Showing posts with label Confessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confessions. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

God My Source

As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in You.” (Psalm 87:7 NIV)
God, You are my source, my never ending supply. Not only the source for my material needs, my food and my finances, the “what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what clothes shall we wear” stuff of life.

More than that, You are the source of my peace, my wholeness, my well-being.

You are the source of my wisdom and my understanding. You are the source of my vision and my dream. You are the source of my inspiration and creativity.

All my fountains are in You. And I give You praise.




Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Fresh and Flourishing and Full of Energy


Just saw a little thing on Facebook, perhaps you’ve seen it, too: A sign that breaks down the stages of life into three categories:

  • Teen Age: Have Time + Energy … but No Money
  • Working Age: Have Money + Energy … but No Time
  • Old Age: Have Time + Money … but No Energy
This was said in jest, of course, but even in jest it can have a powerful influence on the way one thinks. We start talking it, we start thinking it, we start believing it … and we might well end up receiving it. My mouth, my mind, my heart and my life were created for better things than that. And I have better things to confess and look forward to when I get old:
Bless the LORD, O my soul …
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
(Psalm 103:5)
My wife and I have added this to our table grace at meal times: “You satisfy our desires with good things and renew our youth like the eagle’s. (The other day, Suz asked if I had noticed that my hair is getting darker. Maybe. Sometimes it does look that way to me.)

We are both in our fifties — we call it “middle age,” because we expect to live a long time. But one day when we reach “old age” (maybe when we are about 90 or so), we are looking forward to good things because of the goodness of the LORD.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
(Psalm 92:12-15)
Instead of saying that we will have no energy when we are old, this is our confession*:
The LORD satisfies our desires with good things and renews our youth like the eagle’s. We will still bear fruit in old age. We will be fresh and flourishing in His courts, and full of energy to declare that our lives our built on Him, and He is right in all He does.



Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Year for Divine Favor


King Jesus the Messiah has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53. Now we are in the time described in Isaiah 54 and these things are true for all who follow Jesus. The days of the King have begun. Therefore:
Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.
(Isaiah 54: 2-3)
One day Jesus came preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, His home town. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He looked for a particular passage and read it aloud:
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
(Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)
This was a declaration about the great Jubilee. An announcement about the Messiah. A proclamation about the coming kingdom of God. After reading these words, Jesus handed back the scroll and sat down to teach, saying
Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:21)
The time of Jubilee, the time of Messiah, the time of the kingdom was no longer just coming — it was now at hand, breaking into the world in the person of Jesus. He was the Messiah, the one God anointed to be King. The “acceptable year,” the year of the favor of the LORD had now come into play.

In terms of eschatology (the doctrine of final things), we have been living in the year of God’s favor ever since. All authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), God has “seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet” (Ephesians 1:20-22). This means that Jesus is, even now, King over all.

Some people are hoping they can just stay afloat or keep their head above water in 2012. But the people of God should be learning how to walk on water. This the year of the favor of the LORD, and the year for it to be revealed in your life. Enlarge, stretch, lengthen, strengthen, the prophet says. So here is what I say (and you can say it, too):
I enlarge my expectation, I strengthen my anticipation, I stretch my thinking and I believe the favor God has for me this year. I receive it, laying hold of it by faith. The economy, the political climate, the social situation — these are all just circumstances. But Jesus is King over every situation, and the favor of God is greater than every circumstance. And He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [His power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead] that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

A Prosperous New Month


As many of my regular readers have probably picked up by now, I pray through the book of Psalms each month (150 psalms divided by 30 days in a month = five a day). At the beginning of each new month, I start again at Psalm 1. And here is what greets me:
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
(Psalm 1:1-3)
Blessed! It is my confession. To confess something means to speak in agreement with it,* and I speak in agreement with this psalm.
  • I am a blessed man.
  • I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
  • I do not stand in the path of sinners.
  • I do not sit with the scornful.
  • I delight in the instruction of the LORD.
  • I mediate in it continually.
  • I am like a tree planted by rivers of water.
  • I bring forth fruit in its season.
  • My leaf shall not wither
  • And whatever I do prospers.
I say these kind of things out loud, sometimes very loud and with great enthusiasm, and I recommend it to you. It is a wonderful way to start off a prosperous month.

For more on this, I’ve written a number of times about Psalm 1 and also about confession. Click the labels at the bottom of this post.
*Someone recently asked if our ministry practices “positive confession.” I answered that we practice speaking in agreement with the Word of God.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Confessions on Romans 8:28


If you have been a Christian for while, you’ve probably heard this verse: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). It is quoted often (one of those “refrigerator verses”), especially in difficult times. One of the keys to understanding this verse is to recognize that this is about those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. It is a comfort to know that God’s purposes for us will be fulfilled.

But another important key, I believe, is found in the words “work together,” or rather, the Greek word behind it, synenergeo. It is a compound word: syn means “with” or “together” and energeo means “to be at work.” As you might guess, it is from this that we get our word “synergy.” It is this prefix, syn, that interests me most — we find it in various forms (sym, sys, and syg) a number of times in Romans 8:
  • “The Spirit Himself bears witness with [symmartureo] our spirit that we are children of God ...” (v.16).
  • “… and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs [sygkleronomos] with Christ, …” (v. 17).
  • “… if indeed we suffer with [sympascho] Him, that we may also be glorified together [symdoxazo].” (v. 17).
  • “For we know that the whole creation groans [systenazo, ‘groans together’] and labors with birth pangs together [synodino] until now” (v. 22). The whole creation is waiting, Paul says, for the manifestation of the sons of God, when it is “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (v. 19-21).
  • “Likewise the Spirit also helps [synantilambanomai] in our weaknesses” (v. 26). This word speaks of two parties laying hold together, each one doing his part, like oarsmen, to obtain a goal.
In verse 23, Paul says, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” And in verse 26, “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The Holy Spirit groans within us and we also groan within ourselves. So, even though the prefix is not used concerning this, the Holy Spirit groans within us together with us.

What is more, Paul adds, “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (v. 27). The Father knows the mind of the Spirit who is at work within us, and the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. In other words, the Father and the Spirit are working together on our behalf.

It is at this point then that Paul concludes, “For we know that all work together [synenergeo] for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Many translators add the word “things,” which I have left out here because it can be misleading. It is also not necessary because, in the context and flow of Romans 8, “all” refers to all that Paul has just finished listing. We can just as well say, “All these things” or leave it simply at “All.”

The point is that we have all the things Paul talks about in Romans 8 working together on our behalf. They are mighty indeed, full of the power of God, and through them God can bring forth good even in the worst of situations. So this is my confession of faith in good times and bad:
The Holy Spirit bears witness together with my spirit that I am a child of God, that I am a joint-heir together with Christ, that if I suffer together with Him I will be glorified together with Him. All creation is groaning together, waiting for me to manifest as a mature child of God, because I walk in the glorious liberty of the children of God. The Holy Spirit is groaning together with me, interceding in me, with me and for me with powerful prayers that’s express God’s great desire for me — and these prayers are being answered! All these things are now working together for my good, because I love God and I am called according to His purpose. Nothing can stop His good plan for me from being fulfilled.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Confessions for Your Children

To confess, literally, is “to say the same thing.” That is how the English word derives and also what its counterpart in New Testament Greek, homologeo, means. To confess something is to speak in agreement with it. When we confess our sin, as in 1 John 1:9 for example, we are agreeing that they are indeed sinful, things we ought not to have done. When we confess the Lord Jesus, as in Romans 10:9, we are agreeing and affirming that Jesus Christ is indeed our Lord.

When we confess Jesus as our Lord, we have so much more we can confess because we become heir to all the promises of God. And what wonderful promises He has given for us and our children! In difficult times, such as the present economic distress, when we might wonder how our kids are going to make it through, it is good to remember and affirm these promises and expect to receive them, for our children as well as for ourselves.

With that in mind, I have this list of things I confess, based on the Word of God, beginning with the commitment of our household to God. If you find them helpful, you are welcome to use them. If I may recommend, it is good to keep them in your thoughts and in the silences of your heart, but it is also very helpful to speak them aloud, even to shout them. That can be wonderfully freeing, help break the spirit of heaviness and despair, and assist you in laying hold of God’s promises with a vigorous faith. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1). That is, faith is the underlying reality of what we are expecting (see Faith is Reality and Faith Brings Expectation).

Here are the confessions I speak over my children:
  • Regardless of what anyone else may choose, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
  • God’s promise of salvation is for our children as well as for us, and they receive it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 16:31)
  • The empowering gift of the Holy Spirit is for our children as well as for us, and they bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in their lives — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. (Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 5:22-23)
  • We are blessed in the city, blessed in the country, and our children will also be blessed. (Deuteronomy 28:3-4)
  • The LORD teaches us His ways so that we shall dwell in prosperity and our children shall inherit the land. (Psalm 25:12-13)
  • We shall never be abandoned, not even in old age, and our children shall never have to beg bread. We shall not have to borrow but will have abundance for lending and generosity. Our children will be a blessing because they themselves are blessed. (Psalm 37:25-26)
  • Wealth and riches will be in our house, and our children will be mighty on earth, an upright and blessed generation. (Psalm 112:2-3)
  • The LORD gives us increase more and more, to us and our children, and we are blessed by the LORD, Make of Heaven and Earth. (Psalm 115:14-15)
  • We are imparting a rich inheritance for our children and our children’s children. (Proverbs 13:22)
  • Our children are instructed by the LORD, and great shall be their peace, their shalom — their wholeness and prosperity, nothing missing and nothing broken. (Isaiah 54:13)
See also Confessions and Praying Over Your Children with Power.

Monday, March 9, 2009

We Have a Confession to Make

Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 3:1)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
God has given many wonderful promises and benefits for those who know, love and serve Him, and they are all found in Jesus Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo and means, “to say the same thing” (homo, same; logeo, to speak or say). To confess is to speak in agreement with something. Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He is the one we confess, speak in agreement with and about. To confess Him is to declare our faith in Him.
  • We confess that Jesus Christ is Apostle. The word “apostle” refers to one who is sent. By confessing Jesus Christ as Apostle, we agree that He is the one who is sent by God. He represents the Father before us. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” He said (John 14:9). All other apostles are apostles of Jesus Christ, sent by Him, but Jesus Christ is the Apostle of the Father, the One sent by God.
  • We confess that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. The role of the High Priest is to represent God to the people and the people to God. Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to do that because He is fully divine and fully human, Son of God and Son of Man.
As High Priest, Jesus Christ has made complete atonement for us, taking our sins upon Himself and nailing them to the Cross. He has cleansed us from all guilt and shame. As High Priest, He is the mediator of a “better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6), a covenant cut in His own blood (Luke 22:20). As wonderful as the promises of the Old Covenant were, this covenant is even better, adding to those promises.

When we confess Jesus Christ as Apostle and High Priest, we are agreeing that He is the one sent by the Father to us. In confessing Him, we also confess the covenant He has mediated for us, for He completely fulfills all the requirements of both the old and new covenants. He has done all that is necessary; our part is to commit ourselves to Him by faith.

With that in mind, I have written two confessions based on two passages from the old covenant. I chose these because they are wide-ranging and form a good foundation for laying hold of what God wants to do for us in this life. I believe they will be an encouragement to you, especially in these difficult times. Do you confess Jesus as your Lord? Are you trusting Him with your life? Then these confessions are for you, too.

Be bold when you make these confessions. Years ago, I began making confessions like these, based on similar Scriptures. I was in a very difficult time in my life and I knew I needed a strong, bold faith in God if I was going to get the turnaround I needed. So I printed out a number of Scripture promises, cast them in the first person, in the form of personal confessions, and began speaking them out. I did not just read them silently to myself — I knew I had to get these down deep into my heart. So I read them out loud. It was awkward at first, but I kept at it. I paced back and forth in the hallway of my house, reading and repeating these promises and confessions out loud, over and over. Before long, I began to speak them out louder and louder. I got to where I was shouting them out regularly.

What was I doing? Letting them fill my eyes, my mind, my mouth and my ears, and before long they began to fill my heart. You might say I was defibrillating, shocking my heart back into the rhythms of faith with the Word of God, recalibrating my thoughts and emotions with the promises of God, realigning my will with the heart of God. After about a month, I began to see breakthrough. My life has been different and I have walked in a deeper level of faith, and joy, ever since.

It seems to me that now is a good time to pick up these “defibrillating” paddles once again and reinvigorate our faith with the promises of God. I invite you to join me in these confessions:
All the blessings of God come upon us and overtake us, because we obey the voice of the LORD our God. We are blessed everywhere we go, in the city and in the country. We are blessed with increase in every area of our life — at home, in business, in ministry. We are blessed in all our comings and goings — when we go out, we go out in safety; when we come home, we come home in safety. The LORD causes all our enemies to be defeated — they scatter from before us in every direction. The LORD commands His blessing on us in our storehouses, and in all we set our hand to. The LORD establishes us as holy unto Himself, to fulfill His plans and purposes for our lives — He leads us into our destiny. The LORD gives us plenty of goods and abundance of prosperity. The LORD opens His treasury to bless all the work of our hands. We shall lend to many and shall never have to borrow. (from Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

We are blessed by the LORD, because we delight in His commandments. Our descendants will be mighty on the earth. Wealth and riches are in our house. Light arises for us in the darkness. We are gracious, full of compassion and righteous. We deal graciously and lend, and we guide our affairs with discretion. We will never be shaken. We will be in everlasting remembrance. We will not be afraid of evil tidings. Our hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. We are established in heart, and we will not be afraid. We shall look in triumph on our foes. We are generous and share our gifts abroad. We remember to give to the poor. Our righteousness (the righteousness of Christ now at work in us) endures forever, and we will be exalted with honor. (from Psalm 112)
Jesus is our High Priest, and in Him, we have many wonderful promises to confess.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Forcefully Laying Hold by Faith

The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Matthew 11:12 NIV)
One way the kingdom of heaven forcefully advances is through the Word of God. All creation is framed and sustained by it (Hebrews 11:3; Hebrews 1:3), and faith, which is how we forcefully lay hold of the kingdom, comes by hearing it (Romans 10:17).

As I noted in yesterday’s blog, there was a time in my life when I realized that I really needed to lay hold of the kingdom in regard to certain areas in my life. So I gathered up Scriptures pertaining to those areas and, pacing up and down the hallway of my house, I began to declare them forcefully, with a loud voice.

What was I doing? I was laying hold of the promises of God, claiming them as my own. I was pressing into the truth of them. I was confessing them with all I had within me. To confess something literally means to “same the same thing,” to agree with that something. The Greek word translated “confess” in the New Testament is homologeo, which literally means “same word.” When we confess our sins, for example, we are agreeing with what God has to say about them. When we confess His Word, we are agreeing that it is so. That is faith, and it pleases God (Hebrews 11:6).

Here are some of the Bible-based confessions I began making that day:
  • I remember the LORD my God, for it is He who gives me the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
  • I am prosperous and successful, for I meditate upon God's Word day and night (Joshua 1:8).
  • I will go up at once and possess the blessing God has given me; for I am well able to overcome all that keeps me from it (Numbers 13:30).
  • The God of heaven, He will prosper me (Nehemiah 2:20).
  • The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want (Psalm 23:1).
  • I magnify the Lord continuously, for He takes pleasure in the prosperity of His people (Psalm 35:27).
  • I delight myself in the Lord, and He gives me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).
  • Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads me with benefits, the God of my salvation (Psalm 68:19).
  • All my fountains — my unlimited resources — are in you, O LORD (Psalm 87:7).
  • I am blessed, for I fear the LORD and find great delight in His commands. My children will be mighty in the land, for the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in my house, and my righteousness endures forever, for I have the righteousness of Christ at work in me. (Psalm 112:1-3)
  • The LORD makes me increase — me and my children. I am blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 115:14-15).
  • There is peace within my walls and prosperity within my palace (Psalm 122:7).
  • I prosper because I am generous and give freely. I am refreshed because I refresh others (Proverbs 11:24-25).
  • Prosperity and honor now come to me, for I receive instruction (Proverb 13:18).
  • From the fruit of my mouth my stomach is filled; with the harvest from my lips I am satisfied (Proverbs 18:20).
  • Whatsoever my hand finds to do, I do it with all my might (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
  • God goes before me and levels the mountains; He breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. He gives me the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places (Isaiah 45:2-3).
  • I ask and it is being given to me; I seek and I am finding; I knock and the door is being opened to me (Matthew 7:7).
  • All things whatsoever I ask in prayer, believing, I shall receive (Matthew 21:22).
  • God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within me (Ephesians 3:20).
  • My God will meet all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
  • All things are mine (1 Corinthians 3:21).
  • My prosperity and progress appears to all, for I meditate upon God's Word, and I give myself diligently to it (1 Timothy 4:15).
  • God gives us richly all things to enjoy (1Timothy 6:17).
  • I enjoy good health and all goes well with me, even as my soul is getting along well (3 John 2).
Forceful men lay hold of the kingdom of Heaven on Earth by believing the Word of God.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Confessing My Happiness

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
(Psalm 1:1-3)
My Confession: Today I am deliriously happy because I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. Instead, I take great delight in the Law of the Lord — the Word of God. I think about it all the time, letting it tune my heart, train my thoughts, change my will and fill my mouth — to make me more like Jesus! Therefore, I am like a tree planted by rivers of living water; I bear fruit in season; my leaf does not wither, and whatever I do prospers. I thank the Lord for the deep happiness, great success and rich prosperity I have now because of Him.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Word of Your Testimony

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)
No matter what you might be facing today, this is how you overcome: By the blood of the Lamb. By the word of your testimony. By loving Jesus more than anything else in life.

Who do you overcome? “That serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and He did this by His blood shed on the cross. That is why the Bible can freely declare, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But what is the word of testimony? We know that it must have something to do with faith:
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)
The word of your testimony is the confession of your faith:
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Seeing then that we have a great high Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Hebrews 4:14)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
Your testimony is what you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. It is a powerful force that can overcome whatever obstacle you may face. That is what Jesus taught His disciples:
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23)
The Greek word behind “confess” is homologeo and literally means “to say the same thing.” It is about coming into agreement with something? What are we to come into agreement with? The Word of God. Whatever the Word says about something, that is what we are to say. When you believe the Word of God in your heart and confess it with your mouth, it becomes the word of your testimony.

Here are some confessions you can make to come into agreement with the Word of God:
  • The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want [be in lack]. (Psalm 23:1)
  • The LORD is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. (Psalm 91:2)
  • He forgives all my iniquities and heals and my diseases. (Psalm 103:3)
  • He delivers my life from destruction and surrounds me with lovingkindness and tender mercies. (Psalm 103:4)
  • He satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:5)
  • With long life He will satisfy me, and show me His salvation. (Psalm 91:16)
  • Jesus bore all my sicknesses and pains, and by His stripes I am healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
  • I am accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)
  • My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
  • In all these things I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, who loves me and has given Himself for me. (Romans 8:37)
  • Nothing shall be able to separate me from the love God has for me and has demonstrated for me in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:39)
These are just a few of the promises, but there are many other confessions you can make in agreement with the Word of God. In fact, whatever your circumstance, whatever your need, God has already spoken a promise and made a provision that covers it. It’s all in the Word.

What is the word of your testimony? Is it based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross, and in agreement with the promises of God? Then today you are an overcomer.

Monday, September 4, 2006

The Heart/Mouth Connection

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
(Psalm 17:3)
There is a very important spiritual connection between your heart and your mouth. Jesus said that it is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Whatever is in your heart in abundance, that is what is going to come out of your mouth, especially when the heat is on.

Jesus also taught His disciples, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). Here, we see the heart represented by what we believe, and the mouth by what we say.

The apostle Paul recognized the importance of the heart/mouth connection. Quoting from Deuteronomy 30:14, he says this:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart(that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10)
The reason the heart/mouth connection is so important is because that is how faith works, and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). With the heart, we believe; with the mouth, we confess — and that greatly pleases God.

So David says to the Lord, “You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” Here is how other versions render it:

The Hebrew word for “tried” literally means to fuse, as a metal, and refers to a refining process, such as that of a goldsmith. When God visits you and examines your hearts, is not in order to condemn you, but to refine you. It is not just about what He finds in you, but also about He removes from you, and what He fuses into you.

This is a 24/7 process. Much of it takes place in the night, while we are on our beds, and our hearts are more receptive. Of the righteous man, it is said, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). David said, “I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night season” (Psalms 16:7). That is why Clement of Alexandria could say, “For the saints, even their slumber is prayer.” The counsel of the Lord speaks to our hearts, even at night, and our hearts instruct us. God visits and refines us.

“I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” When we let the Lord do His refining work in us, our hearts become filled with His purpose, and His purpose becomes our purpose. When that purpose fills our heart in abundance, it will overflow from our lips and our mouths will speak the purposes of God.

When your heart is lined up with the heart of the Father, the words of your mouth will have a powerful, life-giving quality that floods you with light. When the words of your mouth line up with the Word of God in your heart, they will bring forth an explosion of faith that changes the world. What have your purposed in your heart?

(See also, My Mouth Shall Not Transgress and His Words, Your Mouth)

Monday, August 14, 2006

How to Ignite Your Faith

First, understand that faith does not come from you. True, biblical faith comes from God. It is not a matter of will power; it is not positive thinking; it is not something you work up. It is a gift from God.

Second, faith is not like a fog that rolls in, and which can just as easily roll out again. It comes in a particular way. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The Greek word for “word” here is rhema, and refers to the acutely articulated word. It is not just a word that enters your ear; it is a word that enters your heart. It happens as an act of revelation by the Holy Spirit, for He is the One who knows the all the ways and thoughts of God. When you receive the Word of God into your heart, and you begin to understand the ways and thoughts of God, faith comes.

Third, it is not enough to have faith; you must also put it to use. Many Christians have faith, but they don‘t know how to activate it and press it into service. Jesus described faith as being like a seed. Hold a seed in your hand, and it will not germinate; you must sow it in order to activate it.

Fourth, you sow this seed by what you say. Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:6). He taught this principle to His disciples on more than one occasion:
Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:22-23)
“Have faith in God.” Literally, the Greek text has “have faith of God.” The faith that we are to have in God is the faith that first comes to us from God. He initiates, we respond.

Now, notice that faith is a matter of the heart, not of the mind. It is not something that comes by your ability to reason. But it is also not something that comes by emotion. When the Bible refers to the heart, it is talking about the core of one’s being. In fact, your emotions, as well as your thoughts, can get in the way of your faith and keep you from getting results.

Doubt is being divided in heart. It is when part of you believes and part of you does not. James says,
Ask in faith, with not doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-7)
A divided heart is unstable and cannot bring forth the results of godly faith. Unbelief is a lack of faith, so if you are “running on empty,” let the Word of God fill you up to overflowing with faith.

Next, notice that your mouth also has a role. You do not move the mountain by thinking about it. Nor do you will the mountain to move. Jesus teaches us to speak to the mountain. In fact, though He uses the word “believe” only one time in this verse, He uses the word “say” three times: “Whoever says to this mountain … believes those things he says … he will have whatever he says.”

The apostle Paul shows us this same principle, but in a different way:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10)
With the heart we believe; with the mouth we confess. To confess means to say the same thing, to articulate agreement. What are we to agree with and articulate? The Word of God. All creation will respond to the Word of God, for all creation was created by the Word of God. “By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:6).

The faith that is in your heart is ignited by the words that come out of your mouth. But they must be words that are in agreement with the Word of God. That is why it is important to let the Word fill your heart, for Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

If you want to know what is in a person’s heart in abundance, just listen to what comes out of his mouth, especially in pressure situations. If the Word of God is in your heart in abundance, then the words that overflow from your mouth will be in agreement with it.

Faith is the fuel God designed to fill up the tank of your heart. What you say is the spark that ignites it. If your tank is not yet full of faith, get into the Word of God and let it fill you up. Then open up your mouth and speak the Word concerning everything in your world that needs to be changed, and they will begin to line up with the heart of God.

Saturday, May 6, 2006

The Triumphal Procession

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. (2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV)
There is a parade going on right now, and has been for almost two thousand years. It is a triumphal procession, a victory march. The battle has been won and the Lord Jesus Christ has cleared the way before us. He has destroyed the works of the devil, just as He came to do:
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
This mission has been accomplished. It may not seem like it to many Christians, but that is simply because so many have failed to appropriate it, to take their place in the triumphal procession. Paul said,
Yet in all these things were are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
Paul didn’t leave out a single thing: there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God, which has been demonstrated toward us through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we are overcomers:
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:9-11)
The battle has been won and satan has been cast to the ground, defeated. He has not authority over us. All he has are lies and accusations, and God does not listen to those, so neither should we.

Now, notice how the saints overcome. In 1 John, we see that it is by faith, believing in Jesus, the Son of God. In Revelation, John gives this overcoming faith even more definition:
  • They overcome by the blood of the Lamb. That is how the works of the devil have been destroyed, by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
  • They overcome by the word of their testimony. They speak the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They give evidence, producing proof that He is who He said He was is and did what He said He would do.
  • They overcome because they do not love their lives to the death. That is, they love the Lord Jesus Christ more than anything else, even their own lives.
If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible calls you More Than Conqueror and Overcomer! You do not have to listen to the lies of the devil, the fears and accusations he whispers in your ear. Jesus has already taken your past and nailed it to the cross. He has carried your sins and sicknesses and nailed them in His own body to the tree. He has dealt the death blow to the bondages and strongholds of your life. He has destroyed every form of poverty and completely destroyed the works of the devil in your life. You no longer have to submit to them, but you can now overcome them by faith in Jesus Christ.

The great victory march has begun. Have you taken your place in the parade? By faith in Jesus Christ, open your mouth and declare:
I am More Than Conqueror through Him who loved me and gave Himself for Me. I am Overcomer. I now take my place in His triumphal procession and rejoice in His victory. The works of the devil no longer have any right to me, to afflict me, to steal from me, to destroy my life in any way. I no longer listen to his lies and accusations; I drown them all out with joyful shouts of victory and celebration, because Jesus has destroyed those works and won the victory for me. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

The Door of Your Mouth, The Gate of Your Heart

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.
(Psalm 141:3-4)
Consider the power of the mouth, or more precisely, our words. Words called the world into existence (Hebrews 11:3). God created us to exercise dominion over His Creation by our words. For example, Adam called forth the character and destiny of the animals by naming them (see Having Dominion). The Hebrew word for “speak,” dabar, means to arrange or subdue. Be careful, your mouth is a loaded weapon.

Yes, we need a guard to stand watch over our mouths. But David, the psalm writer, takes us to the heart of the problem, which is the … heart!
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.
You see, there is a strong, inviolable connection between the mouth and the heart. Jesus said that it is out of the abundance, or overflow, of the heart that the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). If you want to know what is in somebody’s heart in abundance, just listen to their mouth for a little while and you will soon find out. This is particularly true in pressure situations.

Paul also noted this powerful heart/mouth connection. “With the hear one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

So as much as David desired God to set a guard over his mouth, he realized even more than something had to be done about the state of his heart, for that was the real problem.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works with men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.
(Psalm 141:4)
Proverbs reinforces this point:
Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:6-7)
Now, here is an example of the mouth speaking something different from the heart. And the mouth can certainly disguise the heart for a time — some people know how to tell a lie. But the truth eventually comes out, for the mouth with slip up and give away the heart.

Our hearts can be deceived very easily by evil if we allow ourselves to be lulled by delicacies. A delicacy is something your put in your mouth. Think “words.” What are the words you put in your mouth. The devil, your adversary, wants you to put his words in your mouth. But if you do, you will begin to think his thoughts and walk in his ways.

We were created to think higher thoughts and walk in higher ways, those of God. The words of the devil may sound sweet and beguiling, but you will not like where they take you — Adam and Eve certainly didn’t.

That is all the more reason why we must keep our own hearts. The Hebrew word for “think,” in Proverbs 23:7, literally means to act as a gatekeeper. The careless words we allow in our mouth eventually settle in our heart. Then when they are in our heart in abundance, they come forth with great destructive power.

How much better it is to fill your heart and your mouth with the Word of God. When you do, Jesus said you can move mountains.

Guard both your heart and your mouth with the promises and purposes of God. Speak them to your inner being, with great intent and focus, until your mouth begins to overflow with words of light and life. Then you will know that you are walking in faith.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Psalm 911

I dwell in the secret place of the Most High
And abide under the shadow of the Almighty
I say of Yahweh, “My Refuge and my Fortress,
My God in Whom I Trust.”

Surely, He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler.
From the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover me with His feathers,
And under His wings I shall take refuge.
His truth shall be my shield and armor.

I shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Of the arrow that flies by day,
Of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at my side,
Ten thousand at my right hand.
But it shall not come near me.
Only with my eyes shall I look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

Because I have made Yahweh my refuge,
The Most High my dwelling place,
No evil shall befall me,
Nor shall any plague come near my house
For He shall give His angels charge over me,
To keep me in all my ways.
In their hands they shall bear me up,
Lest I dash my foot against a stone.
I shall tread upon the lion and the cobra
The young lion and the serpent I shall trample underfoot.

I have set my love upon Yahweh,
Therefore, He will deliver me.
He will set me on high,
Because I have known His name.
I shall call upon Him, and He will answer me.
He will be with me in trouble
He will deliver me and honor me.
With long life He will satisfy me,
And show me His salvation — His Yeshua, JESUS!
(adapted from Psalm 91 by Jeff Doles)
Notice the abundance of God’s names in this Psalm: Most High, Almighty, Yahweh (LORD), My Refuge, My Fortress, My God in Whom I Trust, My Dwelling Place. We might even add, My Shield and Armor.

And then there is the name of Jesus, hidden in the English text, but clear in the Hebrew. It is the name Yeshua, the name which literally means “salvation.” In the New Testament, this name is rendered as Jesus.

In this Psalm, the LORD says, “I will set him on high, because he has known My name.” There is a relationship indicated here where the psalm writer knows the LORD and the LORD knows the psalm writer. This knowledge is personal and intimate.

The psalm writer knows the LORD because the LORD has revealed Himself to the psalm writer in experiential ways. The names used by the writer indicate the breadth of these experiences.

Along with the psalm writer, say of the LORD, “My Refuge and My Fortress, My God in Whom I Trust.” Then you will begin to dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Set your love on the LORD and call on His name, and He will show you His salvation — Jesus!