We are standing on a precipice right now. It is a precipice of choice. Will we choose to see and agree with what God is saying about what is happening in the world at this time? Or will we choose to see and agree with what satan is saying about what is happening in the world at this time? We can be sure that there are two narratives being presented right now – satan’s description of how the ‘end times’ are going to play out, and God’s description of how the ‘end times’ are going to play out. And only God’s narrative will stand.

Whenever God gave a warning to the Israelites in His word, they always had a choice. They could choose life, or they could choose death. Whatever narrative we lend our voices to at this time demonstrates which we are choosing. The power of your voice as a royal son or daughter of the Most High God is of utmost importance at this point in world history. In fact, it is the thing the enemy is going after the most. If he can convince God’s people to be in fear and speak out the fearful narrative of satan, he can use our own God-given power against us. Do NOT give satan your voice and agreement!

Many have become utterly familiar with satan’s end time plan – the rising of the antichrist, the mark of the beast, war, the helplessness and destruction of the people of God. And satan has sure come a long way in the setting up all of the makings of this narrative.

Yet it is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of men to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2). Doesn’t that tell you that the plan of God is not going to be the thing that is being shouted from the rooftops? It never is! Think about the most popular theologies that the church has declared over its existence or the things the world has declared over time – and it’s pretty much never proven to be the plan of God! So what makes us think that the commonly understood and accepted end time theology right now is the one which aligns with the plan and narrative of God?!?! Trust me, His true plan is hidden.

Just like the plan to bring Jesus into the world. It was hidden throughout the entire Bible. There are clues to it interspersed throughout it. If you look for them now, with hindsight, you can find a revelation of Jesus in every chapter of the Bible. Yet nowhere did it say, ‘Jesus is going to come down from heaven as a man free from sin,  then satan is going to crucify Him, which is going to give God legal access for the salvation of all mankind.’ If it had, satan would have known exactly what the consequences of him killing Jesus would have been, and as the word of God says, he would never have crucified Him. These scriptures in 1 Corinthians 2:7 – 9 are extremely important for us to understand:

V7 No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.

V8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

And it’s the same for us now. The wisdom and strategic plan of God is hidden, the rulers of this world do not understand it, but by the time it’s unfolded, He will be glorified, and the end result will be so amazingly stunning, that no eye will ever have seen it before… no heart will ever have imagined just how glorious it will be! THAT’S the God narrative for this time – it’s not fear, death, destruction or defeat.

So don’t look for what’s obvious. Look for what’s hidden. And when you yourself meet God in the hiddenness of the secret place, you’ll discover the glory of man. You’ll see what His plan is as clearly as you can now see the revelation of Jesus throughout the books of the Bible before He ever came to the earth. In fact, HIS plan will become so clear to you, that it will be clearer than anything you are seeing and hearing with your natural eyes and ears around you at the moment.

Why is His plan not common knowledge? Because God has concealed the matter of His intended end time narrative and only the ones who are fully submitted to Him – the glorious sons arising – and are searching out what He is saying… therefore, they are the only ones who are hearing it.

This is not a special invitation for only a handful of people – it is an invitation which God has given to every single one of His children, to be the glorious sons who will seek Him and search out the hidden things, the glory of man… yet few have accepted His invitation because it requires total submission to Him. “Whatever you say to me to do, Lord, my answer is Yes before you even ask it.” If you cannot truthfully say that to the Lord, you literally will not be able to see what He wants to show you.

Of those I personally know who can wholeheartedly say this… the ones who are living in true intimacy with the Lord in the secret place across the nation and nations, I’m hearing great excitement and anticipation at what the Lord is doing. Yes, there are warnings about things we need to be prepared for, to walk through in this time, but the narrative of the day is one of victory. This is in stark contrast to the ‘end time’ narrative which has been espoused by the church for generations. It’s absurd to think that if Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world, that we have no further hope than to hang on until things get so bad we can’t take it anymore and then Jesus comes on a rescue mission to save his people.

No, He has already done that! He came on a rescue mission to save those who were helpless… and gave them His very spirit and made them glorious sons of God… the very glorious sons that all creation has been longing to see. HE PUT HIS ‘IT IS FINISHED’ SPIRIT INTO OUR HEARTS, SO THAT WE COULD BE ‘IT IS FINISHED PEOPLE.’ HE HAS GIVEN US AN ASSIGNMENT, TO SEE THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATIONS INTO THE GLORY AND KINGDOM OF GOD. AND WE’RE GOING TO FINISH IT.

Someone said to me recently, “I’m not in fear. I know that God has it in hand. I know He’s got something up His sleeve.” Yes He does! But you’ll never believe what it is! The ‘something’ that He has up His sleeves is US! Theology has trained us for a long time that we’re just waiting on God to turn up, and even by a ‘revival’ rather than transformation mentality. Yet WE ARE NOT WAITING ON GOD! GOD IS WAITING ON US TO REALISE WHO REALLY LIVES INSIDE OF US AND TO BE THE GLORIOUS SONS THAT ALL CREATION IS LONGING FOR.

The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! Romans 8:19 (TPT)

When we do, the Lord is going to be able to bring His promised justice to the earth.

Here is My servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations. Matthew 12:8

Do we think the only time God is going to display His justice towards satan is when he throws him in the pit? No! He will humiliate him first! I adore what Johnny Enlow wrote of this from God’s perspective to satan. He said, “I’m going to defeat you. But I’m going to defeat you with my kids.” The ones satan has stolen, killed and destroyed from will be the channel through which much of the justice will flow. He made us in His image for a reason and we’re going to find out just what this means.

The threat to God’s glorious narrative comes through a false martyr spirit which is operating through many in the church today. It is a spirit which takes joy in seeing things look as though they are worse and worse, because it deceives people into thinking that the only way people can come into the kingdom of God or be saved is when things are so bad they have no other choice… or they think that everything getting ‘worse and worse’ means that the rescue mission is at hand and we can get out of here and just move on to heaven. But that’s not God’s narrative! He intends to see the assignment that was given to us be completed.

What we need is some Joshua and Caleb vision. Do you know who the other 10 spies were – the ones who saw only giants and not the promises of God? They were the LEADERS of the tribes of Israel (see Numbers 13:3). Just because someone with a spotlight and a microphone is saying something, doesn’t mean it’s of God! We must discern what is really happening and the only way we’re going to do that is to get into the secret place with our King, with no preconceived ideas and filters and hear what HE is saying. You might have to throw away a theology you’ve believed for a lifetime – who cares! Be the son who will walk in the glory of searching out a matter.

God has His eyes on us. We are on the precipice of choice. He has set life and death before us. This is a pivotal time. It’s the time of transition. What comes out of your mouth is your next move and it clearly shows whether you’re agreeing with heaven or hell. This world is the Lord’s inheritance and we are co-heirs with Him (Rom 8:17).

This morning as I was praising, the Lord led me to Mark 4 in the NLT and it is worded the ‘Parable of the growing seed.’ Note the word GROWING.

V26 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but He does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed and finally the grain ripens.

Did you get that? The Kingdom of God is CONTINUALLY GROWING! It is CONTINUALLY INCREASING! It is as the Lord showed me some time ago, when Isaiah talked of Jesus coming, he said, and of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:7). Do you see it – NO END to the INCREASE! Jesus brought the Kingdom of God to the earth and it has been continually increasing and expanding from that point on. When does it say that there is an exception to that scripture? When does it say that there will be a time when the Kingdom of God will be overcome by darkness and the people filled with the spirit of the Living God will not be able to take it any more and Jesus will have to come to rescue them before it’s all too much? It doesn’t!

IT WOULD BE AGAINST THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN INCREASE AND EXPAND.

I remember when I was on a flight over to the USA to attend the Transform our World Global Conference, and the Lord impressed upon me that He has commanded us this: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). This isn’t a suggestion – it’s a COMMANDMENT to us! We are the carriers of the ever-increasing Kingdom of God and there is never a command given without also the ability to carry it out. I’d say the ‘It is finished’ spirit of Christ already living within us is our ability! So how can we possible be overcome by evil unless we choose to partner with the belief that we can be?

So what’s really going on at the moment then? What’s really happening? The Lord said to me this morning, WITH EXPANSION COMES EXPOSURE.

The Kingdom of God has actually been expanding through His people on the earth. Many have come to understand that we are actually to be strategically positioned in places in the marketplace and take back every facet of the world for the Kingdom of God. This has been happening, after generations of us being virtually absent on these fronts (because we were preparing for a rapture and had no idea of sonship). So we’ve been taking back the ground that had been given over to satan… the entrenchments and strategies of many generations. For many of us, we didn’t even really know just how deep the entrenchments were because the darkness was so well hidden, but as we moved into these spaces and prayed and decreed the word of the Lord over those areas, the light of Holy Spirit started shining on them. And when the light starts shining, the darkness must reveal itself! And when it does, what happens?

The demons MUST flee. Yet remember that demons screamed when Jesus commanded them to come out of people. That’s why there’s a lot of noise going on at the moment… a lot of demonic screaming… a lot of smokescreens and distractions. But none of that changes the word of the Lord, and those who know His voice recognise what all of this noise actually is. It’s not something to be fearful of – it’s something to be excited about! The entrenchments are being exposed and they know they have to bow to the name of Jesus, the name that is above all names!

Don’t be fooled about what is happening right now. IT’S NOT HELL ON EARTH WHICH IS ABOUT TO HIT – IT’S HEAVEN ON EARTH WHICH IS ABOUT TO HIT!

There’s a pretty good chance that those who are hearing this noise for what it is have some Ezekiel 37 practice already under their belts. It has been a long and difficult preparation for many, who’ve known what it is to be able to look at a valley of dry, dead bones, and yet have the wisdom NOT to speak out what they see in the natural, but rather ask the Lord what HE sees and instead speak ONLY that.

If you are one who has gone through this training, you will understand what I am saying. What is happening in the world is no different. Don’t be shaken. Don’t be moved. Don’t look at the looting, killing, manipulation and sickening evil and say, ‘Dry, dead bones.’ But look to the Lord of all the earth and ask Him what HE sees. Then even when He says the most glorious things, which are in complete contrast to the evidence presented, AGREE WITH AND DECREE WHAT HE IS SAYING! IT IS THE TRUTH! IT IS THE TRUTH! Everything else is satan’s narrative and it’s all a lie.

Will we have to walk through some things that look pretty dark in the journey to seeing heaven hit? I believe we will. But remember, He takes us THROUGH the valley of the SHADOW of death (Psalm 23:4). As Holy Spirit has reminded me that even when death and destruction was all over the land of Egypt, THERE WAS ALWAYS LIGHT IN GOSHEN.

During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of God lived. Exodus 10:23 (NLT)

Does that sound like lockdown to you? But it was light as usual for the people of God because the blood of the lamb was on the doorposts of their homes. Should we be prepared? Yes, we should definitely be listening to Holy Spirit and getting the blueprint for the doorposts of our homes, because we’re going to need it. But should we be afraid? Absolutely not! The Lord is on the throne and the light is in our homes.

So today you get to choose in this precipice of choice. Are you going to see the giants in the land and speak about them? Or are you going to become familiar with and declare the word of the Lord no matter what you see? Many people have become familiar with ‘end times’ prophecies… and yet know very little about ‘end time glory’ prophecies. The word of the Lord is that the Kingdom of God is continually increasing and expanding and that the glorious sons are arising. We still haven’t seen the world be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). We still haven’t seen the glorious sons arising (Rom 8:19). We haven’t yet seen the fulfilment of Micah 4:1 – 4 and many nations streaming to the mountain of the house of the Lord (which I believe is the Kingdom of God) wanting to know His ways, and nations turning their weapons into tools. We haven’t seen the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). But WE WILL. It’s all coming. It’s all in His plan. It’s all part of His narrative and He asks us today to come into absolute, wholehearted agreement with it, and to come completely OUT of agreement with everything else. Stop feeding on the news and the fear. FEED ON HIM. Stop taking in satan’s narrative, and instead seek out God’s. It’s time for us to believe Who lives inside of us and to step into His assignments for us! It’s time to get into the secret place and search out the secrets of HIS plan and align our mouths and actions with it. It’s time for the glorious sons to arise. It’s time for the restoration of all things. It is time to CHOOSE.

By Ainsley Shepherd