When God created Adam and Eve, he gave them three commands: Be fruitful. Increase in number. Rule.
Rule requires a realm. Without a realm of rulership, rule is irrelevant. Remember when that “rabbi” wrapped Eddie Long in a big ole Torah scroll and crowned him king? The question everyone asked after it was over was, King of what? In other words, where is your realm? A king without a realm is no king at all!
God commanded Adam and Eve to rule, and then he gave them a vast realm to rule over: Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air. In other words, your realm is the earth.
The psalmist picks up this theme in his classic passage about the nature of humankind: You have made man a little lower than God and have crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the work of your hands.
Whatever God is doing in and through your life, he has given you dominion to execute it.
The realm that you rule is not primarily comprised of people. The realm of your rule is constituted by every facet of your responsibility and influence. The realm of your rule is comprised of yourself (your body, soul and spirit), your household (your family and all of your possessions) and your vocation (both the responsibilities of your current work plus the mandate of creative output).
You may have trouble ruling over your realm; you may tend to be ruled by your realm, rather than ruling over it. Instead of staying on top of things, we find ourselves living under things. Instead of experiencing the components of your life as being under your authority, you may be experiencing them as demands placed upon you . . . as heavy burdens that you find that you must carry.
Whenever you find yourself praying to God for deliverance from some aspect of your life, you know that you have surrendered your rule over that area of your life. A real ruler feels privileged to rule over a realm. A slave feels obligated to meet the demands of his/her master.
We are not a race of slaves, we are a race of rulers!
It has nothing to do with your situation. Rule is inherent to your being, not dependent upon your circumstances.
Joseph was in the position of a slave, but he possessed the mind of a ruler. When he was given a task, he perceived it as a great trust, and he attacked it with passionate zeal . . . to the extent that he was made master over the house that he served as a slave.
He became ruler over Potiphar’s house not because of “favor” or good fortune, but because of his mindset from the day he arrived. So many of us are waiting for some good fortune, some favor to befall us, but that kind of favor never comes to those who embrace a mindset of enslavement!
You need to make a decision to rule your realm! You must begin with the realization that every component of your life is under your rule. Yes, rulership means service in God’s economy. But service and slavery are two different things. You must serve as one who is in charge, not as one who is obligated. Only then will you discover what it means to rule over the realm that God has given you.
You have been living beneath your privilege for too long! The things that you dread, they are your privilege, not your burden. You feel burdened by them because you believe that they are more than you can handle. And in a sense you are correct. They may be more than you can handle in and of yourself. But God has an anointing of the Holy Spirit awaiting the shifting of your mind, and when your mind shifts into the right place, that anointing will be released upon your life, and you’ll walk with authority and privilege, rather than weakness and defeat.
