This coming year will be a time of maturing for the Church. Those of us who have been content in just "going to heaven" and staying out of sin until Jesus comes, are going to need and receive more insight from the Holy Spirit.
We've know for many years, that there was much more to Christianity than what we are walking in. We have always known that God is so much MORE than we've allowed Him to be in our lives, but we failed to know how to access His power in our lives. We've become discouraged and frustrated with trying and have allowed ourselves to become content with just being saved. Many had a fire in their hearts when first being saved, but futility put the fire out to burn like coals and embers.
In this coming year, the Lord is going to stir those embers into a fire of God, by the Holy Spirit. We were not only baptized in the Holy Spirit, but with fire too, according to Matthew 3:11 (Amplified) which says, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Some church traditions have resisted the "baptizing of the Holy Spirit," saying that it was for the early Church and not for today.
The Holy Spirit has revealed many things to this generation, while some in the Church are fearful about receiving that revelation. It's true that we are not supposed to be swayed by every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:14 (Amplified) says, "So then, we may no longer be children, tossed (like ships) to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine."
Because the Holy Spirit reveals things to our spirits, that our heads don't fully comprehend, we've been reluctant to hear or receive them and have remained in the very limited knowledge we have. We have walked in a "maintenance anointing," instead of an overcoming anointing. Moses managed the people in the wilderness, but they still wouldn't enter into what God told him. It is time now, to enter into the place God has called us to be in.
One of the greatest revelations been given and rejected by most in the Church, is the revelation that the words we speak have consequences. I'm not talking about simply speaking chapter and verse of the Bible, but about keeping our speech inline with God's Word. If what God says about you is true, then say what He says about you, when speaking about yourself.
We already know that this is the things to do, but we haven't had the teaching about it to where it's clear revelation. Paul says in Romans 1:17 (Amplified) that, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith). As it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
Romans 5:17 (Amplified) tells us, "For if one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive (God's) overflowing grace of righteousness (putting them in right standing with Himself) reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." We know that we were "dead in trespass and sin," but yet we live. How then, did we come to be alive? By faith, right? The Word says that, "The just shall live by faith." So, our faith in God's Word along with out confession of that with our mouth, according to Romans 10:9, makes us no longer dead, but alive. Our life is based on our faith and our words. Now we live by faith.
Proverbs 18:20-21 (Amplified) say, "A man's (moral) self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequences of his words, he must be satisfied (whether good or evil). Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life)."
When we were dead in trespass and sin, we spoke words of life (like Romans 10:9 directs) and received life. Now, by faith in the Word of God which we spoke and believed, we,the just (or justified), are alive by faith. Death and life were in the words we either confessed or didn't confess.
Man is the only part of God's creation who has the capability of speaking words. The whole of everything created by God's Words and the entire planet is ruled by words. Our Constitution is mere words and our Declaration of Independence is only words. The laws governing our nation are only words. Our entire learning system comes through speaking and writing. We now have "hate speech," political correctness and laws prohibiting our speaking God's Word in certain places.
How is it that we, the Church, who have the liberty of knowing and speaking God's Word, are fighting among ourselves over the "validity" of His Word? Proverbs 22:17-21 (Amplified) says, "Listen (consent and submit) to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to My knowledge For it will be pleasant if you keep them in your mind (believing them) your lips will be accustomed (to confessing) them, So that your trust (belief, reliance, support, and confidence) may be in the Lord, I have made these things known to you today, even to you. Have I not written to you (long ago) excellent things in council and knowledge. To make you know the certainty of the Words of truth, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?"
Proverbs 15:4 (Amplified) says, "A gentle tongue (with its healing power) is a tree of life, but willful contrariness in it breaks down the spirit." Proverbs 4:20-27 (Amplified) tells us, "My Son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings, let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life." Verses 24-27 continue, "Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk far from you. Let your eyes look right on (with fixed purpose) and let your gaze be straight before you, Consider well the paths of your fee, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil."
The above verse instructs us to put away false, dishonest, and willful and contrary speech." What does this mean and what is considered "false, dishonest, willful and contrary speech?" Whatever is not in accordance with God's Word is false, dishonest, willful and contrary speech. I hear Christians saying that, "We're still just old sinners, saved by grace, but sinners still." They say this even after receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Then, they go onto quote, "None are righteous, no not one." Romans 3:23-24 (Amplified) says, "Since all have sinned and are fallen short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives (All) are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus."
If God declares you righteous and justified in Jesus, and you're still declaring yourself to be a "sinner and unrighteous," then is that willful and contrary speech against His Word? When we agree with God and what He says about us, then it brings "health and healing to all our flesh." If we continuously talk about how God is giving us sickness and destruction to teach us something, then is that contrary to His Word?
Proverbs 13:1-3 (Amplified) says, "A wise son heeds (and is the fruit of) his father's instructions and correction, but a scoffer listens not to rebuke. A good man eats good from the fruit of his mouth, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. He who guards his mouth keeps his life, but he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."
Read James 3:6 (Amplified) and allow the Lord to minister to you through these words, "The tongue is a fire (the tongue is a ) world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man's nature) being itself ignited by hell (Gehenna)."
Do you truly understand what James means when he writes about "setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man's nature)?" He's saying that we can disrupt the healing and nature God placed inside our bodies for health when we were formed, with our words. A doctor cannot heal your body. It heals from within. You might cover a cut with a Band-aid to keep the dirt out, but that coverage is not what heals the wound. It's healed from the inside out.
You can stop your body's healing or you can release it to do what God put inside it, by His Words. Proverbs 15:4 (Amplified) says, "A gentle tongue (with its healing power) is a tree of life, but willful contrariness in it breaks down the spirit." Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified) says, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 16:24 (Amplified) says, "Pleasant words are a a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body."
Recall Jesus' Words in John 6:63 (Amplified) when He said, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it) the Words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
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