THE BLESSINGS OF ASHER

Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties. Genesis 49:20

SCOTT MCCONAUGHEY

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ... 2 CHAPTER 1 PROPHETIC REVELATION.. 8 CHAPTER 2 THE TRIBE OF ASHER... 14 CHAPTER 3 THE PROPHETIC BLESSINGS OF ASHER 17 CHAPTER 4 ANNA, A PROPHETIC PICTURE OF ASHER 22 CHAPTER 5 GO THROUGH THE GATE OF ASHER... 24 CHAPTER 6 THE WEALTH OF GOD. 26 CHAPTER 7 THE GOODNESS OF GOD 29

THE BLESSINGS OF ASHER by Scott McConaughey Copyright 2006 by Scott McConaughey Printed in the United States of America All commercial rights reserved solely by the author. Any part or this entire book may be reproduced and used to edify the body of Christ without permission of the author but may not be used for commercial gain. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Contact Information

The Gathering Place Pastor Scott McConaughey http://scottmc.org/ [email protected]

INTRODUCTION Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. Genesis 22:17,18 Abraham consistently obeyed Gods voice and became the father of faith. The steps of faith Abraham walked in released Gods blessings to Abraham and became a pattern so that believers can also walk in those steps and experience Gods blessings 1. Generations of faithful believers later, Christ was born and lived the perfect life of faith and obedience. Through His finished work, He became a blessing available to all nations. Walking by faith in Gods word and obeying the voice of His Spirit is the central key to experiencing the covenant blessings of God. In order to fully walk in those blessings, we need to follow His voice and possess the gate of our enemies. This involves various forms of spiritual warfare including high praise, worship, personal holiness, humility identificational repentance, prayer, prophetic decrees, prophetic acts, evangelism and church planting2. It also involves taking territory in various aspects of the natural realm through involvement and influence in schools, communities, businesses, government, media and society as the Spirit leads. There are two groups of descendants from Abraham spoken of above. The stars of heaven represent those descendants who walk in the Spirit by faith and are born from above by believing and obeying Jesus Christ. The descendants of sand refer to natural Israel whom God has chosen to be His covenant nation. While we love Israel, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and believe that God has a special destiny for that nation, this booklet is not going to focus on natural Israel. We want to focus on the descendants who are like the stars of heaven, those spiritual ones who have developed into mature believers. God wants to bless us so that we can possess the gate of our spiritual enemies. The word of God indicates that those who flow in the anointing of Asher will be empowered to take financial gates of the enemy and help fund end-time harvest ventures. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God. Revelation 11:16 Many believe that the twenty-four elders who rule with God, spoken of above, represent twelve elders from the old covenant nation of Israel and twelve elders from the new covenant Church. Twelve is the number of government and is a reflection of the government of God. There were twelve tribes led by twelve men that formed the
1 2

Romans 4:12 For more detailed study, see authors books, The Power of Prophetic Decrees and Spiritual Warfare Training

government of ancient Israel. The twelve apostles formed the core of the government of God over the early Church and were to advance the kingdom of God on earth. Each of the twelve tribes have prophetic pictures hidden in them that point to various natural and spiritual streams of Gods government. Gods government on earth is to be released in both the natural and spiritual realm. There appears to be twelve streams of His government in two realms. The twenty-four elders prophetically represent the complete government of God in partnership with man. All twenty-four aspects of Gods government are needed to accurately reflect God and release His government from heaven to earth through the agency of man in both natural Israel and the Church. Asher is one of the twelve tribes and has an incredible prophetic destiny for those who flow in this stream. The governmental anointing of Asher is needed as well as the other eleven tribal anointings3. Faith Comes by Hearing So then faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 Faith in God is created by the Spirit and the word. Faith comes by hearing the Spirit of God confirmed by the word of God. Faith comes by hearing the Spirit teach you the word of God. It is important to pay attention to the things the Spirit is communicating and then study it out in the word of God. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 Gods ways and thoughts are infinitely higher than ours. God has plans that only an infinite mind could develop or comprehend. He has perfect plans for every one of His children. Paul exclaimed, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out (Romans 11:33) ! It is impossible for man to explore the infinite depths of the wisdom and knowledge of God. However, God has revealed truth to us through His written word. Most of that truth is hidden from our eyes unless they are opened for us by the Spirit of the Living God. But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. I Corinthians 2:9-11 God is revealing deep things by His Spirit to His people who have learned to watch and pray, study and meditate, and walk in obedience to His word. The Lord speaks through
3

See my book, ASCENDING UNTO ZION, for detailed study.

His Spirit in many ways including scriptures, dreams, visions, trances, voices, angels, impressions, dark sayings, prophetic encounters and so forth. Jesus spoke in parables so as to hide truth from all but hungry hearts. God has always spoken in prophetic parables. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2). God is calling us to rise up as kings and search out matters of the Spirit and the word. In order to do this we must operate in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual 4. We can do this because God has given us the mind of Christ. We have had a number of spiritual experiences that have led us to study Gods word about the blessings of Asher. Because of repeated spiritual experiences, prophesies and scriptures, we believe God is going to release the blessings of Asher in the last days to many Christians who believe His word and obey His voice. We need this aspect of Gods government in the earth to fulfill His plans. The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29 Everything revealed in Gods word belongs to us so that we may obey the Lord and fulfill our destiny on earth. Many revelations in the Bible that have been learned through the ages have been lost or stolen by the devil. As we pray and seek His face, He reveals truth to us that belongs to us so that we can accomplish all of His good pleasure. All truth that we need is discovered by revelation of the Holy Spirit and grounded in the Bible. There are layers of interpretation of the word of God that are accurate and important. We can only find these by the Holy Spirit who often speaks in modern parables or signs to see if our hearts are hungry and willing to search out the matter. As we are entering into the last days, the Spirit of the Lord is unveiling scriptural truths at deeper levels. There are many truths that He is simply restoring to our understanding. In the midst of this restoration, there are many doctrines of demons still being taught that confuse and hold back many Christians from obtaining all that God has for them. We desperately need the Lords help to know the truth so that we can be set free and empowered to achieve all that God destined for us. See It and Believe for It And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are -- northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. Genesis 13:14-16 God revealed a principle of faith as He taught the father of faith to lift up his eyes to see. All that Abraham could see he could possess. When the Bible says lift up your eyes it
4

I Corinthians 2:13-16

often means to look into the heavenly realm of Gods kingdom defined by His word. As Christians, born again by the Spirit of God, all that we can see in the Spirit and the word we can also possess as we persevere in faith. We have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, but if we can not see those blessings by revelation, we may not tap into them and benefit from them in this lifetime 5. There is a blessing of healing provision available by the stripes of Jesus, but some have not seen, believed or tapped into that benefit6. There is a prosperity blessing available by the poverty of Jesus on the cross but even fewer have seen and learned to tap into that7. As I was pressing in years ago asking for a prophetic vision of Jesus, I heard the Lord say to me, When you see Me in the word, you see Me. I was greatly encouraged by this word because I dont see visions in the Spirit like some do and the lack of vision was discouraging me. By Gods grace, I do see some things in the word of God and He has encouraged me to pray to obtain them as it applies to our life and need on earth. The Church desperately needs the blessings of Asher. This blessing is an anointing from God to govern in the spirit realm in order to bring financial blessings to bear in the natural realm for Gods glory. Ashers blessing includes the favor of God, open doors of ministry or business, vibrant health and extraordinary prosperity. It may include enormous wealth to fund a world-wide harvest of souls. It includes incredible spiritual warfare authority to trample on the powers of the enemy and take territory for the Kingdom of God. If you lift up your eyes in the Spirit and see this revelation about the blessings of Asher, you can begin to step into them by faith. Jesus is the author and perfecter (finisher) of our faith8. The time in between His authoring and perfecting faith is often filled with a long season of fiery trials designed to prepare you to walk in the manifestation of the object of faith. These trials are to produce patience since by faith and patience we inherit the promises9. In the case of Asher, which includes exorbitant wealth and favor, the fiery trial may include extreme financial struggles, testing, closed doors, persecutions and spiritual warfare. Satan knows that if he can control the wealth of this world, then he can severely limit the Church from advancing the kingdom of God to nations. Great amounts of wealth are controlled by ungodly people and are being used to advance Satans kingdom. God is rising up a stream of believers who will be equipped to take financial gates of the enemy as they walk by faith and obey Gods voice. The training to walk in this level of authority is intense because God has to burn all the carnal soul aspects out of us that would cause us to stumble under the anointing Asher
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Ephesians 1:3 I Peter 2:4 7 II Corinthians 8:9; For extensive teaching on this topic, see my book, Faith For Finances 8 Hebrews 12:2 KJV 9 James 1:3; Hebrews 6:12

brings. God must deliver us from the love of money and the desire to be rich before He will enable us to take Satans gates which are filled with greed, lust and self promotion 10. The holy cleansing is a painful process that we must go through as we walk by faith and not by sight. Once the breakthrough is fully obtained because faith and character have matured, God can release unlimited wealth to us and it will not cause us to stumble. With a purified heart, we will use money to advance His kingdom rather than build a monument unto ourselves. God is infinitely wealthy and good. He wants those called to flow in the stream of Asher to reflect the government of His wealth and goodness to mankind. Those whom He calls to flow in this aspect of His ministry will be prepared to steward wealth and release it by His Spirit to advance His kingdom and demonstrate His goodness. One way this is happening is by building Christian orphanages in third world nations. Our church is beginning to steward wealth and making plans to build orphanages that preach the gospel and demonstrate it to the poor. It costs $100,000 USD to build a solid orphanage to house and feed 100 children in a third world nation. Weve already helped build one in Soweto, South Africa. There will be over one million new orphans in South Africa by 2020 because of the aids epidemic. There is a tremendous need to provide the gospel in word and deed to children at risk in the nations. We visited Iris Minstries orphanage in Moputu, Mozambique and caught a vision for Christian ministry to the poor. Roland and Heidi Baker have expanded their outreach ministry into many nations and are continuing to build new centers. It requires enormous resources to advance Gods kingdom in this way and it is completely in the heart and will of God to do so.

10

I Timothy 6:10

CHAPTER 1 PROPHETIC REVELATION And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. Leviticus 7:14 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. Leviticus 14:7 Pastor Sally Beckmann is the lead pastor at Living Waters Fellowship where I serve as an associate pastor. Pastor Sally is also a prophet that has had many prophetic experiences. God has called me and some others to come along side her and help her understand the things the Spirit is saying. This often takes a lot of research and years of waiting for other pieces of revelation. The two scriptures from Leviticus quoted above were given to Pastor Sally in a unique prophetic experience. Since faith comes by hearing, God was beginning to seed faith to us for a ministry that we now believe includes the blessings of Asher. Several years ago, Pastor Sally was caught up in the Spirit and was walking in a heavenly study hall in a library room of heaven. There were many people sitting at long beautiful wooden tables studying the scriptures diligently as an earnest woman led the bible study. Pastor Sally carefully walked around the room looking for the person who was to give her a message from God. After a time, she realized she was to ask the woman in charge of the bible study to give her a word. This intense woman appeared annoyed by the presence of a saint from earth intruding on her heavenly bible time. When Pastor Sally approached the elegant woman, she said frankly, What do you want? I want a word, Sally replied. Give me your bible, the woman instructed. When Sally gave the bible to the woman, she opened it and pointed to a scripture on the page. The first scripture she pointed to was Leviticus 7:14. The reference jumped out of the bible and landed on a small ash tray type device that appeared on the bible. Then suddenly the reference, Leviticus 7:14, went up in flames and only ashes remained on the ash tray. In a similar way, the woman pointed to the second passage, Leviticus 14:7 and it came up out of the bible, went on to the ash tray, burst into flames and became ashes. You got your word the woman declared sternly as she went back to teaching the bible study. Immediately, Pastor Sally was back in the natural and pondered the prophetic experience. She told me about it and I have researched these passages for some time.

Through prayer and research we believe the woman Pastor Sally encountered was Maria Woodworth Etter, who was an anointed woman of great faith who lived on earth into the early twentieth century. Woodworth Etter walked in a miraculous anointing and was known as a no nonsense woman. She powerfully influenced Smith Wigglesworth and Amiee Semple McPhersen to name a few. Maria was a pioneer in breaking through for women in public ministry during a time when it was extremely difficult for women to minister. Now lets look at those scriptures a little closer. And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. Leviticus 7:14 Leviticus 7:14 speaks of a provision for the priest who serves the Lord. The priest is to receive, as part of Gods law, one cake from each offering. The person who is called by God to serve in full time ministry at the altar of God has a legal right to make a living by that service. The worker is worthy of his or her hire 11. We will look at the cake in more depth below as God has repeatedly released a prophetic sign to us. God has been reforming and restoring aspects of priestly ministry that have been lost to much of the Church. While we are New Testament priests, we are still called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable before God12. Prophetic intercessors that walk in a deep level of prayer and authority before God are often not paid as part of present day church structures. They are priests who make sacrifices to intercede for saints and often flow in the power of deliverance to set captives free. The second scripture relates to this. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. Leviticus 14:7 Leviticus 14:7 prophetically speaks of the power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse a person from the leprosy of sin and rebellion so that they might be set free. Our church has been a house of prayer where many people come to experience deliverance. God has sent people from all over North America to our church simply asking for deliverance prayer. At times, we have stayed up nearly all night laboring in prayer to help set a captive free. I have been involved in many times of deliverance prayer for individuals that required a great amount of concentration, spiritual energy and physical endurance. God has helped us set many captives free, but it is taxing to the body to prevail in prayer over some demonic intruders. Through experience and maturity, God has helped us gain more authority and power that makes the process go faster, but there always seem to be greater challenges. Deliverance ministry can be like a mother with a needy child who requires lots of love and attention. We have to clean the diaper, feed, coddle, clothe, love and nurture the
11 12

Luke 10:7 I Peter 2:5

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needy ones to strength and health. Moms usually dont get paid for their exhausting work. It is extremely hard work to take care of a needy child and it can also be extremely hard work to minister to needy children in the body of Christ. That work should include a cake or a gift to bless the priest for that work. Most of the time, when we have prayed for needy people, there has been no gift or provision given and we have never asked for it. While it seems inappropriate to ask for a gift, the word of God indicates that the priest who lives at the altar has a right to make a living by that same altar. Since Gods throne is established on righteousness and justice, He has kept records on what wages are rightfully due those who have served at the altar. He is going to release those wages plus interest as His people pray for His justice13. In order to flow in a high level of healing and deliverance, a person must often press into God through years of prayer, fasting, study and various experiences. It is not unlike a physician spending years preparing to serve patients. Physicians are compensated for their labor. Those priests who minister healing power by faith often are not. This violates the spirit of Gods law. One time, Glenda and I were called to pray for a woman who was bed ridden with a mystery illness. She had been to many physicians and was in much pain. At the time we were called to provide healing prayer, we were also going through an extreme financial trial. Having enough money for gas was an issue and we had to travel some distance to pray for the woman. Through thirty years of spiritual development and the grace of Gods presence, we witnessed a powerful miracle as we prayed. God showed me the root problem in the spirit and we were able to deal with it by the stripes of Jesus and by the authority He has given us. The woman was up out of the bed in a few minutes walking around the house rejoicing. As she gave us a tour of her beautiful home, she started cleaning up the house. Because of our need, I was hoping there might be a financial gift given, but none came. We chose to focus on the Lord and His provision came another way. It is a great challenge for ministers who live by the altar to survive financially if the people do not support them in their ministry. Most deliverance and healing ministers I know that minister like we do would never ask for a gift or charge for their services. And most of them struggle financially as well. A person might go to five physicians and take several expensive tests and ingest hundreds of dollars of medication before calling for high level healing prayer. Their total expense might be $2,000 or more. Having exhausted what medicine has to offer, they start calling for help. When the person, who has paid the price for the anointing comes and prays and God flows His healing virtue through them, there should be a little cake given to that priest in thanksgiving. God started speaking to us about the importance of provision being given to the minister by the person receiving the ministry.
13

See Chapter 10, The Justice of God in my book, FAITH FOR FINANCES for more teaching

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The Altar of Asher Years ago, one of the men at our church had a vision during worship of a golden altar. Deeply engraved into the mantle plate of that rich gold altar was simply the word ASHER. The Spirit was communicating something through this vision. As we carefully studied this tribes prophetic meaning, we knew in part that the Lord was calling us to experience the blessings of Asher. During a recent weekend, we held a series of revival meetings with extended praise and worship and anointed guest speakers. We experienced Gods incredible presence in many waves of powerful anointing. During the six hour Sunday service, over twenty people in the room smelled a heavenly fragrance for over an hour. It was the fragrance of rich sweet bread or cakes cooking in the oven. You could smell the icing like that of a hot glazed doughnut fresh out of the oven. At times, we could clearly smell pineapple, cinnamon or vanilla. The heavenly sign manifested throughout the room but would seem stronger at times as we were receiving wave after wave of supernatural fragrance. This phenomenon has been occurring intermittently for over four months now in various places including during a trip to Hawaii to attend our daughters graduation. We have been searching the scriptures to understand what the Spirit is saying and it is pointing us to Asher. Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Genesis 49:20 There is a rich aspect of the Bread of Life revealed in Asher. Jacob prophesied that in the last days, the bread or revelation from the tribe of Asher would be rich and that Asher would provide royal dainties. We have smelled rich bread and the royal cakes, the dainties of heaven. Those royal cakes legally belong to priests who set captives free in deliverance ministry. These priests are going to become kings through this heavenly bread of fresh revelation. God is going to release food from heaven that will feed these kings and help them mature quickly so that they can reign and rule with the King of Kings. In 1997, the Lord called me to do a 40 day liquid only fast. At the end of that fast I received a prophetic word at a powerful conference in Kansas City hosted by Mike Bickle. One part of the word simply said, God has something very rich for you. There were many other words spoken and I pondered them in my heart. God has trained my wife Glenda and me to walk completely by faith in the financial realm for the last ten years. We tell no one of our needs and we never promote our ministry. We have had to completely rely upon God and obey His voice to experience His blessings. It has been an incredible journey as God has provided for us and our children. In our journey to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit, the Lord has made incredible promises to us that have been confirmed many times over. Our natural realm experience

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has often been just about the opposite of those promises. We have been tested heavily by the fire of God. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. Psalm 105:19 Joseph had powerful prophetic dreams that gave him the word of the Lord. As Joseph believed those promises, he went through incredible trials and sufferings before he was released by God into the fulfillment of those promises. When God gives you a great promise, that word will test you. Like Abraham, you and I need to grow strong in faith, giving glory to God, believing that He will accomplish His promise in us. If we sow to the Spirit and trust God, we will eventually reap if we do not loose heart14. In 2003, Pastor Mariano Riscajache from Almalonga, Guatemala came to our church and blessed us. He is the leader of the city transforming revival in that Latin American city. He prophesied that Barstow was going to become another Almalonga, a city touched by Gods presence that would bring city-wide salvation and supernatural prosperity. Almalonga is the place where farmers harvest five or six crops of supernaturally large vegetables from the same field each year15. Later, a team from our church went to Almalonga and brought back the largest carrot we had ever seen. During a prayer meeting, we asked the Lord what blessing we should ask from a king in the Spirit like Pastor Mariano. When I prayed about this, I saw a lightning flash vision of light that shot into my spirit. As my body trembled and keeled over for the next fifteen minutes or so, the vision began to enter into my understanding. I saw the Lord Jesus Christ on His exalted throne come sliding down into our sanctuary from about a 45 degree angle from the front of our stage. He extended His scepter toward the center of our altar and I had an understanding of what this meant. So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. Esther 5:2 God wants us to find favor in His sight and be able to touch His scepter so that He might grant us the desires of our heart. Those who touch the scepter of God in the Spirit will receive the requests they ask from Him. Those needing healing will be healed. Those needing loved ones saved will see their prayers answered. The demonized will be set free as they come into His glorious presence. The banquet that we held for Pastor Mariano and his wife was called an Esther banquet. We realized later that the Lord had called me to do a three day Esther fast exactly nine months earlier. On the third day of that fast, I received a powerful impartation from an anointed man of God. This is mysterious, but my fast was for supernatural prosperity so that God might sustain us as we walked by faith to please Him.
14 15

Romans 4:20,21; Galatians 6:8,9 See Transformations DVD by George Otis Jr., Sentinel Group

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When I shared the vision with our small group, which happened to be my wife and six children, we got in a circle and began to pray. We held hands in the center of our ministry area in the center of our churches altar. When we began to pray the Spirit of God came upon us in a mighty wave so that we ended up on the floor in travail. We moved as one bowing down and crying out to God to bring in the heavenly vision. We asked for His grace to make us a place of such favor and blessing that anyone who came into the service where His presence was manifested that they would be able to touch His scepter and find favor to get prayers answered miraculously. I believe this is part of the Altar of Asher that God is establishing in our midst. Come to Barstow when you can and see what God is doing16 .

16

see www.livingwatersfellowship.org/

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CHAPTER 2 THE TRIBE OF ASHER And Leahs maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed. So she called his name Asher. Genesis 30:12,13 Asher means fortunate; happy; fortress17*. Asher was recognized as a blessing from the Lord that would bring the favor of God and man. Zilpah declared, the daughters will call me blessed. Prophetically, daughters may represent churches. The church that flows in the anointing of Asher will be called blessed by other churches. In southern California where we live, several churches come to mind when we talk about most blessed. The Church on the Way, led by Pastor Jack Hayford, has had the favor of many daughters of many denominations for several decades. More recently, Saddleback Community Church led by Pastor Rick Warren has experienced enormous favor from God and man and has crossed denominational lines. The former church flows out of the Pentecostal stream and the latter from the more conservative Southern Baptist stream. Most blessed churches like these and some others are influencing the world for Christ. Zilpah was a servant girl to Leah who was given as a wife to Jacob when Leah became barren. Zilpahs name means a drop or trickle of myrrh*. Myrrh is a red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha. Its name is derived from the Hebrew murr or maror, meaning bitter. Myrrh is currently used in some liniments, healing salves that may be applied to abrasions and other minor skin ailments. Myrrh is a constituent of perfumes and incense, was highly prized in ancient times, and was often worth more than its weight in gold. In ancient Rome myrrh was priced at five times as much as frankincense, though the latter was far more popular. Myrrh was one of the gifts of the Magi to the baby Jesus. Myrrh was used as an embalming ointment and was used, up until about the 15th century, as a penitential incense in funerals and cremations18. Prophetically, myrrh speaks the power of the cross of Christ and of death to self. All the blessings of God come to us because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Zilpa had to die to her self and serve her mistress Leah. Although she bore Asher, the child was reckoned to Jacob and Leah. Those who obtain the blessings of God die to themselves and learn to be the servants of all, including the Church. Asher was the eighth born son which points to new beginnings. God will make all things new at the end of the age 19. As we enter the gate of Asher we begin to step into the blessings of God and all of His prosperity 20. This includes shalom, the peace and wellness of God that brings us soundness of mind. A sound mind provides a fortress to protect us from the assaults of the enemy. Shalom also includes physical health and financial blessings that God enables us to provide for our families and minister unto others.
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Note: * All name definitions in this book taken from Cornwall & Smith, THE EXHAUSTIVE DICTIONARY OF BIBLE NAMES, Bridge-Logos, 1998 18 Wikipedia online encyclopedia 19 Revelation 21:5 20 Isaiah 62:10

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Ashers tribe grew to from 41,500 soldiers to 53,400 over forty years in the wilderness as they prepared to enter the Promised Land21. Asher was positioned north of the tabernacle between Dan and Naphtali. Sources suggest that these three tribes formed the rear guard when the cloud of Gods presence led the people onwards to new places in the wilderness. The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. Genesis 46:17 It is unusual in the genealogies to mention a woman. Serah is mentioned and rabbinic literature contends that she sang the good news to Jacob that Joseph was alive in Egypt. Serahs name means, abundance, the prince breathed*. Jimnahs name means, prosperity; he allots; success. Right handed; he will number*. Some of the childrens names of Asher point towards superabundance, prosperity and the success the anointing gives one. The History of Asher All these were the children of Asher, heads of their fathers houses, choice men, mighty men of valor, chief leaders. And they were recorded by genealogies among the army fit for battle; their number was twenty-six thousand. I Chronicles 7:40 Later in history, the children of Asher were commended as solid heads of families. They had character, courage, godly manhood, boldness and leadership. They were prepared for battle. God wants His men to be like the children of Asher and war for their families. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. Numbers 10:26 Pagiels name means prayer of God, answer of God, praying to God, God meets, intervention of God*. The leader of the army of the tribe of Asher was a man whose name indicates a deep prayer life. To lead in the tribe of Asher, a believer must be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word22. Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. Judges 1:31-32 The tribe of Asher failed to obey Gods word to drive out the Canaanites from their portion of the Promised Land. They learned to live with and eventually embrace some of the mixture of pagan culture. This sad reality tends to be true of most Christians. Many believers with money and blessings fail to walk holy like Daniel did in the midst of
21

Numbers 1:41; 26:44-47 Acts 6:4

22

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Babylon. God wants us to drive all carnal mixture out of our hearts rather than learn to live with compromise and sin. It is a great battle to perfect holiness in the fear of God, but we must not settle to tolerate the enemys presence in our lives. The lot of Asher formed a strip of land from 8 to 10 miles wide running northward along the shore to the neighborhood of Sidon, touching Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. On the East, Asher seems to have taken possession of the territory by a process of peaceful penetration, not by conquest, and as we have seen, he never drove out the Phoenicians from their cities. The rich plain of Acre, and the fertile fiats between the mountain and the sea near Tyre and Sidon therefore remained in Phoenician hands. But the valleys breaking down westward and opening on the plains have always yielded fine crops of grain. Remains of an ancient oak forest still stand to the North of Carmel. The vine, the fig, the lemon and the orange flourish. Olive trees abound, and the supplies of olive oil which to this day are exported from the district recall the word of the old-time blessing, Let him dip his foot in oil.23 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan, and why did Dan remain on ships? Asher continued at the seashore, and stayed by his inlets. Judges 5:17 Deborah, the powerful judge, rebuked the tribe of Asher for staying in their comfort zone while the armies of God fought Jabins 900 chariots. God is not looking for Christians who like to stay in their comfort zones and play it safe. He wants to bless warriors who will help the body of Christ advance around the world.

23

Joshua 19:24-31; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, www.biblemaster.com/

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CHAPTER 3 THE PROPHETIC BLESSINGS OF ASHER And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Genesis 49:1 underlining mine God gave Jacob last day prophesies that are enfolding in our generation. Each of Jacobs prophesies make a fascinating study and demonstrate an aspect of Gods end time game plan to accomplish His purposes. Jacob prophesied that in the last days: Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Genesis 49:20 The stream of Asher includes the release of the revelatory bread of heaven that makes one rich. This is primarily revealed in the virtue of Christs suffering so that God might make us rich as He is rich. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (II Corinthians 8:9). God is infinitely wealthy. We are His children. Jesus bore the curse of poverty on the cross so that we might be made rich by Gods grace 24. He takes our poverty on the cross so that He can give us His riches. It is a great exchange similar to our sins for His righteousness by the cross or our sickness for His health by His stripes. In order to fund His last day harvest plans, at least one tribe in His body needs to govern in the area of wealth. God wants some of His children to steward large amounts of wealth similar to what great kings have such as Solomon. In order for the Lord to rise up kings in the last days, He must release revelation of the Spirit and the word that will provide the bread of kings. We become what we behold and feed on. Royal dainties are priceless treasures of revelation that, like fine desserts, are saved for the end of the meal. Put a Knife to Your Throat When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. Proverbs 23:1-3 While God is releasing royal dainties of rich revelation from heaven, Satan, the ruler of this world system, is releasing counterfeit delicacies. These deceptive foods may come through alcohol, drugs, carnal entertainment, movies, music, pornography, television, lust for power, love of money or false religions. Genuine hunger for the Spirit and word of God that makes kings is counterfeited by carnal lust for personal pleasures, selfish ambition or supplanted with a lust for knowledge of other things that only puff a person up in pride. We must put a knife to our throats, die to self, in the area of lusts and appetites of the flesh.
24

See my book, FAITH FOR FINACNES, for detailed teaching on this topic.

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Rule Your Own Spirit And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. I Corinthians 14:32,33 The revelatory realm is filled with spiritual signals somewhat like satellites that beam television signals to earth. My wife Glenda and I have chosen not to have television reception in our home for most of our married life. I have visited homes with satellite hook ups and some of them can access hundreds of entertainment signals. Through Pay per View type of services, a person could order up all kinds of entertainment products and receive them into their homes by way of a satellite connection. Those products may range from solid edifying Christian programming to the most demonic forms of entertainment. The person with the remote has the power to choose. While all kinds of signals may be available through a basic cable or satellite package, many of those programs should not be viewed by devoted Christians. As you develop prophetic sensitivity, you can begin to access spiritual signals from God, Satan or from other spiritual beings including angels, demons and humans. During the developmental stages of growing in the prophetic, we have to learn to discern the source of the signals especially if it is from the Lord or from the enemy. Since Satan and some of his followers can disguise themselves as angels of light, it can be difficult at times to discern where the voice or signal is coming from. The prophetic spirit of the prophet must be subject to the prophet. I believe this means that we must weigh the revelation before the Lord and seek confirmation in the word and with other prophetic people so as to insure its accuracy. Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. Proverbs 25:28 The rich food of revelation and the higher things of the Spirit of God bring us into higher realms of the spirit world. In those higher realms, we can become aware of many more signals from spiritual beings. When I was a child, we only watched a little television and the programming was on three channels during part of the day. ABC, CBS and NBC were those three channels and a funny symbol with an annoying sound would come on the television at the end of the programming for that day. Today, there are hundreds of stations broadcasting signals and most of them never shut down. There is media broadcasting twenty-four, seven all around the world. Communications have changed dramatically in the last fifty years. In a similar way, broadcasts in the spiritual realm have changed dramatically. All kinds of people are tapping into spiritual broadcasts with all kinds of programming available. With hundreds, perhaps thousands of prophetic signals available, how do you focus on that which is true? How do you discern the real from the counterfeit? I will not attempt

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to fully answer these questions in this booklet 25. My point is to alert you to the reality that as you step into higher realms of revelation from God, there are higher realms of demonic revelation that you must learn to discern and cut out. If you had a basic cable package with 50 channels and you know that 10 of the channels have immoral programming then you should stay away from those. But if you are bored and curious, you might wander onto those channels for a while and view things and hear things that will start to feed your soul with deceptive food that has poison in it. It is easier for me to avoid bad television programs than it is to avoid mixed signals in the prophetic. I dont have television hook up but God has hooked me up in the prophetic with a capacity to receive revelation in the spiritual realm. One of the keys to purity in this is to love God and His word with all your heart. God wants us to have a perfect balance of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. I used to be extremely strong in the word and weak in the things of the Spirit. At times, as I was growing stronger in the Spirit, I would neglect the word to some degree. There is a perfect balance and the Lord will help you find it as you walk with Him. It is also important to place character development and Christ-likeness foremost rather than the awesome fresh revelation, the development of spiritual power, the anointing or the gifts of the Spirit. If you have the fear of man and want to impress people with revelation or demonstrations of the Spirit, you can easily fall into mixture. Bitterness, selfish ambition and love of money are negative characteristics that will lead the prophetic person to tune into counterfeit spirits. We must only do what the Lord shows us to do in the timing of the Lord. This is a great challenge for those of us who are imperfect and are still developing. Obviously, that includes all of us. The blessings of Asher may release great wealth towards those who are qualified and anointed to walk in it. The wealth realm is full of enormous mixture because the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil 26. You will not be able to rush into the blessings of Asher. If you are called to walk in this stream, God will burn all love of money out of your heart by His holy fire. You will have to learn spiritual warfare and discernment at a high level. Satan knows that if he can control the finances, he can keep the Church in captivity to some degree and he can prevent funding the great harvest. There is a great financial world war being fought right now in the nations. There are many companies in America today that are far more powerful than most of the countries in the world. The financial realm is extremely powerful and dynamic in the spiritual realm and it is easy to be deceived. My wife Glenda and I served the poor for twenty years. Poverty controls people and keeps them in tremendous bondage. It includes a lack of resources but is primarily a lack of vision, faith, hope and true love. God wants to break poverty
25

For more detailed study on this topic, please read ABIDING IN THE ANOINTING and BALAAM AND THE BEAST by this author. 26 I Timothy 6:10

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off peoples, tribes and nations. Ashers governmental anointing will help do that by the power of the Spirit of God. The Blessing of Moses Moses also released prophetic blessings on ten tribes of Israel. Asher is the last tribe that is prophetically blessed by Moses. Ten represents the Law of God (ten commandments) and judgments (ten plagues on Egypt). Ashers blessing is listed tenth and last among the blessings in the Torah27. This blessing is extremely significant in this context. Moses prophesied the blessing as follows: Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; as your days, so shall your strength be. There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to help you, and in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, Destroy! Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine; His Heavens shall also drop dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places. Deuteronomy 33:24-29 Moses prophesied his last blessing upon the tribe of Asher. God often saves His best for last. Asher is the most blessed of all the sons and experiences extraordinary favor from his brothers. Asher walks in sandals of iron and bronze trampling over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Ashers foot is dipped in oil, portraying a last-day anointing to take possession of nations. The tribe of Asher lived on the seacoast, picturing a harvest of nations. This gate leads to great financial blessing to finance the end-time harvest and discipling of the nations. God wants His people to be blessed in every aspect of their lives. Vital health is a blessing from God. Moses prophesied as your days, so shall your strength be about Asher. When Moses and Caleb grew old, they never lost strength. God is going to enable those under Ashers anointing to have supernatural strength all the days of their life. God is Ashers defender and thrusts the enemy out from before him. The enemy wants to steal our blessings, and many believers live in poverty of spirit and life that we must overcome by going through the gate of Asher. God calls us to destroy the works of Satan as Jesus did. God rides with Asher, picturing Jesus coming on the white horse at the end of the age to trample His enemies with His army. His everlasting arms surround us. We go through the gate of Asher and experience His love and power flowing in and through us to others.
27

The Torah includes the first five books of the bible

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We are called to take dominion over our enemies and tread down their high places. The devil wants to control the money of the world, and the gate of Asher includes the anointing to spoil Egypt and take hold of the finances that are stored up for the righteous. The prophecy of Asher includes the final blessings of peace over natural Israel as God comes to destroy His enemies who are continuously threatening to destroy Jerusalem. God will bring peace and happiness to Israel and His Church after the tumultuous trials of the tribulation period. Please take some time and meditate and pray through this incredible prophecy once again. God may be calling you to be one of His most blessed sons. Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; as your days, so shall your strength be. There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to help you, and in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, Destroy! Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine; His Heavens shall also drop dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places. Deuteronomy 33:24-29

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CHAPTER 4 ANNA, A PROPHETIC PICTURE OF ASHER Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 Anna, whose name means grace, was a prophetess of the tribe of Asher. We only discover a few individuals whose tribes are mentioned in the New Testament and there is always a high purpose for that28. In Anna, we see a devoted widow who is married to the Lord through constant service and prayers with fasting. She has the grace of God on her to know the times and seasons and is allowed to see the baby Jesus, her Savior. Anna is a worshiper and intercessor who is blessed of God and fortunate. Gods grace will be upon many women in the last days who will rise up with great spiritual and financial means to support the kingdom of God. They will know by the Holy Spirit where to sow finances and will not be manipulated by carnal fund raising. Anna represents the Church who becomes the house of prayer Jesus proclaimed. Christians must go through the gate of Asher by shaking off all curses on their lives, including all spirits of poverty and unworthiness. The spirit of poverty manifests in fear, worry and unbelief so that we do not enter the land of our inheritance, our birthright in Christ Jesus. We must walk by faith in the boldness and courage that our Lord gives. Christians have been made worthy by the blood of the lamb and God wants believers to be blessed in every way. His word makes total provision for everything we need. As we place our faith in His word, take up the sword and conquer through prayer and fasting, like Anna, we will experience more of the grace of God and take hold of the great blessings He has for us. God wants us to go through the gate of Asher and become faithful intercessors and worshippers who call forth blessings in God upon His people. As we devote ourselves to giving and serving, God will bless us outrageously and increase our prosperity so we may give to others even more. The gate of Asher includes walking in health and strength to serve God all the days of your life. The joy of the Lord is our strength and God wants us to overflow with the anointing of joy, for in His presence there is absolute fullness of joy29. Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing. Isaiah 23:18
28

Jesus, from the tribe of Judah, and Paul, from the tribe of Benjamin, joins Anna as the only three individuals whose tribe is expressly noted in the New Testament. 29 Psalm 16:11

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Isaiah prophesied that all the wealth of Tyre, a prophetic type of Satans kingdom, would be set apart for the Lords use. Presently, Satan has great wealth at his disposal through the hands of unrighteous people. The Lord has promised that Tyres gain and pay will be set apart for the Lord and will be given to those who dwell before the Lord. These individuals will have plenty of food and will have fine clothing. They will be extremely blessed financially. They will be like Anna who dwelt before the Lord in fastings, prayers and praise. Anna got to see and recognize the new move of the Spirit as Jesus came to be dedicated by Joseph and Mary. In order to qualify for the blessings of Asher, we must dwell before the Lord. We must learn to abide in Him and walk in the Spirit at all times. Anna did this and she got to hold baby Jesus, in whom are all the riches of God. There was a devout Christian woman who was married to an unsaved hard working lumber magnet. When her husband died, he left his entire fortune to her. The wealth that was transferred to that Anna started to flow towards Christian ministries including the one in which we served. God is rising up widowed Annas who will steward the wealth acquired in Egypt to support the ministries that advance Gods kingdom.

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CHAPTER 5 GO THROUGH THE GATE OF ASHER Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples! Isaiah 62:10 Years ago, the Lord spoke to me about going through the gates to prepare a way for the people. At the time, I did not understand what the Lord was saying, but over the years, I began to study the gates of the city of Zion which Ezekiel saw. There are twelve gates in that city that have an order from the Lord. Zion represents many things including the manifested presence of God on earth. Leading up to His glorious second coming, the Lord wants to establish places that foreshadow, in part, His manifested presence so that He might release His goodness and glory to His creation. The twelve gates of Zion also represent governmental anointings that enable man to bring in the government of God, His kingdom, on earth to a degree. Gates represent openings or passageways from one place to another. To gain access to places in the spiritual realm of God we have to go through His gates. Over time, the enemy tries to keep people from discovering or accessing these gates through false doctrine and spiritual resistance. We have to take out the stones of stumbling planted by the enemy and prepare a smooth highway so that many believers can enter into that place by grace through faith. Part of my calling is to write the revelatory visions God gives me in the word and make it plain so that you who read can experience and run with it. As we lift up a banner of revelation in a certain gate, we show people how to enter into places of authority, anointing, power, calling and blessings that are pictured in the gates of Zion30. These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits (the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel), the three gates northward: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi; on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan; on the south side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun; on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: The LORD Is There. Ezekiel 48:30-35 The gate of Asher is on the western side of the city between the 10 th gate, Gad, and the 12th gate, Naphtali. In brief, the gate of Gad represents spiritual warfare that breaks through to good fortune. Naphtali represents massive evangelism to run with good news to the nations. Asher, the 11th gate, speaks of taking hold of Gods provisions and blessings to fund that harvest.
30

For a detailed study on the 12 gates, see ASCENDING UNTO ZION by this author

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West represents the setting sun, the end of the day or the season of final harvest before the great judgment. The gates of the western wall form a picture of what God is going to do at the end of this age. He is going to release the anointing of Gad to empower intense spiritual warfare to break through in the spirit for the harvest. Asher is going to take hold of the finances and Naphtali is going to use those finances to harvest the nations. Isaiahs word to go through the gates exhorts us to study, understand, appropriate and experience the revelation and impartation of those gates. What begins as a pioneering trail must eventually become a highway so that many people can go through that gate. God wants ten thousands of His saints to go through these gates, gain anointing and favor to flow in these streams of power for His glory. As we enter into His presence and behold His attributes in various aspects of His nature, we are transformed to become like Him and learn to govern as He leads us in that aspect of His administration. Each of the twelve gates reflects a different aspect of His administration. I will list a brief summary of the gates below to give you a picture of Zion. THE GATES OF ZION EZEKIEL 48:30-35 NORTHERN GATES Reuben Take Personal Responsibility to Bear Fruit Judah Praise and Worship Jesus Christ Levi Be a Priest Sanctified unto the Lord EASTERN GATES Joseph Prophets Distribute Bread in Famine Prophetic Ministry and Teaching Benjamin Apostles Last Day Church Establish Apostolic Government Dan Judges Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare SOUTHERN GATES Simeon Hear and Obey God - Grace Issachar Serve God and Receive Rewards Know Times & Seasons Zebulun Be Intimate with Jesus and Evangelize WESTERN GATES Gad Spiritual Warfare breaking Through to Good Fortune Asher Take Hold of Gods Provisions and Blessings Naphtali Run with Good News to the Nations

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CHAPTER 6 THE WEALTH OF GOD The earth is the LORDs, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1,2 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. Psalm 50:10,11 God is the legal owner of everything on earth. He created the universe and everything that He made belongs to Him. All of the wealth of the earth and all of the people on the earth and everything in the earth belongs to God. Man is the temporary steward of Gods resources on earth and all mankind will be held accountable and judged for their deeds on earth whether good or evil. This great Creator God loves every person and He shows His goodness to the righteous and unrighteous. God allows man to operate on earth with free will to make choices. God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and His will in His word. If man chooses to seek earnestly for God, he will find Him. Those who place their faith in the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ enter into a special covenant relationship with God. Part of Gods covenant with believers through the cross of Christ is to adopt us as sons of God with full sonship rights 31. As sons of God, we have a legal right to access the wealth of our Father. Gods wealth includes revelation, giftings, anointings, mantles, visions, dreams, strength, wisdom, knowledge and special inventions that will make extraordinary sums of money if developed. God flows His wealth in the Spirit to the heart and mind of those who seek His wisdom to please Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance. Ephesians 1:11 Jesus died so that we might obtain an eternal inheritance in Him 32. Most of this inheritance will be appropriated in eternity after we have finished our race on earth. But some of this inheritance is accessible in this life at this time to those who mature, see it and take hold of it through faith and patience. Paul marveled at the riches of the glory of His inheritance33. Gods inheritance and blessing for us is extraordinary beyond our greatest imagination. Our Father is an infinitely wealthy King who loves us with a perfect love. He will bless us and entrust us with the blessings of Asher as we mature, believe and obey His voice.

31 32

Galatians 3:26 Hebrews 9:15 33 Ephesians 1:18,19

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When my wifes parents passed away, they left an inheritance to their children. This included all that they owned. The family gathered together and decided to equally split the inheritance and my wife Glenda received jewelry, mementos, clothes, pictures and a certified bank check. Everything her parents had in the natural was distributed as part of their inheritance. Much of what they attained in the spiritual was also passed down to the children. When Christ died for us, everything He had achieved in the spiritual became available to us and all the resources of heaven became ours. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus has already paid the price in full for every spiritual blessing we could possibly ever need. All of them are available in a heavenly bank account with our name on it. In order to access this account, we have to lift up our eyes in the Spirit and see what God has done on our behalf. In order to see more we have to pray and read Gods word more. We have to walk by faith and pray to cash in on those blessings including salvation, healing, gifts, anointing and prosperity. As you allow the Lord to author and finish your faith, taking you through the fiery trials as you desperately hold onto Him, He will eventually release portions of His inheritance to you so that you can enjoy them and be a blessing to many others. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the LORD of hosts. Haggai 2:8,9 We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. God wants to fill us with His glory individually and corporately. To qualify to be filled with His glory, we must agree with His Spirit and be formed to be a dwelling place. God will cleanse us and prepare us to bear His glorious presence, especially His goodness. We will become like Him and serve Him to His glory. All the needed finances will flow to those who walk by faith and serve Him for His glory. God is releasing His blessing on His people and He will make them rich and they will have no guilt, shame or condemnation for walking in exorbitant wealth34. They will not worship the wealth or be caught up in the idolatry of stuff. They will recognize that God has blessed them and will use those resources to advance the kingdom of God and govern by His Spirit in the areas He calls them too. Wealth is necessary to advance Gods kingdom on earth. We are called to occupy and advance His kingdom and make disciples in the nations. There is money needed to empower the five fold ministry to do all of Gods work on earth. Materials are needed to disciple millions of new believers. The harvest that is coming is far greater than we can imagine. Billions of dollars will be needed to fund this harvest and gather them into new and expanding churches.
34

Proverbs 10:22

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God is infinitely wealthy and has extraordinary resources on earth for His people. Christ died so that we could access portions of our inheritance in Christ. We are fully blessed and need to cash in on the finished work of Christ so that we can be governmental examples of Gods grace and use those resources to advances His kingdom until He comes. God promises to meet our every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Our responsibility is to develop the maturity in faith and obedience so that we can access His provisions and use His wealth and blessings for the advancement of His kingdom. God has called and chosen some believers to steward vast amounts of His wealth during their lives on earth. All believers can experience His blessings and prosperity, but God is choosing some to be stewards of large amounts of His wealth. In order to be faithful in this governmental responsibility, a person has to be tested by fire seven times and thoroughly proven. This is because the power of the love of money can take a person down to hell and cause great harm to mankind. When money is used unrighteously, many people suffer, especially the poor. God loves the poor and wants them to know His love and goodness. He wants His servants to minister life to the poor in tangible ways and equip them to get out of poverty.

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CHAPTER 7 THE GOODNESS OF GOD And he (Moses) said, Please, show me Your glory. Then He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:18-20 Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the childrens children to the third and the fourth generation. Exodus 34:5-7 God is full of goodness, mercy, compassion and grace. His goodness includes super abounding generosity and favor. God is infinitely good. It is His nature to demonstrate His goodness. Gods goodness is a central aspect of the revelation of His glory. Moses longed to see the glory of the Lord. The Lord said that He would make all of His goodness pass before him. Moses received a revelation of Gods perfect goodness. In that vision of goodness, Moses saw the compassion, grace, mercy, longsuffering and truth of God. He also recognized that God in His goodness could not allow the wicked to go unpunished since their wickedness hurts many of Gods children. Gods goodness includes dealing with mans wickedness in due season. The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his hearts desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him -- length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation; honor and majesty You have placed upon him. For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Psalm 21:1-7 King David was a worshipper who delighted Himself in the Lord. In His goodness, God gave David the desires of His heart. God longs to release the blessings of His goodness to us as a loving generous Father. He created us with a special DNA to serve Him and please Him. We discover the pure desires that He has placed in us through praise, worship and prayer. As we long to fulfill our destiny and bear fruit for His glory, He crowns us with His anointing so that we can accomplish the things He has for us. God gives us more that what we could ask or think

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by His great goodness and power. He is full of mercy and will release manifestations of His presence that will fill us with joy unspeakable. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6 David sang the truth that God revealed to Him during times of worship in the fields. Gods goodness and mercy will be with us all the days of our lives. Some believers tend to focus on Gods wrath and judgments. Others focus on spiritual warfare and what the enemy is doing. Those themes may be important at times, but God wants us to delight in His abundant goodness. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalm 27:13,14 During a tremendous trial, the Lord spoke to me through this verse. Satan wants to cause us to loose heart and give up on the promises of God. David understood the goodness of God and held onto his faith that he would see tangible breakthrough and manifestations of the goodness of God while he was alive on earth. We are all thankful for the sweet by and by and the blessed hope of heaven. We long for those days of glory, but many are the afflictions of the righteous as we seek to walk by faith and not by sight35. The enemy throws many assaults against those who are breaking through at higher levels. Jesus had to overcome every temptation and testing to be approved before God and become our great High Priest who can sympathize with our trials. God is faithful and is going to keep His promises. He is going to give us answers to prayer and powerful breakthroughs for His glory as we remain steadfast in hope even beyond reasonable hope as Abraham did36. Knowing the goodness of God encourages our soul to anchor in a hope that does not disappoint because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us by the love of God37. Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Psalm 31:19,20 Part of Gods goodness is to release provisions to His people by His abundant generosity. God is a loving Father who wants to bless those that fear Him and trust Him. He will

35 36

Psalm 34:19 Romans 4:18 37 Hebrews 6:19; Romans 5:5

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keep them from the plots of evil men as they walk in the secret place in fellowship with Him. God is going to release waves of His goodness on earth during the last days revival since He is going to cover the earth with His glory 38. He will have His good news proclaimed in every nation in every tongue so that all mankind might have the opportunity to respond in faith. There will be amazing demonstrations of His love through healing the sick, delivering the demonized, cleansing the lepers, transforming the wicked and miraculously providing food and supplies to His people. I had the opportunity to visit one of the orphanages of Iris Ministries in Mozambique. There are over 400 orphans in the compound in Moputu that were all chosen by Heidi Baker. Moma Heidi, as she is known there, testified that they have walked in every miracle in the Bible except walking on water. Once during an extremely difficult time where there was no food for the orphanage, some loving Christians brought just enough food for the Baker family. Heidi insisted that they share their food with the hundreds of orphans. The visitors watched in amazement as God multiplied the food and plastic plates, bowls and spoons so that everyone ate and was satisfied. Heidi shared humorously that she had faith for the food to be multiplied but never thought she would see the plastic ware multiply. God is good! He has the resources to feed His people. Heidi and Roland Baker have seen the dead raised, the blind see, the crippled walk and the diseased healed. We got to hold some aids babies in the infirmary. Small children walked to us with arms outstretched looking for love. We loved on them and prayed for them. We looked at dozens of baby pictures and aids diagnoses on the wall of the ward. Our guide told us that nearly all of these children are healed over time as they are loved and cared for by the staff and volunteers. God is doing these miracles because He is good and works through love. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:8,9 The psalmist exhorts us many times in this Psalm to give thanks to the Lord for His goodness. God responds to the cries of people and rescues them out of their troubles when they genuinely cry unto Him. He is gracious and forgiving, full of loving kindness. God gives us extreme blessings beyond anything we deserve because of His goodness. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days. Hosea 3:5

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Psalm 33:5; Habakkuk 2:14

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Gods goodness ministers His life to us in such mercy that it brings conviction of sin that leads to repentance39. In the latter days, the outpouring of His goodness causes us to fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and wisdom brings us riches, honor and long life40. Our job is to seek the Lord with all our hearts, fear Him and expect Him to release His abundant goodness to us. Most of humanity is longing to experience the goodness of the Lord. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD -- For wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD. Jeremiah 31:12-14 God wants to satisfy us with His goodness. We will experience His goodness when we worship in the height of Zion. We must continue to develop prophetic corporate praise and worship to ascend into the highest place of Zion. As we do, the Lord will release all of His abundant goodness and the celebration will be extraordinary. This will happen fully when He returns, but we can experience His goodness now and have our souls wellwatered by His Spirit. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it. Jeremiah 33:9 God is going to provide such great prosperity for some that they will receive honor before all nations of earth. The richest men in the world, including Bill Gates, receive honor before all nations. God is going to rise up some from the tribe of Asher to places of great wealth and He will honor them before nations. When they come to that place, they will exalt Jesus Christ and glorify God. Nearly everyone will listen to a wealthy person, but a poor man with wisdom is forgotten41. God is good and He is also the righteous Judge. Israel as a nation rejected the revelation of Gods goodness in His Son Jesus so they fell into judgment for a time 42. We must learn to treasure the goodness of the Lord especially as it is released in the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. If we neglect the great salvation of the Lord and dont give thanks for His goodness, but rather walk in the flesh and love the world, we can also be cut off as Israel was. In light of Gods infinite goodness and the blessings He has for us, it would be foolish not to continue walking with Him, obeying His voice and enjoying His goodness.

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Romans 2:4 Proverbs 3:16 41 Ecclesiastes 9:15 42 Romans 11:22,23

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Those who are blessed with Ashers blessing will experience unprecedented levels of Gods goodness. As they behold Him in His goodness, they will be transformed to become good like Him. It will become their nature to minister life to the poor through finances with the goodness and wisdom of God. God has saved His best wine for the last days 43. God will release the knowledge of His goodness and glory to the whole world. The government of His goodness released through financing the harvest will be seen on those anointed with Ashers blessing. God may be calling you to contend to walk in that anointing. There are many prophecies in the word of God about great wealth transfer that will come to Israel and the spiritual seed of Abraham, the Church, through faith 44. If you see this revelation, I exhort you to pray it into your natural realm experience and use this blessing to be a blessing to the nations and take the gates of your enemies for Gods glory!

Contact Information

The Gathering Place Pastor Scott McConaughey http://scottmc.org/ [email protected]

43 44

Haggai 2:9 Galatians 3:14

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