Transition & The Emergent Joseph Company

Many of you have been in a season of turbulence.  Be encouraged:  God's up to something strategic in your chaos.

You don't need me to tell you these are challenging times in the earth.  We've entered a period of volatility, uncertainty and shaking among the nations.  There is great anxiety among the masses as tremendous difficulties continue arising from every corner of the globe.  Economies are struggling, wars are raging and natural disasters are plastered all over the headlines.  It seems there's been an eruption of sorts that has released a wave of upheaval in a way that our generation hasn't seen.

I feel it important for us not to attach prophetic meaning to every natural disaster or conflict that comes across our TV screens and web pages.  Many in charismatic & prophetic circles assign prophetic meaning to every event that happens and some have erred because of this.  When we overstate natural events we become like the boy who cried wolf until people tune us out.  What good is legitimately having something to say if no one wants to listen to us anymore?

Not every event has prophetic significance.  In times of crisis it's important to release what God is saying.  It's equally important not to sign His Name to every thought or opinion we have.  I believe there is great need in the Body of Christ at this time for maturity, balance, wisdom and prophetic caution.

Since Adam fell the earth has groaned in pain, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.  While natural disasters can have prophetic importance, most often they are simply the result of the earth's groaning in it's fallen state.  It's important as believers that we have a well-balanced theology and world view.  We must avoid extremism and resist attaching a 'thus saith the Lord' to everything that happens in the earth. 

To be heard in the marketplace of ideas we must possess credibility with our audience.  To possess that credibility we must earn the right to be heard.  The wisdom of God must rule the day if we are to reign effectively as sons & daughters of God in secular realms.

The aforementioned being said, it does seem that we've crossed a threshold where the nations are entering a Time of Transition.  While I'm not referring to any singular recent event I do believe that the volatility we see on multiple levels in the earth is evidence that we've entered a time of global transition that has Kingdom ramifications.

On a Kingdom level, many have already been in deep transition for some time. 

Interestingly, Joseph is the paradigm for this.  Joseph entered his time of transition long before his family or the nations did.  Simply stated, he was a prophetic forerunner for the coming moves of God amongst the nations.  In other words, there was a divine set-up in Joseph's storm.

Joseph spent time in deep transition so God could strategically position him to lead Egypt and the surrounding nations through their time of transition that was coming in the form of famine.

My point is that God always has prophetic forerunners that He processes in preparation for what's coming among the nations. 

I believe the transitions that many in the Kingdom have been enduring have prophetic & strategic significance in the times and seasons of God.  I also believe we're beginning to see the nations enter their time of transition.  As such, this will present tremendous opportunities to advance the Kingdom. 

I believe there is an emergent Joseph Company that has been transitioned in darkness, processed through brokenness and prepared via uncommon sufferings.

This Joseph Company is being strategically positioned by the mastery of the Holy Spirit to affect Kingdom outcomes in a multitude of marketplaces, both in the Kingdom and in the secular arena.

Let me be up front.  I am not a doom and gloom prophet.  God gave us a Dominion Mandate and the transitions many have been through are preparation for deeper levels of anointing, greater dimensions of influence and higher-quality mantles.

Transition and Increased Influence

Real authority lies in the ability to influence outcomes.  If you look a the Joseph Model you see that in every season of transition, God increased Joseph's influence.  Influence is what authority really is.  As the nations enter a time of transition, this Joseph Company is going to operate in an unprecedented level of divine influence that will create the victories God has purposed to affect.
 

Let me be clear: there are staggering victories that God has appointed for His people. 

With Joseph you'll recall that as the nations entered their time of transition, Joseph exited his time of transition and stepped into his time of promotion.  This is a model for us.  There is a prophetic shift that is coming.  There's a 'lift' in the 'shift' and God's bringing His forerunners out of their prisons, wildernesses and caves to strategically set them in times of promotion and places of influence.

For those of you who have been in deep transitions, be encouraged.  There are new mantles coming upon many in this season.  I'm not just referring to ministry mantles, although this is inclusive of that.  I'm also referring to marketplace mantles of influence.  God's setting-up 'marketplace moves' where He'll work through His Joseph Company to intersect a world in transition that is receptive to the wisdom and the prophetic perceptions of God.

Please hear me when I tell you that promotion is coming to many in this season.

Joseph's promotion was in direct connection to the shaking of transition that God was sending amongst the nations.  I have every confidence that the season of transition we've been in in the Kingdom has everything to do with what God is setting up to do in the 'marketplace of the nations'.

Over the past couple of years the Lord has made it clear to me that one of the assignments that He's set upon my life is to speak prophetically to the Body of Christ regarding the Kingdom dynamics of transition.  It's become evident to me that part of my leadership DNA lies in the realm of of leading others who are in transition. 

Interestingly, most of you are connected with me because of experiencing transition yourself.  Through the process, God has orchestrated the steps of our journeys to intersect us and bring us across each others' paths.  As such, it is my prayer that this ministry is having a deep impact in your life as your process through your transitions.

Much like Joseph's steps being orchestrated by the Holy Spirit to end up in Potiphar's house and to connect with the butler in prison, so has He ordered our steps.  We've connected with each other in the various stages of our individual and corporate transitions by the divine designs of the Master. 

Trust me when I tell you that He's a Master Strategist & Tactician.  There's a divine blueprint to the times & seasons of your life, especially and including the transitions you've been in.

It is my sincere desire that this ministry is an ongoing source of encouragement, strength, impartation and prophetic insight for you.  My greatest passion is to bring you the wisdom of God that it might become a critical weapon in your hands as you press your way through the seasons of your life.

Be encouraged today my fellow warrior.  God never leaves a Joseph bound in his prison: there's a palace assignment on your life

Transition, Hard Heavens & The Rainmaker

As we continue to 'shed the skin of an old season' many exciting truths are emerging. 

I want to share some things with you that I think will stimulate your prophetic self and provoke your faith on multiple levels. 

Today I want to focus on battling Hard Heavens and the moves of the Rainmaker.
 

The Dawning of New Era's are preceded by Hard Heavens

Many of God's people have been an intense time of battling 'Hard Heavens'.  Contrary winds and Hard Heavens are partners in the transition process.  If you've walked through any level of transition at all then you understand what I'm talking about.

Consider the results of Hard Heavens:

• Hard Heavens create Extreme Seasons of harsh difficulties

• Hard Heavens produce stiff winds of opposition & resistance

• Hard Heavens create sterile environments that are hostile to the fulfillment of desires, dreams and drives

• Hard Heavens birth famine & drought 

• Hard Heavens produce harsh 'earthly' outcomes 

'Earthly' in both the external conditions created by the lack of rain (a type of favor, blessing and resource) and the internal 'earth' of one's thoughts, feelings, emotions and stress points.  One of the byproducts of a Hard Heaven is harsh mental & emotional stress.

                      

Hard Heavens and the moves of the Rainmaker

The quintessential Hard Heaven is found in I Kings 19.  You'll recall that God had closed Israel's heavens and for 3 1/2 years there was no moisture in Israel. The season was so harsh that there wasn't enough moisture to produce a drop of dew on a single blade of grass.  Israel's heaven closed up and their 'earth' became hard.  Drought ensued.  Famine set in. Hard Heavens produce harsh climates.

A 'Prophetic Pattern' is the dominant spiritual climate that governs the times & seasons of your life

Most importantly, while Israel was under the prophetic pattern of a hard heaven, the prophet Elijah entered a time of transition.  It's essential to see that Elijah was under a Transition Pattern while Israel was under a Hard Heaven Pattern.  In this we see the pattern of personal transition accompanying, indeed result from a Hard Heaven. 

Hard Heavens and Transition are partners in the overall process of destiny fulfillment.

It's important to recognize that God kept Elijah in the transition. God provided for Elijah in transition.  He had to endure the harshness of the Hard Heaven but God orchestrated his steps, outcomes and provision in every stage of transition.  At every moment God strategically positioned Elijah where he was supposed to be. 

I state this because when you're battling Hard Heavens in times of Transition it's easy to feel ineffective, insecure and out of synch. Rest assured, those thoughts and feelings are stress related responses to the chaos and lack of clarity that you have in transition. 

An interesting fact about a snake that's shedding it's skin: it goes blind for a few days while it's shedding the skin of it's last season and totally loses it's ability to see anything!

Elijah is a type of a Rainmaker

A rainmaker is defined as someone whose 'influence initiates progress and ensures success'   

There is a Heavenly Rainmaker and there are earthly Rainmakers. In the marketplace, a rainmaker is someone who possesses the ability to create success and bring in new business.   

In the Kingdom, a rainmaker is someone who battles hard heavens in times of transition and emerges from the process mantled to release the success of heaven into earthly environments.   

Rainmakers birth the release of miracle moments.  Rainmakers are human conduits to the heavenly Authority, Voice and resources that shift the dynamics on the ground.

• In Transition God qualifies you to become a Rainmaker!

When God shifted Israel's Hard Heavens pattern, the Heavenly Rainmaker sent His earthly Rainmaker (Elijah) to release into Israel's natural atmosphere the miracles God had appointed that were waiting the heavens, desiring to emerge for them.

   

You'll recall that Elijah declared there to be 'the sound of an abundance of rain', then positioned himself in a posture of intercession at the summit of Mt. Carmel until the natural atmosphere reflected that the pattern of Israel's Hard Heaven had been broken.   

You know the rest.  In the space of a few minutes, the heavens were filled with clouds and wind and there was a great rain.   

      

Not only was Elijah Israel's national Rainmaker but he was also Elisha's personal Rainmaker.  He was the one God had appointed and assigned to 'rain' on Elisha's destiny, to activate the dormant DNA and dreams that were resident in Elisha's life.   

It was not until God sent Elijah the Rainmaker to Elisha plowing in the field that Elisha's destiny, dreams and DNA awakened within him.  Elijah walked in a dimension of divine influence that was directly linked to the future Elisha carried within him but did not know God had purposed for him.    

Rainmakers carry the prophetic influence to unlock the gifting, assignment and destiny DNA that God has deposited within you.  Their presence in your life releases things in you that you were never aware of.  In reality, their presence releases His Presence in new dimensions in your life and new seasons of forward movement are born from the experience  

• Recognize the Rainmakers God's assigned to you and pursue them with relentless perseverance

Rainmakers and the Perseverance Factor

To close this word I want to shift from the Elijah Model of Hard Heavens and Transition to the Elisha Model of Hard Heavens and Transition.  Just as Elijah endured personal transition and battled a hard heaven, so did Elisha in order to get his hands on the mantle he'd been dreaming of.

In 2 Kings 2, when God was shifting Israel from the Elijah Era to the Elisha Era, Elisha had to endure a significant transition cycle of resistance, opposition and Hard Heavens.   

In order to possess his destiny and dream (the double portion of Elijah's spirit) Elisha had to press through repeated resistance and opposition from his personal Rainmaker when Elijah repeatedly, vehemently opposed him in Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho.  Each of those cities represented a dynamic spiritual season of victory and breakthrough, yet because Elisha was in the transition of shedding the skin of his old season, he could not experience the blessings those seasons represented.

Instead, he kept encountering repeated resistance from his Rainmaker and opposition by the other prophets who were located in these cities.  This is a type of a Hard Heaven and weird warfare.  It's one thing when your competition opposes you but how do you handle it when your 'Rainmaker' opposes and resists you? 

• Resistance from your Rainmaker is evidence that you're transitioning through a Hard Heaven 

Elisha's response was powerful in that he kept speaking what was in him and continued walking it out no matter what he endured in the transition process.

When they got to Jordan, everything changed.  They crossed over Jordan after Elijah parted the waters with his mantle.  Once they were on the other side of Jordan, everything changed for Elisha.  His atmosphere, experiences and dynamics were completely different from those he'd just endured in the repetitive transitions and Hard Heavens from Gilgal to Jericho.

• Jordan is the place of a Positive Shift

• Jordan is the place of your 'Finally'!

• Jordan is the place where you step out of the jurisdiction of old prophetic patterns 

Suddenly, Elisha's Rainmaker stopped resisting him. Instead of opposition, he discovered:  

• A prophetic audience that was in synch with Heaven's intentions
• A new dimension of dream hospitality  
• A Rainmaker's attention turned in his direction 
• An affirmation of his Right to Possess what he'd been Pursuing 

Elijah suddenly asked Elisha 'what can I do for you?'

Translation: Now that you've persevered through transition, you've broken the jurisdiction of your Hard Heaven, SO HOW CAN I MAKE IT RAIN FOR YOU? 

What a stark contrast.  The contrary winds of resistance ceased.  Elisha was comfortably distanced from his competition (the sons of the prophets in the cities) and he had an exclusive audience with his Rainmaker.  After 14 years of service, sacrifice and seed sowing, the Rainmaker wanted to know how the Sower wanted it to rain!

The key to it all lies in the prophetic revelation God gave Elisha about the experience he'd just been through.  When Elisha said he wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit, Elijah said qoute 'you have asked a hard thing'.

The word 'hard' literally translates 'fierce, harsh, severe, extremely difficult'

The Heavenly Rainmaker was releasing a prophetic key to explain why Elisha had kept experiencing harsh opposition, fierce resistance and severe testing in the repetitive transitions from Gilgal to Jordan.  Elisha's Hard Heaven was in direct proportion to the scope of the future that was in him and the destiny that lay before him!

Never underestimate the Prowess in your Perseverance  There's an Interceding in your Persevering Recognize your Perseverance as a type of Intercession.  It's interesting that under the Elijah Era, effective intercession came in the form of Elijah's 'effective, fervent prayer posture (James 5:16-18) at Carmel's summit. In the Elisha Era however, effective intercession against the jurisdiction of Hard Heavens came in the from Elisha's relentless pursuit and perpetual perseverance as he kept walking in the direction of his destiny.  He persevered in the path that his Rainmaker had awakened in him years before.  The result was that his perseverance broke him through the hard heavens and positioned him in the place of destiny possession.      You must embrace the truth that your relentless pursuit & perpetual perseverance has an intense intercession element about it    When you're in transition battling hard heavens you may well feel inadequate and ineffective in your prayer realm.   The lack of heavenly response and the limited results you see work together to bring confusion and discouragement. The real truth is, while you're persevering through transition your walk becomes intercession.  Your enemy wants you to miss this because he needs you to underestimate the power of a relentless pursuit & and perpetual perseverance.    Interestingly, Jesus never taught His disciples spiritual warfare prayer.  He did teach them to relentlessly pursue and to perpetually persevere.    I point this out because your testimony, your authenticity and your authority don't come exclusively from your prayer closet: they come from your walk through times of Transition when you're battling Hard Heavens! When Abraham was entering the era when Isaac would be conceived, God showed up and told him 'walk before me...'  He didn't tell him 'pray to me'  but rather 'walk' because he was about to walk out of the transitions and hard heavens he'd been in straight into God's Promised era of fulfillment. There is something essential, dynamic and prophetic about your walk, your endurance, your relentless pursuit & your perpetual perseverance.   Real, effective intercession takes place when you walk out what's in you!  By no means am I mitigating the importance or place of your prayer life.  You know me better than that.  What I'm releasing to you is that He wants you to know how effective your relentless perseverance is, especially when it seems your prayers are blocked by Hard Heavens. Many of God's choice servants are enduring harsh seasons of discouragement, exhaustion and fatigue in direct proportion to the depths of their transitions and their hard heavens.  In the harshness of their warfare the enemy has sought to overwhelm them with feelings of inadequacy.    Like the snake, when you're shedding the skin of an old season, you can't see clearly.  Your enemy knows this, so he speaks against you in the language of discouragement and fatigue.  He's told you to quit.  He's told you that you're ineffective.  He's told you that your endurance, pursuits and perseverance are all a waste of time.  He's told you that God doesn't want you to have the things you're pursuing. He doesn't want you to know is that your perseverance demoralizes him!    You need to know that your walk is effective warfare!   You must keep walking because your perseverance is positioning you to be in the right place at the right time.  It doesn't matter that you can't see it or feel it.    If your perseverance wasn't working your enemy wouldn't be attacking it and resisting you.  Embrace the contradictions as confirmation that you're still headed in the right direction. Recognize that your relentlessness is having a greater impact than you've been able to perceive while you've been in transition. Every transition has an appointed conclusion and Hard Heavens always precede seasons of Divine abundance.   Your old season is losing it's grip on you! Believing for your success! Pastor Howard L. Bass The Destiny Center