You Can Dominate Your World

Today I will begin teaching how Christians should dominate the world around them, and how Christians should dominate the world at large.  As with most of our topics, this is multifaceted and potentially complicated.  However, I believe we can keep it simple, learn some actionable truth, and move forward into what God really has for us. 

We are going to talk about this idea of dominating the world both as it applies to the world at large and to our individual lives.  We also need to set up some important ideas here.  I want to give you the big picture to help you understand all of this and start applying it to your life.  I can’t just hit you with a few verses and expect you to start walking this out.

Let’s start with this idea – who should run the world?  To put it another way, who does God want running the world?  There are only three options.  Option 1: God wants Christians running the world.  Option 2: God wants unbelievers running the world (which means God wants unbelievers ruling believers and God wants unbelievers ruling you).  Option 3: God doesn’t care.  Hopefully you see the ridiculousness of options 2 and 3 immediately.  I believe God wants Christians running the world.  I also believe God wants Christians running their own, individual worlds.

You must understand that God’s will is not automatic.  Yes, there are some big picture prophetic things like the return of Jesus Christ that will happen regardless of what we do.  But the vast majority of our individual lives depends on us learning God’s ways and following them. 

I realize this may go against what you have been taught, that whatever happens to you is God’s will, but that is not the truth.  This is actually good news.  Knowing that God’s will is not automatic empowers you to work with God, to learn His ways, and to take actions to see His will come to pass.  More or less, everything I talk about is to help you see God’s will for your life. 

Just as a simple example, God wants everyone to be saved through acceptance of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9).  But everyone is not saved.  For salvation, a person must confess with their mouth that Jesus is their Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).  This is not automatic.  God does not force anyone to do this.  God does draw people into this faith by His Spirit, but no one is forced.

Moreover, many other things exist against God’s will.  All the sickness, poverty, death, strife and evil in the world, those things are not God’s will.  The devil is the god of this period of time (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the devil is actively at work in people to further the kingdom of darkness (Ephesians 2:2).  God’s will for our individual lives is not automatic, and God’s will for the world at large is not automatic.  God does have a plan, but a lot of what we see is not it.  You have to step in to God’s will and ways to start learning and following His plan.

You should be experiencing God’s will in every area of your life.  The world should be experiencing God’s will in every area of the world.  But both of these require that we learn God’s ways and take actions to change our lives and the world.  You, by yourself, cannot change the entire world.   With the right influence or invention you could have a major impact on the world.  But you could never get to the granular level of changing the world such that everyone is living in God’s best for their lives. 

However, you can change your world.  You can make the changes so you can see God’s best in every area of your life.  This will also have a ripple effect to everything and everyone in your life, with God’s will touching them all at least in some ways. 

What if you begin seeing God’s best in every area of your life?  What if a million of us starting seeing God’s best in every area of our lives?  What about a billion of us?  We can’t change the whole world, but we can change our worlds.  If enough of us change our worlds, the whole world starts changing.  I know it’s cliché but it’s still a great truth, we must become the change we want to see in the world. 

So to focus on the big picture, we must really focus on our own pictures.  I need to focus on my world, and I want to help you with yours.  You, my brother or sister, should be dominating every aspect of your life, and you should be seeing God’s best in every area of your life.  If that doesn’t compute with your mental framework which was developed by religious traditions, put that framework aside for a moment and let God’s Word change your thinking.

Look at what God told the Israelites as they were heading out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.  And let me just say that the Church has, in many ways, been in the wilderness for two thousand years.  It’s time we grow up and enter the Promised Land, where all of God’s promises are in full manifestation in our lives.  That is God’s will.

(Deuteronomy 28:1, 13 NIV)  “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth . . . The Lord will make you the head, not the tail . . . you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.”   

These promises were first given to the Israelites as they went to take the Promised Land and establish their new nation, but they still apply to us today.  Every promise from God to His people is yours now (2 Corinthians 1:20).  The promises are your inheritance, they were fully earned by Jesus, they are freely given to you, and now they only require faith for their manifestation (Read Romans 4).   God did not want the Israelite nation to be at the top and the body of Christ to be at the bottom.  God did not want them to be high above the nations of the earth, and for us to be subjected to all the ungodly rulers of the earth. 

It’s easy to go big picture with this, but we can’t start there.  Remember, you need to focus on you and changing your world.  You should be at the top.  You should be the head.  You should be walking in the full manifestation of all God’s promises.  You should be in perfect physical health.  You should have plenty of money so you can be satisfied, content and generous.  You should have wonderful relationships with your family members.  You should have a job and spiritual assignments that are exciting and fulfilling and uniquely tailored to your personality and gifts.  You should have a vibrant, passionate, love relationship with God.  

You can get there.  You can live in all of these and more.  I’m not saying it will happen immediately, but it will happen.  We can all get there.  Make your relationship with God your highest priority.  Study the Bible to learn God’s ways of love, generosity, spirituality, wisdom, and others.  You must take these principles and apply them to your life. 

We can begin to allow the ways of God to inform every aspect of our existence, every thought, every word, and every action.  Now, our lives begin to change.  We look around and we see evidence of God everywhere, because we have invited Him in everywhere.  When He is invited, He comes.  Remember that and invite Him constantly, giving Him the open invitation to all of your life, to all of you.  Look at my teachings on sin and God’s directions.  His ways are best and will always lead to your best possible life.  Look at my other teachings about faith.  Begin using your faith for God’s promises.  They will start manifesting. 

As you begin to live in God’s ways and God’s promises, every aspect of your existence begins to reflect God’s will.  As you are connected with God and in harmony with His Spirit, His will for your life is also your will for your life.  Every aspect of your world begins changing and submitting to this united will you have now installed.  This is how you begin dominating life as God would have you.  You work with God to see His will manifested in every area of your life.  This is your best possible life.  This is the best for the world and the others around you. 

As you begin this, another Godly process simultaneously begins within you, and you must pursue it and submit to it.  You want to work with God to help others.  Please don’t hear me for a moment suggest that the plan of God or dominating life is only about improving your personal existence.  It is about all of God’s plans for your life, and a huge part of God’s plan is the impact you should have on the world.  God wants you to help people.  God wants you to love people.  God wants you to help bring others to Him and His blessings.  In this calling, which we all have in different ways, you will find excitement and fulfillment like you have never experienced before.  Working with your Creator, in the way He created you, to bring others to Him is one of the greatest experiences that life has to offer. 

Again, dominating life, as I’m talking about it, is working with God to see His will in every aspect of your life.  Nothing shall hurt you (Luke 10:19).  No weapon formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17).  Rather, everything you put your hand to will prosper (Deuteronomy 30:9).  You are like a tree planted by a river, even in a worldwide famine you will grow and produce fruit (Jeremiah 17:8).  All of God’s blessings will manifest in your life (Deuteronomy 28:2).

It’s true, we should break down life with God into its component parts.  What does God want for my relationships, for my body, for my finances, for my activities, etc.  But you can also step back and see the whole tapestry, how they are all woven together.  Work with God in every area of your life and you will see a harmonious life organized by God to bless you and further His Kingdom.

Step back farther and you can also begin to understand how WE are all woven together.  We are the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ.  We are all in a perfect bond with God and with each other, and this bond should be energizing and enriching all of existence.  We are unique and uniquely loved, but we are also all together.  And God’s blessings and plans for our lives also serve to strengthen and beautify the entire Kingdom, and to bring in others.  God’s will for my life intersects and intertwines with God’s will for yours.  

As you see God’s will in every area of your life, you will see it spreading into the lives of others.  Yes, you may eat some of the fruit you produce, but most of it is for others.  If you will give your life over to God and His Kingdom, then you can begin working in this great tapestry, the tapestry of God’s will for the entire world.  Our focus on our personal lives, with God, now helps us have our appropriate impact on the world.  Together we can start seeing God’s will everywhere.  Together we can work with God to start dominating the world with His will.

So now look at God’s promises again.  We are to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, over all the nations of the earth.  Why?  Because God wants us to experience all of Him and His blessings, and He wants the same for everyone else.  As we rise, we bring others with us.  As the Kingdom is revealed and displayed, others come to God and join it.

(Isaiah 60:1-3 NIV)  "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Yes, those promises in Deuteronomy, and this passage from Isaiah, were first directed to the nation of Israel, but the Old Testament provides images (types and shadows they call them) for the New Testament.  The true manifestation of these promises is for the Body of Christ to take its rightful place in the Earth, as the head, as the light of God, so that billions of people will join God’s family.  Darkness covers much of the earth and many people, but when they see the glory of God on you, when they see the promises of God in your life and the love you show to the world, they will come.  They aren’t coming to you, they are coming to your God.  This is how it’s supposed to work.  They will come saying “surely God is in you, and there is no other, there is no other God” (Isaiah 45:14).

Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 13:34.  “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.” 

(Matthew 28:18-20 NIV) “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."”

Jesus is not here with us physically anymore, but He is still with us spiritually by the Holy Spirit.  He has given every one of us authority and good works.  All authority was given to Him, and He has delegated to us His authority on the earth.  Why?  So that we can make disciples and see God’s will come to pass in this world.

(Matthew 16:15-19 NIV) “"But what about you?" [Jesus] asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

The authority on earth has been given to us and all of Heaven stands behind us.  We have the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We are supposed to bind and loose according to God’s will.  We are supposed to decide what is ok and what’s not ok in this world.  We are supposed to dominate this world according to God’s will.

(Luke 10:17-19 NLT) “When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to [Jesus], "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use Your name!" "Yes," He told them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”

We are to take authority over the god of this age, who is the devil, and the dominion of darkness and fight against it.  We are to preach the Gospel and bring others into the Kingdom of God.  We are to rise and shine with the glory of God so that others will see God in us and come to His Kingdom.

(John 16:33 NIV, Jesus speaking) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

(1 John 5:4-5 NIV) “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”   

Unfortunately, we have not taken the authority that Jesus gave us.  We have not taken our place as the authoritative presence on the earth for the Kingdom of God.  That’s why there are so many ungodly rulers and ungodly laws in this world.  That’s why there is so much evil in the world.  We have not bound it.  The god of this period of time (the devil) has raised up leaders and people controlled by demons and they are imposing his evil will on the earth.  In truth, much of the world is dominated by evil people for the kingdom of darkness.  Are we supposed to be ok with that?  I’m not ok with it.  I’m going to take my place.  I’m going to rise and shine.  I’m going to overcome even as He overcame.

Let’s start with dominating our individual lives.  Are you having a hard time at work?  Let God and His ways influence every aspect of your job.  Are you having difficulties in your marriage or with your kids, start with love and then patiently let the Holy Spirit guide your actions and words.  Are you having physical problems?  Study God’s Word on healing and take authority over anything the devil is trying to do in your body. 

Where do you see evidence of the enemy in your life?  Start taking authority over him in the Name of Jesus.  Bind him.  Command him to stop.  Treat the devil and his demons just like Jesus did.  No discussion, shut up, get out, and never return. 

Wherever you invite God in, He’s going to come.  When He comes, His blessing and wisdom come with Him.  Work with God to succeed in every area of your life.  Yes, there is a transitional period.  But you get can your life straightened out.  As you begin this process God is going to invite you to help Him love others.  Take the invitation.  This will accelerate your own growth and take your relationship with God to the next level. 

You will begin dominating your life and the world around you for God.  As God’s will permeates your existence, it will begin permeating the world around you.  You are taking your place in the great mission of the Kingdom of God, showing God’s love and glory to the world.

There is another type of existence available, where God’s people overcome the world and ride on the high places of the earth.  This is wonderful for us and for others.  It is our job to take all that God has given us and bring His will into reality.  Other people and this ungodly age should not be ruling us.  We should be ruling in the Name of Jesus and for God’s Kingdom.  The dominion of darkness won’t be fully destroyed until Jesus does so as described in the Book of Revelation.  But we can start attacking it now.  We can start bringing people out of it today.  This is the true war that we are all called into, where the heights of purpose and excitement are found. 

God bless you,

Byron