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HOW TO LIVE IN VICTORY DURING HARD TIMES
Part Three - Speak in Agreement With the Word
Volume XII Number 5 April 3, 2009

In this issue

Links to FREE Articles

How Does It Work?

How to Guard Your Tongue

Some Final Thoughts

Sinners' Prayer


 

Links to FREE Articles


Links to Special Financial Services















"Owe no man anything..."
-Romans 13:8














"...the borrower becomes the lender's slave."
-Proverbs 22:7















"...the righteous man shall live by faith."
-Romans 1:17















"...without faith it is impossible to please Him."
-Hebrews 11:6















"No one can serve two masters..."
-Matthew 6:24















"The Lord will make you abound in prosperity..."
-Deuteronomy 25:11















"...God loves a cheerful giver."
-2 Corinthians 9:7















"...the Lord... is giving you power to make wealth..."
-Deuteronomy 8:18

















Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus!

Thanks be to God who ALWAYS gives us the OVERWHELMING victory!.

Did you know the Bible says that your tongue has the POWER to cause death and life (Proverbs 18:21)? Many Christians encounter this verse and think: "Yes, I know that by what I SAY I can cause someone to either feel hurt or encouraged, angry or happy, despised or loved. I can see that my speaking has power over OTHER people." But most of us fail to consider verse 20 and the second half of verse 21 which clearly establish that the death and life this scripture is talking about are for the PERSON DOING THE SPEAKING, not the one who's hearing.

Friend, if you really believe the Word of God and you truly want to live in VICTORY, it's absolutely vital that you take note of the words you're speaking. Why? Because this scripture is telling us that what we SPEAK is one of the factors that determine the quality of life we're experiencing. Is your life characterized by retreat and insufficiency and defeat OR by increase, prosperity and VICTORY? The reality is - wherever you find yourself today is largely the result of the words you've SPOKEN over the course of your life: "the tongue is a fire which (defines) the course of our life" (James 3:6).


  • How Does It Work?
  • Have you ever pondered the fact that God created the entire universe just by speaking words? Whatever God says happens and the born again Believer has been re-created, a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) in His image with many of the same attributes and abilities. The Bible says that God breathed the Spirit of life into Man and Man became a living being or "a speaking spirit" (Genesis 2:7). A born again person today is a "speaking spirit" re-created in the image of God. When God speaks He always speaks life; but Man who inherited corruption from Adam is bilingual: we can speak LIFE like our Father God does or we can speak DEATH like our former father Adam once did and as Satan still does. When God speaks, something ALWAYS happens: LIFE is created. When Man speaks, something ALWAYS happens as well; but it can be life OR death depending on the choice of words. It's important to come to the understanding that ALL our words ALWAYS produce consequences; there are no neutral words; there's NO possibility of speaking in a way that fails to produce some kind of consequence.

    Moreover the Bible says that DEATH is the result (the wages) of sin (Romans 6:23). Sin occurs when Man disobeys or disagrees with God. Therefore when Man speaks words that disagree with what God has said (i.e. the Bible), it's sin and those words of disagreement ALWAYS produce the consequence of death. But when Man speaks in AGREEMENT with the Word, the result is ALWAYS life. There are no exceptions; agree with God and produce life or disagree (disobey) and produce death. By agreeing with God you ALWAYS produce increase, prosperity and victory. By disagreeing you ALWAYS produce retreat, insufficiency and defeat.

    Now when Adam sinned by disobeying God, he suddenly came under the Curse (Genesis 3:16-19) where before he had lived under the Blessing of God (Genesis 1:28). God had clearly told Adam he would surely DIE if he disobeyed His commandment (Genesis 2:17). So when Adam ultimately sinned, he DID die and he died immediately. But the Hebrew word translated DEATH in this verse conveys a condition of being SEPARATED from something instead of physical death. Adam experienced physical death hundreds of years later. But before that happened he was first SEPARATED; but separated from what? The tragedy is Adam was separated from the Blessing AND the authority of God and by consequence of sin he came immediately under the effects of the Curse and the authority of Satan. It was thus a SPIRITUAL death.

    The significance of this for us now is that when we speak words that disagree with God, the consequence is that we make ourselves subject to the Curse. The consequence of our words of disagreement is always DEATH or separation from the Blessing of God. It's NOT God who withholds His Blessing. No, Jesus died on the Cross so that those who receive Him as Lord could be REDEEMED from the Curse. The Blessing is always available to the born again Believer but WE PUT OURSELVES UNDER THE CURSE by our own words of disagreement. That's the way the system works now; it's already set up that way.

    When you have a moment take a little of your busy day to review Deuteronomy 28 starting in particular with verse 15 where you'll read about many of the consequences Believers are routinely experiencing today by living under the Curse. Toward the end of the Chapter the Bible describes the condition of living in DREAD (Deuteronomy 28:66-67) when one longs for "assurance of life" to escape doubts and fears. How many people do you know these days that are experiencing DREAD in the current economic environment? Perhaps DREAD has even come upon you. But friend, you do NOT have to continue to live under the Curse. Among other things, you can change the way you've been speaking and start agreeing with the Word of God.

  • How to Guard Your Tongue
  • The Bible says that the tongue is a very small part among many other parts of our physical bodies. However, even though it's small it's a VERY powerful part that will defile the entire body if it's not controlled. Conversely, when the tongue is controlled and used constructively to agree with God, according to scripture that same tongue has the power to PURIFY the body and produce victory and abundance. And so the Bible uses the analogy of the tongue being like a rudder that sets the course of a large ship and must be controlled to keep the "ship" moving in the desired direction (James 3:4-6).

    If you're one of the majority of Christians who have trouble with their speaking, there's a process you can consider to bring about change. You will have to work at changing your patterns of speech though because many of us have been making counter-biblical statements for decades and habitually say things that cause us death and destruction. For the most part we don't even think about what we say; we just say what comes to mind forgetting that THERE'S SUPERNATURAL POWER BEHIND EACH WORD. Change takes determination and commitment, a desire to experience the very best God has to offer and nothing less. Following then are some major steps in a process to bring about the change you'll be hoping for:

    1. The first step is to make an irrevocable decision to change your confessions (agreements), to start controlling your words. You must accept the idea that there are no neutral words and that everything you say will produce a consequence, either blessing or cursing. Nothing can be done until you decide that this is an important enough subject to do something about.
    2. Secondly, you'll need to talk to the LORD about it. This involves asking God for forgiveness for your failure to understand the power of your words. And part of asking for forgiveness is to REPENT which means you purpose to turn the ship around and start going in the direction of the Word. You'll also need to exercise the authority you have in Christ and by faith CANCEL all the unbiblical words you've ever said and the consequences that came with them. Then you can begin to build a new foundation of biblical confessions that WILL produce prosperity for you and your family.
    3. Next commit to stop speaking in disagreement with the Word. You'll need to ask the Lord for help because success doesn't come by your own strength. Most Believers have been speaking in disagreement with the Bible for so long they'll need to learn new habits. It's not biblical to say you're broke even when your bank account is negative. It's not biblical to say you HAVE a sickness even though you're feeling the symptoms. Those symptoms are attacking you illegally and you have total authority over them. By faith you can refuse to receive them even though you may be feeling them. Let God help you learn to speak in agreement with His Word.
    4. Fourth, ask someone close to hold you accountable. You'll need someone reliable who agrees with what you're trying to do, a spouse or a friend, to remind you when they hear you say words that disagree with His Words. You have to NOT get angry with them when they remind you of your misspeaking. And you have to resist trying to rationalize your way out of your negative confessions when they occur. Admit your mistakes, repent for them and keep trying.
    5. Then, whenever you pray, speak out the Word of God in your prayers. When your prayers agree with His Words, they'll get answered (1 John 5:14-15). Also, by practice you'll begin to learn to speak the Word in your daily conversation.
    6. Finally, release your faith that you're improving your confessions which are constantly producing improvements in your quality of life. By correcting your confessions, you'll begin to see the manifestation of "shalom" prosperity in your life with nothing missing and nothing broken.

    In sum, Psalm 39:1 describes the end result you'll be trying to get to by going through this process: "I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle."

    The longer you work to control your tongue, the more you'll want to resist your adversary who wants your mouth to continue speaking out of control and the more successful at it you WILL become. It's guaranteed! By controlling your tongue and speaking in agreement with God, you set your life on a new course toward success and victory that you'll be able to enjoy even during HARD TIMES.

  • Some Final Thoughts
  • Our speech tends normally to be led by our emotions and we use words that express our feelings of the moment without thinking, reflexively, carelessly just as the World does and even using their words and their ways of saying things. If we're happy we speak happy words. If we're angry we speak in anger. The result is that we routinely speak words that are in disagreement with the Word of God. And in that process we inadvertently, ignorantly bring the Curse of the Law upon ourselves, our families, our homes, our health, our businesses and our money. Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary so we could be redeemed from the Curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13). But to actually receive what He accomplished, to actually change the way we're living during HARD TIMES, we must make it a point to speak in agreement with God's Word. Make a commitment to do it and watch your life change for the better as you leave the HARD TIMES behind and find total VICTORY in every area of life.

    Thanks for reading PLN today and we'll be looking for you again in three weeks on April 24. In the meantime, may God overwhelm you with the fullness of His love and spiritual blessing!

  • Sinners' Prayer
  • If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you can do so today by saying the following simple prayer:

    Jesus I believe in you and I believe that God raised you from the dead. I receive forgiveness for my sins and I ask you to come into my life today. I receive you as my Lord and Savior.

    If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

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