The Voices and Influence
“By the blessing of the influence of the upright and God’s favor, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.” Proverbs 11:11
At the onset of His earthly ministry, Jesus announced that “the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Actually, what He said
was more. That included the need “to repent” …. or to put it in practical terms, to change the way one views reality. The purpose being to gain access to this Kingdom realm.
This announcement was also preceded by noting a season-shift, with the word “the time is fulfilled” (Mark 1:15). Matt 4:17 explains that the “time fulfilled” that Jesus was referring to was based on what was prophesied by Isaiah that “the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great Light, for those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” With the dawning of that Light, everything began changing.
The reality of this Kingdom dynamic, made manifest and modeled by Jesus, is the reality to which we are to be witnesses. Within the natural order of things, we live alongside the reality in which God resides ….. and through Jesus that reality is available to those willing to reach for it, for those willing to enter this realm. It comes with a caveat, whether active or passive: of being agents of change.
And so it was that Solomon grasped the insight of not only the dynamic, but what should be the impact of those embracing it ….. its influence.
“By the blessing of the influence of the upright and God’s favor, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.” Proverbs 11:11
From the start, the influence of this Kingdom dynamic has been a trigger for change. Challenging the status quo when accessing the reality of this domain of the Kingdom has at the same time proved to be a threat to the infrastructures of power and religion.
The Assignment for Those In the World But Not of the World
At the crux of Jesus’ announcement came the access and availability of God’s presence and power. It ties into everything significant spiritually imparted throughout the history of God’s people until the time of John the Baptist. It lands on the authority of God’s people to change the dynamics comprising the spiritual atmosphere. It especially lands on what Abraham modeled, that God’s rightly aligned people …. are blessed to be a blessing.
And so, with this influence has come the voices of challenge. Jesus explained this in the parable of the sower that God’s Truth upholds the potential for change. Yet that change, from His word, will not come without voices being raised that challenge the Light penetrating the darkness. And so affliction and persecution arise because of the word.
“When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy; yet have no firm root in themselves; so when affliction and persecution occurs …. because of the word, immediately they fall away.” Mark 4:16-17
The Subtle Darkness in the Traditions of Men
And so, as Jesus imparted this new way of thinking, of responding to and being voices for God, it challenged the traditions and mind-sets of the religious elite, tapping the status quo and underbelly of the dark seats of power that had infiltrated and perverted their thinking. It reflected the warning Jesus gave concerning the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.
The status quo of the Faith in Jesus’ day, had taken on adaptations or traditions created by men, subtle add-ons and perversions that reduced faith in God to precepts redefined largely by the experience, limited thinking and convenience of the religious elite …. pockets of darkness nonetheless.
So Jesus had much to say about the precepts ….. and add-ons of men. Genuine revival tends to bypass all but the most central doctrinal aspects of the faith: our belief in and response to God the Savior and to the power of God.
That’s not to ignore the importance of one’s conscience and personal grasp of Truth to grow and mature spiritually. However, there is a bottom-line need, of staying in focus with what genuinely counts with our faith in relating not only to God, but to others. Which was a very key premise and standard that Jesus revealed was largely missing with the religious leaders.
The Quest for Kingdom Reality
Being awakened to this Kingdom reality, the issue involves the response. The initial encounters Jesus’ original disciples had with Him were dramatic, centered around His presence. Encounters they were. Encounters in which everything changed.
So, when He simply said “follow Me,” they dropped everything to do so. So, the first step in this quest for the Kingdom involves the recognition and hunger for His presence, a yearning for more of the reality that accompanies His presence.
However, Jesus then soon began taking these “followers” deeper …. essentially acquainting them with the realities of
being Light-bearers, which was defined by His entrance described by Isaiah: that being the dawning of the Light extracting them from the darkness that had overshadowed and blinded them.
Jesus noted that the entrance to the Kingdom realm would be hard and the path narrow. The cost of admission being that the one who loved his life would lose it, but the one looking for something more than what this life offers, would indeed gain it.
Jesus unveiled a perspective concerning ones who, despite everything else, got this priority right.
“The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” Luke 11:29-30
The book of Hebrews illustrates this with Abraham’s priority: that by faith he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God …. the Kingdom realm.
The Consequences of the Shift from One Reality to Another
As this process of being immersed in this Kingdom reality matures, so the standard for the bar of being Light-bearers becomes increasingly higher, more proactive …. and potent …. guided by a balanced power derived from God’s Word and God’s Spirit.
This distinction in one’s response to darkness eventually defines the means by which believers, from individuals to communities, become reflectors of Kingdom reality, witnesses. Being a witness is tied to one’s identity and results in becoming a voice within their own sphere of influence …. a voice of Light and Life, becoming a challenge to the realms and minions of darkness and death.
Kingdom reality represents the context. It is the authority and the power for our moral compass rather than the moral compass operating in isolation as a performance-standard …. without the power demonstrated by God’s spirit. Righteous morality is the result of Kingdom thinking rather than its source.
So it was that Jesus pushed back and did so hard with the religious leaders in their majoring in minor issues, while minoring in or missing the major ones. They missed the simplicity of faith reflected by those whose simple quest was and is in knowing and walking with the Lord.
Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun. When living conditions and freedoms suffer and people of faith are persecuted, the simplicity of these key factors are reflected in the change of one’s thinking …. with prayer gatherings becoming fervent and even desperate.
All this being a part of the response to the change in one’s view of reality as believers truly embrace this realm of Kingdom reality. It goes to the point of becoming a voice within each one’s sphere to Light and Life; a challenge to the realm and minions of darkness and death.
Voices of Truth and the Demonstration of Power
King David had a lot to say about being a voice for God, of not being silenced by the wicked. So it also was with the prophets. Jeremiah’s voice discerned and was shaped by an unusual insight into his assignment regarding the conflict of these two worlds that he gleaned from God’s Spirit.
“You are My battle-axe and weapon of war. Through you, I will break nations in pieces. Through you I will destroy kingdoms and strongholds….” Jeremiah 51:20
Yet, a few verses further, following this role Jeremiah was to play as a voice, the Lord laid out the result that would come directly from His hand.
“And I will repay Babylon and Chaldea, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 51:24
Babylon and Chaldea …. the age-old alliance between the world’s system and the demonic realm of darkness. The very thing Jesus was pushing back on with the religious leaders he deemed as hypocrites.
This same dark alliance, this same religious spirit, from the time of the resurrection, plagued the early church. It is no different today. The church fathers continually grappled with those watering down and displacing these very central and foundational tenets of Truth modeled by Jesus: the authority and access to the power of this dimension of the Kingdom.
All this plays into Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy pointing to a demarcation for those trapped in the realm of darkness, on the peripheries of deep darkness and death. That was the context, the spiritual state of the people of God in Isaiah’s day and those still entrapped at the time of Jesus’ coming.
Yet, its prophetic significance points to a time in Isaiah 60 when the spiritual conditions of darkness would cover the earth and deep darkness the people, yet a time when the Light of God’s presence would arise upon the people of faith to confront the darkness. The turning point. A time we’re closing in on. A time when the conflict intensifies but with Daniel’s prophetic insight, manifests for those “who would become strong and do exploits.”
The Choice for the Days Before Us
Recognizing the conflict between these two realities, the choice has become a corporate one, of not yielding to the voices calling for the blending. That’s the crux with moves of God. The psalmist (Ps 24) points to “the generation that will seek You.” We’re at that crossroads. God has long been looking for the generation that would fervently seek Him.
Historically for God’s people, the temptation has long been the desire to be like everyone else ….. resulting in the
unseemly alliances that Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day for engaging in. It’s not going to be the radical, woke voices that represent the chief threat, but the voices of reason that seek for the blending of the realities.
The apostle James pointed to the need to maintain a pure and undefiled faith …..one that is shaped by God’s Truth …. that is cautious in being a voice, yet proactively fervent in service to being blessed to be a blessing …. being reflectors of Light and givers of Life. In short, being a voice, yet setting the standard with purity, not one blended with darkness.
So it was that Jesus announced His mission of imparting the Kingdom message, underscored by this word from Isaiah:
“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Isa 9:2
Kingdom Thinking as the First Step
Kingdom thinking and influence releases and imparts this Light. Without Kingdom thinking, this Light is only a glimmer. Kingdom thinking gains momentum when it transcends into the culture. It is at the core of Life that flows from God’s supernatural domain.
Recognizing and adhering to Kingdom thinking is the very prelude to the authority needed for influence. Jeremiah very presciently posed the essential question: “Who has stood in the council of the Lord to see and hear His word, or who has paid attention to His word and listened?” (Jer 23:18) Then Jesus posed the other side of the coin in embracing this essential Kingdom dynamic: “He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of Him who sent him is true and there is no falsehood in him.” (John 7:19)
It punctuates the wisdom of Solomon in the role he notes concerning the challenge to the influence of the blessing of the upright.
“The blessing of favor resting upon the righteous influences a city to lift it higher, but wicked leaders tear it apart by their words.” Proverbs 11:11 tPt
Combined Anointings as the Underlying Strategy
The vital step and strategy of combined anointings requires both maturity and discernment. The maturity and discernment needed to push back on the religious spirits and recognize the central issues of those who love Jesus and recognize the need for the resurrection power to overcome darkness and death. It comes when brethren gather and combine their faith in seeking the Lord.
It includes the maturity and discernment to recognize the difference between enemies and those God has deemed and judged as the wicked. A subtlety deserving the insight from another post, but a reality requiring the same wisdom demonstrated by both Daniel and Joseph in their very strategic worldly assignments.
Persecuted brethren around the world recognize the potency that results when in simplicity brethren of different ilks combine their anointings in prayer in confronting darkness. There is a birthing that takes place when that happens, as higher dimensions are tapped.
Influence, Voices, Culture, Strategic Alliances
As we prepare ourselves for the season upon us, the influence, the voices that target the culture will realize exponential results through strategic alliances. Strategic alliances beyond what we have seen in even the significant developments of my generation …. from the birthing of Israel …. to the restoration of God’s supernatural power in healing …. to the restoration of Jerusalem into Jewish hands …. to vital prayer movements … to the shared purpose reflected in the alignment between Jew and Gentile, between Israel and the Church.
So today we face a quantum shift in the spiritual atmosphere …. a shift designed to impact cultures. It is a shift that will entail unusual strategic alliances, that will give birth to even greater opportunity. The result of which will penetrate the darkness with His glorious Light.
Years ago I was grappling with an issue I had been trying to fix, when I received a phone call from a friend who walked in a high-level of spiritual authority. In explaining my frustration, his response was simply: “What’s your problem? That’s what apostles do. They fix things …. and put things in God’s order.”
And that is the crux of influence AND the mandate for being a voice to impart the culture of Life. That’s the task of employing combined anointings …. in prayer gatherings that tap an authority in the spiritual atmosphere with Joseph-Daniel mandates that pierce the darkness, even the deep darkness, impacting this world’s cultures. Indeed, by the blessing of the influence of the upright, the cities and nations will be lifted by His Light.
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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner of the Joseph-calling and God’s economy message, being an international voice for the higher dimensions of spiritual game-changers and intercessors since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation, the Strategic Intercession Global Network [SIGN] and designer of the God’s Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program and the Jewish Business Secrets YouTube series, Mr. Ruddick’s messages equip leaders and economic community builders with strategy where God’s light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.
He is author of “The Joseph-Daniel Calling;” “Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;” “The Heart of a King;” “Something More;” “Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;” “Leadership by Anointing;” and “Mantle of Fire,” which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks and www.BarnesandNoble.com.
Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to 3838 South Wabash Street, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at https://strategic-initiatives.org/donate/
2025 Copyright Morris Ruddick — info@strategic-initiatives.org
Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For more information go to https://strategic-initiatives.org
