Don't Look Up 3

[Read Don't Look Up, Don't Look Up 2]

When we come to the Throne of Grace, we are not coming based on our performance or on our own righteousness. How much or how little we've done, what mistakes we may or may not have made...

We are coming in the Name of Jesus because we are one Spirit with Him.

Seated in Heavenly Places
We've seen that we're already seated in Him in heavenly places, right now, while walking around on the earth. Yes, it's a paradigm...we are, from a quantum point of view, in two places at once.

We are joined to Him—we have died, and He abides in us, with The Father and The Holy Spirit. [ref Christ in You]

When we come to the Throne of Grace, we are coming IN HIM. God sees Him and the Blood Covenant. Yes, Jesus ministers in the office of High Priest of our confession [Hebrews 3:1; 4:14], but He is also One with the one praying!

If I have died and Christ lives in me, who is praying? Who is coming boldly to the Throne of Grace?

Why is every promise of God YES in Him? [2 Corinthians 1:20] Why are we promised that if we ask ANYTHING in His Name He will do it? [John 14:14]

Because He lives in these earthen vessels! Because we are His Body and we are filled with His fulness!

When we pray, we pray IN HIS NAME! Why? Because it's our name, too...HE'S THE ONLY ONE IN THERE!!!

Yes, we must renew our minds to these precious and magnificent promises so that we can partake of the Divine nature! [2 Peter 1:4], and yes, we must crucify the flesh—take authority over it and not let it run our lives.

But we ARE one with Him now, in these earthen vessels and seated in Him in heavenly places.

So when you start to pray, come in the full knowledge and assurance that it is the One within you praying.

The Mouth is Connected To The Heart...Always!

We know from the Word that from the heart the mouth speaks.

"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." [Matthew 12:34]

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart BRINGS FORTH what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure BRINGS FORTH what is evil; for his MOUTH SPEAKS from that which fills his HEART." [Luke 6:45]

Interesting, there are no disclaimers attached to these verses. They do NOT say, '...only when you are consciously making faith confessions...' or '...only when you mean to...' or '...only when you're not joking around...'

Speaking Spirit
Genesis 2:7 says 'Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.'

The Targum Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation says '...and man became ANOTHER speaking spirit.'

God breathed HIMSELF into the lump of clay, and man, both male and female, became ANOTHER speaking spirit! [Read Lumps of Clay]

The Hip Bone Connected to the Thigh Bone...
Yes, your mouth is ALWAYS connected to your heart!

This is a spiritual, and natural, fact.

The POWER [yad = hand] of life and death is IN THE TONGUE!! [Proverbs 18:21] This is not some made-up saying propagated by faith preachers...IT IS THE VERY WORD OF GOD!

Why did God create us as 'speaking spirits?' Because we are created in HIS IMAGE, and He is THE Speaking Spirit, Who does everything by the words of His mouth! He created us to reign on the earth with the power and authority of the spoken word.

Reign
It is our very nature to reign in the natural with our mouths. They are connected to the treasure in our hearts, whether good or bad, and they WILL bring that treasure forth.

Forth where? Forth, into the earth. In fact, this is exactly what happened to the prophets of old. They SPOKE Jesus into the earth, and the WORD became flesh. [John 1:14]

From where?

'How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the HIGHWAYS TO ZION! Passing through the valley of Baca [weeping] THEY make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with BLESSINGS. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.' [Psalm 84:4-7]

'But you have come to MOUNT ZION and to the city of the living God, the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.' [Hebrews 12:22-24]

'But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved ), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.' [Ephesians 2:4-7]

Yikes.

This is why Jesus cautioned us about being too cavalier with the words of our mouths.

"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." [Matthew 12:36]

He knew the power of the spoken word, and He knew that this law works all the time, for good or ill.

And, for you faith critics, It's the very process by which we are born again!

'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 are preaching, that if you CONFESS with your MOUTH Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

'...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the MOUTH he confesses, resulting in salvation.' [Romans 10:8-10]

What's The Problem
What, then, is the problem? Why is it that, when we need our words to work, they don't seem to?

I think the answer may be found in Mark 11.

'And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God.

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but BELIEVES THAT WHAt HE SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, it will be granted him.

"Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and they will be granted you."' [Mark 11:22-24]

We just don't believe that our words works. If we did, we wouldn't be so careless with them.

Even when we see the truth in the Word and begin to practice it, that nagging doubt stops them dead in the air. James 1:6-8 says a double-minded man shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord.

We must believe that what we say will happen, period.

Tower of Babel...Again
I've written a lot about the Tower of Babel [read about it in Genesis 11, do a search on this blog for articles]. But it is just so instructive—words work, whether you are born again or not!

Think about the cautionary tale of Jacob and Rachel, found in Genesis 31. They had fled from Laban, her father, and she had stolen some of his household gods. He pursued and accused Jacob. Jacob swore to him that whoever had taken the gods would not live, not knowing that his beloved wife was the culprit. And, according to his words, she died in childbirth a short time later.

The Tower of Babel was not God's will. In fact, He knew that if He didn't intervene, nothing could stop them.

How did He intervene? He confused their language, so that they could no longer agree IN THEIR WORDS!

What About Us?
If it is true that unregenerate man's words work in the earth, how much more is it true for those filled with the Spirit of God?

Jesus knew that we would be reborn and He knew that we would be one Spirit with Him. He knew that He and the Father would come to dwell in our earthen vessels by the Holy Spirit. [John 14; 1 Corinthians 4:7]

That's why He told us to talk to mountains and trees. To sick and dead bodies. Everywhere He went, He demonstrated what He knew was coming:

'"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father."' [John 14:12]

'...as He is, so also are we IN THIS WORLD.' [1 John 4:17]

As Christians, the power of our words should be magnified by the indwelling God!

Faith—believing and speaking—works through love. God is Love, and the love of God has been poured into our hearts. [1 John 4:8,16; Galatians 5:6; Romans 5:5]

But to use that magnified power, we must be walking in love...practicing the love of God which is within us!

Think about this...while explaining how the fig tree withered, Jesus preface His teaching with the words "Have faith in God."

Since God is love, He could've said "Have faith in love."

God's love for us, His love working through us, magnifying our power to reign upon the earth by our mouths.

Think about it.

What Are The Giants Saying To You [re-post]

This is really long, but worth the read, I think. Since I wrote this originally, I wrote a follow-up article entitled What Are You Saying to the Giants, which you may want to read as well.

You know the story...Moses sent 12 spies in to reconnoiter the Promised Land [read Numbers 13:1-14:38]. They came back with samples of the fruit of the land, and reported that, yes, the land did indeed flow with milk and honey. God's word was true!

But 10 of the spies explained that while it was everything God said it would be, there were powerful, strong people there, living in large, fortified cities. These were the sons of Anak, part of the Nephilim, which is the Hebrew word for giants.

We know that the other 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, held out for God. Their report was "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." [Numbers 13:30]

Read the response from the 10 negative spies:

"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us...The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." [Numbers 13:31-33]

Wisdom

'The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew.' [Proverbs 3:19,20]

How did God found the earth? By His Word! Read Genesis 1: 'Then God said...then God said...then God said...then God said...'

When He spoke, it was immediately created. According to Proverbs, this is Wisdom.

In Proverbs 8, Wisdom describes herself as a master workman, working beside God as He created the earth!

Now consider this:

'"Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.

"By me KINGS REIGN, and RULERS DECREE JUSTICE.

"By me PRINCES RULE, and NOBLES, all who judge rightly.

"I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me.

"Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver.

"I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries."' [Proverbs 8:14-21]

Wisdom is how God created all things...but in this passage we read that wisdom is how kings reign and how treasuries are filled with wealth.

Christ In You

'For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him...' [Romans 6:5-8]

'I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.' [Galatians 2:20]

'...the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.' [Colossians 1:26,27]

'But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one Spirit with Him.' [1 Corinthians 6:17]

Hallelujah! I died and Christ was formed in me, in ALL of His fulness...not just some sort of spiritual hitchhiker, but wall to wall God!

Abba, Father!

If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably heard these scriptures:

'For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a SPIRIT OF ADOPTION AS SONS by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" [Romans 8:15]

'Because you are sons, God has sent forth the SPIRIT OF HIS SON into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"' [Galatians 4:6]

The word 'Abba' means Father.

Did you know that Jesus used this term in addressing God as well?

'And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."' [Mark 14:36]

We are to address God as Father because it is the very Spirit of HIs Son into our hearts! He is our Father, because we are One Spirit with the Lord! [1 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 4:4]

God is just as much our Father as He is Jesus' Father.

Consider these:

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." [John 16:23,24]

'By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS , SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.' [1 John 4:17]

Hallelujah!

How to Trust God

Sometimes, even though you may have been a Christian for a long time, studied the Word for years and even seen miracles, it’s hard to trust God.

Sometimes unbelief takes hold and seems impossible to shake.

Or, you may be a new Christian and have no idea how to really trust God.

Until you realize that there’s a hand in your mouth.

‘Death and life are in the power [Hebrew yad = hand] of the tongue…’ [Proverbs 18:21]

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So CHOOSE life in order that you may live, you and your descendants…” [Deuteronomy 30:19]

[Read Yad, The Yad of God, The Yad of God 2]

Remember what God told Joshua…to put the Word in his MOUTH day and night so that HE—Joshua—would MAKE his way prosperous and HAVE good success. [Joshua 1:8]

In other words, God has already spoken. It’s up to us to CHOOSE His Word, and we do that with our mouths. In fact, that’s what Jesus was teaching us to do in the Lord’s prayer…

Believe God

Anything in your life that does not agree with the forever settled Word of God is a deception and a lie.

Anything. Everything.

Remember 2 Corinthians 1:20...

'For as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God THROUGH US.'

And just forget every sermon you've heard entitled 'Sometimes the answer is no.'

'For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.' [Psalm 84:11]

'Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.' [James 1:17]

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." [John 14:13,14]

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." [John 15:7]

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." [John 15:16]

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. [John 16:23,24]

'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?' [Romans 8:32]

Hallelujah!

The Name

'For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee must bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' [Philippians 2:9-11]

And He has given us that Name to use in the earth! We are One Spirit with the Lord, His Body in the earth...as He is, so are we in this world. [1 Corinthians 6:17; 1 Corinthians 12:27; 1 John 4:17]

That Name is ours—He was the Word and we are the Word multiplied [Acts 12:24]. We have been crucified with Christ—the Anointed One—and He lives in these earthen vessels. [Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7]

Jesus is called the Only Begotten Son of the Father, yet the Word says that we are born of God as well [1 John 5:1]...this is not contradictory, but only proves that He is One in us and that we are One with Him and with every brother and sister in Christ.

He is the Head and we are the Body, and we bear one Name.

Jesus.

One

God breathed Himself into Adam the day He made him. He was a lifeless shell until God breathed Himself into him. They were one, just like Jesus was One with Him.

And now we are one with Him, born of Him, filled with Him! Restored to Adam's place of authority and dominion, One Spirit with the Lord. [1 Corinthians 6:17]

As Adam walked with God, so we can walk with Him because we are one with Him. We have this treasure in these earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. [2 Corinthians 2:7]

Hallelujah!

Joshua, Caleb Or One Of Those Other Guys

You remember the story. God miraculously rescued the Israelites from Egypt, bringing them through the Red Sea, wiping out their enemies completely and delivering them with the wealth of Egypt.

At the edge of the Promised Land, Moses sent in 12 men to spy out the land. When they returned, they all agreed that it was a beautiful, abundant place.

Joshua and Caleb wanted to obey God and take the land.

'Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." [Numbers 13:30]

But the other 10 said...

'"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us."' [v.31]

Too Strong
Too strong for us. How many times have we felt that situations or circumstances were too strong for us? We cry out to God to help us, forgetting that He has already said He would never leave or forsake us. That He has said '...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' [1 Corinthians 15:57]

Or 'But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.' [2 Corinthians 2:14]

Or 'But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.' [Romans 8:37]

Or "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation." [Psalm 91:14-16]

When we doubt His Word, we're just like the other 10 guys. Or the rest of the people, who agreed with them rather than with the men of faith, Joshua and Caleb. Their unbelief kept them wandering in the desert for 40 years! Why?

Unbelief
Hebrews 3:19 says they were not able to enter the Promised Land because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:2 says '...but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.'

We think we're people of faith, but are we really? Are we a Joshua, a Caleb, or one of those other guys? Both had witnessed miracle after miracle, including the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. While still in Egypt, they had seen plagues come upon the Egyptians that didn't touch them. They saw the Red Sea part for them to go through on dry land only to see it close back over the world's most powerful army.

But the other guys looked at the circumstances and decided that they were stronger than God. That He either couldn't or wouldn't help them.

'The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." [Numbers 13:32,33]

Be a Joshua. Be a Caleb. Don't be one of those other guys. Believe God and His forever settled Word. He has promised to deliver us. [Jeremiah 39:17]

Make your mind up, like Caleb, that you will take the land and enter His rest. [Hebrews 4:3]

Turn That Boat Around!

I was whining to God about some of my circumstances and heard this VERY clearly..

"Well, the rudder is right beneath your nose. Use it."

Oh. Right.

'Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

'Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. SO ALSO THE TONGUE is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.' [James 3:4,5]

I forgot. Again.

If I don't like the life I have, I have the power to change it.

'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' [Proverbs 18:21]

"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity...I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..." [Deuteronomy 30:15,19]

"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, it will be granted him." [Mark 11:23]

Time to turn the boat around. Use your rudder.

I Have It Now

'This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we HAVE the requests which we have asked from Him.' [1 John 5:14,15]

We know from Hebrews 4:3 that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world. Psalm 119:89 says His Word is settled forever, and 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that as many as are the promises of God, in Him [Jesus] they are YES.

We see that, in the natural line of time, people of the Old Covenant looked forward to the completed work in Jesus...we look back to the completed work in Him. But really, it was all completed from the foundation of the world.

Mark 11:24 says "Therefore I say to you, ALL THINGS for which you pray and ask, BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and they will be granted you."

Jesus said "If you ask Me ANYTHING in My name, I will do it" and "If you ask the Father for ANYTHING in My Name, He will give it to you." [John 14:14; John 16:2]

Consider these:

Strength in Your Mouth

David knew the truth regarding the power of words in the earth, particularly praise in the mouth of a believer...

'From the MOUTH of infants and nursing babes YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED STRENGTH because of Your adversaries, TO MAKE THE ENEMY AND THE REVENGEFUL CEASE.' [Psalm 8:2]

'Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their MOUTH, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to EXECUTE VENGEANCE on the nations And punishment on the peoples, to BIND THEIR KINGS WITH CHAINS and their NOBLES WITH FETTERS OF IRON, to EXECUTE ON THEM THE JUDGMENT WRITTEN; this is an HONOR for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!' [Psalm 149:5-9]

When Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2, He changed it slightly, providing additional insight:

'And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the MOUTH of infants and nursing babies you have prepared PRAISE for Yourself?" [Matthew 21:16]

We know from Hebrews 4:12 that the Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. Revelations 1:16 says 'In his right hand He held seven stars, and OUT OF HIS MOUTH came a TWO-EDGED SWORD; and His face was like the sun shining IN STRENGTH.'

Ephesians 6:17 puts it this way: 'And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF GOD.'

It Is Finished

"It is finished." [John 19:30]

The last words of Jesus as He gave up His Spirit on the cross.

Some say He was declaring the end of the Old Covenant. Some say He was decreeing the end of His redemptive work.

It could have been either, or both. Really, He was just getting started. He had yet to go into hell and defeat Satan. He had yet to be resurrected.

I think He was declaring the end from the beginning. [Isaiah 46:10]

In His very worst moment, He was decreeing His victory. He was calling into being that which does not exist. [Romans 4:17]

He was the Word and He knew the power of words in the earth. Hebrews 1:3 says He upholds all things by the WORD of His power. Not the power of His word...the WORD of His power.

Hallelujah.