A Year and a Day; Favor and Judgment - David Mitts
NOTE: No Audio Recording is Available for this Blog Post
To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, (Isaiah 61:2 NASB)
We have been activating the Mind of Christ. In the context of being fruitful, it is living in the 30-60-100 fold return, the incorruptible seed of God’s Promises that are already planted into the soil of our hearts. The Mind of Christ lives in our heart NOT in our head. It is heart knowledge, not head knowledge. The difference is that it is congruent with our feelings, and actions. It isn’t what we know in our minds but what we KNOW in our hearts that changes our lives. Heart knowing isn’t just about change, it is about transformation.
Heart knowing is a oneness.
"You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2 NASB)
The word for “know” is yada. When God says He “knows” what is in our heart, it doesn’t mean He just knows the thoughts we have. No it’s deeper than that. He has a oneness with what is in our heart that the thoughts spring out of. As the scripture we just read says, He tests us to see what is in the heart.
This isn’t the idea of a test we can fail. No, it is more of the refiner’s fire that continually burns away the dross to reveal the true mettle of our character. So God’s knowing of us includes His constant inspection of our heart. Don’t be intimidated by this, be encouraged!
"Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Rom 8:27-28 (NKJV)
Like a cook who tastes the soup to see how it tastes, the Lord is testing our hearts to see how the taste of His goodness is in us. This is His perfect will for us. Then He makes adjustments to our flavoring, what He calls intercession. And we know we can trust that all things work together for good.
This flavoring is the God in us what Yeshua called our salt or seasoning.
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." Mat 5:13 (NKJV)
The refiner’s fire is the tasting. God is refining or perfecting the flavor that our lives are. He is the master cook who keeps adding flavoring or salt to our lives.
"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." Mar 9:49-50 (NKJV).
Today I want to look at two more characteristics of the anointing, the mind of Christ. First I want to look at the “year” of God’s Favor, or the Acceptable Year of the Lord. Then I want to look at the “day” of vengeance of our God and see how these factor into our heart’s attitudes that can release the 30-60-100 fold return on the seed of the Word of God in our heart, the promises of God for our destiny.
To recap briefly we spoke about the anointing mindset:
- Good news to the poor - mindset
- Binding of broken hearts - new birth, new beginning
- Liberty for captives - Become captivated
- Release from darkness, or the dungeons, a transformation in how we see ourselves.
Now we are going in for the year of God’s favor. The word year in Hebrew is shana. Shana comes from the same root as shen or shnia. It is the number 2 in Hebrew and also the word root for sleeping. The word picture is a complete cycle of activity. A year is a complete cycle, sleeping is a complete cycle, the number 2 is the number 1 doubled or completed. So the year of God’s favor points to a complete cycle of God’s favor. This is a picture of complete fulfillment.
The anointing then comes to bring completion. Have you begun things and gotten bogged down? There is an anointing to complete the cycle. Fruit requires a ripening a completion of a cycle.
Many people are not experiencing fruit in their lives, not because they don’t have hope or vision to begin but because they don’t come to the fruition of the vision. The year of God’s favor, the acceptable year is about finishing things. It takes maturity to finish.
Favor in this context is the word ratzon. It comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for running. So favor is also the liberty to run. There is an anointing for the liberty to run that comes with completing things, bringing the cycle to completion. There is an alternative which is staying in the cycle of beginning things.
Turn with me to 2Tim 3:1-7:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV)
I want to focus on the last line. There is in us a hunger for knowledge. At the root of the hunger for knowledge is the craving to be right. It goes back to what we spoke about earlier, the temptation to know what is right or wrong, good and evil and so uses that power to judge others and be as God. This is the temptation again of Satan in the garden. Knowledge acquired for this purpose is all about pride. We live in a treacherous time in many ways. Many prophets are arising to speak about this hour and there is an underlying agenda to be right. I am not trying to be critical but we need to guard our hearts.
Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NKJV)
The anointing is about results not just knowledge. We have a fascination with knowing but true freedom comes through application, what is really wisdom. And love is the foundation of wisdom.
The year of God’s favor is the power that comes from finishing things. It is displayed the most clearly in the prophetic time of the Jubilee. In the Jubilee there is a restoration that happens.
The primary emphasis of Jubilee is a cancellation of debt. It is detailed in Leviticus 25. I am not going to go through the whole chapter right now, but I want to step back from the details of it and see the purpose. Jubilee is about release from the cycle of debts. Debts are the product of a lack of meekness on our part. We exceed our authority and we find ourselves in debt. One way to look at this is what happens when we trust in our own wisdom, we get off track and that is into debt. There is an anointing for restoration of meekness, or the boundaries of God’s voice.
Yeshua told us that the meek will inherit the earth. In other word the anointing releases us from the hunger for knowledge which is the hunger for power to be right to be like God. Instead the anointing brings us God’s favor, the completing of what we have begun through meekness.
The key is the love that edifies. The Jubilee, the year of God’s favor is the anointing of love. Love edifies, it builds on another’s qualities both strengths and weaknesses. Knowledge looks for weaknesses and exposes them to gain advantage. The insecurity of needing to be right that was released in mankind has been hungering and thirsting for more and more knowledge to win by making others lose. It was the power behind the murder of Abel by Cain.
In the face of this is the anointing of God’s favor. His favor is about restoration. It is about release. It is about forgiveness. It is about meekness and kindness. It is about preferring one another. We have to learn to let go of our addiction to power to trying to be the center of our own world.
When we lose in God’s kingdom, we win. It is by giving we get. We can keep accumulating all the world and because we resist love we lose our own soul. Remember salvation isn’t just about being “in” the Kingdom. Salvation is also about being out of the win-lose kingdom.
Let’s take a quick look at something no one wants to look at, the Day of the Lord, the Day of God’s reckoning with us. It’s called a day of God’s vengeance. It’s really about I think healing the mourning. It is really a trust that God is our ultimate defense. We don’t take vengeance because He alone knows what is right and wrong. We can be so right and yet so wrong. God will come and set things right and in that He will comfort all of those who have been wronged. It is our job to stay in the place of tenderness and forgiveness.
Activation:
Who are you holding in your judgment? Remember Jubilee is all about releasing debts, operating in forgiveness. You cannot have true abundance without forgiveness. It doesn’t matter really if they did wrong to you. You are not the judge. SO who are you holding in bondage in your heart?
Let’s pray and release the Jubilee year into our lives. As we forgive others their debts against us the power of debt itself is broken. No one has a greater debt than a sinner. We were all sinners and have been forgiven when we received Yeshua. It is time to come into agreement with our forgiveness by releasing all to Him.
One final prayer point. Do you have unfinished business? Is there something you have been resisting completing? Remember the same anointing that brings good news to the poor wants you to be fruitful, to be in Jubilee.
Let’s pray for the latter rain outpouring in your life of His Spirit so you can bear your destiny!
Play: Living Water by Lisa Mitts
Altar Call:
Many people are not experiencing fruit in their lives, not because they don’t have hope or vision to begin but because they don’t come to the fruition of the vision. The year of God’s favor, the acceptable year is about finishing things. It takes maturity to finish.
Favor in this context is the word ratzon. It comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for running. So favor is also the liberty to run. There is an anointing for the liberty to run that comes with completing things, bringing the cycle to completion. There is an alternative which is staying in the cycle of beginning things.
Turn with me to 2Tim 3:1-7:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV)
I want to focus on the last line. There is in us a hunger for knowledge. At the root of the hunger for knowledge is the craving to be right. It goes back to what we spoke about earlier, the temptation to know what is right or wrong, good and evil and so uses that power to judge others and be as God. This is the temptation again of Satan in the garden. Knowledge acquired for this purpose is all about pride. We live in a treacherous time in many ways. Many prophets are arising to speak about this hour and there is an underlying agenda to be right. I am not trying to be critical but we need to guard our hearts.
Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NKJV)
The anointing is about results not just knowledge. We have a fascination with knowing but true freedom comes through application, what is really wisdom. And love is the foundation of wisdom.
The year of God’s favor is the power that comes from finishing things. It is displayed the most clearly in the prophetic time of the Jubilee. In the Jubilee there is a restoration that happens.
The primary emphasis of Jubilee is a cancellation of debt. It is detailed in Leviticus 25. I am not going to go through the whole chapter right now, but I want to step back from the details of it and see the purpose. Jubilee is about release from the cycle of debts. Debts are the product of a lack of meekness on our part. We exceed our authority and we find ourselves in debt. One way to look at this is what happens when we trust in our own wisdom, we get off track and that is into debt. There is an anointing for restoration of meekness, or the boundaries of God’s voice.
Yeshua told us that the meek will inherit the earth. In other word the anointing releases us from the hunger for knowledge which is the hunger for power to be right to be like God. Instead the anointing brings us God’s favor, the completing of what we have begun through meekness.
The key is the love that edifies. The Jubilee, the year of God’s favor is the anointing of love. Love edifies, it builds on another’s qualities both strengths and weaknesses. Knowledge looks for weaknesses and exposes them to gain advantage. The insecurity of needing to be right that was released in mankind has been hungering and thirsting for more and more knowledge to win by making others lose. It was the power behind the murder of Abel by Cain.
In the face of this is the anointing of God’s favor. His favor is about restoration. It is about release. It is about forgiveness. It is about meekness and kindness. It is about preferring one another. We have to learn to let go of our addiction to power to trying to be the center of our own world.
When we lose in God’s kingdom, we win. It is by giving we get. We can keep accumulating all the world and because we resist love we lose our own soul. Remember salvation isn’t just about being “in” the Kingdom. Salvation is also about being out of the win-lose kingdom.
Let’s take a quick look at something no one wants to look at, the Day of the Lord, the Day of God’s reckoning with us. It’s called a day of God’s vengeance. It’s really about I think healing the mourning. It is really a trust that God is our ultimate defense. We don’t take vengeance because He alone knows what is right and wrong. We can be so right and yet so wrong. God will come and set things right and in that He will comfort all of those who have been wronged. It is our job to stay in the place of tenderness and forgiveness.
Activation:
Who are you holding in your judgment? Remember Jubilee is all about releasing debts, operating in forgiveness. You cannot have true abundance without forgiveness. It doesn’t matter really if they did wrong to you. You are not the judge. SO who are you holding in bondage in your heart?
Let’s pray and release the Jubilee year into our lives. As we forgive others their debts against us the power of debt itself is broken. No one has a greater debt than a sinner. We were all sinners and have been forgiven when we received Yeshua. It is time to come into agreement with our forgiveness by releasing all to Him.
One final prayer point. Do you have unfinished business? Is there something you have been resisting completing? Remember the same anointing that brings good news to the poor wants you to be fruitful, to be in Jubilee.
Let’s pray for the latter rain outpouring in your life of His Spirit so you can bear your destiny!
Play: Living Water by Lisa Mitts
Altar Call:
- Unforgiveness
- Jubilee Release
- Manifest Blessing
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