Words: Faith Containers
By Pastor Mitch Horton | October 2002 | Posted in • Archives | (0) Comments
Last month we discussed the importance of faith in our lives as believers. We found out that when we were born again, God gave us all the faith that we need to receive all that He has provided for us in Christ. In this issue, I want to show you how to put your faith into action to receive from the Lord.
Once we know that we have all the faith that we need, we must then learn how to release our faith to God. Some people think that faith just somehow floats out of our hearts to the Lord. To many, faith is nebulous, hard to detect and hard to define. But in reality it’s very easy to tell whether or not you’re operating in faith. THE WORDS THAT YOU SPEAK CLEARLY REVEAL YOUR FAITH! WHAT YOU SAY IS YOUR FAITH SPEAKING!
The main point of today’s teaching is that FAITH IS ALWAYS RELEASED THROUGH WORDS. WORDS ARE FAITH CONTAINERS. In all of creation, we are the only creatures that are made in the image of God. And we human beings are the only part of all creation that has the capacity of speech. And speech is part of the creative ability of God. Our words carry what we believe from our hearts into our lives and into the presence of God! We little realize the awesome power of the words that we speak!
Notice that 2 Corinthians 4:13 says, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak.” We also read in Romans 10:8, “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).” Jesus said that words come from the heart and reveal what we really are. Speaking to the religious people of His day, He said, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). The Amplified New Testament of that verse reads, “…For out of the fullness- the overflow, the superabundance- of the heart the mouth speaks.” And faith is a heart thing! You can have faith in your heart while at the same time doubt bombards your head! That’s the reason we have to “fight the good fight of faith!” And we fight the faith battle with WORDS and corresponding actions!
God used faith filled words to create the world. “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). In Genesis 1 (the revelation of God’s creating the universe that we know) it is stated over and over again during each day of creation, “And God said!” Light, the heavens, the earth, water, the planets, and all life forms came into being through God’s faith released through His Words! (See Genesis 1: 3,6,9,11,14,20,24, and 26).
As Christians, God has given us this same creative ability of faith released through words! Jesus taught the disciples an excellent lesson about faith when He cursed the fig tree in Mark 11:12-19. He said to a fig tree, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” When He and the disciples walked by the same tree the next day, it had withered from the roots! When Jesus saw it, He immediately said to them, “Have faith in God!” Or as the Greek text literally reads, “Have the faith OF God!” Jesus was encouraging the disciples to exercise the same faith that God exercises, and in the same way that He exercises it, through words!
Jesus then made the awesome statement in Mark 11:23, “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.”
Notice that Jesus mentioned believing only one time, but he mentioned say or saying four times! Could one not deduce from this that words are four times as important as belief? Words not only reveal what we believe, but they can also change what we believe!
Through the years, in my own life, I have found that words are very effective to defeat doubt thoughts when I’m trusting God in some area of life! When doubt and unbelief attack my mind, I have learned to do just what Jesus did when tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He would answer Satan’s unbelief with, “it is written!” Even if you have thoughts of doubt, don’t speak them out loud. Thoughts that are not spoken die unborn! Thoughts are powerless until spoken. Don’t speak negative thoughts out loud. Instead, counteract them with your faith in God’s Word by SAYING WHAT GOD SAYS!
Even if it seems as though you don’t believe what the Bible says, SAY IT ANYWAY! You’ve heard the old adage “he has said that so much that he really believes it!” Well, there is some truth to that statement. Words have a tremendous effect upon us. We really can change what we believe with words. We can literally “school” ourselves into faith when we are struggling with doubt and unbelief. We do this by constantly saying out loud what the Word of God says about our situation, regardless of how we feel or what kinds of thoughts rush through our minds! If you’ll persist in the face of doubt and fear, these twin enemies from hell will eventually pack their bags and leave you alone! And the promises of God will come to pass in your life.
Next month we are going to continue on this theme of faith being released through words. Begin today to school yourself into faith by saying what God says about you! Before long, your faith will begin to drive your doubts and fears away, and you’ll begin to experience the “victory that overcomes the world!”
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