It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us.  Rom 10:8  The Message

This is particularly important, because the Christian life is a walk of faith from beginning to the end.  Everything the child of God does, must be done in faith.  For without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

It is essential therefore, for the believer, whenever he may be confronted with a seemingly adverse situation, to align his or her utterances with what God’s word says about that particular situation; and keep declaring God’s word regarding that situation, until a change is realized.  I like the way the Living Bible captures this:

We boldly say what we believe [trusting God to care for us], just as the psalm writer did when he said, “I believe and therefore I speak.  2 Cor 4:13  TLB

So we exercise our faith in God, when we call into existence the things that do not exist. (Rom 4:17)  One may ask: Is not the practice of declaring what one is yet to see manifested a mere denial of the facts of life?  Is the believer who makes such utterances not living in denial?  Not at all.  In the natural and to the carnal mind, this practice may seem foolish, but not so in the eyes of God.  No doubt, God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

To exercise your mouth as an organ of faith is not to deny the situation you may be confronted with, but rather, to superimpose what God’s word says regarding such situations to that particular challenge you may be confronted with.

For example you may feel physically weak and admit to that fact, but deliberately and regularly confess in tandem with God’s word that you are strong: let the weak say, I am strong (Joel 2:8) As you keep doing this, with time you will begin to receive strength in your body.  For as children of God, the words that we speak, are life and spirit!

A careful read of the Bible, also reveals that our utterances are also a weapon of warfare.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, Rev 12:11 NKJV

The eternal blood of Jesus, no doubt has redeemed us from the kingdom of darkness into God’s perfect light.  When we align our words with what God’s word says about our lives and the specific situations in our lives, our words assume power and become like a light that dispels whatever darkness we may have been surrounded with.  As the Scriptures put it:

You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.  Job 22:28 NKJV

Our mouth is certainly an organ of our faith and there is the need for each child of God to come to terms with this truth and accordingly, exercise his or her tongue rightly.  The word of God should not only be in our hearts, but also on our lips. We should speak out what we believe in our hearts; and never underestimate the power in our words, realizing that we create our future with the words we speak.  The Scripture below explicitly captures this point:

As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”   Isa 59:21  NKJV Emphasis mine

Let each of us endeavour not to speak carelessly but align our words and utterances in any situation, with what God says in His word regarding such matters.  For the believer in Christ Jesus, our bodies are the containers of God’s presence; His Spirit dwells in us and His word should not depart from our mouths! Remember the Word and Spirit is what created the whole universe.

God bless you!

The post Organs of our Faith – The Mouth (II) appeared first on Fragrance of Love.

In our previous posts, we looked extensively at what the Scriptures refer to as our heart, and how important the maintenance of our spiritual heart is, for the sustenance of our faith in God.  In this post and the subsequent one, we will look at the mouth, as an organ of our faith.

Our future is carved by the words we speak.  We read from the book of Genesis that even though the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the earth, there was darkness all over, until God commanded the light into being:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  Then God said,”Let there be light”; and there was light. Gen 1:1-4 NKJV

Similarly, one may be born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues and even manifest the fruit of the Spirit, but without employing the use of our mouths, by speaking out in faith what we desire to see manifested in our lives, we may not see the realization of that which we hope for, in the physical realm.

No doubt, the mouth is an important organ of our faith! If this organ must be exercised in the realization of our salvation through Christ Jesus, then its importance in our entire walk of faith cannot be underestimated. As the Scriptures say:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.  Prov 18:21 NKJV

The Apostle Paul also puts it this way:

The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);  Rom 10:8 ESV

So our faith in God should not only be in our hearts, but must be expressed with the words that proceed from our mouths.  We must speak out in faith, what we trust God for in our hearts. For as we confess into being, what we are yet to see in the natural world, our future will be carved out to conform to our utterances. Our declarations of faith will thus be like a light dispelling whatever dark situation we may be confronted with. I like the way this biblical truth is expressed in the book of Job:

You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways. Job 22:28 NKJV

There is also a story in the Bible that depicts the veracity of this Scripture. In Numbers chapters 13 and 14, we read that Moses sent 12 men, leaders from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan, the land that God had promised to give to His people Israel. The mandate given to these spies were as follows: to see what the land was like: whether the people who dwelt in it were strong or weak, few or many; whether the land was good or bad; whether the cities they inhabited were like camps or strongholds; whether the land was rich or poor; and whether there were forests there or not; and to bring some of the fruit of the land.

All the twelve spies returned from the trip, brought fruit from the land and reported that the land flows with milk and honey, the cities were fortified and the people who dwelt there were strong and mighty.

However, Joshua and Caleb gave voice to the faith they had in God, by publicly declaring that in spite of the apparent advantage the inhabitants of Canaan seemed to have over them in respect of their physical strength, they were certain that, with God on their side, they would surely overcome those inhabitants.  The other ten spies however instilled fear in the Israelites by the report they gave, for they said to the people of Israel:

We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we…. The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature..…. and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Num 13:31-33 NKJV

By these words, almost all the people lost their faith in God and cried out to Moses, complaining that they would have been better off dying in Egypt than the current predicament they found themselves in, with Moses as their leader.  God considered those utterances as an expression of their lack of faith in Him and made a profound statement:

‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you….  Num 14:28 NKJV

Consequently, the ten spies, along with all those who stood with them perished in the wilderness, whereas Joshua, Caleb and all those who also stood with these two men in faith, were able to make it into the Promised Land!

God’s word never falls to the ground.  He will do for you and me, just what He hears us declare with our mouths. If we claim to have faith in Him, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, with the assurance that He is faithful; and will do according to what He has promised us in His Word. (Heb 10:23).

To be continued in the next blog.

God bless you!

The post Organs of our Faith – The Mouth (1) appeared first on Fragrance of Love.

Just as a sharp object is required to circumcise the male reproductive organ, so also does the new testament circumcision, require our spiritual hearts to be circumcised with God’s word, the sword of the Spirit, which is sharper than any two edged sword and discerns the soul and spirit, exposing our innermost thoughts and desires to us in the light of God’s word (Hebrews 4).

Could it not be the case that the reason why a change is often not seen in the lifestyles of many who profess to be Christians, and who may even have actually accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, is probably because many of us do not allow the Word of God to prune our lives?

We stated earlier, that the circumcision of the male sexual organ, according to experts, not only shapes the organ, but also prevents it from attracting diseases.  Similarly, once we allow the Word of God to trim our hearts, and we align our thoughts, emotions, will power and decisions with God’s Word, we become more like Christ in character and ultimately become more fruitful in our walk with the Lord.  Indeed Christ Himself taught his followers extensively that his true disciples will be recognized by their fruits. (John 15)

You will recognize them by their fruits….. So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Matt 7:16-19 ESV

A holistic study of the Scriptures show that the manifestation of this fruit in our lives is evidenced in how we relate with one another and in how we react to the issues and trials that confront us in our individual lives. (1 Pet 1:22)

God’s intent for man is to be fruitful and multiply, and a productive heart yields the fruit of the Spirit outlined below:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Gal 5:22-23 NKJV

This is only possible when by the Spirit of God, we subdue the works of the flesh.   As we regularly examine ourselves carefully in the mirror of God’s Word, our weaknesses and flaws are exposed to us.  Our thoughts and desires, actions, inactions and motives among others that mar and taint us in God’s sight, are revealed to us, by the power of His Word. The more exposed we are to God’s word, the more our individual attitudes and actions that conflict with His word are laid bare before us.

It is important therefore, for every child of God to routinely submit him or herself to pruning by the spiritual sword – God’s Word.  This process may sometimes hurt our pride, and at other times make us seem foolish, in the eyes of others; nonetheless as we persevere in pleasing God in all our ways, a transformation in our lifestyles is seen by all.

For example, in the books of Romans and Hebrews, we read:

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Rom 12:18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 ESV

When we are awakened to our weaknesses in the light of these Scriptures, and learn that our holiness before God is linked to our relationships with one another; we will, in seeking to please God, choose not to insist on our individual rights, whenever we find ourselves in a potentially contentious situation, but rather submit to the other party’s notion or alternative, for the purpose of avoiding conflicts and animosity, so long as it would not be harmful to any of the persons concerned.

As we continually seek to please God and allow His word to shape us, we will gradually be transformed in our thoughts and actions to become more Christ-like.  We will realize that with time, our actions are subsequently not motivated by self-interest, but rather by an earnest desire to consider the interests of others above ours. (Philipp. 2)

Similarly, the joy of the Lord will bubble from within us at all times, as we take delight in fulfilling God’s will for our lives.

Peace floods our hearts as we trust God with the issues in our lives; and we become more patient as we take inspiration from the trials and triumphs of the heroes of faith (Rom 15:4).

All this however begins when you believe with your heart that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for your sin and confess Him as the Lord and Saviour of your life (John 3:16-18).  If you have not done this, I encourage you to do so.  Only when this is done, can our hearts be circumcised with the spiritual sword of God’ Sword, and we become more like Christ.  For He says:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  John 15:1-3   NKJV

God richly bless you!

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