Charles Capps: The Dominion Principle - The Christian Online Magazine

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God has made abundant provisions for mankind. He created man in His image and His likeness. God created them male and female, and He gave them dominion over all the works of His hands (Genesis 1:26-28).

But so many have never understood that dominion; therefore, they never exercise their dominion on earth. It seems that most people want to put it off until they get to heaven. But there won’t be anything to subdue and have dominion over in heaven.

There is a dominion principle. If it is understood and acted upon, it will force production from the earth. Even though this earth is under a curse, you can force the earth to produce good by applying this principle. You don’t have to plant the curses. They are already in the earth. But you must force the earth to produce what you need. To do that, you must have a seed.

The prophet Isaiah gives us this insight into the dominion principle:

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Remember the Bible speaks of God’s Word as being both seed and water (Mark 4; 1 Corinthians 3:7-8; Ephesians 5:26; John 15:3).

If you have seed and no water, you cannot have production from the earth. You must have both to produce a harvest.
Now, look with me at Genesis 8:22. Let’s read what God said to Noah when he came out of the ark:

22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

This is God’s decree. In other words, God has decreed that there will be seedtime and harvest as long as the earth remains. The principle is this: God’s Word comes down from heaven the same as the rain comes to water the earth and cause it to bring forth fruit.

So His Word comes to the earth, and it will accomplish that where-unto He has sent it. God’s principle, or His means of bringing that to pass, is SEEDTIME and HARVEST. You sow a seed, and you reap a harvest. A good seed sown makes a demand on the earth and forces it to produce.

The Scriptures said that Jesus would open His mouth in parables and speak things that had been kept secret from the foundation of the world (Matthew 13:35). The things that Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God in parables are things that had been kept secret from the foundation of the world. And He openly revealed them to us.

In Mark 4:14, as Jesus told the parable of the sower, He said: “The sower sows the word.” The seed is the Word of God. The soil is the heart of man. God furnishes the seed for the sower. But you must sow them. The way you sow them is by saying them in faith, GIVING VOICE to God’s promises.

For instance, God gave us the seed of healing and deliverance in Psalm 107:20:

20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

God has sent His Word and healed them and delivered them. Notice it says He sent His Word AND did it. God believed it was done when He sent His Word (the seed). He did it for them and He did it for us. Well, how did He do it for us?

In 2 Peter 1:3 Peter tells us, “According as his divine power hath given unto us…” His divine power is His Word. It came by the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit is the Author of the Word of God, according as His divine power hath given. His Word hath given unto us all things (seeds) that pertain to life and godliness.

Peter goes on to say, “Whereby, [or by this means] are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature...” (2 Peter 1:4). Notice he didn’t say you would be; he said you might be.

In other words, through the kingdom principle that Isaiah referred to, the Word of God is as the rain and snow that comes down from heaven “and returneth not… but it shall accomplish the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). It will cause the earth to bud and to bring forth.

The Seed Forces the Soil Into Production

The Word of God will force production in the kingdom of God. You put pressure on the soil with the Word of God. It is the incorruptible seed.

Now, as a farmer I learned that you can have dominion over the soil with the seed. I call this the dominion principle. That seed takes dominion over the soil and forces the soil into production. For the Word is both seed and water.
Then, as you go to Mark 11:23, you find this principle can be applied in everyday life. Jesus said:

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:23

Here again is the dominion principle applied. Words spoken in faith put pressure on the circumstance. If you believe, doubt not in your heart, and believe what you’re saying, it will come to pass.

The Word spoken becomes a seed. It may be small at first, but it just keeps growing, and it keeps putting pressure against the mountain. That constant pressure of the seed (spoken Word) making its demand will bring the harvest of desired results.

But for many the problem is that they haven’t understood that the seed is what forces the production. The soil does not decide what to raise or where to put the pressure.

In all the years that I farmed, I have never planted a seed and heard the soil say, “No, we’re not going to raise cotton this year; we’re going to raise cucumbers and bananas!” No, it couldn’t do that, because I planted cotton seed, or I planted soy beans. When I planted soy beans, I got more soy beans, one hundred times out of a hundred.

The seed, not the soil, determines the production. Now, the soil may determine the amount of production, but the seed determines what will be produced.

So the seed that Jesus is talking about in this kingdom principle is the Word of God. In other words, the Word of Promise, the exceeding great and precious promises, is the seed source.

Then, in Romans 10:8, the apostle Paul says, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart...” Paul is telling you how to plant God’s Word in your heart, or in the kingdom, where it will force production.

Two Great Faith Secrets

Then, in Luke 17:5-6, Jesus told two great faith secrets. The disciples had said, “Lord, Increase our faith.” Jesus said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

The King James Version says it SHOULD obey you. The Greek says it WOULD obey you.
Jesus said faith works like a seed, and the way you plant it is to say it. Now, do you see the correlation between this and what God was saying through the prophet Isaiah?

“As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, it forces the earth into production. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It becomes the seed for the sower, and bread for the eater.” The seed has Spirit Life in it. And Jesus said, “…man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).

The Word is a life source. Jesus said, “…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The seed is full of life. It is the Kingdom Seed. It is called the Word of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:19). And Jesus said:

26 …So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself…    Mark 4:26-28

     You might say, “I don’t understand how speaking God’s promises could change my circumstances.” Well, Jesus said you wouldn’t understand it. But He said go to bed and get up. Surely you know how to go to bed and get up.

Now, He didn’t mean to quit your job. He just means not to fret. You don’t have to fast or worry about it; you just simply sow the seed, go to bed, and get up. In other words, you exercise the dominion principle:

You sow the seed by saying: “Thank God, my God has met my need. I’m proclaiming in Jesus’ Name that there is abundance and no lack. I’ll have the best job in town. I’ll get a better job if I lose it. I say it on the authority of the Word of God. I can have what I say, if I believe and doubt not in my heart. Whatever I do will prosper.”

Put Pressure on Your Circumstances

Through the dominion principle you put pressure on the circumstance. When a circumstance tries to put pressure on you, you turn it around by putting pressure on that circumstance with the Word of God.

God told Elijah to go to the widow’s house in Zarephath. That put pressure on the prophet. God sent him to a widow who was about to starve, and she was to sustain him! When Elijah arrived, she was gathering sticks to cook the last meal for her and her son (1 Kings 17:11-14).

Elijah said, “Bring me a drink of water, and while you’re at it, bring me a little cake.”
She replied, “We’re gathering sticks and we just have enough for one more cake, and we’re going to eat it and die.” (Paraphrased).

Now the circumstance is putting pressure on the prophet. But he turned it around and put the pressure on the circumstance by saying, “Bring me a little cake first, and there will be plenty.”

Now the pressure is on the widow. But when she was obedient to Elijah’s words, she put the pressure back on the Word of the Lord. And the three of them lived for a whole year from that barrel of meal that had been empty. My Bible says “many days” with a footnote that says “for a whole year.”

The dominion principle puts pressure on circumstances with the Word of God.

You can also put pressure on your circumstances the same way. God’s Word is given to you as a seed for what you need. It will make a DEMAND on the kingdom within you.

But your faith will not rise any higher than your confession of the Word of God. The promises of God will never become a reality in your life unless you plant them by speaking it into your heart (soil). It’s a seed you’re planting. The seed forces production!

As you speak God’s Word, faith comes. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing the Word of God. That’s why it’s necessary for us to continue to speak the Word.

No, it won’t work just because you say it. But saying it is involved in working the principle.
It is the seed (God’s Word) that puts pressure on the soil in the heart of man. It demands a harvest. “So shall my word be that cometh down from heaven. It shall accomplish that whereto I have sent it.”

This principle is so simple we have missed it. All through the Bible we see that the Word of God is the seed. You sow it by speaking it into the heart, which is referred to as the ground or soil in Mark 4:26.

You may say, “Yes, but what if I say that and it doesn’t happen?” Well, what if you said the negative things and it did happen? I’d rather say what God said and get half of it than to say what the devil said and get one hundred percent of it.
There is always someone who will say, “Yes, but So-and-So tried it, and it didn’t work!” But I’m not basing my faith on his experiences: I’m basing my faith on the Word of God.

I am like Peter, who said, “Nevertheless at THY WORD…” (Luke 5:5). The Word of God has come down from heaven, and it will accomplish that whereto He sent it. But, you see, it’s up to us to act on this principle and have dominion over the circumstances of life.

In other words, exercise the dominion principle by speaking God’s Word after Him. Make your confessions on the authority of the Word of God. Don’t base them on someone else’s experiences. Base them on what Jesus said, and hold fast to your confession of faith.

Sure, you still want to do everything in your power and your ability to change things. But don’t put your trust in your ability. Put your trust in God and His ability. The Word says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony…” (Revelation 12:11).

     But some people have no Word in their testimony. Too many people want to live by past experiences. “Well, I know the Word says this, BUT here’s what happened to me.” Whatever happened to you didn’t change the Word of God.
     This is what has happened to us down through the years. That’s why, whole denominations, have started out on the Word of God and then got sidetracked. They started preaching experience instead of preaching the Word of God.
     Some things are going to happen to you in life that don’t agree with what you’re confessing, or believing, but it does not change the Word of God!

However, if you will hold fast to God’s Word and continue to plant the seed, IT WILL EVENTUALLY CHANGE WHAT YOU EXPERIENCE IN LIFE.

Quotes:

Words spoken in faith put pressure on the circumstance.

That constant pressure of the seed (spoken Word) making its demand will bring the harvest of desired results.