This is Your Land

We recently had prophetic words spoken during our worship service that brought added depth and a richness to something the Lord has been speaking to me about: occupying the land. I had been asking, what does it means to occupy the land? What land? How? And often, in my limited thinking, I would hear physical geographic locations. Those locations are important and valid. However, the Lord was pointing out that occupying the land was about something much smaller yet as important and valid. Our own souls/spirits. This is what I felt God was showing me about land. In this case, it is the place each one of us occupies as an individual. He brought to my attention words from a song that say, “I was made for love, I was made for love, I was made for loving you.” That is the foundational condition of our souls/spirit: Love. We were created in love and for love.

Occupying, according to Webster’s, is “to take or hold possession or control of”. Now, I am not saying that we must save ourselves or become “religious” or rigid in how we live, not at all. But there are aspects to occupying our lands that are the tools and or skills of partnering with God. I don’t know about you, but I know for me, being able to receive love has been a journey. Being able to affirm without hesitation that, “I was made for love…I was made for loving you,” as the absolute truth has been a process. So does that mean I had bad soil, bad land? Nope. It means I had other occupants besides the truth living in my land. It means I had to learn to cultivate the land by using kingdom skills and tools.

For example, how often has this happened to you? Fear enters your territory. Maybe it was about starting a job, or losing a job. COVID. Financial collapse. Family strife. Health issues. It really does NOT matter what the event is that introduced the intruder or the trespasser into your territory. The intruder is not the event. The intruder is the fear that accompanies the event. Fear tells us what we’re facing is too hard. Fear taunts us into believing there won’t be enough. Or that our families are too estranged from God. We begin to dwell on fear and before too long it is occupying our land with authority. (I chose fear as an illustration because I am well acquainted with its sulfuric stench but there are many other spiritual intruders that try to set up and occupy your land and my land.)

So what do we do? We practice kingdom skills and tools. Some tools include inner healing of those wounded places; declarations and decrees over dreams unrealized; praying/interceding for further instruction and release of the kingdom; worship to set the atmosphere of love in your land. Practicing kingdom skills might sound odd. Yet, think of skills this way: being courageous as situations arise rather than pulling away. Agreeing with God’s perspective of rest rather than striving is a kingdom skill. Standing on the truth that we were made for love, instead of trying to earn love/validation/acceptance is a kingdom skill. A skill improves with practice. It grows in strength and effectiveness as it is chosen and used. Practicing kingdom skills and using the tools to occupy the land will root out the trespassers and keep the soil cultivated.

What I am not saying is that if we do these practices we will not experience anything negative or challenging. No, because we live in a world that is full of challenges. But utilizing these practices will keep the negative from taking root in our lands and allow love to flourish in the soil of our hearts.