In this special excerpt, Shawn Bolz shares ways to shift our focus and why we are seeing certain attacks right now. You have important keys that need to be used!
Below are some notes from our Partners-only Monthly Mentoring Session. These sessions have been recorded and you can access them by becoming a Partner today! Find out more at DougAddison.com/TimeOff.
Shawn started out the session by saying that we're about to see a great deployment of Christians into culture and different places, and that's why the battle's been so hard … Because the enemy thinks he owns the airwaves and the media.
The enemy also thinks he owns politics and the financial markets. When you look at what the antichrist is going to do in the book of Revelation, it's all about financial markets. So, the enemy already thinks he owns that, and yet Jesus has the keys!
No one can take the keys from Jesus!
Jesus owns the keys and He's distributing the keys to the Kingdom.
These Kingdom keys are going to open doors that help bring about everything that needs to take place for Christ to return.
Shawn went on to say, “Some of you are holding a key in your hand, and some of you don’t realize that that's why there's been so much war in your life.”
Some of you also don't realize that's why there's so much war against Doug and Linda.
There’s so much war because we're getting positioned for one of the most sovereign things that might ever happen in the world.
Shawn said that today is important, of course … He’s not one of those people who is just a futurist and believes that tomorrow is the most important day we’ll live in.
What we do with our keys today is very important.
Shawn added that he and his wife are not waiting for the greater things to happen. They are just doing … being faithful with what they have and what they can steward today. For their children, for their legacy, for what God wants to do … and what God wants in this generation.
Within Shawn is an insight that we’re headed for global revival. He thinks that’s why the darkness has permeated everything right now and why it’s become so obvious.
God is about to launch all these industries and places for Christians to put a great display of what Jesus is like … through film, television, fashion, business, stock markets, etc.
Sometimes Shawn has to look at some ugly stories and hard things, but he thinks of 1 Corinthians 2:16—that we have the mind (or perceptions) of Christ.
If we have the mind and perceptions of Christ, both from reading the Bible and from understanding what He’s like, then He can relay to us what He’s thinking and feeling about the world around us.
We can have a different outcome. We don’t have to struggle with anxiety. We don’t have to struggle with depression.
We might have moments of anxiety, or grievous moments, but there’s some stuff inside of us where we can become an intercessor and not just report or talk about it.
The beauty of God is so beautiful and so good.
When we look at hard situations (like a country struggling with poverty), God has already prepared a whole solution. He wants to enact those solutions through people like us!
God is the solution bringer!
Seeing people get placed in a way that causes the world to have a before-and-after moment with Jesus is something that makes Shawn excited. It causes the world to see Jesus differently than they saw Him before.
We’re seeing this in The Chosen, one of the most-watched shows in the world. This show is causing people to see Jesus differently than they ever saw Him before.
We’re also seeing this in different campaigns like football games and the Olympics. Business leaders are now trying to get the world to see Jesus in a different way … because that audience will never go to church.
Let’s invite people to see Jesus in ways they’ve never seen Him before! Hearing God’s voice and the prophetic is the secret sauce to this.
Some of you have been growing behind the scenes, learning to hear God powerfully because God's going to use you in very visible ways, powerfully.
You've been paying the price, growing behind the scenes, so God can activate you on a greater level! It’s like the parable of the talents. The Lord will multiply you because you were faithful.
If you don’t feel encouraged, then come back to that place and ask, “Why am I not encouraged?” It might be because of where you have your eyes (focus).
Shawn challenged the Partners to look at the concepts in Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
If you look at bad news and only that, you will not be encouraged. You can filter those things by putting them behind you and focus on what God is doing … not what the enemy is doing or what man is doing wrong.
Since Shawn works in media, those news items might still be on his grid, but they’re not his primary focus.
If you don’t feel hopeful, think about what the Apostle Paul said. He told us over and over to strengthen ourselves in the Lord … to stabilize ourselves and anchor our faith.
There has to be something inside of you where no one else is going to “anchor” you. Often we think, “If I could just follow a certain minister or get discipled … If I could just be a part of a certain ministry or do a certain thing,” that will anchor me.
The reality is that those things can help you, but the only thing that's going to anchor you to a place of stability and strength is your own justification and the priesthood between you and Jesus. He is your High Priest.
Shawn mentioned the reformer, Martin Luther, and how he nailed the 95 Theses to the doors of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg. Luther was famous for saying, “The just shall live by faith alone.” Each person is justified by their own relationship with God. And you have to want this for yourself. No one else can make this happen for you.
You have to want it with God's zeal and with His heart because He wants it more than we do … but no human can do that for you.
And if you can get to that place and say, “Whatever's heavy, whether it's my children, grandchildren, my marriage—whatever it is—I can still learn to cast my cares on God in a dark time.”
Doing this will pay dividends for your children and your relationships, because a lot of people can’t do it. That’s why we have a 60% epidemic of anxiety in America right now. 30% of Americans have debilitating anxiety.
You might be part of that statistic, but you don’t have to stay there. There’s a place of grace for you, and perfect love casts out all fear. Anxiety is a part of fear.
As we pursue God and get a biblical worldview, it changes our understanding of how we might normally operate.
When our normal systems get upgraded, we get transformed and renewed. We become new, and it’s important that we believe that!
Shawn ended by emphasizing that revival is coming, and we are going to see things like we’ve never seen them before.
This scope of time is so ugly, but also everything is so possible because of it. Passivity is no longer our main struggle in the church because we can’t be passive with everything that’s going on around the world. It used to be that 60% of evangelicals weren’t even voting in most countries, but we’re seeing a big shift with that right now.
We have keys in our hands, and we must do something! We have a voice, and we must speak!
If we can open our eyes and see, we're actually in a time right now that might be the greatest time of modern history … and we get to participate in it!
We get to be here. We don't have to be here; we get to be here.
Allow God to come and move on you first …. because before revival happens in the masses, it happens in individuals. It happens with a few.
Be the few… Let God revive you, bring passion to you and speak to you. If you already have that, let Him multiply it.
Whatever is alive in you, God will multiply it!
InLight Connections thanks Shawn Bolz for sharing his heart with us.
P.S. Thank you to all of those who partner with InLight Connection and give on a regular basis. You are holding their arms up in the spirit right now, and they are truly grateful. For those who have not yet given, or it’s been a while, please consider giving now (or partnering monthly) … to help, just click HERE. Becoming a Partner will give you access to the upcoming guest speaker events. These meetings are POWERFUL!
Doug Addison is the founder and president of InLight Connection. Doug is a prophetic speaker, author and coach. He is known for his Daily Prophetic Words, Spirit Connection podcast and blog. He and his wife Linda live in Los Angeles, California where they are impacting the arts, entertainment and media industries.
