We all want to get ahead in life. However it is important that we exercise divine vigilance in this pursuit. What pursuit am I referring to? I am talking about the pursuit of your blessings, the divinely appointed, bespoke blessings that God has for you since before your conception.1 Why do you need to pursue these blessings? Well, they’re great and wonderful things that Jesus has just for you. However the enemy of your soul, the devil is trying all he can to steal, destroy or divert these blessings from ever getting to you! But you won’t let him, will you?
The Example of David
Let’s consider the example of David. He was Israel’s king-designate, but Saul still sat on the throne. Saul tried to kill David in order to remain in power. He had to flee from Saul into numerous places. Finally, David, his family and his followers (along with their families) settled in Ziklag. The men left the camp at Ziklag to go fight a battle, but they were asked to return from the warfront,2 In 1 Samuel 30, we read the story of the return to their camp to find it completely destroyed by the Amalekites and all the women and children taken captive. The enemy is holding many persons’ blessings in captivity. If you feel that you may be among such persons, take heart! Recovery is at hand if you are obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
All the men were enraged that their families were stolen and they wanted to kill David. What did David do? Although he was distressed by his own lost family and the death threats, he encouraged himself in the Lord.3 I would like to think that this process meant that David chose to remember the past faithfulness of God to him; that he remembered that he was still the anointed king-designate. I think David remembered that God was still writing his story and that all would be well.
Pursue, Overtake and Recover All!
David was not hasty in that pressure-filled moment. He chose to enquire from God whether or not he should pursue after the Amalekites. What did the Lord say? God clearly told David to pursue, because He would be with him to overtake the Amalekites and to recover all his blessings. David and his men recovered not only all of their family members, but also all of their stolen goods, as well as the goods of other victims, which he returned to them. Guess what else? Saul was slain in battle4 and David was able to ascend the throne of Israel! It was just like God prophesied through Samuel many years before!5 God is waiting on you to rise up in aggressive and sustained prayers, fasting and faith! Go forth and recover all your possessions in Jesus’ name! Arise!
Israel’s Victory Over Balak and Balaam
I want to talk further about this pursuit. I was in the middle of a personal prayer and fasting process last month when God gave me this revelation. Numbers 22-24 outline the attempts by a heathen king Balak, and Balaam (a false prophet) to curse God’s anointed, the children of Israel. The Israelites were in their sojourn to the Promised Land and they came upon and destroyed several evil kingdoms of Canaan.
Balak decided to employ occultism to fight Israel. Balak tried three times (in three distinct locations with seven demonic altars each time) to spiritually destroy Israel through Balaam, but he failed. In Numbers 23:19-23, we see that because Israel had no iniquity or perversion within them that all the curses failed. God kept Israel’s blessed status intact!
Please read Numbers 23:19-23 by substituting your name for “Jacob” and your lineage/generations for “Israel” as a powerful prayer. You must get in the habit of praying the scriptures over yourself and your loved ones for deliverance from evil oppression. When you consistently pray the Word, you will get the victory and get ahead in Jesus’ name.
The Holy Spirit focused my mind on the locations from which these attacks were launched. These locations are very relevant for us. Each location is a distinct phase in our Christian journey, in our divine pursuit to get ahead. Let us look at these locations in turn and consider the lessons for us at each juncture:
Location 1: Kirjathhuzoth
Kirjathhuzoth means “a city of streets” or a populous city. In the initial stage of our Christian walk, Jesus calls us out from the mixed multitude, cleans us and accepts us into His family. We now have access to a regenerated life in Christ and we must walk and grow in our faith in Him. 6
I encourage you to make a formal submission of yourself and your life to Jesus Christ. You can only be delivered from bondage by first accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Pray to Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins. Ask Jesus to make you pure and clean and to accept you as His own. Surrender your life completely to Jesus and make the vow never to return to your old sinful ways. You need to join a Bible-based church, get baptized in Jesus’ name and receive the power of the Holy Spirit as outlined in Acts 2. The first step in the pursuit of our divine blessings is the pursuit of Jesus Christ and His righteousness.7
Location 2: The field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah
Zophim refers to an area of demonic watchers or monitors, while Pisgah is the site of seeing goodness without attaining any of it due to personal error. Pisgah is the place from which God allowed Moses to view the Promised Land. Moses could only view that land and he never stepped into it. Why? He allowed the behaviour of Israel to cause him to sin in his words and actions against God.8
When we sin, it is not only that we transgress against God. We also give the devil and his agents the legal grounds or the “right” to attack and keep us from our blessings. At this stage, the watchers or monitoring spirits of Zophim are eagerly waiting for us to sin. They don’t want us to get ahead, they want to close in on us for the kill. You might say: “But once a child of God, always a child of God? Isn’t that right? So no devil can harm me!” Yes, accepting Jesus Christ into our lives makes us children of God. However it is up to each of us to maintain that standard through holding fast to the Word of God and applying it to every area of our lives.
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.”
Continuous Repentance and Righteous Living are Essential
It is clear that we must avoid sins – especially persistent and wilful sinning. It’s the only way for Jesus to preserve us and give us victory at this phase. There’s no recovery of our divine blessings unless we are fully submitted to Him. We will only get ahead when we are doing our utmost to live righteously before Jesus Christ. We must all take heed and apply these instructions: in James 4:7-10:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Let us repent every second of the day, and continually draw closer to Christ. It is only in the strong tower of the name of Jesus Christ that we are safe from these demonic onslaughts. You are on the brink of your breakthrough, you are just about to overtake and possess your possessions at this point. Avoid personal error; give no grounds to the devil and his agents.
I encourage us all to put on the mind of Christ, gird up our spiritual loins and be sober in this battle.9 We will overcome through the Blood of Jesus Christ and our lives of righteousness and holiness unto the Lord.10 Let us possess the Fruit of the Spirit and be fully clad in the armour of God, from head to toe!11 We must resolve to avoid these sin traps. Stand and rebuke every activity of the evil watchers of Zophim and the disgrace of Pisgah by the Blood of Jesus Christ!
Location 3: The top of Peor, looking toward Jeshimon
Peor is a place of abomination or demonic worship, while Jeshimon is a wilderness or a desert place. Once we have our divine blessings in our hands, we must beware! The war is not over! We must be vigilant and on guard against the spirit of mammon creeping into our hearts through the worship of (or undue attention towards) our material possessions.
Our God is a jealous God who will have no other gods contending with Him!12 I encourage us to stay cleansed and revived by the Word of God and to maintain our personal communion times with Him. We must avoid the hell-bound Peor and the desolation of Jeshimon at all costs! We must submit ourselves, our homes, our families, our careers, our businesses, everything about us, unto the sovereign rule and protection of Jesus Christ.13
You Will Get Ahead In Life!
I encourage us to go forth in knowledge and strength. We will all get ahead in life. Let us pursue, overtake, recover, and maintain all of our blessings in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!
Blessings, peace and wisdom upon you,
Sophia.
- Jeremiah 29:11-13 and Romans 8:28.
- Please see 1 Samuel 29.
- 1 Samuel 30:1-6.
- 1 Samuel 31.
- Please see 2 Samuel 1-5.
- Romans 6: 1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21; Ephesians 4-6.
- Please see Matthew 6:33.
- Please read Deuteronomy 33: 48-52 and Deuteronomy 34:1-5.
- 1 Peter 1:13-16.
- Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:5, 9-10; 2 Timothy 2:20-26; 2 Timothy 3:1-17.
- Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 6:12-18.
- Deuteronomy 5:6-11; Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6: 6-12; Hebrews 12:28-29.
- Proverbs 3:1-14.