"I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
We have been born of God and as such our spirits are in touch with the
invisible world of the spirit. Paul said in 1 Cor. 6:17,
"He that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit."
Notice! He did not say, "One spirit with the Lord!" Paul also
said in Eph. 4:4-6,
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
There is only one spirit, one life, one way, and that is His Spirit,
His life, and His way. We are the extension of Him; His expression in this
visible realm. Elohiym said in Gen. 1:26-28,
"Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth."
God
has given to man the authority to rule and to reign on this earth and He has
never taken away that authority. Not only that but He created us in His image
and in His likeness. That image and likeness has never changed. We didn't fall
in the garden but we became disillusioned by our entertaining the thought that
we were different from God and that we could never be like Him.
Paul said in Col. 1:22,
"And you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled"
This is why we have to be born again by
the Father’s seed which is His Word.
Peter said in 1 Peter 1:22,
"Since you have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of
the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born
again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which
lives and abides forever."
Once our spirits are regenerated by the Word of God, we enter into
communion with the world of the spirit where things are not temporal but
everlasting and we have the authority to speak them into existence in this
world. Jesus told the disciples in Matt. 16:19,
"I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven."
He also said in Luke 17:21,
"Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you."
The Kingdom of God is within
each of us. This Kingdom is ruled by the most powerful force in all of
creation; His word! In the beginning God spoke His word and the universe was
created. Heb. 4:12 says,
"The
word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
The
keys of this Kingdom is the Word of God. It is His words that are spirit and
life and when we speak what He says we speak with power and authority. Someone
will say, "But I have spoken the word of God and nothing happened!' The
reason this happens is because we are still having a problem with our mistaken
identity. Jesus said in Mark11:24,
"Have
faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt
in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to
pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things
soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that
your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye
do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses."
Jesus
laid out for us three principles for success in declaring His word. This is the
order we must conform to if we are going to have success in declaring His word.
First
Have
faith in God! The actual translation of this statement is, "Have
the God kind of faith." The
question then becomes, "What is the God kind of faith? There is nothing in
all of creation that is more powerful than when God makes a declaration. He
speaks from a position of authority. He knows that His words are spirit and are
life. He knows that what He says has to come to pass. Jesus is telling us that
as He is so are we in this world. When we speak we must speak from a position
of authority and have confidence that what we say will come to pass even as we
have spoken."
Second
We
must believe that what we say will come to pass!!
There
is no room for doubt. James said in James 1:5,
"If
any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe
and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the
Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
Herein
lies the problem we experience. Do we believe?
We have been taught to expect the Lord to do everything for us and when
He does not do what He commanded us to do, we begin to doubt. Jesus said that
anyone can say to the mountain to be removed and cast into the sea. Well, are
you anyone? Yes and that qualifies you to speak to the mountain. However, when
we speak it must be from a position of authority. We must firmly believe that
what we say has to come to pass because of who we are and the authority that
has been given to us.
If
the authority has been given to us, then we must learn how to administer that
authority with love and compassion.
There
is absolutely no place to doubt when we make a faith declaration. The reason
that we have a tendency to doubt is because we talk doubt in so much of our
conversations. So much of what we say to each other is filled with pessimism
and doubt. You can’t talk all day long
with a pessimistic attitude and then when the occasion arrives that you want to
speak with authority, suddenly switch and speak with optimism. We must guard
what comes out of our mouths. We can’t be lackadaisical about what we say.
Jesus
said in Matt. 12:37,
"For
by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
We
will be held accountable for what we say with our mouths. What we say in faith
believing is going to come to pass. We have been given the authority to rule
and reign on this earth and what we say in faith will come to pass. It may be
to our advantage or it may be to our detriment. If we say, "I just know
that I am going to get the flu this year!" Guess what? You will! Now, do you understand why it is
so important that we guard what we allow to come out of our mouths? If we learn to speak the words of Jesus we
are guaranteed success. However, this must be a way of life for us and not just
something to be used when the occasion arrives.
Third
We must learn to forgive others. Jesus
said,
"And
when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not
forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Can you see now what I meant when I
said that there is accountability in the Kingdom of God? Jesus said that His
Father will forgive us the same way we forgive others. I have told you that
spiritual laws govern the Kingdom of God and these are just three of them. If
we will place ourselves in alignment with these laws we will see the power of
God released in our lives.
Jesus was always telling people,
"O ye of little faith!" Peter, for example, walked on water and yet,
Jesus said he had little faith. The story is in Matt. 14:28,
"Lord,
if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the
water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the
boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he
was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "O You of
little faith," he said, "Why did you doubt?"
What
did Jesus say about doubt? In Mark
11:23 He said,
"Whosoever
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he
saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."
Jesus said in Luke 12:28-32,
"If
then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is
cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little
faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither
be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the
world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these
things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little
flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
And in Matt. 16:5-12,
When
they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. "Be
careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the
yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
They discussed
this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn’t bring any bread."
Aware of their
discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you
talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand?
Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many
basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how
many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking
to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and
Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard
against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.
These are just some of the times that Jesus said, 'O
Ye of little faith!' How does faith come or how do we obtain this faith that
Jesus was talking about? Paul said in Romans 10:17,
"So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.'
We
must be careful what we allow to enter into our thought life. Most of the
so-called Christian hymns and songs contain thoughts that are contrary to the
word of God. We love their melody but they are preaching lies about what is
real. For example:
'One Day at a time!"
"From a distance!"
"I’ll Fly away!"
"When we all get to heaven!"
"I’ve got a mansion!"
The words of God are spirit and they
are life. If we speak the words that Jesus spoke, we are speaking words that
produce life to the spirits who hear us talk, even ourselves.
Paul said in Eph. 6:17,
"And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"