Start Your New Life Today (21 page)
God does not require you and me to be perfect immediately; He just wants us to keep growing.
Your Answer Is Under Your Nose
T
here is no subject in the Bible we should take more seriously than the mouth—the words we speak. I do not believe anyone can live in victory without being well informed concerning the power of words. The mouth can be used to bring blessing or destruction not only to our own lives, but also to the lives of others. Proverbs 18:21 states, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].”
The mouth can be used to bring blessing or destruction not only to our own lives, but also to the lives of others.
If you are dealing with problems, your answer may be right under your nose. At least a major part of it could be. Usually when we have mountains of problems in our lives we talk
about
them, but God’s Word instructs us to talk
to
them, as we see in a passage when Jesus said that we are to speak to our mountain in faith, commanding it to be lifted up and thrown into the sea (Mark 11:23, 24). This is a radical statement and one that deserves some study.
First of all, what do we say to the mountains in our lives? It is obvious we are not to hurl our will at them, but the will of God, and His will is His Word.
In Luke 4 when Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He answered every trial with the Word of God. He repeatedly said, “It is written,” and quoted Scriptures that met the lies and deceptions of the devil head on. Many of us have a tendency to try this for a while, but when we do not see quick results, we stop speaking the Word to our problems and return to speaking our feelings, which is probably what got us into trouble to begin with.
A stonecutter may strike a rock ninety-nine times with a hammer, and there may be no evidence at all that the rock is cracking. Then on the one hundredth time, it may split in half. Each blow was weakening the stone even though there were no signs to indicate it.
Persistence is a vital link to victory. We must know what we believe and be determined to stick with it until we see results.
Knowing, speaking and obeying the Word of God is powerful and absolutely necessary in overcoming life’s problems. Obedience is the central theme of the Bible. For many of us, our life is in a mess due to disobedience. The disobedience may have been the result of ignorance or rebellion, but the only way out of the mess is repentance and a return to submission and obedience.
If a person thinks he can live in disobedience, but speak God’s Word to his mountains and see results, he will be sadly disappointed. Jesus’ teaching in Mark 11:22–26, the passage in which He discusses speaking to the mountain, He also talks about releasing faith. Jesus said to constantly have faith in God; He spoke of prayer and the importance of praying prayers of believing. He gave a command to forgive and stated plainly if we do not forgive, neither will our Father in heaven forgive us our failings and shortcomings.
Multitudes of people who have accepted Christ as their personal Savior fall into the deception of trying to operate one of God’s principles while completely ignoring another. Confessing the word of God is a positive principal that will bring good results, but unforgiveness is a negative principal that weakens our walk with God. When we mix positives and negatives we make no progress. I strongly encourage you to do your best to obey God in all things, not just the ones that are convenient to you at a particular time. We must do right when it is easy or hard, convenient or inconvenient. Obedience produces wonderful results, and it is the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances in our life.
Speaking God’s Language
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he Bible teaches us we can have what we say. To clarify, what we say
must
line up with God’s Word expressed in the Bible and His will for us at that particular time in our lives. “Speaking to our mountains” is not a magic charm or incantation we pull out and use when we are in trouble or when we want something for ourselves, while we continue in carnality and a disobedient lifestyle.
As long as you and I are carnal (living by our lusts and selfish desires), we should hope and pray for God
not
to give us what we say. As immature Christians what we think we want is not usually the thing that will be the best for us. We will be saying a lot of things that are our will and not God’s will, simply because we cannot tell the difference yet. As “babies in Christ,” we simply do not know how to talk yet, which is what the apostle Paul told the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:3).
It seems to me from my years in ministry and observations in the Kingdom of God, believers, even teachers of the Word, have a difficult time with balance. The doctrine concerning the power of words, the mouth, confession, calling those things that be not as though they are, and speaking things into existence, is one example in which I have seen people get off into extremes. It seems the flesh wants to live in the ditch on one side of the road or the other, but it has a difficult time staying in the middle of the highway between the lines of safety.
Extremes are actually the devil’s playground. If he cannot get a believer to totally ignore a truth and live in deception, his next tactic will be to get him so one-sided and out of balance with that truth he is no better off than he was before. Sometimes he is even worse off than he was.
Wisdom is a central theme of God’s Word. As a matter of fact, there is no real victory without it. I have dealt with many people over the years, both lay people and those in full-time ministry, who simply do not use any common sense. Wisdom does not operate in extremes. Wisdom is full of prudence, and prudence is good management. I believe we might say that wisdom is a combination of balance, common sense, and good judgment.
Wisdom is a combination of balance, common sense, and good judgment.
I believe very strongly in the power of speaking in line with God’s Word, also referred to as confessing God’s Word. I believe we should speak to our mountains, and I believe that in many, if not most instances the answer to our problems is definitely right under our nose (in our mouth). But I also believe very strongly in the maturity of the believer, the crucifixion of the fleshly nature by choosing to make the right decisions to follow the spirit, dying to selfishness, and the necessity for obedience and submission to the Holy Spirit.
Most teachers have a particular “bent” to their teaching—and rightfully so. It has to do with the call of God on their lives. Some are called to exhort and keep the children of God cheered up, to keep them zealous and pressing forward. Others may be called to teach faith, and still others prosperity. There are those who are called to teach almost exclusively on finances. Many have been called to teach and demonstrate healing. However, no matter what our particular passion is, those of us who teach God’s Word must teach the whole counsel of God’s Word and not lean so much toward one area that others are totally ignored. New believers, especially, should guard against becoming lopsided toward a particular teaching and remember to stay balanced to avoid falling into one of the devil’s ditches of extremes. However, mature believers should also guard against gravitating toward extremes.
The point is to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to see the will of God accomplished in our lives. Give your ear to wisdom. Follow God’s system of “checks and balances” to help you stay balanced—assembling with other believers, seeking godly counsel rather than the wisdom of the world, for example. Your new way of living requires you stay on the narrow path, staying centered, not being swayed either to the right or the left ditch, keeping your eyes right on Jesus.
The Effect of Words
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he earth God created was not made from materials that could be seen. Genesis 1 tells us God spoke, and things began to appear: light, sky, earth, vegetation, plants yielding seed, and trees bearing fruit; the sun, moon, and stars; fish and birds; every kind of living creature: livestock, creeping things, wild beasts, and domestic animals. The earth and everything in it were all created out of nothing that could be seen and are today upheld by nothing that can be seen.
In Hebrews 1:3 we read that God is “. . . upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. . . .” The universe that was created by His mighty words is still being upheld today by the same thing.
You might say, “Well, sure, Joyce, but that is God.”
But we must remember we are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26, 27), and we are supposed to act like Him.
Paul stated we are to imitate God, to follow His example, see Ephesians 5:1. In Romans 4:17 we read that God “. . . gives life to the dead and speaks of the non-existent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.”
God’s Word is His promise to us, and we should speak of those things He promised us as if they already existed.
Over thirty years ago God taught me the importance of speaking His word out loud. He told me that I needed to stop saying negative things and start saying positive things. I made sure my confessions were backed up by God’s Word. I wasn’t confessing that I would be the President or CEO of General Motors, but I was confessing that I would fulfill my destiny. I declared that I walked in love and all the other fruit of the Spirit. I claimed good health, prosperity, godly character, wisdom, generosity, and about 60 other things God placed on my heart. Today, all of those things are a reality in my life and I am still growing. We cannot expect to experience God’s best if we are going to constantly verbally disagree with His Word. Remember, the answer to many of your problems is right under your nose. What have you been saying lately? How do you talk when you are having challenges in life, or when you feel the pressures of daily life? When Jesus like a lamb was being led to slaughter (when He died on the cross) the Bible says that He opened not His mouth. This is very significant because to me it indicates that Jesus realized He was better off to be quiet than to say the wrong thing. He knew the power of words!
Jesus realized He was better off to be quiet than to say the wrong thing. He knew the power of words!
We all have angels assigned to help us, but the Bible says they hearken (listen) to the word of God. An angel is not going to assist us because we complain all day. They won’t assist us due to our fearful, negative speech. Start saying what the Bible says you can have instead of just talking about your circumstances. If you will I believe that over time you will be amazed at the positive difference in your life. If you are anything like the rest of us I am sure you have tried being negative and seen the results, so why not give God’s way an opportunity. He has blessings piled up just waiting for you to learn how to talk right!
Exchanging Fear for Faith
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e all know what fear feels like. It is tormenting and prevents our progress. Fear can cause us to shake, perspire, feel weak, and run from things we should face.
We should have a type of reverential fear of God we call “holy fear.” It is a respectful fear of God that causes us to walk in obedience to Him because we know He is powerful and we should always do as He says. It is a right fear that realizes God means what He says and our lives always work out best if we follow His instructions.
There is also what I will term a “normal” fear that helps us in some situations. The purpose for feeling the fear described above is for “fight or flight” in emergencies. Sometimes we need the instant alertness and enormous boost of energy to handle immediate potentially dangerous situations. For example, I once had a friend who had a teenage son who suddenly had a convulsion. She lived about three blocks from a hospital and without even thinking about what she was doing, she picked up her son who was larger than her and carried him the three blocks. Her body produced extra adrenaline that enabled her to do something she could not have done normally. In this instance the fear she felt was a good thing.
But many people live daily with fear that is not from God but is Satan’s tool to prevent us from living the good life God has for us. Second Timothy 1:7 tells us God has not given us the spirit of fear; He has given us a spirit of power, love, and a sound, well-balanced mind.
God wants us to live in faith. Faith is the leaning of our entire personalities on Him with absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness. It is the evidence of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality.
Faith operates in the spiritual realm. Many people are accustomed to believing only in things they can see and feel, but as children of God, to live in the fullness of the new life God intends, we learn to become comfortable living in the spiritual realm, one we cannot see. We don’t see God because He is a Spirit, but we believe firmly in Him. We don’t usually see angels, but God’s Word says they are all around us protecting us. By believing in God and His Word and releasing our faith in Him to do as He promises in His Word, we can reach into the spiritual realm and pull things out into visual reality God wants us to enjoy.
As children of God, to live in the fullness of the new life God intends, we learn to become comfortable living in the spiritual realm, one we cannot see.
Satan delights in calling our attention to circumstances opposing the promises of God we know to be true in an attempt to make us fearful of the future. God, however, wants us to trust our present and future to Him and believe He is greater than any circumstance or threat from the devil. Great examples of men and women in desperate circumstances with fear filling their hearts who decided to put their faith in God appear throughout the Bible. The Bible gives us the many different accounts of the glorious deliverances each person experienced.