. He released a word that "I will die and come back to life." Once it was time, that word swung into motion immediately. If Jesus had kept quiet and just died, the grave would not have opened. By whose command?
If you do not understand the creative power of words, you are missing one of the principal appropriation systems. When you say in the name of Jesus, "I am going from glory to glory," you are engaging a system. You are speaking what you believe. Your confession is part of the appropriation system that makes the finished work of Christ manifest in your life.
The assignment of a teaching priest is to show you how to combine which appropriation system with which to produce what spiritual outcome. What plus what equals healing? What plus what equals influence? What plus what equals longevity?
It is understanding confession, worship, giving, fellowship, and most importantly, taking your belief system back from the hand of Satan. This is one of the greatest spiritual investments you can make. Second only to the knowledge of the Holy Ghost is the journey of transformation—the transformation of your belief system to align with the word of God.
When I prophesy over your life, you must understand that the prophetic is also one of the appropriation systems. When I speak a word over your life, it is your responsibility to receive it and engage it. If you like, say amen. If you like, do not say amen—but the appropriation is now your responsibility.
"The Lord took me by the word, and said, The Lord said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it." (Jeremiah 1:11-12)
The prophetic is a bridge of hope. One prophetic word clears out the debris of resistance so that you can now have the concentration to learn and engage the word. But the prophetic does not replace obedience. It only provides the convenience so that you now have the time and liberty and concentration to learn and engage the word.
Victory for the believer is only in Christ. Being educated is profitable, but it is no guarantee for victory. Being sincere is profitable, but it is no guarantee for victory. Coming from a great family is profitable, but it is perhaps not enough to bring you victory.
The one for whom we are gathered tonight is the basis of our confidence: Jesus, the Son of the living God. The one who was crucified, who died, who is the basis of our victory.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)
If you are in this place and you have been hungry, if the Spirit of God has convicted you that you need Jesus or if you need a restoration of your relationship with him, there is no better time to win that war than now. Come to the cross. Encounter the God of your salvation.
The three vital truths to walk in dominion are:
Your assignment is to learn these systems, engage them by faith, and walk in the fullness of the victory that Jesus purchased for you.
