Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Consistency in your Confessions

Heb 6:15 says that Abraham obtained the promise after he had patiently endured. God instructed him to change his name (his confessed identity) when he was ninety years old (Gen 17:1-5) and for the next 10 years, Abraham consistently practiced faith. In the difficult places of his life, he realised that man is either imprisoned or liberated with the words of his mouth. Once you say you can not do a thing, doubt rises up like a giant and binds you. Those who confess that they will get out of a situation do not necessarily say so because they can see it. They are saying it because they believe it. Jesus said in John 20:29, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Those mentioned here are those who are constant in their confessions even in the face of opposing circumstances. Such people call those things that be not as though they were. They offer up the sacrifice of faith.

Never talk failure no matter what you are going through. Always say the right thing. Start retraining yourself, no matter what you are going through, never talk defeat. Never insinuate with your words that your situation is hopeless. Your words could either act as a bridge in the spirit to God’s resources or they could act as a breach in the spirit, cutting off your supply. If you talk about your trials and difficulties, your faith withers. However, if you talk about how big God is, your faith will grow in leaps and bounds. You can never rise beyond the confession of your lips. This knowledge is reflected in the words of successful men. They know that a person’s life reflects the level of the words spoken by that individual. Words are spiritual tools and they absolutely dominate our external realities. God is committed to what you speak. We have to learn to use words that will actually work for us.

Even if a man in a position of authority speaks negative words to you, do not believe it. Do not labour under the influences of those words because they will cause you to fail. Don’t carry that image inside you and do not try to change the person’s mind about you. Just work on obtaining results and people will naturally adjust their opinions about you.

The faith confession principle is a very simple one. It should, however, be noted that this principle should not be used selfishly. You should also intercede for others. Affirm whatever you desire for yourself on behalf of others. This will help all parties involved. It is in line with the Golden Rule, we reap what we sow. If we send out thoughts of fear, worry, jealousy, anger and hate, we will reap the same results. Likewise, sending out thoughts of love and goodwill will ensure they return to us like bread that was cast upon the waters. It was formerly thought that a man was rebuilt every seven years. Now scientists have discovered that we build ourselves over entirely every eleven months. So, really we are only eleven months old. We, therefore, really have no one to blame if we build the same defects back into our lives year after year after year.

The bible says that when you are going through trying times, to hold fast the confession of your lips because He is easily touched by the feelings of your infirmities. However, the fact that Christ is touched is no excuse for inconsistent confessions. Hold fast to them. Then, it also says come up to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:16) If pressure is laid on you during this process, go into the place of prayer, let the Holy Spirit work with the words that you have said and you will obtain a fresh supply of strength to continue the journey.

From the desk of Pastor Poju