Prophetic Forecast

Insights for Navigating the Future to Align with Heaven's Agenda

• Éditeur: Chosen Books
• Année: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781493435876
• Sujet: Théologie et religion
• Sous-sujet: Dénominations chrétiennes

Everything we know is changing. The church is changing, too. New realities are arising as we prepare for the coming great awakening and harvest. Where do you fit in? What do you need to be equipped to plot your course for the future? Through biblical teaching and Spirit-inspired insights, rising prophetic leader Joshua Giles unveils God's plans and strategies to help you align with heaven's agenda to prepare you for what lies ahead. You will be encouraged to · unlock the power of the "Issachar anointing" to gear up for the future
· get ready for God's next major move in your life and nation
· learn how to access and administer the promises of God
· overcome fear of the future as God's plan is uncovered for you to thrive
· rise in power and authority as one of God's chosen ones
· reset, realign, and reposition yourself for divine purpose In this time of global contradiction and confusion, you will gain powerful prophetic insight to navigate the future according to God's plan.

1
Architects of the Future

I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.

Hosea 12:10

The future belongs to those who have vision—the spiritual eyes to see it. The Bible is laced with concepts, imagery and prophecies of the future. Throughout the ages, people have searched to know the future and to understand it before it occurs. Many have felt that to know or understand the future would unlock their dreams and help them gain success in life. Although capturing the future has profound blessings, to know it is also a burden because you are faced with the challenge of what to do with what you know. The Bible reveals that God ordained and called some to be prophets (see Ephesians 4:11). Prophets are those who speak on behalf of God in the earth. There are different levels or ranks of prophets. Some can walk so closely with God that they speak as God’s voice in the earth.

Amos 3:7 explains, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Prophets are given the rare gift to know the mysteries of time and the secrets of heaven. The Lord may reveal His heart, meaning what He desires to come into being. He may also reveal what actually will happen in the future, although that outcome may not be His desire. God put spiritual laws in place that govern our world, and one supreme law is that He gave humanity dominion over the earth (see Genesis 1:26–28). There are times throughout history when God has intervened in the affairs of people, and sometimes He still does, but generally people’s decisions influence their environment. This is key for us to understand, because due to people’s choices, many outcomes will occur that are not the plan of God.

I came to the realization that God had called me as a prophet at a very young age, because I would have dreams and visions concerning family or life events. The events I would dream or the visions I would see would happen exactly as I had seen them. Around the age of seven, my experiences led me to go to my church leaders and tell them about the things I had been seeing and hearing. These leaders affirmed the calling that was upon my life. Later, I began hearing the audible voice of the Lord. God would speak to me concerning personal, community or even world events. I would share these things in church services, and they would come to pass.

I have been operating in public prophetic ministry for over eighteen years. I have had the rare opportunity to prophesy to heads of state, government leaders, well-known individuals and the like. Throughout my years of ministry, I have found that God loves communicating with His people. He desires to connect with us on a personal level. It is hard to fathom, but He loves us so much! The future belongs to those who love God and are called for His purpose.

We all carry the future within us; most of us are just not aware of it. Even if you are not a prophet, the prophetic essence of God dwells within the hearts of human beings. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” God has placed eternity in people’s hearts. What does this mean? The word eternity in the original Hebrew translation of this verse means the future.1 God has placed the future in your heart. Your heart is the central organ that pumps blood throughout your entire body. This means that the future is coursing through your veins. You are an eternal being having this natural experience of living life on earth.

This is why we are able to call those things forth that are not, as though they are (see Romans 4:17). As a prophet, I foretell, which is to declare things before they occur. I also forthtell, however, which is to speak God’s words in order to create something that is not currently in existence. Every prophetic believer has this same ability. Secular societies have taken this ancient biblical principle and currently call it affirmations and manifesting what they desire. But this principle has its roots in the Word of God. John 15:7 states, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” If you are aligned with God and His agenda for you, if you have true relationship with Him, then you will call things forth and they will be done.

The Spiritual Side of “Futures Studies”

To know that you are carrying the future is an amazing thing. In the fields of sociology, technology and even theology there is a subject matter called futures studies. In the secular world, futures studies is used as a tool for forecasting, tracking environmental trends and exploring how people will live and work in the future. On the spiritual side of this, the Holy Spirit guides us on what is to come in the future. I want to use the practical example of futures studies to show you how to navigate the future that you see spiritually.

There are four main approaches to futures studies, or foresight. They are the predictive approach, the interpretive approach, the critical approach and the participatory action learning approach. These all have both secular and spiritual applications. Let’s look at each of them individually and talk about how they can relate to your study of the future in the spiritual.

The Predictive Approach

First, there is the predictive approach. Throughout time, people have tried every way possible, from astrology to New Age practices, to predict the future. These methods have proven deficient. Although some of the information gleaned from them can be accurate, they have lacked the fullness of the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit in Scripture is called the Ancient of Days. He is known as the Spirit of wisdom in Proverbs chapter 8, and He is the Spirit of truth. He was there before the foundations of the world were perfectly fashioned. It is only through Him that we access eternity and heaven’s mysteries.

In our modern times, academia seeks to predict the future by studying the trends and using systematic models that can forecast possible outcomes. In prophetic ministry, the predictive aspect of foretelling does not use computer systems or man-made tools; rather, we can predict outcomes based on the Holy Spirit’s leading. The predictive aspect is part of the prophetic function, but it is not the central aspect of it. To predict is to say what will be a consequence of something or what will happen in the future. Because God is omniscient, He knows the future, and His foresight is 100 percent accurate.

In Scripture, God gave His predictive counsel to people through four specific modes: dreams, visions, prophecy and perception. These are four vehicles that carry prophets and prophetic people into the future. Let’s discuss these in more detail for a moment. Dreams are an essential way that God communicates. The Bible is filled with colorful, expressive and prophetic dreams. Some scholars believe that one third of the Bible is written about dreams or their interpretation. Why would God communicate through dreams, and why is the Bible decorated with them? This makes perfect sense, because sleep studies have shown that one third of a human life is spent asleep. If God cannot get through to us when we are awake, then when we are asleep is an opportune time for Him to speak. In the sleep state, the mind is unconscious and there is nothing hindering spiritual communication. The Bible says it this way:

For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.

Job 33:14–18 NIV

Visions are similar to dreams, except that they occur when a person is awake. Bible verses are also filled with visions. A vision can show up as simply as a picture in the mind, or as vividly as a scene of a movie playing out in front of you. I can remember having one of my first visions when I was much younger. It was so real that I thought I was actually seeing a certain person in front of me. Throughout my years of prophetic ministry, I have seen many visions of the future, which I have shared publicly, and which have come to pass. I believe that you can walk so closely with the Spirit of God that seeing in the spiritual realm becomes a regular part of your life. Having a vision does not have to be a deep or spooky experience. The Holy Spirit is so real, however, and the spirit world is just as real as this natural world. Actually, everything in this natural world only exists because of the spiritual world.

One of the most intriguing expressions of God is prophecy. Prophecy has existed throughout time. It has been recorded throughout every generation and in every earthly age or period of time. Authentic prophecy has its origin in the Bible. True prophecy comes from God. He speaks to those whom He chooses, and we relay it to others. Yes, God is still speaking today, and He desires to communicate with you. The voice of the Lord can be as small as a thought or a whisper, or as loud as thunder. Although I will be releasing prophecy throughout this entire book, my goal is also to unlock a deeper prophetic dimension within you. You may or may not already be identified as a prophet as you read this. If you are not, it is important to realize that just because you are not a prophet does not mean God cannot speak to you.

In Numbers 11 in the Old Testament, God told Moses to gather seventy elders whom He would then place His Spirit upon. God’s Spirit came down upon them like a cloud, and they began to prophesy. In verse 29, Moses said, “I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (NIV). In 1 Corinthians 14:5 in the New Testament, the apostle Paul echoed the same sentiments as Moses: “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified” (NIV). Through these verses, we can gather that God desires all His people to be prophetic types. He desires that all would prophesy and carry the essence of a prophet. Prophets are stewards of the mysteries of God. And God wants you to know His mysteries and to hear His secret thoughts about the future. This does not mean that every believer holds the office of a prophet—meaning someone who is specifically called as a prophet as part of the fivefold ministry (according to Ephesians 4:11–12). Yet all believers carry a prophetic essence. You are God’s prophetic people.

The last vehicle for communicating the future is perception. Scripture relates instances where someone would perceive what God wanted or what would happen. Perception is spiritual sight or vision. It is in the realm of supernatural knowledge; this is when you know what will happen in the future because God has put it in your heart. There was no audible voice, just a spiritual perceiving or knowing. We see one example of this vehicle or mode at work in 2 Samuel 5:12 (KJV): “And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.” When God does not speak audibly concerning a matter, and when there is no dream or vision, there is still spiritual perception. There are times in your life when you will perceive what your next move should be. This is an assurance and a knowing that can only come from God.

The Interpretive Approach

Going back to the idea of futures studies, the second approach is interpretive. This approach is not based on forecasting, but on contrasting competing ideas or images of the future. Spiritually speaking, there are infinite futures for your personal life. Your outcome is in part controlled by your decisions. Your decisions determine your destiny. God gives you options. He will never force you to choose a specific path, although He makes known to you His will for your life. Your future is in your willingness to surrender to His will.

In huge decisions that directly affect your destiny, such as your career, whom you marry or what you do with your life, God must be consulted. You must even acknowledge Him in the small decisions. When a decision does not directly affect your destiny, however, you get to choose. God is less concerned with the kind of car you drive and more concerned with the condition of your soul. When it comes to decisions He has placed in your hands, He has given you creativity, innovation and an imagination so that—combined with the wisdom of God—you can dream, you can envision and you can choose the path you will take.

A core part of the prophetic dimension is the ability to create the future that you see in your heart. You do this with your thinking, your decisions and your words. This is why repentance, or a change of mind, is so important. When our mind is renewed through the Word and Spirit of God, our thinking follows. Then we speak the words of God.

Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Words come from the invisible realm—the spiritual realm (the heart and mind). The example in this verse shows that words frame worlds. There are infinite worlds in the universe, and God is the author of all of them. He gave us that same creative power to frame our world. What we speak determines the infrastructure and the framework for the reality that we live in. Choose your words carefully because they create your reality. This is not to be confused with a simple and faulty “name it and claim it” theology, of course. But when your heart and behavior align with God’s Word, you can speak what God has said and it will manifest in your life.

The Critical and Participatory Action Approaches

The third approach in futures studies is called the critical approach. It is the concept that asks who benefits from the realization of certain futures. And the fourth approac...