When Will Joel's Army Emerge? - Part 2

Last week, we discussed how God is waiting on us to step into our true identity as sons and daughters, manifesting the fullness of the Kingdom that already dwells within us. As we begin to believe who we really are, the outworking of our God-nature will spill over into our natural lives with explosive supernatural experience. The timing of the release of Joel’s Army is simply hinging on you and I realizing and appropriating the fact that we are not dry bones, but a mighty army already.

We must no longer identify ourselves with the natural circumstances or even the temporary struggles we face in this world. We are first and foremost citizens of Heaven, and that is where we should spend most of our time. Your spirit man is already seated with Christ in Heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). And that realm is a greater reality than the shadowy natural world around you. You are a spiritual being clothed temporarily with a natural body.

Your spirit is melded together with Jehovah Rapha the Healer. There is no separation between you and Christ. It is only logical that the hem of your garment should heal the sick. If the ark of the presence sat on Obed-Edom’s land and caused his house and crops and land to prosper, how much more should your marketplace, home and surroundings prosper, since you are now a carrier of that same presence?

Owning our identity

We are on the earth, even while we are in Heaven. We dwell simultaneously in two realms. In the meantime, we are bringing our soul into the submission and maturity of who we already are in the spirit. The only reason we have not seen the full outworking of our supernatural arsenal, is because we are still in this process of aligning our soul with Heaven. The Christian life is much less complicated than we make it. It is simply a matter of realization.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father (Gal. 4:1-2).

When is the appointed time for the Father to release the fullness of the inheritance to the children? You already have it. You own the whole estate. So when is the set time for you to step into it? As soon as you are ready. He is waiting on you. This is not a timing element, but a maturity issue. And maturity is defined by our level of holy hunger and unconditional openness to the Lord. And these things increase by “tasting and seeing.” Again – it is by realizing His goodness that is already lavished upon us. We love Him more by recognizing that He first loved us.

We are sons and heirs. We are not slaves. The Lord is shaking off the orphan spirit and making us bold to approach the throne of grace. An army cannot be focused on its insecurities and failures. Nor can we focus on the distance to our destiny. Our destiny is today. The Lord is releasing an understanding of our beauty, holiness and positional authority. He has placed His beauty, His holiness and His authority on us. We just need to believe who we already are! We must continue to hammer this point, as it is critical to the emergence of Joel’s Army.

For one, understand that you are completely perfect in Him. If that is how He sees you, then it is a greater reality than what you have believed about yourself. Song of Solomon 4:7 says, “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” You carry such an intensity about you, because of His blood, that the Lord Himself says, “Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me!” (Song 6:5).

You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). You are absolutely perfect forever! (Heb. 10:14). You have been made holy (Heb. 10:10).

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Col. 1:22).

Many are so fearful and shame-ridden that they shrink from this kind of talk. In their false humility, they refuse to stand on what the Word of God says about themselves. Many who are contending for healing, prophecy, signs, wonders and miraculous powers will excuse their lack of fruit by simply saying, “I’m not there yet.” But the truth is, you’ve been there all along. The fullness of the Godhead already dwells in you. Every gift is already inside of you.

And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority (Col. 2:10).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

We even have the mind of Christ! (1 Cor. 2:16). That means access to everything He knows – access to the full range of the thought-work of God. Nothing is impossible for us.

Joel’s Army will emerge when we encounter a deep recognition of this true identity, becoming who we already are. This means believing the word, and allowing our soul to come into alignment with who we already are in the spirit man. We are a heavenly class of God-like beings, made in His image. Even the angels are in wonder at us. In the sanctification process, we must not get hung up on the defects of our soul. We must tap into the greater reality of the spirit realm, where our spirit man is already completely perfected in union with Him. Identification with the spirit brings the soul into alignment. The Christian mystics often refer to this as our True Self. That inner man who is absolutely complete in Christ.

No one has ever tapped into everything salvation purchased for them. Some think it is impossible. But there should be no strife involved in owning what you already own! Your acquittal is based not on your deeds, but on a free gift. Not based on what we do – based on what He did. Already yours. Take it, live in it, drink it, feast in it. We don’t do anything to achieve it, we only believe it. It will not take years of prayer and fasting, nor any other amount of spiritual discipline. It takes faith and desire. And these too are free gifts.

Stop identifying with your infirmities and shortcomings. Those belong to the false self. Simon the Leper was healed 2,000 years ago, but still today, we refer to him as “Simon the Leper.” Talk about owning your disease! It became his name and trademark for the ages. We own weakness, fear, pride, ambition, religion and all manner of spiritual roadblocks. But Jesus doesn’t see any of that stuff when He looks at you. You must begin to see yourself through His lenses. He does not see your dry bones. He sees a great and vast army.

To get a glimpse of who we are in the spirit should build us up, not puff us up. The True Self is complete in beauty, because it is His beauty placed upon us. We must not trust in our own beauty, as if it is somehow separate from Him. Apart from Him, I am nothing.

We want holy confidence without pride or self-sufficiency. False humility denies your true identity. True humility recognizes the source of your strength and purity. To acknowledge your True Self is not to be self-focused. The True Self is always locked in a gaze toward the Savior. Let my gaze be upon Him.

When I am fixated on Him, I will become like Him. This is like a simple, mathematical formula. Gaze at Jesus, and you will become like Him.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

To look at Him is to become captivated and possessed by Him. When our eyes are full of His light, our entire being becomes light. We are not Bride focused, but Bridegroom focused. More important than the emergence of Joel’s Army is the coming of the Lord Himself. And when will He come? Perhaps, again, He is waiting on us.

There must be an Elijah generation that will usher in and prepare the way for His second coming. A company of people who operate in a forerunner spirit. This army must see Him coming ahead of time in order to manifest an accurate depiction of who He is in the meantime. We need our spiritual eyes open to gaze on Him now, so that the church can be a clear manifestation of who He really is here on the earth.

Who Are You Waiting For?

Let’s get up close and personal for a minute. It is easy to criticize the corporate church for her apathy and lack of power, but revival begins with me. The church may indeed be in a state of dryness. But all it takes is one fire starter to ignite the dry fields.

Psalm 103 begins with the psalmist just calling his own soul into submission. It ends with him calling the angels, the heavenly hosts and all of God’s dominion into alignment with Heaven. God can use one submitted soul to shake the nations.

Do you have to wait for the rest of the army to be rallied, before you take up arms? This is perhaps one of the largest misperceptions regarding Joel’s Army. We wait for someone else to break through, to set the marching rhythm – wait for someone else to set the precedent and call the Lord’s battalions into alignment.

But here’s the kicker: you are already enlisted. The moment you gave your life to the Lord, you received your draft orders. The real question is this: do you want to be a grunt or a general? The Lord is looking for leaders. A leader is someone who takes initiative and doesn’t look for the approval and confirmation of others. Leaders are not afraid of criticism. Nor are they swayed by the praise and vain glory of men. The spirit of a pioneer steps into uncharted territory and plows the way for others to advance.

Joel’s Army is already on the rise. And you can ascend its ranks just by allowing the Lord of Hosts to wear you like a suit and move with the flow of His river that already resides fully inside of you.