The Father Within

Wait a minute...I might have just seen something amazing here...

'"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."' [John 14:10] 

'Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.' [John 14:23] 

'Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.' [Ephesians 3:20,21]

Yes, it's true. The Father is within, and He works through us, just like He did through Jesus.

Put that together with these verses, and you'll see something wonderful!

'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes...' [Deuteronomy 1:30] 

'...for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:4]

'Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol Him. THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.' [Exodus 15:1-4]

'The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.' [Isaiah 42:13]

'The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.' [Zephaniah 3:17]

The Lord is within us, and He is a warrior! He IS the power that works within—He IS mighty and He will fight for us!

What's more, we are IN HIM...one Spirit with the Warrior Lord! 

'But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM.' [1 Corinthians 6:17]

'But by HIS DOING you are IN CHRIST JESUS, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption...' [1 Corinthians 1:30]

'For IN HIM ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE, and HE is the head over ALL rule and authority...' [Colossians 2:9,10]

And don't be afraid.

'When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 

"When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted.

'Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:1-4]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Schrodinger's Cat

A very famous Quantum Physics experiment called Schrodinger's Cat illustrates the principle that there is no single outcome unless it is observed. The cat is either alive or dead—2 probable universes, 2 different realities. 

We know from the Bible that multiple realities exist—the natural, physical plane and the spiritual realm. Even within that there appears to be different levels—the heaven where God dwells [and us, too, according to Ephesians 2:6] and a spiritual plane in the earth to which Satan fell when he was thrown down to the earth. [Luke 10:18, Revelation 12:9]

Paul talks about being caught up into the third heaven. [2 Corinthians 12:2]

We know that we are spirits living in earthly bodies—that in our hearts are the highways to Zion. [Psalm 84:5] We know that there is both an earthly and a heavenly Jerusalem and that we're ALREADY there! [Hebrews 12:22]

We walk on the earth yet are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! [Ephesians 2:6]

In fact, there are many places in the Word where the veil is pulled back and we see multiple realities intersect—the mountain of transfiguration, Jacob’s ladder, the angels in Bethlehem, and of course, the well of Hagar.

[For more in-depth exploration, read Quantum Possibilities, The Quantum Table, The Quantum Table 2 and Stop Begging--It's Inside!] 

What, Me Worry? 
Anyway, I was worrying about money...again!

I had already confessed several wonderful scriptures regarding blessing, abundance and wealth. According to Matthew 16 and 19, I had already bound the enemy and forbidden him to withhold what Jesus had already bought and paid for. I confessed my redemption from the curse.

I particularly confessed that...

• Jesus became to [made unto, wrought, come to pass] me wisdom and righteousness [1 Corinthians 1:30]
• Great wealth is in the house of the righteous [Proverbs 15:6]
• Wisdom endows me with wealth, filling my treasuries [Proverbs 8:21]
• Long life is in her [Wisdom's] right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor [Proverbs 3:16]
• Riches and honor are with Wisdom; therefore they are with me [Proverbs 8:18]
• The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life. [Proverbs 22:4]
• I know the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, for my sake became poor, so that through His poverty I might become rich [2 Corinthians 8:9] 

Yet I was still feeling extremely anxious, and I know that is usually a sign that my mind is in full rebellion against my reborn spirit, which is full of God. And the rebellion is usually instigated by the deceiver, who shows me all sorts of horrible outcomes and points to seemingly intransigent circumstances.

Which of course leads to the mind loop "I can't see any way...what am I going to do...I can't see any way...what am I going to do...ad infinitum"

And Then I Heard... 
I heard/felt/saw/knew that familiar voice, saying "Oh...so you really think the money is not there..."

I knew immediately what He meant. Even with all my dutiful confessions, I didn't really believe that anything was happening. Instead of believing that what I say is going to happen, I was speaking in fear and unbelief. Instead of believing I received when I prayed, I got up from prayer and immediately started worrying.

What I failed to remember was Hagar's well. And the Palm Sunday donkey...and the fish with the coin in its mouth. Isaac's ram, Elisha's army, the lunch that fed 5000...not to mention all the things the Word says we're surrounded by! [read Decreed]

I forgot that all things already belong to me, and I belong to Christ, and Christ belonged to God. [1 Corinthians 3:23] I forgot that the spiritual plane of existence is real and complete and finished. That I am in Christ, and in Christ is a completely different place than just being in the world by myself.

To be more specific, my needs were met before the foundation of the world, because God said they were...and His works were finished from the foundation of the world!

Choices 
So I have two choices in every situation. I can choose to believe God's forever settled Word, complete and finished in heaven, in the Spirit where I am seated in Christ. I can choose to believe that my faith in His Word—seeing it and speaking it as already done—brings spiritual realities into physical manifestation. I can believe Jesus when He told me to speak to circumstances and they would obey.

Or, I can choose to believe my circumstances and satan's lies, even though I know he's a liar, a killer and a thief. [John 8:44; 10:10] Even though I know that the things which are seen are temporal—temporary—while the things which are not seen are eternal. [2 Corinthians 4:18]

Even though we are told explicitly to look NOT at the things which are seen but at the things which are NOT SEEN. To walk by faith and NOT sight...[2 Corinthians 5:7]

I can choose to listen to the liar and give in to the fear...even though I know that what I fear comes upon me and what I dread befalls me. [Job 3:25]

Believe You Receive 
As always, the bottom line is faith.

To believe you receive when you pray, or to believe that what you say is going to happen, you must have an acute awareness of the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. You must know for a certainty that God's Word is forever settled and His works finished from the foundation of the world.

You must see the unseen when you pray or speak in faith. You must believe that if Jesus told you to speak to physical reality and it would obey you, He was telling the truth.

You must know that your bank account is filled with wealth by Wisdom the moment you agree with God's decree that it is. Technically, it was filled before the foundation of the world, just like Hagar's well.

Don't Waver 
Finally, don't waver in unbelief. Speaking of Abraham, Romans 4:20 says '...yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.'

Giving glory to God is very important. In this context, it means to give Him glory and honor and praise for the thing already done. That's what Abraham did. He didn't waver in his faith. [He wavered in his behavior, alright, because he thought he had to make it happen...and what a mess!]

But he never lost sight of the promise! And once he started calling himself Father of Nations, the promise came to pass almost immediately. [Hmmm...]

Don't waver. See the promised of God as finished for you according to 2 Corinthians 1:20—see the unseen forever settled Word as complete in your life. See it with the eyes of your heart, then speak it. It is finished

Hallelujah!

Liar, Liar, Pants DEFINITELY on Fire!

Updated and improved!

Satan has one objective in mind...to keep us from understanding that we are one Spirit with the Lord, filled up to all the fulness of God. [2 Corinthians 1:20, Ephesians 3:19] He does not want us to know that we are called to reign in life and that the Father has gladly given us the kingdom. [Romans 5:17, Luke 12:32]

He wants us to feel afraid—helpless and alone. To feel separate from God, separate from Jesus. And he really loves to make us feel guilty and unworthy—to keep us beating ourselves up over and over again over some sin. He does not want us to know that we've been forgiven, once for all time, past, present and future, and that God doesn't even remember our sin! [Jeremiah 31:34]

And he really doesn't want us to know we've been strengthened with ALL POWER in our inner man! [Colossians 1:11, Ephesians 3:16]

He will throw everything at us—any circumstance, any weapon—to keep us from finding out who we really are in Christ. His worst nightmare is that we just might find out that Jesus is the Word and we're the Word multiplied! [Acts 12:24] That by believing, we're freed from all things, from which we could not be freed through the Law of Moses! [Acts 13:39]

He knows that He [the Father] 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]

He also knows that we have the power to overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. He was watching, I'm sure, when Jesus explained that the physical, natural world obeys us! He will do anything to keep us from finding out the truth!

He'll keep preachers preaching all sorts of error and keep us singing songs like 'He gives and takes away'...he'll keep us in Old Covenant thinking as much as possible, where we are 'down here' and God is 'up there.'

Because he knows the truth. He knows exactly who we are in Christ, how powerful we really are and that we are joint heirs with the Heir of all things. [Hebrews 1:2, Romans 8:17]

He knows that we are from God, an that greater is He Who is in us than he [Satan] who is in the world. [1 John 4:4]

He just can't afford for us to find out.

How It’s Supposed to Work
I think this is how it's really supposed to work.

Let's say we are standing in faith for protection from harm [no harm befalls the righteous—Proverbs 12:21 and all of Psalm 91]. But if the destroyer managed to get through, say with sickness or accident aimed at a loved one, we would simply lay hands on them and they would be healed. If he still managed to break through and kill them, we would simply raise them up. Failing that, we would understand that we are already seated with them in heavenly places in Christ anyway. [Ephesians 2:6]

Now that's walking in absolute power and victory! 2 Corinthians says '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.' Satan is a spirit—he sees and knows exactly who we are in the Spirit.

And I do mean all believers walking in this kind of power and victory, not just a few famous preachers on TV! Proving what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God! [Romans 12:2]

Why Did Jesus Come?
Did you know that Jesus already had authority over all the power of the enemy? He came to give that authority back to us...the authority usurped in the Garden of Eden!

In Luke 10, He gave that authority to His disciples—unregenerate men! How much more do we who are one Spirit with the Lord have such authority?

1 John 3:8 tell us plainly that 'The Son of God appeared for this purpose, TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.' And John 14:12 says that we are to do greater works than He did...how? Because instead of one Son of God, working in one place at one time, now there are many sons and daughters, filled with His power, in many places and in many times!

So what's a devil to do? Stop it any way he can! Kill, steal, destroy, deceive...lie, lie, lie. Keep us so confused by sermons like 'sometimes the answer is no...' and funeral messages like 'we don't know why God took this 12 year old...' that we spend all our time in doubt and despair. Attack our bodies, steal our wealth and blame it all on God. What good is a tissue paper helmet of salvation anyway? If we don't think our salvation is anything more than fire insurance, it's not going to protect us from anything!

Ephesians 6 teaches that we struggle with powerful spiritual enemies. Now, if God says that He always leads us in triumph and we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us [Romans 8:37] than our armor and weapons are designed to work! If it is His will for us to win (and it is), we must be able to!

1 Corinthians 15:57 says

'...but thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How about 1 John 5:4?

'For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.'

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is John 10:10. "The thief comes ONLY to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY. I [Jesus] came that they may have LIFE, and have it abundantly." [John 10:10]

This is Jesus speaking, giving us a cheat sheet to who's doing what to whom. An interesting aside—this verse can also be translated '...and have abundance.'

If you can keep this always in mind, it will help when the deceiver strikes, whispering that [fill in the problem] is really from God.

Especially when it involves death, either of a loved one, or death in any area of life. God has PLAINLY stated that death is the last ENEMY [1 Corinthian 15:26] and that His will is that His [Jesus] enemies be made a FOOTSTOOL for His feet. [Psalm 110:1, Luke 20:43, Acts 2:35, Hebrews 1:13, Hebrews 10:13]

And this will blow your mind…He’s WAITING for death to be made a footstool! God says in Psalms 110

“Sit at My [The Father] right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch forth Your [Jesus] STRONG SCEPTER from ZION [we’ve already come to Mt. Zion, seated in Him in heavenly places] SAYING “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” YOUR people will volunteer freely in the day of YOUR POWER, in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to you as the dew.” [Psalm 110:5-7]

HALLELUJAH! Ephesians and Colossians tell us in several place that we are filled with DUNAMIS [gr]—miracle-working power—and we are to release that power to allow God to make His enemies His footstool now by SAYING. It’s all about Him working more than we can ask or think according the POWER that works WITHIN—in, by, with—us! We don’t do it, He does it through us.

That’s why we’re supposed to be reigning in life—Romans 5:17 and healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons [Matthew 10:7, 8]

So NEVER let anyone, especially a preacher, tell you that God has taken—Christian speak for killed—your loved one because it’s just not true. He considers death an enemy, and so should you!

Job may have said ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away’ but it does NOT apply to us. We are ONE Spirit with the Lord, His Body in the earth. When we FINALLY realize the we died at Calvary with Jesus [Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20] and it is He alone that lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we will start to walk in the power, love and dominion that is our birthright. We are heirs of God and fellow or joint heirs with Christ! [Romans 8:17]

One more thing…

‘For in Him ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE…’ [Colossians 2:9,10]

And…

‘…that He would grant YOU, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power [DUNAMIS] through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled up to ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.

‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [DUNAMIS] that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen—SO BE IT.’ [Ephesians 3:16-21]

Finally…

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

Yes, that’s the Holy Spirit praying for you, and me, and all the saints…no one left out. Hallelujah!

Okay, I’m back…

It's A Fact
It's a fact. We've been lied to and those lies have rendered us powerless and defeated.

But now is the time to shake off defeat and rise up in triumph! Think about words like triumph, victory, conquer...these are strong words of successful warfare, and God—GOD—spoke them over us. The same God Who spoke the world into existence has spoken words like triumph, victory and conquer ABOUT US!

But How...
Someone online has called them the 'cursed hows.' I love that! Because if we continually focus on the natural 'hows' we can never fully walk in the triumphs of faith.

What does 1 John 5:4 says is the VICTORY that has OVERCOME the world? OUR FAITH! The real how—how God prepared the worlds [Hebrews 11:3]—is faith!

Faith is the assurance—the SUBSTANCE [existence, foundation, substructure]—of THINGS hoped for, the conviction [proof or evidence] of THINGS not seen. The Greek word for things in this scripture is pragma—that which has been done, a deed, and ACCOMPLISHED FACT; what is being done or accomplished, THAT WHICH IS OR EXISTS, a thing.

Do these things stay unseen? This is a popular argument against using faith to manipulate the natural world—that our blessings and the promises of God are only on the spiritual plane. Are the worlds still unseen? Or were they just unseen in the physical realm before God spoke them into existence by His faith? Did He see them first, before speaking them into natural form or did He create without any idea of what He was creating? Did He see first and then speak? Are the worlds spinning in order or is the universe just some orderless chaos?

We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:18 to look at the unseen—that which is eternal—because that which is seen is temporary. Didn't Jesus demonstrate this by speaking to all kinds of temporary, physical things and telling them what to do? Telling fig trees to die and fish to scoop up coins, and bodies to heal and dead people to rise up? Telling pots of water to turn into wine or storms to cease?

And didn't He then tell us to do the same?

It is our job—our calling and our privilege—to bring the natural world into alignment with the will of God! Jesus told us to pray "...Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven..." God Himself said "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" [Habakkuk 2:14] and "...as I lie, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord." [Numbers 14:21]

Plus, don’t forget [and watch out for villagers with torches]…

“The glory which You have given Me I HAVE given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one…” [John 10]

As the temple of old was filled with His glory, so are we. Jesus said it—it’s in RED— so don’t yell at me.

Now you know why I disabled comments on this site…

Ephesians 1:9,10 says:

'He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an ADMINISTRATION SUITABLE TO THE FULLNESS OF TIMES, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.'

We are to administer His kingdom on the earth! To bring His will into physical reality...His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

What is the will of God in Heaven? All of His already finished works! [Hebrews 4:3] Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places! [Ephesians 1:3] Everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and excellence—His precious and magnificent promises, by which we become partakers of the diving nature! [2 Peter 1:3,4]

And we are the agents who are to cover the earth with His glory!

Surrounded
Did you know that the Seraphim—majestic beings in Heaven—are continuously calling to each other "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." [Isaiah 6:3]

Did you also know that we are surrounded by songs or shouts of deliverance? [Psalm 32:7] Surrounded by His favor like a shield? [Psalm 5:12]

Actually, the Bible says we're surrounded by a lot of things, both good and evil! There's a lot of activity going on around us, and we're meant to know and understand it—see the unseen—and reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus!

Live in the seen, work in the unseen. Dominate the enemy and his works by faith, prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and EVERY TONGUE that accuses you in judgment you will condemn." [Isaiah 54:17]

Who is the accuser of the brethren? Satan is and he's been thrown down! [Revelations 12:10] His weapons against us are words, just like our weapon against him is the Word—the Sword of the Spirit! [Ephesians 6:17]

2 Corinthians 10:4 says that '...the weapons of our warfare are NOT of the flesh, but DIVINELY POWERFUL for the destruction of fortresses.'

Yes, divinely powerful, for the express purpose of WINNING! In spite of the many, many sermons which have explained over the years that God is glorified in our defeat, we are built to win! To cover the earth with the glory of God! This is His true plan, and Satan knows it.

So Now What?
WAKE UP!! 'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.' [Isaiah 60:1]

Don't listen to lies...resist the devil, and he will flee! The Greek word for flee is pheugo...to flee away, seek safety by flight, to flee something abhorrent, to escape safely out of danger! He knows that when we finally turn our power toward him, he will have to flee to seek safety from that danger!

He knows we're dangerous...time for us to know it, too.

---

Read Lies, Lies, Lies; Fear—The Deadly Enemy, Fear, What Are the Giants Saying to You, Wow! [That's all I could think of...], Camping in the Desert, Bound, God Isn't Holding Back 2

The Yad of God 2 [re-post]

The way God works in the earth is through the yad or hand of His mouth!

The Hebrew word yad is translated several ways: hand, power, strength...when you research how it is used in the Old Testament, it is obvious that it is the powerful, strong hand which accomplishes things in the earth. The power, or hand [yad] of life and death is in the tongue [Proverbs 18:21], which could alternately be translated ‘Death and life is in the hand of the tongue…’ [From Yad]

John 1:3 says 'All things came into being through Him [The Word, v.1] and apart form Him nothing came into being that has come into being.'

Verse 10 continues: 'He [The Word] was in the world, and the world was made through HIm...'

Jesus IS the Yad of God. 'His Name is called The Word of God.' [Revelations 19:13]

And guess what? He is The Word, and we are The Word multiplied! [Acts 12:24]! We are His Body in the earth, one Spirit with Him, His joint-heirs! [1 Corinthians 12:27, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 8;17]

God works through His yad in the earth, which is the Body of Christ, corporately and individually! He is the yad of God, and we are fellow yads! Born to reign in life, to bear fruit in the earth through the hands of our mouths!

[Read Yad and The Yad of God for a more-in-depth study]

The Yad of God [re-post]

Pre-Reading
Psalm 136 [key verse is 12, but read the whole chapter]
Isaiah 59:1
Isaiah 49:22
Isaiah 50:2
Isaiah 60:21
Isaiah 66:22

Also, please refer to an earlier post, Yad, for important background...

Yad
We know that, for man, the power [or yad, which means 'hand' in Hebrew] of life and death is in the tongue. [Proverbs 18:21] Two other frequently quoted meanings of yad are 'strength' and 'power.'

So we know that man can work either with his physical yad, or hand, or the yad in his mouth. But we are made in God's image, and He does all things with the yad of His mouth!

Think about it...all the verses that talk about the hand of God are the Hebrew word yad! And how does He do things? Does He use physical hands, or does He accomplish all things by His forever settled word? His yad is in His mouth, too!

He formed the world with His mouth! He delivered Israel with His mouth! He sent Jesus with His mouth! And when, by faith, we receive His word as being true for us, it is accomplished. Actually, to be technical, it is already accomplished, because His works were finished from the foundation of the world and He has already rested from His works [Hebrew 4:3,10].

From the website Hebrew for Christians comes a great explanation...

"The Hand of God metaphorically speaks of Adonai’s power. In Adonai’s Hand are power and might (1 Chronicles 29:12). His hand is not "shortened" that it cannot save us (Isaiah 59:1), but is Mighty to save to the uttermost all those who call upon Him in humility and truth (Hebrews 7:25). God demonstrated His Hand through His deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Exodus 13:3-16; Num 33:3). Indeed, the Hand of God (Yad ha Elohim) created the universe itself (Psalm 8:6; 95:5). Moreover, Adonai upholds the righteous with his Hand (Psalm 37:24; 139:10) and continually lifts up his hand on our behalf (Psalm 10:12). The Hands of Adonai were also pierced for us." (Psalm 22:16, John 20:27).

Like Him
And He did all these things, not with a yad of flesh but with His mouth! And He said the yad, or hand, of life and death is in our mouths! We are like Him! This is what Jesus tried repeatedly to tell us—use your mouth, there's a hand in there! You speak to mountains, trees and sick people's bodies...you still the storm...you control your body with your tongue! Impossible things that you couldn't possibly do with hands of flesh you can do with the yad of the mouth.

Think about it. Jesus said all things were possible for us, nothing would be impossible to him who believed. But we know that many things are physically impossible for us—impossible with the yad of flesh. But the yad of the mouth can accomplish anything, because the yad of God said so!

Don't forget the Tower of Babel...they were going to accomplish the impossible with the yad of flesh because they had first used the yad of the tongue!

He knew that we would be reborn...not just made in the image of God, but filled with Him, just like He was. As older brother, He was demonstrating how to live...how to reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus. [Romans 5:17] Unregenerate men, using the yad of the tongue to accomplish the impossible—why? Because they were created in the image of God and knew it...they were only a few generations removed from Noah.

Now what?
Meditate on the yad [hand/power/strength] in your mouth...your tongue. Think about how God uses His mouth, and how we are instructed to use ours. Read Proverbs, chapters 10-23, 18—if you have time, read the whole book. Understand how things really work...the wisdom of God.

Hallelujah!

Yad [re-post]

The Hebrew word yad is translated several ways: hand, power, strength...when you research how it is used in the Old Testament, it is obvious that it is the powerful, strong hand which accomplishes things in the earth.

The power [yad=hand] of life and death is in the tongue [Proverbs 18:21], which could alternately be translated ‘Death and life is in the hand of the tongue…’

‘The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand [yad=power] of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.’ [Proverbs 21:1]

'Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand [yad=power], 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." [Psalm 149:6-9]

It is an honor to use our swords to execute judgements already written!

The power of the tongue is the same word used to describe God’s hand, which turns king’s hearts! It’s also used in many places to describe the ‘hand’ of the enemy—his power to take or keep captive.

In Isaiah 50:2, God asks “Is My hand [yad] so short that it cannot ransom, or have I no power to deliver?” He ransoms, delivers, with His yad …

How did God create the world? With physical hands? No, with His mouth—He used the ‘hand of his mouth!’ Now we know that all things were made through and by Jesus, Who is the Word of God, coming out of His mouth. So Jesus is the yad of God’s tongue! And we are the Word multiplied, His Body, or hand, in the earth!

Yad is a working hand—an active, powerful, warrior hand…the deed [or work] done. God’s hand is synonymous with His power…so, evidently, is our tongue!

Death and life are in the HAND of the mouth! And not just physical death and life—Deuteronomy clarifies:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you LIFE and DEATH, the BLESSING or the CURSE. SO CHOOSE LIFE, in order that you may live, you and your descendants…”

And I love the way God gave us a hint. Pssstt, dummy…pick life!

[Sorry for the dummy…but really, how thick do you have to be to need a hint?]

Jesus said He came to give us abundant life—the zoe of God! Vitality…the absolute fullness of life, active and vigorous! [Greek lexicon]

So use the hand in your mouth to choose life.

Hallelujah!

His Peace

I awoke the other day with John 14:27 in my head…

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."

And it hit me right between the eyes...Jesus gave us HIS PEACE! He left it, here in the earth, for us, for you and for me.

Now we know from other posts on this blog, that to a Jew, peace was shalom—completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, soundness, health, prosperity, and more!

And Jesus is the PRINCE OF PEACE, the Prince of Shalom! [Isaiah 9:6] That is one of His titles…not only God, but the prince, or ruler of shalom. And this Ruler of Shalom gave us His very own shalom—not some lesser kind of peace, but His very own!

Philippians 4:7 says the peace of God surpasses all comprehension and will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus—in the Prince of Peace!

Why is this important? Because Proverbs 4:23 tells us to watch over or guard our hearts with all diligence, for from the heart flows the springs or source of life.

The Hebrew word for life in this verse is chayay—to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live forever, be restored to life or health, to revive. HALLELUJAH!

Jesus gave us an insight into how the heart works:

“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]

Now we see why it is so important to guard our hearts with peace, or shalom—it is a storehouse or treasury, of things either good or evil, and we bring those things forth by speaking them. So it is vital that we guard these spiritual storehouses, keeping them full of good treasure and preventing any deposits of evil treasure.

No wonder the Holy Spirit prayed for us ‘Now may the LORD of PEACE Himself CONTINUALLY grant you PEACE—shalom—in every circumstance…’ [2 Thessalonians 3:16]

How do we access this peace, this completeness in every area of life? By practicing Philippians 4:6…

‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let you’re requests be made know to God.’

In other words, pray and believe that God hears and will answer! Pray with thanksgiving for the finished work.

“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]

“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 11:24]

‘For as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM [the Prince of Shalom] they are yes; therefore also through Him is our AMEN [so be it] to the glory of God THROUGH US.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]

‘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 request which we have asked from Him.” [1 John 5:14,15]

And since we know that His Word is His will, pray according to the promises that are already YES and AMEN!

It boils down to this: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.” [John 14:1]

Take His shalom peace as yours.

Hallelujah! Shalom!

———————————————————

Read Partakers of The Divine Nature, Be the Ball, Enter His Rest Today, Enter His Rest 2, Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled, Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled 2

Reign in Life 3—Throne Mentality

I came across an interesting verse today...

‘Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.’ [Proverbs 25:5]

Since we know this chapter contains the proverbs of Solomon, at first glance this doesn’t apply to the average Christian…of course, there are no average Christians, but keep reading!

Most of us skim over that verse and keep moving.

But today I was searching for the phrase ‘in righteousness’ because the New Covenant makes it clear that we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him [2 Corinthians 5:21]…that by HIS doing, we are IN Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification, and redemption…[1 Corinthians 1:30]

Romans 3:22 says that the righteousness of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ for ALL those who believe!

And let’s not forget Romans 5:17…

‘For if by the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned through the one, MUCH MORE those who receive the abundance of grace and of the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Jesus Christ.’

Wait a minute…where do people who reign sit? And what are they called?

Revelations 1:6 and 5:10 both say that we are kings and priests. I know the NASB translates it as a ‘kingdom of priests’ but the Greek word for kings is basileus—leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king—and is translated as king 82 times! Revelations 5:10 says we will reign upon the earth.

Even the NASB Lexicon states that basileu means royal power, kingship, dominion, rule…not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom. The royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom. HALLELUJAH!

Young’s Literal Translation translates basileu as king.

Yep, we’re kings all right, called to reign upon the earth. We are one Spirit with the Lord, members of His Body…He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and we’re those very lords and kings! Made COMPLETE in Him.

Okay, before you start to scream heresy, these are VERSES I’m quoting. You know, from the BIBLE…

And where do kings sit? On THRONES!

Now I realize that modern royalty is seen largely as a useless institution…powerless celebrities, whose personal lives are fodder for People magazine and such. When the Bible was written, however, they had absolute power over life and death. Their word was instantly obeyed, or else.

Ecclesiastes 8:4 tells us that the word of a king is authoritative.

Consider these scriptures:

‘…and raised us up with Him, and seated us WITH HIM in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…[Ephesians 2:6]

‘…when He raised Him [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY AND POWER AND DOMINION, and every name that is named, not only in THIS AGE but also in the one to come.’ [Ephesians 2:20,21]

‘…because AS HE IS, so also ARE WE IN THIS WORLD’

Jesus is seated on His throne alright, and we’re right there with and in Him, FAR ABOVE every other throne—all rule and authority and power and dominion!

And we know Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil [1 John 3:8] and that He defeated Satan by His death and resurrection.

So we can pray with bold confidence, ‘Father, take away the wicked before me, and my throne will be established in righteousness today and every day, and I WILL reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus.’

It’s time, and well past, for every believer to get a throne mentality and stop being pushed around by a defeated foe!

Hallelujah!

____________________________

Read Reign in Life; Reign in Life 2; Eternal You; Proclaim!; His Word, His Command; Our God Reigns; That Which Has Been Will Be; plus lots of additional articles on this blog…search ‘reign in life’ and you will come up with pages and pages! Enjoy!

Pull Back the Curtain

We've talked at length about seeing the unseen on this blog...do a search and you'll find lots of articles here on the subject. Remember Hagar's well? How about the table set before us in the presence of our enemies? Elisha's armies? Jacob's ladder?

Or the temptation of Jesus...or the transfiguration, with Moses and Elijah?

Then there's the entire book of Revelation!

All examples of seeing the invisible that already exists...pre-existing provision from Jehovah Jireh—the Lord Who Sees Ahead and Provides.

Faith
We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for [Hebrews 11:1]—we also know that faith is always in two places...the heart and the mouth. [Mark 11:22-24; Romans 10:9,10; Luke 6:45]

We see something in the Word and begin confess it into our lives. But I think we leave out the all-important step of seeing come to pass when we pray...seeing the unseen.

We know that God's Word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and that His works were finished from the foundation of the world. [Hebrews 4:3]

We also know that He has already given us the Kingdom [Luke 12:32] and that all things belong to us [1 Corinthians 3:21,22]. That every promise is already 'yes' in Christ [2 Corinthians 1:20] and that we are redeemed from the curse of the law [Galatians 3:13]

But when we go to pray [which includes the confession of God's Word into the earth...see James 5 and 1 Kings 17,18] I think many of us talk to an empty place. We believe in seeing the unseen, but only as a kind of involuntary vision...if we are lucky enough to get them!

We hope our prayers get answered, instead of believing they already are!

'And 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 seek Him.' [Hebrews 11:6] 

Folks, God WANTS us to use faith to bring His Kingdom into the earth!

'"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven."' [Matthew 6:10] 

He WANTS us to pray and say His Word, so He can watch over it TO PERFORM IT!!! [Jeremiah 1:12]

And He wants us to see the unseen...He told us to look at it! [2 Corinthians 4:18]

Engage
I believe that we are to engage our 'seer' on purpose. While we are praying [or saying], we are to watch the Word come to pass, on purpose, right then and there.

He changed Abram's name to Abraham—Father of Nations—while he was yet childless. [Genesis 17:5] He got Abraham to call into being that which does not exist, just like He does! [Romans 4:17]

But before He changed his name, He gave him the image of it coming to pass...

'And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."' [Genesis 15:5] 

So we see that God had Abraham use his imagination—his 'seer'—and his words!

Use the God-given gift of imagination to see WHILE we pray, to see WHILE we confess the Word! See, on purpose, what it will look like when the answer is manifested in the earth! Watch it happen in real time, in the Spirit, and it will come to pass in the natural.

I think that's called believing you receive when you pray...

What Would Jesus Do?
Jesus told us to talk to mountains, trees, storms, sick bodies...even dead bodies! He commanded physical things and they obeyed...even a donkey and a fish! Then He told us to do it, too!

In fact, He said we would do greater works than He did! [John 14:12]

We try and try...sometimes we get results, sometimes we don't. But as a Body, we don't seem to be operating even close to His level, let alone doing greater works!

I think the missing key may be the active, on-purpose, engaging of our ability to see the unseen. He told us to look at the unseen, so we must be able to. Surely we're all practiced enough in seeing the unseen bad stuff...it's called worry and fear! How about using that power for good?

I'm talking about visual prayer. Seeing what we say come to pass because He said it would [Mark 11:22-24; Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21]. Seeing our prayers answered because He said they would be. [John 14-17; 2 Corinthians 1:20]

'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]

Sanctified
The Holy Spirit, praying through Paul for us, prayed that the God of Peace would sanctify us entirely—cleanse, purify, separate and dedicate to God, perfect, complete in all respects. And I'm pretty sure His prayers got answered.

So receive your sanctification. Begin to use your imagination when you pray or when you confess the Word. See the unseen...watch it come to pass.

Read Visual Prayer, Think Like God, God is Faithful, Believe You Receive 2, Quantum Possibilities, The Power of Purpose

Bless Yourself!

Did you know that you can bless yourself?

Since the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and from an Eastern, Hebrew point of view, let's look at some different translations of Isaiah 65:16...

"Thus someone on earth who blesses himself will bless himself by the God of truth, and someone on earth who swears an oath will swear by the God of truth; for past troubles will be forgotten, hidden from my eyes." [The Complete Jewish Bible]

"So that he who blesses himself in the eretz [land] shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the eretz [land] shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes." [Hebrew Names Bible]

"So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, doth bless himself In the God of faithfulness, and he who is swearing in the earth, doth swear by the God of faithfulness, because the former distresses have been forgotten, and because they have been hid from Mine eyes." [Young’s Literal Translation]

“Those who pronounce a blessing in the land will do so by the God called AMEN; those who make a solemn pledge in the land will do so by the God called AMEN. Past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my sight.” [Common English Bible]

This is interesting. Even the KJV and NKJV translate it this way:

"That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes." [King James Version]

"So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My eyes." [New King James Version]

Can this be true? Can we bless ourselves?

Jabez
Consider the now famous prayer of Jabez...

"Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested." [1 Chronicles 4:10]

How do we bless ourselves in the earth?

A blessing is always spoken, or declared, commanded [as is a curse, interestingly enough]. We tend to think only of the result of a blessing or curse as the blessing or curse itself—what we see in the earth. But it always starts with words. God speaks blessings into the earth through people, and we see the patriarchs blessing their children, especially in the Old Covenant.

Psalm 91 is a great example of this. The writer, Moses, says ‘I will SAY to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in Whom I trust!” [Psalm 91:2]

That’s the blessing. The result of the blessing is the rest of Psalm 91…angelic protection, deliverance, honor and long life!

We sing Joel 3:10 as a song, but it really is an example of a spoken self-blessing.

‘…Let the weak SAY “I am a mighty man.’” [Joel 3:10]

The Hebrew word for say in Joel 3:10 is ajar…to say, speak, command, intend.

Deuteronomy 28:8 says “The Lord will COMMAND the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” The Hebrew word for command here is a different word, tsavah…to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, order, appoint or commission.

So we see that the spoken blessing is actually a command!

Jesus told us to BELIEVE that what we say happens…

“Truly [AMEN] 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]

And He calls this having faith in God! [Mark 11:22]

So go ahead…bless yourself in the earth with the good promises of God! Remember, ‘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.”

Hallelujah!

Hold The Mirror Up!

Look in the mirror, what do you see? You see what you really look like, which often surprises us, because we thought we looked different. You know, you thought you looked great when you left the house...you felt good...then you pass a mirror and are brought back to reality...not so much!

Who are we, really? The person we think we are, with the limitations we’ve come to live with over the years, or the strengths we think we have? You know...”I’m a good writer, but not so good with math” or “I could never be/do [fill in the blank]...it’s just not me. But I am really good with [fill in the blank].”

The physical person? Beautiful or plain, fat or slim...is that who we are?

We forget that we were crucified with Christ, buried with Him in baptism, raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places. [Colossians 2:11,12, Ephesians 2:4-6]

We forget that were One Spirit with the Lord...that He gave us His glory, the glory the Father gave Him! [John 17] Now we’ve all heard sermons about how the glory is not for us, and based in the Old Covenant, that is true. God’s glory is not for unregenerate man...but in the New Covenant, we are reborn—we receive God’s own Spirit and His glory! As the temple of old was filled with His glory, so we are in the earth...His temple, filled with His glory.

Jesus put it like this: “THE GLORY WHICH YOU HAVE GIVEN ME I HAVE GIVEN TO THEM, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.” [John 17:22,23]

Yes, those words are in red, my friend. 

Transformed

Okay, let’s talk about transformation.

‘But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as IN A MIRROR the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.’ [2 Corinthians 3:18]

A mirror reflects back the image of the one looking into it...in this case, we are looking not at a natural reflection but a spiritual one. Instead of seeing our natural, familiar visage, we see the glory of the Lord! But IT’S A REFLECTION!! A reflection of the One within, and the more we take time to behold it, the more we are transformed outwardly into His image!

Remember, we've been crucified with Christ—we died and Jesus was born within! So our spirit is really One with Him!

 ‘For those whom He foreknew, He [God] also predestined to become CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren...’ [Romans 8:29]

At first, it will be like looking in the mirror and seeing someone else. But keep looking at the glory of the Lord within—meditate on it—and soon it will begin the process of transformation.

Prove it…

Romans 12 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may PROVE what the will of God is, that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT.’ [Please note that your children dying early of some satanic disease is none of those things...]

So we must be transformed to prove the good will of God in our lives.

How do we do that? We look in the mirror at the glory of God within and we renew our minds to that fact. We are one Spirit with the Lord and we are full of His glory. We stare at the truth of God’s perfect law of liberty and don’t look away [James 1:25].

How does that work, exactly? I’m glad you asked.

When faced with an impossible situation, pick up the mirror—the perfect law of liberty, the reality of rebirth, the truth of being made the righteousness of God in Him, the fact of being one Spirit with Him—and see who you really are. Colossians 2:9,10 says ‘For in Him ALL the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM you have BEEN MADE COMPLETE…’

The phrase ‘made complete’ in this verse is the Greek word pleroo—the fill up to the full, to fill to the top so nothing shall be wanting, to full measure, to cause to abound, to supply liberally, to make complete IN EVERY PARTICULAR, TO RENDER PERFECT!

Are you limited in any way or are all thing possible for you? Are you lacking in anything or do all things belong to you? Are you insufficient for any task or does the Greater One live in you? Are you separate from God or are you one Spirit with the Lord? These are ALL verses, people…spoken by the Holy Spirit to us.

PICK UP THE MIRROR—the Word of God, and particularly the epistles—and see who you really are! Victorious, triumphant, healed, delivered, rich—the righteousness of God in Christ, blessed with Abraham the Believer—redeemed from the curse of the Law! Partaker of the Divine nature, filled up to all the fullness of God! Yes, those are ALL verses!

Here’s the trick...NOT forgetting who you are when you lay the mirror down. Jesus is the Firstborn of Many Brethren and you are one of those brethren...a member of a new race, the redeemed of the Lord, one Spirit with Him! AS HE IS SO ALSO ARE YOU IN THIS WORLD!!! Look at Jesus…that’s what the Father sees when He looks at you.

Hallelujah!

Let The Redeemed of The Lord Say So 2

If you've been a Christian for any time at all, you've heard 'Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...', usually in the context of speaking the Word and His finished work.

And that is valid. But let's have a closer look at the verse in it's entirety and in context.

'Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary.' [Psalm 107:1,2]

What the Holy Spirit is telling us to say, specifically, is 'Thank you, Lord, for You are good, Your lovingkindness—Your goodness, kindness, faithfulness, mercy—is everlasting! You have redeemed me from the hand of the adversary—the enemy, oppressor, foe!'

Confess His Word
Now, part of this is confessing His goodness, mercy, faithfulness and deliverance by confessing His Word...here's a good start!

I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. I am one Spirit with the Lord—He and the Father dwell in me by the Holy Spirit

 I am a new creation in Christ—old things have passed away, all things have become new

 I am redeemed from the curse of the law...

• from being oppressed and robbed continually
• from being oppressed and crushed continually
• from being the tail and not the head
• from dread of heart
• from lack and poverty
• from miserable and chronic sickness

And the blessings of the Law are mine...

• I am the head and not the tail
• I am blessed going out and coming in
• I serve the Lord for the abundance of all things
• Everything I touch prospers
• I am far from oppression for I do not fear
• All things belong to me—I prosper and am in health as my soul prospers
• Jesus has been made unto me wisdom—therefore riches, honor and long life are mine
• No weapon formed against me or mine shall prosper, but every tongue that accuses us in judgement I will condemn
• No evil befalls me, the evil one touches me not
• I will see my children's children
• I leave an inheritance to my children's children

 My children are blessed of the Lord...

• Their well-being [shalom] is great
• They are taught of the Lord
• They are delivered from all things
• They are mighty in the land—all who see them say 'Surely they are the offspring blessed of the Lord'
• Because we have made God our refuge, they are protected by angels...no evil—no accident or sickness—befalls them, the evil one touches them not
• They are 10 times better than their peers in every branch of literature and wisdom

You get the idea. You ARE the redeemed—the purchased back ones from the hand of the oppressor—of the Lord, so speak out His everlasting lovingkindness! Hallelujah!

 

You Are The Second Witness

This is good...

'...on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.' [Deuteronomy 19:15]

The Hebrew word for matter here is our old friend dabar...defined as speech, word, speaking, thing, something. Both a word and a thing...because words are things!
Who are the two witnesses?
One is the forever settled, eternal Word of God. The second is your word...you either agree or you don't.
God spoke and it was created. Not just in Genesis...ALL OF THE WORD! Think about the prophets...God had already spoken and His works already finished. But there had to be a confirming witness to bring it into the earth.
For any dabar—Hebrew for word/thing—to be established there must be a confirming witness...that's us!
Consider this:

"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]

And this...

'Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness,through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent PROMISES, so that by them you may become PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.' [2 Peter 1:2-4]

He gave us His Word so that we could partake of His nature! We are born again, of imperishable seed, which is the living and enduring Word of God. [1 Peter 1:23]
How are you born again? By believing in your heart and CONFESSING WITH YOUR MOUTH! [Romans 10:10] You were the second witness!
AND YOU ONLY HAD TO DO IT ONCE!!!
In fact, this is exactly what Jesus was doing when He prayed the Lord's prayer..."Your will be done IN EARTH as it is in heaven..."
Mary, too, when she told Gabriel "Be it done to me according to your word."
What about this scripture?

'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.' [2 Corinthians 1:20]

The Hebrew word Amen means surely, so be it, may it be fulfilled. It is the confirming word...the confirming witness!
His witness...His Word, His promises, confirmed by our Amen, to become YES in the earth and give Him glory.
Get Started
Here are a few great and wonderful Words to confirm, out loud, in your life...

• All things belong to me, I belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
• I can do all things IN Christ Who strengthens me
• All things are possible for me because I believe
• By His scourging I AM HEALED
• Every obstacle has been removed from my path
• Every promise of God is YES and AMEN—SO BE IT, IT IS FULFILLED—in Him
• The blessing of Abraham has come upon me in Christ Jesus...I am redeemed from the curse of the Law
• My children are mighty in the earth...they are taught of the Lord and their well-being...SHALOM...is great!
• I am surrounded by FAVOR as a shield
• Jesus has become TO ME wisdom...the anointing which I have teaches me all things
• Psalm 91, Psalm 23

Et cetera...you get the idea. Find wonderful promises in the Word and speak them out!
Set your purpose to be the second witness to His magnificent promises in your life today.
Hallelujah!

He Commanded

'Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD, FOR HE COMMANDED AND THEY WERE CREATED. He has also ESTABLISHED THEM FOREVER AND EVER; He has made a DECREE which will not pass away.' [Psalm 148:1-6]

He commanded all things into being by His Word.

John 1:1-3 puts it this way:

'In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD WAS GOD. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.' [John 1:1-3]

And of course, there's Colossians 1:16...

'For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.'

Okay, so we know that Jesus is the WORD and that all things were made by or through and for Him.

We also know, from Psalm 148, that when God gives a command or decree, things are created and established forever. One very big example of this is the first couple of chapters of Genesis. He spoke and it was, period.

We also know, from Psalm 119:89 and Isaiah 40:8 that His Word is settled—stands—forever.

What Does That Have To Do With Me?
I'm glad you asked.

Remember 2 Corinthians 1:20?

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him if our AMEN [so it is, so be it] to the glory of God THROUGH us.'

Hallelujah!

What about 1 Corinthians 3:21-23?

'For all things belong to you...all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.'

Or Galatians 3:29?

'And if you belong to Christ, then you Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.'

What exactly was that promise? The he would be heir of the world! [Romans 4:13] And we know from Romans 8:17 that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ!

This Will Cramp Your Brain...
Get this. God has already rested from His works, according to Hebrews 4:3. And what He has commanded or decreed has already been created!

His Word stands forever!

The 'all things' that belong to us have been created by command, before the foundation of the world, just like "Let there be light!"

We may not be able to see them with our natural eyes, but like Hagar's well, Isaac's ram and Elisha's army, they are there, none the less.

The Bible says that the Lord REVEALED the well to Hagar. It was there already, He did not create it at the moment of need! He was Jehovah Jireh, the One Who Sees Ahead and Provides!

Elisha prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened, that he might SEE the army encircling them.

And we are told, specifically, to LOOK at the eternal things which are NOT SEEN. [2 Corinthians 4:18]

Decreed
So, the Word that says whatever we ask of the Father in the Name of Jesus, He will give it to us has been decreed and stands forever, just like the decrees in Genesis 1.

Or, the Word that says He will give us our hearts desire is already established forever in the spiritual realm of the unseen.

How about the Word that says 'by His scourging we are healed?' Or the command that angels have been given charge to guard us in all our ways?

What about the promise of great wealth in our houses, or Wisdom filling our treasuries—our bank accounts— with wealth? Or the promise that the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous?

Okay, Okay...But What About The Here And Now?
I can hear you thinking out there...why? Because I've thought the very same thing.

Great. Everything belongs to me, I'm healed, I'm rich, angels protect me. But if it's all in the spirit realm, what good does it do me here where I live?

Read You Are The Second Witness. As demonstrated through the Prophets of old, God's Word must be spoken in the earth for it to come to pass. He gave authority in the earth to man [male and female] and man reigns by his tongue, for good or evil. Remember, life and death is in the power [or hand] of the tongue! [Proverbs 18:21]

In other words, you take it by faith, just as you took the New Birth.

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]

Sounds a lot like Mark 11:22-24, right?

'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."'

This is JESUS speaking here! He is telling us how things work, because HE IS WORD! He was there, according to John 1, Proverbs 8 and Colossians 1, an integral part of the creation process! And now, according to Hebrews 1, He is UPHOLDING ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER!

[sorry for screaming, I just can't help it...]

See It, Believe It, Say It
So, much to the chagrin of the majority of preachers out there, the Bible method of taking what God has already provided seems to be the spoken word of faith.

First, you see it in the Word and believe that it exists and that it is for you, now. Then you agree with God...decree a thing it will be established. [Job 22:28]

He said it first and it was created. You say it into the earth and it is revealed in the natural realm.

Hallelujah!

Watching Over His Word

'Forever, O LORD, Your Word is settled in heaven.' [Psalm 119:89]

'Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it."' [Jeremiah 1:12]

"So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." [Isaiah 55:11]

Put these verses together and you get WOW!!

First, the Hebrew word translated word in all three of these verse is dabar...which means both word and thing! God's word is the thing He intends it to be when it comes out of His mouth! [Hint: read Genesis 1...]

We also know from Hebrews 4 that God's works were finished from the foundation of the earth, and that He has, in fact, rested from His works.

Put all of this together and you can see what Isaiah saw in 40:8...'The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.'

His Word stands forever...and by the way, the word word in this verse is dabar, too! Word, thing...all the same to God!

Past or Present...I'm Confused
What's really interesting is that, even though His Word is settled forever and His works are finished from the foundation of the world, in both Isaiah 55:11 and Jeremiah 1:12, He uses an active present tense to describe His watchfulness over His Word or thing. What does this mean?

The key is in the two passages in the Gospels where Jesus gave us the power to bind [forbid] and loose [allow]. He said what you bind/loose [present tense] on earth shall have been bound/loosed [past perfect] in heaven. [Matthew 16,18]

These are quantum verses! They demonstrate the time lag between what's already finished in heaven and what is coming to pass in real time in the earth.

Earth is time-bound because of the reality of her physical nature. She orbits the sun, producing repetitive seasons; she rotates on an axis, producing repetitive days. In this physical plane, or reality, time exists.

But heaven is a different plane of existence! We see the two planes intersect often in the Bible, the curtain pulled back for a moment...Hagar's well, Jacob's ladder of angels, Elisha's heavenly army, the mountain of transfiguration and so forth. We see the heavenly realm exposed on a grand scale in the book of Revelation.

And in that place, on that plane of existence, God's works are finished and He has entered His rest! In that place, His Word is settled forever...in that place, we are already seated with Him in Christ Jesus! [Ephesians 2:6]

That's Great, But I Live on Earth...
Not exactly. As Christians, we exist on two planes. We live in a physical, time-bound, earth-based body; earthen vessel, temple of God, etc.

But in heaven, we exist in Jesus, seated at the right hand of God The Father!

The Father is watching His Word to perform it in the earth, because it's already finished in heaven. It is settled forever, and that's a fact...but it is coming to pass in the earth, and He has promised that it would not return to Him without accomplishing what He desires and without SUCCEEDING in the matter for which He sent it!

God said that His Word is His desire and that it WILL succeed in the matter for which He sent it. Hallelujah!

A Tale of Two Cities
So here we are, on earth, and in heaven, at the same time. His Word for us—every promise—is already accomplished in heaven. And, we have the promise of 2 Corinthians 1:20 in the earth: 'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him [Jesus] they are yes...'

In heaven, you are already healed, rich, perfect, according to His precious and magnificent promises. In the earth, He is watching over His Word—His thing, His promise—to perform it. But how?

The how is how He accomplished everything else in the earth...He had people speak His word and it came to pass in the earth.

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 68:11,12.

'The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host: "Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home will divide the spoil!"'

Get the picture. The men have gone out to fight...the Lord gives the command, or word, of victory to the women, and the women proclaim it! And they become a great host--a great, strong, abundant army behind the army! Talk about the woman behind the man! They proclaim—announce or preach—the word, and it comes to pass through the physical actions of the men fighting!

So much for the great debate about women preachers! Ha!

We see this again and again...we call it fulfilled prophecy, but in layman's terms, it's really simple. God says a word [thing], man speaks it into the earth and it comes to pass.

Good News
The good news is that this doesn't just work on the grand scale of prophetic history. It works every day, individually and corporately, in the lives of men and women who will obey and speak—announce or proclaim—His Word into the earth!

For example, He said in Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 that by His stripes—His scourging or wounds—we were healed. First, this is already settled in heaven, already finished. Second, He is watching over that Word to perform it in the earth.

What's our part? To see it as done—finished—and speak it out! To proclaim or announce it into the physical earth to bring to pass what is clearly His finished will! Jesus prayed "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." [Matthew 6:10] And don't forget 'For as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM THEY ARE YES; therefor also through Him is our AMEN—so be it—to the GLORY OF GOD through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20, comments mine]

The Greek word for done in this passage is ginomai, which means to come to pass or to be made or finished! He intends for His Word—ALL OF IT—to be finished in the earth as it is already finished in heaven!

Start seeing His work as finished and speaking it over your life today. Walk in the victory of His finished work, on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah!