Every Marketplace formal or informal has both physical and spiritual dimensions and God’s mandate to His children is to dominate in both dimensions.
Successfully dominating the marketplace is a function of governance based on identity not necessarily hierarchy. how we operate and what we demonstrate is closely tied to who we are representing. So as representatives of Jesus, we must understand five key areas that will impact our execution of this mandate.
These key areas are
- God’s Agenda
- Our Assignment
- Our Empowerment
- Our Tribe
- Our Opposition
God’s agenda
Psalm 24:1 “The Earth is the Lord and everything in it, the world and all its people belongs to him”
Everything is the Lord and we are simply managers regarding how to disperse His gifting, skills, money, etc we are given.
We are stewards of what the Lord Has entrusted us and this forces us to keep an internal perspective on our decision-making and helps us always to consider God’s agenda ahead of any and everything else.
it has always been the Lord’s agenda for his children to rule on Earth because as carriers of His presence, everywhere the children of God show up His Kingdom has shown up too.
While some of His children are assigned to the pulpit, the majority are planted in different Industries, sectors, economies, Nations, etc so Jesus has representation in all these spheres,
The Bible says in 1 John 3:8, “For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Jesus was very clear on His Agenda and that is to destroy the works of Satan in whatever way it may have manifested and as His Representatives we are also to establish the Kingdom of God wherever we are present shining His light.
This light comes through the character we demonstrate, the solutions we bring to resolve challenges, the Innovations we develop, and above all the love we walk through daily.
Through what we partner with God to do in, with, and through us, He draws people to who He is so they can also be part of His Kingdom and walk in deeper depths with Him
Our Assignment
Jesus has an extremely high level of intentionality regarding our respective assignments as He plants us in different areas so He has representation in those spheres. As we represent Him we are both spiritually and naturally productive impacting others and ever-expanding the sphere of His Kingdom
Wherever a son or a daughter of God shows up His Kingdom has shown up as well.
Jeremiah 1:5 reads “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my Prophet to the Nations
We all have our appointments built into our spirit. Our gifting, skills, etc are all designed to align with our appointments so we function effectively in our roles however the reality may not reflect this for a variety of reasons namely expectations of family Society, etc
However, none of these negates God’s plan in His expectations of us. This means we could be functioning in a particular field while God has made provision for us to function in another industry. While we may make money, and get professional accolades and recognition from others, from Heaven’s perspective we are out of alignment with our assignments
The first step to knowing if you are in the right assignment is to ask The Giver of the assignment to reveal what He has written concerning you.
It will be dangerous to assume and when the Lord reveals to us that we are not in alignment with our assignments, we ask for mercy and the grace and strategy to get back on track. This is critical so we don’t spend valuable time pursuing what will not count for us in eternity.
Our Empowerment
1 John 4:4 says “He who is in you is greater than who is in the world“
When we engage in the marketplace we do so as children of God who are acting in the capacity of Representatives of Jesus, Which means as carriers of His Presence we also have access to whatever Supernatural empowerments Jesus had during His Earthly Ministry
This alone is more than enough to distinguish us in our place of assignments. When a Believer shows up in the marketplace such a person isn’t disadvantaged as we are carriers of the Holy Spirit who gives us access to Supernatural wisdom, understanding, direction, capacity, knowledge, and balance with Integrity because we fear The Lord.
The Holy Spirit tells us what is to come so we can position ourselves in business. Industries for the future. His Presence in our lives reminds us of who we are and who we are so we don’t get overwhelmed trying to make a living.
The pressures of Life are real and for us to maximize the impact of our empowerment, we must consistently prioritize our relationship with the Lord setting up the necessary systems that will keep us connected to him. This way when the challenges show up we can quickly tap into the rich reserve of His unlimited power, shining our lights and drawing others to Him through the uniqueness of our response.
Our Tribe
Proverbs 2717 says “As iron sharpens iron so a friend sharpens a friend“
I will say the meaning of tribe is a group of persons with a common character, belief, occupation, or interest so God did not design us to walk this journey of Life by ourselves. He recognizes the power of being closely connected to the right people in Himself whether in joy or challenges. This is why He connects us to tribes and specific people assigned to help us stay motivated and be on track in our walk with God, our assignment, and living a fulfilled and productive life. As the days get darker it becomes even more critical that we accurately discern and closely be connected to the right people
Serving God In A Hostile Environment
Daniel 2: 17 – 18 Daniel went home and urged his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to ask the God of Heaven to show them His Mercy by telling them the mystery behind the king’s dream so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon
Daniel had his tribe and his friends who were also brought as slaves to Babylon were determined to walk with the Lord. Daniel and his friends faced a significant life-threatening situation with Nebuchadnezzar, and they prayed together, stood together, and brought God’s glory together.
Regardless of the external pressure they were able to collectively take their stand for their faith as they actively supported one another. There is exponential power available to a tribe walking in with God and unity with one another as one will put thousands to flight and two will put 10,000 to flight. We are much more powerful and impactful together than on our own.
This is a principle we need to tap into for success in the marketplace otherwise it will be slow and difficult to do all that needs to be done.
Throughout the Bible, we see illustrations of people walking and working with a closed-net group. Jesus had his close disciples, and Moses had Aaron Joshua, and Hur. Paul always had a close group of people in each missionary journey we also need our Tribe.
Our Opposition
John 10:10 says “The devil does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy
Believers, we have an enemy called Satan or the devil whose sole objective is to rob us of all Jesus has for us. he doesn’t work alone as he is supported by a system and structure of spiritual hierarchy that is committed to this objective.
It is important to settle this so we do not function as though we will go through life without facing any opposition. Even if we have not done anything wrong the enemy will still actively oppose us. It is usually when we are doing something right that the opposition is fiercer
First Corinthians 169 reads “For a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many Adversaries“.
The enemy doesn’t have unlimited resources and being systematic he will tend to try and oppose us most when we are about to step into a higher level
This is understandable as the deeper we go with God and the broader our sphere of influence the more dangerous we become to his kingdom
This is why we are warned to always stay alert during periods of intense spiritual exercise or seasons of transition
Ephesians 6:13 also reads “Therefore put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil then after the battle you will still be standing firm“
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have the power to overcome all the devices of the enemy but we must also remain alert because even though the enemy is defeated it does not fight fair. It will constantly test to see if we know who we are and what we have access to as children of God so it’s our responsibility to deepen our knowledge of our rights and responsibilities in Christ so we never give him a foothold in anything that concerns us.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will help us build upon these foundations and bring increasing levels of understanding in these areas and more as He helps us work daily in Dominion as God designed.
Written By Nana Yaa Serwa Kuffuor
