Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Kingdom Cartography - God is Redrawing the Maps

Recently, I heard the Lord say, “I am redrawing the borders”. As I continued to listen, He said, “I am redrawing the borders of your spiritual authority and revealing new spheres of influence. The resulting realignment will reveal lines of authority only seen in the spiritual realm and not limited to the national borderlines depicted on your maps.” The Lord went on to say, “Ask Me for the discernment needed to see what I am doing. With this expansion will come the release of apostolic teams I will use to establish My reign within these newly formed jurisdictions.”

When Jan and I lived in Europe, I read and studied the history of the nations on the European continent. The borders we see on our current maps were not always the historic borders of the European nations.  The borders in Europe have shifted many times over the last 1,000 years. The same is true for other regions of the world. Nations and empires were constantly redefined and redrawn as the result of wars and alliances formed by marriage and commerce.  

God’s map is drawn differently. Underneath the migrating borders of each nation there exists a spiritual map drawn by God that reveals a deeper spiritual reality. That map is the one God wants us to use to direct our effort and energy.

Whenever I drive or fly into a new region, I always pray when I cross a defining border. Even a sign noting a new county line or city limits prompts me to pray for wisdom and discernment to see beneath the natural border to understand what is taking place in the realm of the Spirit.

God is realigning His Church. Realignment in the spiritual realm precedes realignment in the natural realm. Understanding God’s strategic plans for conducting spiritual warfare and cultural transformation helps us see the border of the real conflict that is often hidden from undiscerning eyes.

New apostolic blueprints are arriving from Heaven. These blueprints will be used to redraw the maps of our spiritual authority and reveal God’s plan. God is assigning cartographers to use these blueprints to redraw the map. These cartographers are those in five-fold ministry who will bring new clarity, understanding and simplicity to our mission.

The five-fold equipping gifts have a distinct and collaborative function in the process of redrawing these maps. Apostles receive the blueprints for cultural transformation and Kingdom expansion. Prophets announce the arrival of the new blueprint. Evangelists recruit the human resources needed to accomplish the blueprint. Pastors create environments where these blueprints can grow and flourish. Teachers expand the concepts contained in the blueprint like an engineer would create a detailed schematic drawing of a complex machine to explain each part and its relationship to the whole in understandable detail and terminology.

Discern these new borders with expansion in mind. God’s Kingdom is always advancing, never retreating. God has assigned ever-expanding borders of influence for His Church and His Kingdom. This expansion will not go challenged because the salvation of people and the transformation of cultural institutions are at stake.

When Luke wrote the opening lines of Acts (1: 6-8) he shared the words of Jesus that addressed that expansion. “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”

The disciples initially saw the Kingdom confined to a single area defined by existing and familiar borders. Jesus was telling His disciples after the Day of Pentecost the Spirit would have them step through the restraints of existing national borders and cultural prohibitions to move into new territory already mapped out by God as a place of expansion.

Do not allow the outcome of an election, an economic downturn or an avalanche of sin to divert your attention from the larger work God is doing. A temporary skirmish at a wrong border will be a waste of your time and energy and will not put you on the cutting edge of spiritual conflict. Kingdom expansion is an aggressive and forward moving endeavor. It does not park at a false border and exchange fire with a diversion tactic. While in Jerusalem the disciples were asked to look to the uttermost parts of the Earth as their ultimate destination. They moved under the direction and definition of God’s unseen Kingdom map.

The apostolic teams God is raising will act as spiritual cartographers who will redraw the lines of our spiritual authority on Earth creating new borders of influence in all areas of culture. These redrawn map lines will take a foundational position under our natural maps of human influence and demand their realignment to the will of God. This coming realignment is where to invest your time and energy for the greatest return on your Kingdom investment. With that investment will come a blessing to see what is taking place on Earth with the eyes of the Spirit.


“Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.” (Luke 10:23-24)

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