The “ITES” in Our Life | Part 1

“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26 NKJV).

God is speaking to specific people in a crowd of Christians, not the whole crowd, but “to him” will He give power over the nations.

The Apostle John was commissioned to write letters to seven churches. These represent seven corporate bodies of believers in Christ Jesus, and within each of these corporate bodies, there are some whom Jesus refers to as “To Him.”

This verse is about you! When you came into personal awareness that Jesus Christ was your Savior, from a life separated from knowing God to a life with the opportunity to not only know about God but also to know that He was your Heavenly Father, you experienced what it means to be born again, a new baby in Christ Jesus. Now it is time to grow up in Him! 

The fact that you are here means you have invested in yourself to be transformed today. You're putting forth the effort and desire to plant a new season in your life.  

What does the word Overcomer mean? It means YOU are NOW OVER what has been over you…   

The people within the church setting that John is writing to have a connection to the Old Testament, specifically Joshua's commissioning to take the children of Israel into the promised land via the Jordan River. All the children of Israel – all 12 tribes – came out of Egypt, led by the leadership of Moses, to go to the promised land that God had shared with them. 

However, what should have taken 40 days turned into a 40-year encampment going around the same places several times, till a whole generation died in the wilderness, never making it to the promised land. Yes, they went to heaven, but there was something greater than going to heaven that God desired to bless them with while they were on the earth.

 After Moses died, Joshua and Caleb were left to lead the children of Israel. A circumcision needed to take place for those born in the wilderness. All individuals who were 20 years old and older when they left Egypt died along with Moses. The generation under 20, along with those born while their parents were in the wilderness, were able, under Joshua's leadership, to enter the Promised Land. However, certain circumstances regarding circumcision needed to be addressed. They didn't have to cross the Red Sea again, but they did need to "circumcise their hearts" as they crossed the Jordan River (Hebrews 8:8-10). 

Before they crossed the Jordan River, Moses showed them the promised land and prophesied to Joshua that there would be nations in the land they would have to conquer and overcome, leaving no remains of men, women, and children. He also told him that they wouldn’t have to go looking for these nations, but that God would bring the nations to Joshua and the people of God after they crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land God desired to give them.

Moses also told them that once they entered the promised land, God would not go before them as He had in the wilderness, but He would be with them, giving them the means to conquer. 

This Jordan Crossing experience is no longer about being a follower of Jesus; it's about Jesus saying, “You go, and I’ll go with you.” It's not about literally killing men, women, and children, but recognizing the "familiar spirits" that come from your past and keep you from your best today in Christ.

There is a great “gap” of transformation taking place from when we are following God to God following us as our enemies are brought before us to be conquered. God showed the Israelites the promised land, and He told them, “There it is, but you must change your understanding of what is going to happen. I’m going to bring your enemies to you, and you're going to conquer them!” 

When raised in the church, we are taught to pray, and God answers our prayers. This is true, but there is another level in our relationship that God desires for us to seek after: from being a child of God to a son of God doing the Father’s business to being a bride of Christ Jesus. 

There comes a time when a father desires to give the keys to the car and teach the teenage son/daughter how to drive themselves for their own life journey. Then, after that, there comes a time when the Father desires the little child of His heart to be married to the Son to produce children of their own with the blessings and DNA of the Father. (Rev. 1:18).

God is now telling each of you, “Go in my name and whatever you say, you decree in my name, you will have it.” (John 16:23-26). God wants us to conquer the “ites” in our life leaving nothing behind of these enemies – no trace of them. What are these enemies?

When the children of God entered the promised land, there were seven nations occupying the land, all outnumbered and mightier than the children of Israel. If they were going to possess the land, they would have to conquer all of them. This land was their inheritance because Moses died. Today, it is our inheritance because Jesus Christ died.

The land of Canaan was the promised land at the time of Joshua, which God had promised to Israel. It is a type of illustration of our inheritance available to us today, when we know we are in Christ Jesus. Today, we can obtain full possession of the Kingdom of God within ourselves – within our life – as members of Christ’s body with our covering, the headship of Jesus Christ. (Col. 1:18, 2:19).

The true land of the promise of God today is more than a literal place in the world; it is a people known as the corporate body of Christ Jesus, ruling and reigning with Him in the earth. We can take dominion and authority over the atmospheric conditions that dominate people.

In the Old Testament, we have Moses' Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temples of Stone beginning with Solomon. Today, the place of God's dwelling is in a people called by His Name – Christ, who is the head. 

“I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. ' " God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3 KJV). 

The promised land becomes a transformed corporate body called Christ in the earth, led by the Spirit of the Lord. Where God dwells is where His Kingdom is.

The Old Testament is like a blueprint, a map, of heavenly things – our school master. 

“Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:24-29 KJV). 

The conquering process of the enemies of God begins within us.

“When the LORD, your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so, the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NKJV).