Reversion: an act or process of returning to an earlier condition or state; (in law) the returning of property to a former owner (www.merriam-webster.com)
Though the things I felt God wanted me to say in part 1 of this note (The Inception of Inversion) were clear and confirmed, I didn’t yet know where He was going with the message. So I began to pray that He would show me how He wanted to land this plane ~ what remedy He wanted to propose for the problem He revealed.
He began to remind me of a series of words He’d given me toward the beginning of the year that answered my question in an “only God” kind of way! This series of words had been about how, just like the first followers of Jesus, God is still counting on His people to turn the world upside down! As He reminded me of these words in the context of His emphasis on all the enemy’s been doing since Eden to cause inversion in the earth, I realized that by calling us to turn an inverted world upside down, in reality He’s calling us to turn it right-side up again. Reversion.
In order to do so, He needs us to be filled with His Spirit and manifesting the fullness of both the fruit of His Spirit (His character) as well as the gifts of His Spirit (His power).
Reverting the World through His Character
God’s Kingdom has often been described as an upside-down Kingdom.
“God’s Kingdom is an upside-down, inside-out Kingdom. The world tells us to look out for number one, that we only live once so we need to do whatever makes us happy; God tells us that in order to find the full, meaningful, abundant life He has for us, we have to lay our lives down (die to ourselves, our will, our reputation), take up our cross and follow Him. The world tells us we need to do anything and everything it takes to be successful; God tells us that in order to be great we must be the servant of all. The world tells us to promote and defend self; God tells us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand and He will lift us up. The world tells us we should accumulate and hoard as much as possible; God tells us that in order to increase we must give away and that if we pursue His Kingdom and righteousness first in our lives, He will add to us all we need.” (excerpt from first Holy Spirit book)
But in light of what He’s shown us, we must realize that His Kingdom only appears upside down to a world that’s been inverted through sin.
(image from freechristianmessagecards.wordpress.com)
If we could see in the spiritual realm, the little boy in this image would represent everywhere the kingdom of the enemy reigns, while the little girl represents everywhere the Kingdom of God has come, His Word is followed, and His will is accomplished. To an inverted person/world, the Kingdom of God and all those converted to it seem like the ones who are upside down. By demonstrating the character of God and the principles of His Kingdom, the world can begin to see things upright, as they were meant to be. Those who love inversion instead of Truth may reject the conviction this brings and choose to remain upside down (John 3). But those who love Truth will realize they weren’t created to be upside down. They’ll desire to turn their lives around (repent), receive our King and be transferred (and transposed) into His Kingdom.
Reverting the World through His Power
Yet for many, the demonstration of God’s character will not be sufficient, nor our testimony about the Truth. After all, who are we to imply that they’re the ones who are upside down? From their point of view, we are. Who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong. If they don’t accept God’s Word as truth, their beliefs will seem just as valid to them (or more so) than ours. Thankfully, knowing this in advance, God provided all we need.
“If God had ever intended for anybody to be able to succeed at fulfilling the great commission solely through testimonies, reasoning, historical evidence, and wise and persuasive words, [the first disciples] would have been the most equipped to do so. Yet Jesus told them that all of this experience and personal testimony was not sufficient. He required them to wait until they had been baptized by His Spirit before they went out to reach the world. Only after being filled with His Spirit were they empowered to be the kind of witnesses who were accused of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6b, AMP). (Which we know, since spoken from the perspective of an inverted world, means they were truly turning it right-side up again) If we desire to see the same dramatic results and effectiveness they did, then we must not limit the Holy Spirit to working in the hearts of others solely through the preaching of the Word. Like Jesus and His first believers, we must also allow God to confirm His Word through all of the supernatural gifts and manifestations of His Spirit He provides to build up the church and reach the lost. We must allow Him to work through us not merely with wise and persuasive words, but with the demonstration of His POWER! (I Corinthians 2:4)” (excerpt from first Holy Spirit book)
A few days after the Lord reminded me of the previous series of words about turning the world upside down, connecting them to the message about inversion in this way, He led me to listen to a sermon a friend sent me more than a month earlier that I hadn’t yet heard. Within the first 20 minutes God had confirmed so many things (even something I’d just asked Him that morning) that I knew this was a divinely orchestrated moment. This is a short, but powerful, clip from that message, containing one of many confirmations He gave again during this time of His call to His people in this hour to turn the world upside down again (truly right-side up again).
Reverting the World through His Remnant
Just as TD Jakes emphasized, Jesus accomplished reversion on a massive scale with only twelve ~ an unlikely twelve at that. And the effects continue to this day. Though we know this number grew exponentially, He began with only twelve. Some may remember the significance the story of Gideon has played in the things God’s been emphasizing the last several years. As discussed in Ninevah’s Shore , that account is another through which God assures us that He doesn’t need a majority to accomplish His purpose. His reversion can begin with a remnant. Interestingly, God wove the account of Gideon back into His message in an awesome way in the original series of upside-down words He gave at the beginning of the year. It was there in Ninevah’s Shore all along, but I didn’t see it till He highlighted it this year.
(Referring to the sign God gave Gideon to instill the courage he needed to carry out His plan) When Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and TURNED IT UPSIDE DOWN so that the tent lay flat. And his comrade replied, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has given Midian and all the host. When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped and returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given into your hand the host of Midian. Judges 7:13-15
Because God had already given us so many words about turning the world upside down, I could hardly contain myself when He showed me the concept again in this account! And it was all the more thrilling to see what (or rather who) had been used to bring about this turn of events!
“I love the seeming absurdity of God’s ways, that an army could be defeated by a mere loaf of bread rolling into the camp! We can gain more insight by looking at the type of bread God used in this imagery. According to some, barley 
can represent something deemed to be “less than” in the eyes of the world. The footnote in the Amplified states:
‘Alluding to the insignificance of Gideon and his family, or perhaps his whole troop. Barley then, as it is still, was distinguished from “fine flour.” “To hear himself but a Barley-cake, troubled him not. It matters not how base we be thought, so [long as] we be victorious” (Bishop Joseph Hall, cited by The Cambridge Bible).”’
And indeed, this confirmed the message God has been reminding us of ~ that He delights in using the people and plans the world despises, disregards, and disqualifies in order that He will get ALL the glory!” (excerpt from Ninevah’s Shore)
God can and will use a remnant to bring about this reversion. And that remnant will be made up of “the foolish things,” the rejected stones, the outcasts, and misfits ~ you and me. I’ll close with one more short clip from the sermon above, which again confirmed God’s Gideon remnant and the emphasis from many previous posts of being CHOSEN to be among them.
Time To Roll!
Blessings and Prayers!
© Laura Jewell Tyree
