Bill Winston - Training for Reigning: Releasing the Power of your Potential

Training for Reigning: Releasing the Power of Your Potential

by Dr. Bill Winston

Published by HigherLife Development Services, Inc.

400 Fontana Circle

Building 1 Suite 105

Oviedo, Florida 32765

(407) 563-4806

www.ahigherlife.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise identified, scripture quotations are from the The Holy Bible: King James Version . Cambridge, 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked amp are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

Scripture quotations noted nlt are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation . Copyright 1996 and 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2010 by Dr. Bill Winston

All rights reserved

ISBN 13: 978-1-935245-27-8

ISBN 10: 1-935245-27-9

Cover Design : Judith McKittrick Wright

First Edition

10 11 12 13 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

P eople today talk about having it all, getting a piece of the pie. Everybodys talking about living the good life. But what is the good life?

The Bible teaches us that the good life is eternal life. Eternal life isnt meant to start when you get to heaven. It can start today, on this planet when you live your life on the earth like you would if you were in heaven. Eternal life is the life God originally designed for you to livethats the good life.

Jesus walked on this earth with the purpose of bringing eternal life to the lost and training us to reign with Him. The things that He did and said were structured around and pointed back to the kingdom of God. He encouraged us to pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

Jesus got a handful of people and changed regions one at a time by the power of the Holy Spirit working through them. He is still changing regions one at a time with a handful of peopleand He wants to use you! He wants to tap your potential. Perhaps youve had bad experiences in the past and now youre a little shy about stepping out. Im here to help you conquer that fear.

Expect more from yourself than what you did in the past because your potential is there, waiting to be used. Before you turn to the next page, I want you to say, Hey, I am not going to leave this earth with all this potential inside of me. Lord, let Your kingdom come in my life here on earth this day, as it is in heaven. Now, lets turn the page together and find out what it means to reign with Christ.

Chapter One

Reign Over Your Enemy

H ave you ever stepped out to do something for God and met resistance? Perhaps you were slapped down so hard that you didnt have a lot of ambition to get up again. That happens. And part of the reason that happens is that we forget that we have an enemy. Anyone in the military will tell you that if youre going to win the battle in front of you, you must know the character, position, and history of your enemy youre about to engage.

So in order for us to reign with Christ, we need to know our enemy. I want to explain that the Bible tells us to watch out for the devilhes looking for a way to devour you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Pet. 5:8-9).

Notice that your brothers and sisters who are reigning beside you have also experienced this adversary. You are not alone!

One of the devils favorite tactics is to magnify your weaknesses so that youre looking at yourself and your shortcomings instead of your God-given potential. If the devil can get you or someone close to you talking about your weaknesses all the time, you will never get into your potential. Youll take it with you to the grave.

Know Your Enemy

Remember, the devil doesnt have any real power. If he had real power, hed just kill you! So he tries to keep us in the darkness of lies and ignorance. He wants us to agree with his lies.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6a, emphasis added)

Lucifer, or the devil, tries to act like he is fighting against God. God is Lucifers creator. For The Creator to fight his creation would be demeaning. The creation is no match for its creator. God takes a human being and puts him or her into the world and gives that person faith to deal with the devil.

Jesus said Hes going to sit at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool.

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (Heb. 10:12-13)

Heres the message: as you and I are here representing the kingdom of heaven and depending on Him (our King), the light of God comes in and no longer can the enemy accentuate our weakness. Instead, we can now be used as a sign and a wonder to demonstrate that the world we see is not all there is, that there is a greater reality than the one mankind is living in.

The world has standards by which they live, but as a child of God you are on a higher plane than people in this world. Youre on a higher plane than your enemy! God deals with you on the level of the eternal where man was first created, in the God-class, and according to His divine plan for your life.

No one wants to sit in darkness all day and all night. In fact, even as you read this book right now, I declare from this day, you will no longer allow your environment, your circumstances, or your upbringing to keep you at a low level of existence. My purpose for writing this book is to extend my hand to you right now and lift you up to become everything glorious that God has predestined for you to be.

Faith Declares the Outcome before the Fight Starts

The Bible tells us that if were going to do anything for God, were going to meet resistance.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12)

We are wrestling principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness. So, whenever you try to expand the kingdom, a battle is going to be necessary because the enemy is trying to hold the ground that he thinks he owns. Heres the truth: he has been spoiled, stripped of everything that he thought was his, and Jesus (glory to God!) has triumphed over him.

So guess what? You always win. You always win because Jesus has already given you the victory.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

You see, many times people think that God will give them a vision without provision, but that is against the nature of God. He would not frustrate us like that. What we need to do is understand that our provision will come from the same realm that our vision came from. Remember, every kingdom blessing is first received spiritually before it is delivered practically. So when there is a good fight of faith, that faith has a characteristic to it. It always declares the outcome before the fight ever starts. I think that bears repeatingfaith always declares the outcome before the fight ever starts.