Isaiah 61:7                                                                                                      2 Peter 1:10

If you are familiar with prophesy and listen to the various prophetic words that come forth on occasion, you have no doubt heard that 2014 is a year of double. There have been many that have prophesied that this year is the year of double blessing, double anointing, and double portion. Some have even prophesied that 2014 will be the best year that any, who live in Christ and have Christ living in them, in our day and time, have ever experienced. Many have arrived at this prophetic word not so much from what they have heard from the Lord, but from the symbolism they see in the year itself, 20 is double tens and 14 is double sevens. Ten symbolizes God’s administration and seven God’s completion. The fact that the numbers are doubled means that this year is most significant for the body of Christ.

I have not received such revelation from the Lord. In fact, you have heard me say, and I believe it, that this year will be filled with greater challenge and hardship than we have endured in the previous year. So hearing from many others that this year will be a year of double is refreshingly good news, because we will need double to make it safely through whatever the enemy throws our way. The fact that I respect those who have, in good faith, proclaimed 2014 a year of double leads me to embrace and not refute what they have heard. That leaves me with reconciling what I have heard with what they have seen and heard. This year may, in fact, be the year of double, but it will not automatically happen for the people of God and His church. There are some things we will need to put in and get in order for us to experience this double blessing.

I am indebted to Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin for the following suggestions he gives for how to make it in this year. He suggests 10 things we will need to perfect, work on, apply, pursue and demonstrate in order to make it in 2014, and if we do these things we will still have challenges but we will never fail. What then do we need to perfect?

1. Restlessness, the inability to relax, for we have work to do (John 9:4);
2. Optimism, because God is in control (Philippians 1:6);
3. Intensity, doing our work as unto God and with all of our might (2 Timothy 4:2 Message);
4. Self-control, not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desires, others, or the world (Titus 2:11-14);
5. Thick skin, not letting criticism incapacitate us, imperviousness (Luke 6:22-23; Ephesians 6:13);
6. Energy, for lazy people are ineffective people (Isaiah 40:28-29);
7. Tact and articulation, to state what we believe clearly and respectfully (1 Peter 3:15);
8. Correct theology, so we will speak things that become sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3);
9. Order and organization, so we have quick access to what we need (1 Corinthians 14:40);
10. Love for God and man, for how can we say we love God, and not love our brother (1 John 4:20)?

We are believers. We are the righteousness of God. God made us, saved us, and even now sustains us. His desire is that we should in all things prosper and be in health. He is the One who has made us to become the head and not the tail, to live at the top and never at the bottom. He knew before the foundation of the earth what His people would face in this day and at this hour. He knows the turmoil we have faced and that which we will face. Of course, He desires to give us more, more of His power, more of His glory, more of His anointing, more of His pleasures. It is not good news that we will face greater challenge in this year than we have before. It is not good news that the forces of darkness will seem to prevail even more, and that they will win more battles. But we are not left without resources. We have the love of God, the power of God, and the glory of God. God loves us so much that He will always give us what we need to overcome simply because He is greater in us than our enemy in the world.

That does not mean that we can cloister ourselves away and do nothing. We need to perfect, work on, apply, pursue and demonstrate these two things if we expect to make it in this year. God gave Job double for his trouble because he was faithful and refused to give up even when his wife and so-called friends bid him to do so. Elisha received a double portion of the anointing that was on Elijah’s life because he was with him and saw him when he was taken up. Hannah received a double portion from her husband Elkanah because he loved her and she was barren. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would have a double portion in the land instead of humiliation leading them to shouts of joy. If this was the promise of God for His people living under the old covenant how much more for those of us living under the new covenant. We have Jesus and He said that we would do greater things than He because He was going to the Father. That is good news; knowing God loves me so much that He will give me double. That’s a reason to shout for joy. That’s a reason to rejoice and be glad. This year may offer some tough times. Things may not go as I would like or have hoped but in the final analysis, when it is all over, God will have sustained me by giving me double and God will give me more in recompense for what I have suffered. I call that a win.

© All Rights Reserved – Dr. James H. Logan, Jr.