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Are you still with me? Angry yet? It is true, though. Think about this for a moment: if the Bible says that "by his stripes we are healed" (Isa 53:5), and yet you still walk around declaring "I'm sick, my head hurts, I can't see anyway of this leaving..." whose words win out? If Jesus said, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed" (John 8:32) and you continue to declare that your sins are beyond forgiving; that you have just been too bad; that God could never use a person like you; whose words win out? The point is, God has already declared us free from all sin, sickness, disease, poverty, addiction, depression - you name it, He's fixed it. Yet we continue to fight and struggle against them all. It all starts with our thinking and our speaking. We need to get our attitudes fixed on this one.
Confession is the engine; it is where the power lies. Our freedom is found when we continually declare the Word of God over the word of anybody else. If you are sick, then speak the Words of healing found in Scripture over your life. Do it continually. I never said I had a fast remedy. The devil won't suddenly go on vacation because you got a revelation from God's Word on how to get healed. If anything, he's going to fight harder. This is a lifestyle choice; one that we all must make. If you still struggle with addiction, even though you are already a Christian, then find verses on freedom and declare them over and over. Understand that you free already from whatever struggles you are facing. You see, somewhere along the line we got the notion that becoming a Christian fixed the problem immediately. When we opened our eyes after saying that first prayer and still felt a temptation to sin, we caved - then we got confused. Then the church got the idea that we are in the process of being saved. Excuse me? Did you just call Jesus a liar? He said you were free. Now. When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, your spirit is remade. You are born again into a new creature, the old has gone, the new has come (2Corinthians 5:17). How many people do you see acting that way in our churches? It does not happen often enough. Our spirits are made new, but our minds must be continually renewed in the things of God, so that our thinking lines up with what has happened in our spirit. We are talking about being continually renewed, not being continually "resaved". You are saved, free and clear. Now you must be trained to think and act accordingly. That takes finding out God's Word - such as this passage in 2Corinthians - and confessing it over and over again, making it central to all that we are.
Confession is what drives our faith - in every arena. If you confess sickness, lack and depression, you will be sick, broke and sad. I know this from personal experience. Declaring the joy of the Lord brings forth joyfulness. Declaring the freedom I have in Christ solidifies the work He has accomplished in me. Declaring my love for my wife - to her, myself, God, and that little worm - solidifies my love in my heart. We have both found that to be central to our marriage. We speak our love, we cultivate it, and it grows more everyday. If we ever get lax in our confessions - of faith, love, or anything else the Lord has told us - we quickly backslide into bickering, fear, or depression. Confession is what drives faith. We are not talking about lying to ourselves. This is not a form of spiritual coercion, but declarations of our faith in God and in His Word. The Word of God is likened to a double-edged sword in Scripture (Hebrews 4:12), because it is the weapon we are to use when dealing with spiritual oppression. It is what will defeat our addictions. It will bring a final end to lack. It will finish off our sicknesses and disease. The Word of God is what will solidify the work He is doing in your life.
We have beaten that "God is Sovereign" notion to death. God is Sovereign, yes; He has planned your life from before the foundation of the world. But He will not go against His Word. His Word says we have dominion over all the works of His Hands; so we have the ability to make a real mess of things. We need to shake the idea from our minds that everything that happens is a direct result of God's making. God does not make bad things happen. He may allow them to happen, yes; He does not orchestrate their existence. Often times, it is our own fault that something has come against us. We have let the devil walk in and take what is ours on a whim. We, through our own doubt and unbelief, have tied up the hands of God. God responds to faith! If you do not have any, God cannot respond to it. If you have negative faith, then you leave the door open for negative things to happen. Faith is a spiritual law that will operate, for good or bad, in your life. We have a greater say in what happens in our lives then we realize. God instructs us to cast all of our cares upon Him (1Peter 5:7). There are numerous places where God instructs us to lay aside worry, not to fear, not to take on our cares... Why? Because care is a form of pride. It is saying that God cannot handle your situation appropriately, so you need to take it back and worry about it and how to handle it. That is when you become greater than God. That is when the trouble starts. You have more power than you think...
Our freedom from sin is found in our confessions of freedom. Our healing is found through our confessions of divine health. Our love is found through our constant declarations of God's love working within us. These are statements of faith. They open the door for God to move and work more freely in our lives. Jesus is still on the throne, yes; but He cannot operate to the fullest extent in your life if you continue to handcuff Him with your words. He is Lord when you make Him Lord; when you place everything at His feet and let Him have control over everything. Simply saying a prayer in church does not give God authority to operate fully on your behalf. You must operate in faith, the way He operates (Romans 4:17). You must listen to Him and follow what He says. You need to seek His wisdom in all things. That is how you place God at the center of your life; that is how Jesus is able to be Lord; that is how the Holy Spirit is free to work and operate more fully in your life. Shut down the devil with confessions of faith. Spend time, daily, with God and in His Word so that you may know Him more fully, and so you are better equipped for what He has in-store. Do not be hearers only, but be doers (James 1:22). Simply hearing God's Word will do nothing. Action is required on your part. If you respond appropriately, then the doors of heaven break open, and God can move and flow fully in your life.
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