Great and Unexpected Acts

Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.

(Job 5:9)

Doing great things, and there is no searching.
Wonderful, till there is no numbering.

— Young’s Literal Translation

Qui facit magna et inscrutabilia et mirabilia absque numero.

— Latin Vulgate

After all, he’s famous for great and unexpected acts; there’s no end to His surprises.

— The Message

Mortgages are collapsing. People are being laid off. Iran is trying to go nuclear. And you probably know the problems and difficulties you are facing personally.

But remember, God is famous for great and unexpected acts, and there is no end to His surprises. When we look to Him and believe His promises — oh, how quickly things can change! The improbable and impossible start happening. God reveals His magnificent favor to those who trust in Him.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

(Psalm 84:11)

That’s why Jesus came — to make us righteous, so that we may know the grace and glory of God in our lives. It does not matter how dark things may appear, when you know the Lord Jesus, the grace and glory of God will show up to guide, provide and protect you. God is famous for it.

God is famous for great and unexpected acts. There is no end to His surprises.

Getting There from Here

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

God is not mad at you. He has planned a future and a hope for you, and Jesus came so that you could enter into it — that you might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He was not talking just about heaven, but about heaven on earth.

You might look around at your current situation and think, “But how can I ever get there from here.” You may not see the way, and you may even think that there is no way.

The truth is that you and I cannot get there on our own. But that is only half of the truth; the other half is that God not only knows the way, but if we will trust in Him, He will lift us out of were we are and bring us into the wonderful future and hope that He has planned for us from the beginning.

I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.

(Isaiah 42:16)

He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
That He may seat him with princes —
With the princes of His people.

(Psalm 113:7-8)

Paul tells us that God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think” according to His power at work in us (Ephesians 3:20). The NIV has it as “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Often, we let our current situation limit our thinking and our imagination. But God’s thoughts are not limited at all, and if we ask, He will share His thoughts with us by His Word and the Holy Spirit. That is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians, that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so they could realize the joyful anticipation of what God calls us to, to know the riches of the inheritance He has placed in us, and to understand the greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:15-20).

God has a plan and a future for each one of us. We do not know how to get there from here, but God does, and that is all that matters. Our job is to believe His promise, receive His wisdom and revelation, and to ask and imagine — in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Pleasing God: Faith

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith pleases God; without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Faith begins with believing that God is, that He exists. Paul addresses this in Romans 1, where he shows what it means to be without this kind of faith:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-23)

Faith acknowledges who God is and responds to Him with glory and gratitude. The author of Hebrews takes it a step further: Faith is not only properly acknowledging that God is, it is also believing that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. As Paul noted, we can know that God is, and even understand His attributes and power, by the witness of His creation. But the knowledge that He rewards those who seek Him comes to us by the revelation of His Word.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

To diligently seek God is to seek Him with all your heart. When you do, He promises that you will find Him, and that is the reward. “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward’” (Genesis 15:1). This resulted in great blessing for Abraham, and for all the world through him.

Faith pleases God because it comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). How could God be pleased with us when we don’t believe what He has said? Faith is receiving the Word of God and believing that everything He has said is true and will come to pass. God has no pleasure in those who doubt Him and His Word.

So Jesus answered and said to them, “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)

But let him ask in faith, with no 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. (James 1:6-7)

The Greek word for “doubt,” diakrino, literally means to be of two judgments. Part of you says Yes, part of you says No — it is a mixed signal that adds up to unbelief. Some Christians try to sanctify their doubt as a sort of godly humility. To them, the certainty of faith is an arrogant thing. However, the Scriptures teach that God rewards those who seek Him with the whole heart, believing they will find Him, just as He promised. But there is no guarantee for those who doubt; they should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Fortunately, when we find ourselves in doubt, we can turn to the Lord, just as the father of demonized boy did. Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” The man answered, “I believe; help my unbelief.” We can take our doubts to Jesus and ask Him to do something about them. We can get into the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the mind of Christ. Faith will come, and that pleases God.

Faith — believing God and His Word — pleases God. Seek Him with all your heart, and you will receive the reward: You will find Him.

Faith is Declaring the End from the Beginning

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:9-10)

This is how God operates — He declares the end from the beginning and has no doubt that it will manifest at the appropriate time. That is faith.

The author of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). That is, faith is the underlying reality of things which are not yet visible, but which we fully expect to see. It is declaring the end from the beginning.

Jesus demonstrated this in Mark 11 when He spoke to the fig tree which should have brought forth fruit, but did not, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again” (Mark 11:14). Then He continued on His way. He did not wait around to see if it would happen. He had spoken what the end of that tree would be and He had no doubt that it would come to pass just as He had spoken. He fully expected that no one would ever eat from that tree again.

Coming back by the next day, Peter noticed that the tree had withered. “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away” (v. 21). Jesus then talked about faith and how it works.

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. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:22-24)

What was Jesus doing? He was teaching them how to declare the end from the beginning. When you declare something with your mouth, and do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will be done, then whatever you say will be done. When you declare the end from beginning, you do not have to wait until the end to see if what you said came to pass.

Likewise, when you pray, believing that you receive (the NASB says, “have received”) whatever things you ask, you will indeed have them. When you declare the end from the beginning, you do not have to wait until the end to see if you received what you asked. If you prayed in faith, then you have already received it, and it will be revealed at the proper time.

Faith is declaring the end from the beginning. That is how God operates, and how He created you and me to operate, too.

Faith and the Sovereignty of God

It has been said that prayer is not about overcoming God's reluctance, but about laying hold of His willingness. It is the same way with faith. Faith is believing the Word of God. Indeed, faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So faith that is divorced from the Word of God is not the biblical kind of faith. Apart from the Word, it can be very dangerous and is, at best, presumptuous.

But whenever God has spoken, we can believe to the fullest extent whatever He has said. To expect God to honor His Word and keep His promises does no violence whatsoever to God's sovereignty. Rather, it honors God in His sovereignty, for God has exalted His Word even above His name (Psalm 138:2). Whenever He promises something, it is because He fully intends to do it.

Now, notice how Jesus begins His discourse on mountain-moving faith and prayer that gets results:

So Jesus answered and said to them, “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. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:22-24)

“Have faith in God.” Mountain-moving faith has everything to do with God. It is not contrary to God but in alignment with Him.

Jesus then explains how to engage that faith: “Whoever says to this mountain ... and does not doubt those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Here is faith at work in the heart, and here is confession made with the mouth. That is how faith works, and it gets results without violating the sovereignty of God.

Next, Jesus relates it to prayer: “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” The NASB has “believe that you have received them.” This must be in line with the sovereignty of God because Jesus said it, and He never did anything that was contrary to the will of God.

Faith is all about believing the Word of God and therefore honors His sovereignty.

Faith is Knowing That God Will

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

~ Ben Stein

You might recognize Ben Stein from numerous Visine commercials. Or perhaps you remember him as a teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (“Anyone? Anyone?”) or his roles in a number of other movies. He is an economist by training, the author of a few books and a syndicated column. He is also a staunch pro-life advocate. But his chief goal is to be a good husband, father and son.

He is also a man of faith, and he understands something about the dynamic of faith that many religious people just don’t get. Faith is not about acknowledging the possibilities of what God can do. Many people understand that God can do the impossible. But faith, the Bible kind of faith, is believing not only what God can do, but what God will do.

Many Christians shrug and say, “Well, you never know what God is gonna do.” Apparently, they do not pay much attention when they read their Bibles, because if they did, they would indeed know what God is going to do, because He reveals His will many times concerning a variety of situations. The Word may not tell us precisely how or exactly when He is going to do certain things, but it does reveal that He is going to do them.

For example, concerning sickness and disease, God reveals that Jesus has already taken these things upon Himself, and that whoever comes to Him in faith will be healed (I’ve written a book about that called Healing Scriptures and Prayers). Concerning lack, He has revealed that He will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Concerning the many troubles that the righteous may experience, He has revealed that He will deliver us out of them all.

Faith is not only believing that God can, it is knowing that He will.

What is the level of your faith? It is good to believe that God can do these things for you, but it is a breakthrough when you know that God will do them for you. That is when mountains move.

Your Mouth is the Thermostat of Your Life

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 those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:22-23)

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

Get the connection: What is in your heart in abundance is what will come out of your mouth; what you believe in your heart and declare with your mouth is what will come to pass in your life.

Your mouth is the “thermostat” of your life. A thermostat is a little device that calls for a certain temperature to be set. For example, you can set the thermostat on your air conditioner to cool off your house or car to a certain temperature. Or you can set the thermostat on your oven to heat it up to a certain level. In a similar way, you mouth is like a thermostat that calls for certain conditions to be established in your life.

Some people use their mouths like thermometers. A thermometer simply tells you what the current temperature is. Thermometer people boast, “Well, I’m just telling it like it is.” And to a certain extent, that is true. They see a problem and then they identify it, and there is nothing wrong in that. But then they keep looking at the problem, thinking about the problem, and soon their heart overflows with the problem. They believe the problem in their heart, and do not have any doubts about the problem. So they talk about the problem, and keep on talking about the problem, and the result is that they are stuck with the problem. It is one thing to identify the problem, e.g., “I am sick,” “I am in debt,” “I have no job.” It is quite another to fixate on the problem. Some people even embrace the problem so that it becomes a personal possession: “my cancer” or “my bad heart.”

People with a thermometer mentality simply report what they see: “There’s a mountain in my way.” They do not realize that we were created to be thermostats. We were meant to not only recognize present conditions, but to establish the proper conditions. That is why God created us in His likeness (i.e., to be like Him) and authorized us to “fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion” (Genesis 1:26-28). To subdue means to set in order. That requires recognizing the present condition (thermometer) and bringing it into line with the way it ought to be (thermostat).

God is a thermostat God. We see this from the very first verse of the Bible when He created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). He spoke it into existence, framing it with words (Hebrews 11:3). When darkness was on the face of the deep (v. 2), God did not fixate on the darkness. He recognized the problem, but then having done that, He simply spoke the solution, “Light, be!” (v. 3).

Jesus taught us to do the same thing. First, we are to have faith in God. Faith is the gift of God, and comes by hearing the Word of God. This is important to know because the Word of God has something to say about every problem. When we let the Word of God fill our hearts to overflowing with faith, we are then ready to address the mountain that stands in our way.

Second, we are to speak to the problem, not focusing on the problem itself, but focusing on the solution. In the example Jesus gave us, we would say to the mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea.” When we keep talking about the problem, we are using the thermostat function to maintain the present condition, and the problem will persist. But when we start speaking the solution, we are using the thermostat function to change and improve the present condition. So we recognize the mountain, but then we tell it to move.

Notice that Jesus did not tell us to tell God all about the problem. God already knows it and has provided us with the faith to handle it. Rather, Jesus teaches us to address the problem with words that overflow from a heart filled with faith. As some have put it, we move from talking to God about the problem to speaking to the problem about God — and that is a very important shift! When we do that, the mountain will move.

Your mouth is the thermostat that establishes the conditions of your life. Your heart is what sets the thermostat of your mouth. Let the Word of God fill your heart to overflowing with faith so that, when problems arise, you will be able to speak the solution and remove the mountain.

What Are You Naming Things?

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19-20)

The world was created by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3) and will always responds to faith-filled words, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). God created Adam to speak faith-filled words when He puffed His breath into the man-shaped clay He had formed, and it became a “living being” (Genesis 2:7). Ancient Jewish commentary understood by this that man became a “speaking spirit.”

So God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would call them. He did not tell Adam what to call them, but simply observed what Adam would do with this creative opportunity, and how he would shape the identity and destiny of these animals with the words of his mouth and the breath of God that permeated his being. “And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”

God has created us in such a way that our words have great power. They create identity and call forth destiny. That is why Jesus said that we will each have to give account to God for every idle word we speak (Matthew 12:36). That is why He taught the disciples that what we speak with out mouths and believe in our hearts can move mountains (Mark 11:22-23).

Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name! God didn’t change a thing, but let stand whatever Adam said. Why? Because He created man to subdue the earth — that is, bring it into divine order — and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:26-28). God knows how to delegate authority and honor the arrangements He has established in the earth.

When Adam fell, sinning against God, he disconnected himself (and all the human race in him) from the life of God. Since then, the words of man have often been very wicked, and whatever man called things, those were their names. Words of fear came in and anger, hate and pride dominated. Words of anxiety, and even of despair, became self-fulfilling prophecies. These are faithless words, the outworking of a heart in rebellion toward God. For as Jesus said, it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).

Thankfully, when mankind fell in the sin of Adam, God had a plan of redemption and restoration. That is why Jesus came, to remove the sinful barrier and restore us to fellowship with God our Father and Creator, and that the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts might bring forth the manifestation of God’s will and ways on earth. That is why He taught us to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!” (Matthew 6:10).

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, God has created in you a new heart and given you new words to speak in faith. Some men look at the desperate circumstances of their lives and call them “Impossible.” They shake their heads at the world and pronounce it “Hopeless.” They cringe in terror at sickness and disease and whisper, “Terminal.” They see broken and dysfunctional families and say, “Irreconcilable.” And whatever they call it, that is its name.

But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, who came that all things might be gathered together in Him (Ephesians 1:10), God has created in you a new heart, and given you faith to speak new words that call forth healing, restoration, forgiveness, peace, life, joy, hope.

For every problem and difficulty in the world, God has a word by which it may be redeemed. Speak it, in Jesus’ name. Say about it what God says about it. And whatever you call it, that will be its name.

The Size of Your Miracle

The size of your God determines the size of your miracle. That is, how great and powerful and good you understand God to be will determine how big a miracle you will be able to believe Him for.

Little God, little miracle. Big God, big miracle.

Making Sense of the Process

Someone wrote to me:

The book you wrote said, "God’s Word in your mouth is just as powerful as it is in His—when you speak it in faith!" and "The divine mandate of dominion and how to exercise it." That does not make sense at all. You are not as powerful as God. If you are that powerful and you have so much dominion why have you not changed the world? No offence, but do people buy these books? Seems very strange.

In my book, God’s Word in Your Mouth, I tell about how God created man in the image and likeness of God, and how He gave man a blessing and a mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion” (Genesis 1:26-28). In other words, we were created to be like God and given authority to fill the earth with this god-likeness, to subdue the earth (that is, bring it into order with God’s plans) and have dominion (rule and reign over the earth as God’s representative). Now, of course, Adam really messed things up when he rebelled against God, and sunk it for all of us when he unhooked himself (and us in him) from the life of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ came to restore us back to God and the purpose for which He created mankind.

But this is not an automatic process. It requires that we respond in faith to the promise of God. Nor is it an instantaneous process. It requires discipleship — training — just like Jesus trained His disciples. Then He gave them power and authority, and sent them out into all the world to teach the nations everything Jesus had taught them.

We might prefer that it all happened at once, but God’s plan is for us to be in partnership with Him. He did not create us just so He could reign over us, but so we could rule and reign with Him (see the mandate in Genesis 1:26-28). What He desires is relationship, fellowship with us. Toward that end, He trains us up into maturity and faith, not into magical expectations.

God is raising up sons and daughters for Himself through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is not mechanical nor magical, but the process of maturity.

One day everything will be set right in the world when the Lord Jesus returns. Then the kingdom of God will be here in its completeness, and the will of God will be fully done on earth exactly as it is in heaven — just as Jesus taught us to pray.

(And yes, people do buy these books, and find them to be very helpful.)

Framing Your World: Faith-Filled Words

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:36-37)

The Greek word for “idle” refers to that which is non-working, inoperative, inactive, ineffective, useless, lazy, barren. An idle word is one that is spoken carelessly and without faith. They are non-productive; they do not bring about any good in your life. In fact, they may be bring about great harm, for we will all have to give account to God about every word we speak, or perhaps especially, the careless ones.

“Oh, but I didn’t really mean what I said.” Perhaps not the first few times, but if you keep saying it, you will eventually start believing it. The apostle Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The first half of that verse sets the general principle, “faith comes by hearing.” That is, if you hear something long enough, you will begin to believe it. That’s why Paul adds the very important qualifier, “and hearing by the Word of God.” Because what you give ear to affects your faith, be sure to give ear to the Word of God, and not lesser things. For the idle words that come from your own mouth might cause you believe what you are carelessly saying.

While idle words have the potential for calamity, faith-filled words based on the character and promises of God are powerful for moving mountains, calming storms, and bringing all creation into line with the kingdom of God.

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)

Let your heart be filled to overflowing with the Word of God, and the faith that comes by hearing that Word, then release faith-filled words that release the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven.

Framing Your World: Your Heart

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. (Matthew 12:34-35)

The worlds were framed by words — the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3). Jesus said that it will respond even to the words of your mouth, if you have faith in God and believe in your heart the words you speak with your lips (Mark 11:23). In other words, if your faith is in God, you have the ability to frame your world (the realm of your existence and the sphere of your influence).

Now, there is an important connection between your mouth and your heart. The effectiveness of your words is dynamically related to what is going on in your heart. As Jesus said, it is out of the abundance, or the overflow, of the heart that the mouth speaks. If you want to know what is going on in a person’s heart, listen to his mouth for a while.

Proverbs says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). The context is of a man who is pretending one thing with his words, but his real character and purpose are determined by his heart. And what is in his heart in abundance will soon give him away by his words as well as his deeds.

But here’s what I want you to notice: “As he thinks in his heart, so he is.” The Hebrew word for “think” means to reason out or calculate, but it comes from a root that means “to act as a gatekeeper.” Each of us acts as a gatekeeper, deciding what we will let into our heart and what we will keep out. Whatever you let into your heart in abundance will determine the kind of person you really are.

For some little biblical direction about what to fill your heart with, regular meditation in the book of Proverbs will bring you into much wisdom. Consider also Psalm 1:1-3; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:1-2.

Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.” Your are the one who determines what kind of treasure will fill your heart. Out of the overflow of your heart, your mouth will speak, and so shall you frame your world.

Framing Your World: Your Mouth

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

(Proverbs 18:21)

The worlds — the heavens and the earth — are framed by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3). Your world — the realm of your existence and the sphere of your influence — is framed by your words. God created you with that capacity. He created you and me in His likeness, that is, to be like Him. He breathed His breath into us and made us “speaking spirits.”

Just as God ordered the worlds by His words, you also have the authority to bring the world into the order of God by your words. You also have the ability to bring things into disorder by your words.

The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. That is, your words can be death-dealing or life-giving. They are both under the direction of whatever you say.

“Those who love it will eat its fruit.” Every word you speak is a seed that will bring forth fruit and come back to you, and you will have to eat that fruit. The verse previous to this says, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled” (Proverbs 18:20). As someone else wisely counseled, “Be careful of the words you speak today, for you will have to eat them tomorrow.”

Do you like to babble? You will eat the worthless fruit of idle chatter. Do you indulge in gossip? Destructive rumors will come back on you, and leave a bitter taste in your mouth. If your words are filled with fear and darkness, that is what will follow you wherever you go. Some people go around damning this and damning that, and then wonder why things are not going well for them. Go figure.

On the other hand, if you respect the power of your words enough to carefully guard what you say, you will enjoy of pleasant harvest. For as you speak, so shall you eat. If you speak faith-filled words, you will bring forth a faith-filled harvest. Sow words that offer life and light and blessing to the world around you, then stand back and watch as life and light and blessing comes multiplied back to you in rich harvest.

Think back. What were the words you spoke yesterday? What is the harvest you are reaping today? Now think forward. What is the harvest you want for tomorrow? So what are the words you will speak today?

Framing Your World: The Word of God

By faith we understand that 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 11:3)

The Bible says that the worlds were framed by words, more specifically, by the Word of God. The Greek word for “frame” means to render, fit together, equip, arrange, adjust, put in order, perfect, complete thoroughly. The worlds — the heavens and the earth — were put in order and brought to completion through the command of God. The word for “word” here is rhema and refers to the acutely articulated and precisely particularized word spoken by God. For example, when darkness covered the face of the deep, God said, “Light, be!” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). His rhema brought the darkness into order by establishing light.

Because the world was created and framed by the spoken word, it also responds to the spoken word. For example, Jesus rebuked the fever in Peter’s mother-in-law and commanded the wind and the waves. He also taught His disciples about the power of their words:

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)

The key, of course, is faith in God. Rendered literally, the Greek text has “faith of God.” That is, the God-kind of faith, or the kind of faith that comes from God. The Bible in Basic English translates it as “Have God’s faith.” The faith that comes from God comes by hearing the Word of God. Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word [rhema] of God” (Romans 10:17). When we have the faith that comes from God, and we believe in our heart, then the words we speak with our mouth will be done.

That is how God made us to function. He created man in His image and likeness, that is, to be like Him. When he form Adam from the dust of the ground, He puffed His breath into Adam’s nostrils, and Adam became a “living being” (Genesis 2:7), or as ancient an Jewish commentary put it, a “speaking spirit.”

God created us to speak, and He gave us the mandate to subdue the earth and bring it into divine order (Genesis 1:28). The first assignment He gave Adam was to name the animals, that is, to bring them into divine order by the words with which he would call them (Genesis 2:19). God created the animals, but by naming and calling them, Adam determined what they were going to be about. By words, he established their purpose and destiny within the plan of God. To put it another way, Adam framed his world — the realm of his existence and the sphere of his influence — by the words of his mouth.

Of course, we know that Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden, and by their disobedience disconnected from the life of God. From that day on, man began calling forth all sorts of things that God never intended to be upon the earth, framing the world by faithless, fearful words. But that is why Jesus came, to deliver us from the curse. Even in the Old Testament, God promised that a Redeemer would come, a Messiah who would rule and reign and restore the order of God’s kingdom on earth.

We are now living in that time. When the Lord Jesus Christ came two thousand years ago, He sacrificed Himself for our sins, then was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit and seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Ephesians 1:19-23).

Because of Jesus the Messiah, we can now speak words of faith, words that come from God’s own mouth. We can frame our world through rhema words and bring it into the order God in which God intended us to live.

Prayer and a Heart Without Doubt

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in sight and this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1 John 3:21-23)

The secret to a prayer without a doubt is a heart that does not condemn. To condemn means to find fault with, or holding something against someone. If your heart is finding fault with you or holding something against you, it can wreck the boldness and assurance with which you approach God. But if your heart is clear, your confidence will be strong.

So what is John talking about here? If our heart does not condemn us — about what? It is about keeping the commandments of God, and according to John, that comes down to two things: Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and love one another.

1. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

The apostle Paul declared, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). If you have received the Lord Jesus, there is no sentence of judgment that rests on you—Jesus took that in your place. God does not condemn you!

2. Love one another

This is the commandment Jesus gave to John and the other disciples on the night He instituted the Lord’s Supper. “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

Failure to love wrecks our confidence towards God because it shifts our focus off of God and onto ourselves. God showed His love to us through Jesus Christ, and He intends for that love to overflow to others through us. When we share that love freely with others, we are allowing God’s love to flow through us. But when we withhold that love from others, God does not withhold His love from us, but we stop the flow of His love from having its way in our lives. Then when the devil comes and whispers his accusations, our hearts begin to believe them.

Now, watch as James shows how failure to love can twist your prayer life and spoil your confidence towards God:

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)

Clearly, this is not loving one another. It is self-centeredness. Prayer is not about our own pleasures but about God’s purpose, and His purpose is to love, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Prayer is a very powerful thing. Jesus promised, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). But then He added, “And whenever you stand praying if you have anything against anyone, forgive him” (v. 25). As powerful as prayer is, if we are unwilling to love one another by forgiving one another, it will seriously hinder our faith and keep us from receiving what we have asked. For as Paul concluded, faith works through love (Galatians 5:6).

A Heart That Does Not Condemn

The declaration of Scripture is that there is no condemnation for those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not condemn us, but sometimes our heart does, especially when we know that we have not been walking in love toward God and each other. But there is a ready solution at hand, and it is found in Jesus Christ. As John said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

To confess means to agree with God about it, that it is wrong and does not belong in our lives. When we do that, God promises, not only to forgive us our sins, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that is, to deal with sin in our lives and lead us into victory over them. Then we are free to love as we have been loved by God, and our heart will find anything against us.

Oh, the devil may still come and whisper in your ear, making accusations against you, and try to set your heart in confusion. But you don’t have to listen to him. Instead, you can take the promises of God and say:

“I have received the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is now no condemnation for me, because I am in Him.”

If there is any sin in your life, or if you have not been walking in love, confess it to God, and trust Him to forgive you and to remove it from your life. You can always God boldly to God, for He has promised.

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. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

When our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, and we can know that whatever we ask of Him, we will receive, because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in love toward each, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Then the power of prayer and faith are released in a mighty way.

(See also, Outspokenness Toward God)

What Song Are You Singing?

Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.

(Palm 149:1)

What song are you singing to the LORD? Are you singing the song of lack and need? Or are you singing the song of the LORD your Shepherd, who takes care of you in every way? (Psalm 23:1)

Are you singing the song of the attacking enemy? Or are you singing the song of the LORD Most High, who hides you in the secret place? (Psalm 91:1)

Are you singing the song of sickness? Or are you singing the song of the Lord your healer, who heals all your diseases? (Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:3)

Are you singing the song of burden and care? Or are you singing the song of the Lord who takes care of things for you? (1 Peter 5:7)

Are you singing the song of rejection? Or are you singing the song of being accepted in the Beloved? (Ephesians 2:6)

Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we now have so many wonderful songs we can sing — and they are all new, because in Jesus Christ we are made new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Search out the promises of God, because there is one for every circumstance, and start singing your new song to Him.

Unlimited Power at Work in You

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

The Greek word for “exceedingly abundantly” is a compound word, and very emphatic. It speaks of that which goes beyond all bounds and is unlimited. God’s ability to work on our behalf is not limited by what we are to able ask or imagine. For it is not according to those things, but according to the power that is at work in us, that God is able to do miraculous things that exceed our wildest expectations.

What is this great power that is at work in us? It is the same power Paul talked about in Ephesians 1:

The exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and 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. (Ephesians 1:19-21)

It is the power of the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest (down payment) or our inheritance in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:13-14). There is no limit to what He is able to do in us, for us or through us, for this is the same Holy Spirit of power who anointed Jesus, so that He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).

God is a therefore able to do completely above and beyond all that we are able to ask or imagine. But this is an ever-increasing concept. For once God has done something beyond what we are able to ask or imagine, we are then able to ask and imagine it—and God is able to above and beyond that as well. In other word, our ability to ask and imagine enlarges as we understand His ways, His will and His abilities more and more.

The power of God at work in you is unlimited. Don’t be afraid to ask and let your imagination explore the heart of God and what He wants to do in your life and in your world. Let Him enlarge your vision and your expectation. Then watch Him bust through all boundaries and limitations.

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.

Subduing the World

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)

In the beginning, when God created man and woman, He blessed them and gave them this mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

How do we subdue the earth? The apostle John gives us the answer: “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” The same Greek word, niké, is behind both “victory” and “overcome.” You might recognize the word niké as the name of a popular brand of sports shoes. Literally, it means to subdue. It is about forcefully bringing something into subjection.

When God created man, there was still much on earth that needed to be brought into line with His plan. So He gave man, who was created in His image, the authority to do just that. By the time Adam was done, the whole world was to look just like the Garden of Eden. Of course, we know that Adam and Eve disconnected from God and hooked up with satan, and God’s plan for the earth was dealt a severe blow. But we also know that God sent His Son into the world to destroy the works of the devil and reconcile us back to the Father. The works of the devil were destroyed at the Cross, and we have been made more than conquerors (hypernikeo) through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37). It is by faith that we receive this victory.

God raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality, power, might and dominion. That is, He put all things under the feet of Jesus, subjecting them to Him! (Ephesians 1:19-22). Not only that, but God has also raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ at the right hand of the Father. All things have been subdued and placed under the dominion of Christ — and of us, too, since we are seated in Christ on the throne of heaven. All of this we receive through faith in Jesus Christ. No wonder John calls our faith the victory that overcomes the world!

Now, notice that John speaks about this victory, this overcoming, in two tenses. There is the past tense, the act by which the world has been overcome. This is what happened at the Cross on our behalf — the mighty act of redemption that not only set us free and reconciled us to God, but also destroyed the works of the devil. We stand in this great victory by faith. It is this act and this faith that John refers to when he says, “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

But there is also a second tense that John uses to talk about this victory. It is a present and continuing sense: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world … Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” The victory has been won, the enemy has been subdued and put under the feet of Jesus, and the works of the devil have been destroyed. Our work now is simply a “cleanup” operation, enforcing the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over all His enemies.

As we continue in our faith in Jesus Christ, we will keep overcoming the world again and again, subduing it and bringing it under the lordship of Christ and the dominion of God’s kingdom. Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Calling Those Things Which Do Not Exist

God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. (Romans 4:17)

In this verse, we see how God operates: He calls those things that do not exist as though the did. It is His action that is in view in this passage. Abram's job was simply to believe.

Oops! Did I say Abram? I mean Abraham, for that is what God changed Abram's name to. God called him “Abraham,” which means “Father of Many Nations.” In renaming him “Abraham,” God was calling something that did not yet exist as though it already were.

Now what do you suppose Abram and Sarai began to call him when God renamed him “Father of Many Nations.” They, of course, began to call him Abraham, “Father of Many Nations.” That took an act of faith on their part, and it was also an act of calling. They saw that Abraham was old, and as good as dead, in the child-fathering department, and yet they called, in agreement with the Word of God, for the “Father of Many Nations” to manifest.

God's way is to call things that do not exist as though they already were. We see this reinforced in Hebrews 11:3. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

All that is seen was not made of that which is visible, but that which is invisible — the Word of God. The natural world which we experience by our senses actually has its origin in and is dependent upon the spiritual realm. For God, Who created the heavens and the earth, is Spirit.

Now, in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He did it by His words. “Let there be light ...,” etc. God called for things that did not yet exist as though the already did.

That is how God operates. But how are God's people intended to operate.

Look again at Genesis 1. In verses 26-27 we see that God created man, male and female, in His image. That was a sign of God's authority being delegated to them. That was important because of the mandate God placed on them in the very next verses:

“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing tat moves on the earth.” (v. 28).

In Psalm 8:6, we see that they were given dominion over the works of God's hand and all things were put under his feet (this was restored to fallen humanity in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is Man who perfectly fulfills this dominion).

What was Adam to multiply upon the earth? That which he was and possessed: the image of God.

What was Adam to do with the earth as he multiplied: Subdue it and have dominion over it.

How was Adam to subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it?

Look in Genesis 2, a close-up account of how God made Adam:

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (v. 7)

Notice that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils — from God’s mouth into Adam’s body. The breathe of a person is that by which one actually utters words. We breathe them out. In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul says that all Scripture is given “by inspiration of God.” The Greek word for “inspiration” is theoneustos, and literally means “God-breathed.” God breathes out His Word.

So God breathed, with His word-speaking capacity, into man’s nostrils, and man became a “living being.”

There are ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Targums. These were translations from Hebrew into its cousin language Aramaic, for there were many Jews who lost the mother tongue in Babylonian captivity. Many Jews in the time of Christ, including Jesus Himself, spoke in Aramaic, and parts of the Hebrew Scriptures were actually written in Aramaic.

There is one such translation, known as the Targum Onkelos, which deals with the events of Genesis 2. And it renders “man became a living being” this way: “And man became a speaking spirit.”

God, who is Spirit and who speaks things into being, breathed His speaking faculty into the nostrils of man, and man became a speaking spirit.

Now, notice a few verse down in Genesis 2, where God gives Adam his first assignment:

“Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” (v. 19)

God, who breathed into Adam’s nostrils, brought them to Adam, who was created in the image of God, given the mandate to subdue and have dominion over the earth, and then watched to see what Adam would call them.

Notice that God did not tell Adam what to call them. He simply let Adam work within the divine mandate and merely observed what Adam called them. Whatever Adam called them, that was its name.

What was Adam doing? He was subduing the earth and having dominion. How was he exercising that dominion? By the words of his mouth. He called the animals something, and whatever he called them, that is what they were. That is, he called things that did not exist (the nature and character of the animals) as though they did. And so they were.

In the Bible, names are significant. They are powerful words that have meaning. They call forth destiny. They establish things in the one being named. God called Abram Abraham, “Father of Many Nations,” and that was Abraham’s destiny. Adam called the animals by certain names, and that is what they were.

Adam and Eve, of course, plunged mankind into sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us from that fallen condition. We can see from how He taught His disciples what some of the ramifications of that redemption are. For example, in Mark 11, when Peter noticed that the fig tree Jesus cursed the day before had now withered, Jesus said,

“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)

What was Jesus teaching them? How to exercise dominion with their words.

Now, it is very important to understand that this authority and dominion are only properly exercised within the will and purpose of God, as established by His Word. We are to pray, act and think in Jesus’ name, that is, according to how Jesus Himself would pray, act and think.

We are to call things that are in accordance with the plan and will of God, believing what God has said in His Word and confessing it (that is, agreeing with it).

Having the image of God, the Spirit of God, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the parameters of the will of God as expressed in the Word of God, we can call things that are not as though they were and expect to see them come to pass.