PROPHETIC STEWARDSHIP - (c) Morris E. Ruddick

Morris Ruddick

PROPHETIC STEWARDSHIP (c) Morris E. Ruddick "Then the king said, 'Bring me a sword. Divide the living child  in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.' Then the  woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned  with compassion for her son; and she said, 'O my lord, give her  the living child, and by no means kill him!' But the other said,  'Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.'"  1 Kings 3:24-26 Solomon's wisdom in discerning the true mother is also a key to  discerning true leaders. True leaders have the compassion that  is willing to face personal sacrifice. It's the mark of stewardship.  The perspective of the wannabees and unseasoned will tend  toward being inwardly focused and driven by personal,  wrong reasons. True biblical stewardship is just the opposite. Prophetic  stewardship bears an even higher standard. Kingdom  leadership pivots on stewardship that seeks the community  good. That may require a decisiveness that is neither  popular nor comfortable. It demands a basis that  understands the true heart of God and the long-term  prophetic implications. Joseph's service to Pharaoh began with a time of preparation.  Scripture indicates that these years of preparation were  a fruitful time, a time of abundance. Yet, what was  required to gather and store the grain demanded discipline.  It no doubt involved some belt-tightening for everyone.  The tough standards and decisions required were not for  the feint of heart or those with the need to be accepted. Yet, when the years of abundance were over and famine  came, then both the decisions and the discipline became  even harder. Joseph's stewardship involved a balance  between maintaining order, adjusting to the widespread  famine, while establishing Egypt as solution-provider.  It required a level of administration that not only  was gifted, but drew from God's wisdom for the decisions  being made. Egypt, under Joseph, became the safe-place, the place of God's  order when everything else was falling into disorder. That took  tough-minded decision-making to set up and no doubt even tougher  decisions to maintain and administrate. Genesis 45 reveals that as  the famine proceeded, that the money failed. Prophetically God had  shown Joseph the need to gather and store the grain. Because the  staple with value was grain, Joseph was in the driver's seat. Clearly  Joseph heard from God. With the abundance of grain, Joseph cornered the livestock market.  The people of Egypt remained fed, as Egypt's influence with those  around them increased as a prepared-provider and a refuge during  the turbulence. As things deteriorated, the people sold their land to  Joseph for the food needed to feed their families. The famine was  severe. No doubt the value of land had also dropped. Yet, Joseph  the good steward, the prophetic steward, brought the people into  the cities to live. "When the money failed, Joseph bought the livestock;  then the land; then brought the people into the cities."  Gen 47:15-25 The suggestion is that there was safety and community order,  again a refuge, within the boundaries of the cities. Joseph maintained  the order needed during a severely difficult time, kept the people fed  and kept them safe. Following the famine, Joseph restored the people  to their lands requiring only a fifth on their produce in return. The Prophetic Dimension Operating in the prophetic means there are often times when we  "see" or perceive things that we want to act on. However, the  prophetic calling requires a lot more by way of self-control than  the ordinary. It's too important. The mature prophetic response  is from those who rule their own spirits. The prophetic is first hearing from God. However, when we hear  from God another key required layer is the issue of alignment and  seeing things from the stance of what God is doing. It's becoming  a participator in His destiny-shaping purposes and agendas. It's  entering a dimension of God's big-picture beyond ourselves. Yet, we can sometimes get the big-picture without seeing how God  is getting us there. So, operating in the prophetic requires a continual  checking-in with Him for the "interims." That's because none of us are  at the place to where we nail it at each step, despite our best and  most valiant efforts to do so. One of the hardest things to learn is to NOT force issues.  The flip side of that is holding steady when you don't yet  see the change in the natural. Yet, faith and faithfulness  are determined by those who grasp what is underway  in the unseen world. When we are in a place where there is something that  God is doing that we haven't fully or even partially  discerned, it represents a place of vulnerability.  Well intentioned people unwittingly walk into cross-fires  of judgment by yielding to the soulish in these interims. Judgment can also be triggered because of ones who,  being convinced of their "rightness" regarding something,  don't have the big-picture quite right. They lack a full  discernment of what God is doing or their place in it.  What results is creating a short-circuiting or backlash by  which they and others are hurt. Prophetic stewardship  requires keeping one's spiritual antennas high and at  the times one is provoked over something, to back  off until they hear specifically what the Lord has to  say about it. Cost of the Mantle The dreams Joseph received from God as a young man  came at a high cost. They cost Joseph everything that  had been dear to him, including his freedom. Yet, Joseph r ose to the standard that God had set for him. THAT took  decisions that refused to give in to the soulish. It took serious  discipline, humility and maturity. Not only did Joseph demonstrate a right spirit; but as a  good steward, he took it a step further in assuming  the mantle of his great-grandfather Abraham: to be  blessed to be a blessing. Long before his promotion to sit  alongside of Pharaoh, with nothing to go on in terms of  position, Joseph distinguished himself with Potiphar and  then the jailer with both his influence and the stewardship  of the mantle he bore. The result came from a right spirit that stewarded the  blessings of God in such a way that everyone around  Joseph saw that God was real, through the demonstration  of that reality through Joseph. Yet, it came at a cost;  a very high cost. In the face of losing everything; in the face  of slavery; in the face of unrighteous spiritual backlash; Joseph  maintained his faithfulness as God's servant-steward. Gravity of the Mantle Leaders, who truly understand the times and know  what to do, demonstrate a maturity that is above the  soulish. They don't quibble or second guess when tough  decisions are required. They guard their own hearts  diligently and do not give in to soulish machinations.  Yielding to the soulish is what opens the door  for the demonic. The contrast is demonstrated in Isaiah 22 with the  story of two leaders, one whose decisions were  short-sighted and driven by personal, soulish  matters and another whose stewardship embraced  the long-term opportunity resident in the heart of God. "Go to Shebna, who is over the house, and say:  Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently;  there you shall die. Then it shall be in that day,  that I will call My servant Eliakim; I will clothe  him with your robe and strengthen him with  your belt; I will commit your responsibility  into his hand. He shall be a father to the  inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of  Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay  on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one  shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.  I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and  he will become a glorious throne to  his father's house." Isaiah 22:15-23 Authority of the Prophetic The authority of God for change is released through  the prophetic. The story of Joseph reflects a progression  of episodes in his life tied to how he heard and obeyed  the voice of the Lord. This simple foundation in many  untenable situations became the catalyst for a owner  and an authority that was recognized as being from God  by a whole range of non-believers, including those in  authority. That prophetic authority was the means by which God  used Joseph to shift the spiritual climate within Egypt's  power infrastructure. It set the stage for the prophetic  alignment needed for Joseph's apostolic gifts to harness,  redirect and then steward the resources of Egypt to  accomplish God's purposes for the future of His people. Discernment and Prophetic Alignment Joseph's tenure in Egypt is laced with examples of  Joseph's significant prophetic gifts. Prophetic stewardship  will unmask the intentions of the hearts of those who  serve a role, whether for good or for evil, in the initiatives  being stewarded. The story of the baker and the wine-taster exemplifies how,  during Joseph's weakest hour in the natural, that God  used him prophetically to judge and establish the removal  of one key man from Pharaoh's court; and to restore and  set up another, who became instrumental at the right  time in aligning things for Joseph's promotion. Similarly, Joseph's scrutiny of his brothers was not retribution,  but the need to see the repentance that was needed for  Joseph to establish parameters with those who once  betrayed him. By the time his brothers came back on the  scene, Joseph was in the full flow of his very considerable  calling. He did not need the old issues and patterns of behavior  demonstrated by his betrayers to manifest and disrupt in any  way his role as God's servant-steward. Still, the discernment of Joseph was not an end in itself,  but the means of aligning things first spiritually and then  in the natural, for God's purposes. Stewarding the will of  God begins with resetting the spiritual climate. When the  spiritual climate is properly aligned, it allows God's order  to be established. Only then, will the stable flow come  needed to counteract the forces of judgment and the  tentacles of evil. The Prophetic Steward The prophetic steward is the one who maps out, builds  up and brings increase in the face of the enemy's schemes  to divide, confuse and destroy. I have previously noted an organization I was a part of  many years ago. The standard for entry was high.  The standard to be maintained was even higher.  Members of this organization became known by the axiom  of "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."  It is unfortunate within the Body that many confuse  soft standards of the world with the level in which,  we as a Body are expected to operate. Our standard, like  that of Joseph's is higher. It's much, much higher. I have had the joy of working with two men of God who  operate with this higher standard. They each are very  different in their leadership styles, yet very similar in anointing.  Each reaches hard for God's heart and God's will on the  issues before them. Both are unusual in their roles as  prophetic stewards. One is incredibly gifted in discerning the gifts and will of  God operating in people, with the ability to draw forth  and put those gifts into operation. The other is a very  high-level administrator, whose ability to discern the  big-picture and then mobilize leaders to address it, is  timely and strategic. One is a model for the Body locally;  the other globally. Both are incredible peacemakers, a very high standard in  the progressive maturity unveiled by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.  They each have a gift for tapping and aligning things spiritually  to establish God's order and to release the supernatural for change.  We need more of that standard. We've entered a time that Jesus spoke of as when even the  very elect would be deceived. It is a time when the  convergence of good and evil will trigger both judgment  and change. Prophetic stewardship sees the alignments  and change in the spirit from God's perspective. It then  navigates and anticipates the responses needed to shape  and release God's purposes. The Lord Jesus also told us that many are called, but  few are chosen. The criterion for leadership, established by  Solomon's wisdom, begins with sacrifice and compassion. It is evidenced by those who not only face, but traverse and  emerge whole from the fires. It pivots on an unpolluted  prophetic stewardship that pays the cost to unswervingly  maintain the steps needed to change the spiritual climate  and to establish God's order. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may  see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven."  Matthew 5:16 ___________________________________________________ Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for  the call of God in the marketplace since the mid-90s.  As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer  of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program,  Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community  builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and  non-Western world. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "God's Economy,  Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;"  and "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World," which address the  mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to  impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available  in print and e-versions from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com  and other popular outlets.   Mr. Ruddick is also a contributor in the just released five-volume  "Aligning with the Apostolic," edited by Bruce Cook with Forwards  by Peter Wagner and Bill Hamon. It is available through  www.KingdomHouse.net. Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is  a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled  by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors  whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the least of  these our brethren. Checks on US banks should be made out  to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237  or email us at sign@strategicintercession.org for access  information on our secure web-site. 2013 Copyright Morris Ruddick - sign@strategicintercession.org Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a  SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network  (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting  strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For  previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org