Faithfulness

You have heard me say it before, and you will undoubtedly hear me say it again: Jesus said we would do greater things than He (John 14:12), so why aren't we? I was meditating on that passage again this morning, and it began to rise up very strong within me again. It got to the point where I was almost angry at the notions that churches (including the ones I have been around my whole life) regarding "the will of God." I have come to the conclusion that most of us simply have no idea what "the will of God" truly is. If we did, our lives would look markedly different from what they are today.

God promised us that His Word would not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11), so I am in no way saying that Christianity is not profitable in the world today. There are millions of strong, God-fearing Christians throughout the world. I will admit that I admire many people in this world for their faith in the midst of over-whelming circumstances. I pray daily that my love for God will rival that of most people I know. However, there is an irksome display I have experienced from churches regarding the Word of God. It is this "if it be Your will" mentality that is nothing more than an extreme lack of faith on the part of those involved. You see, faith has become synonymous with denomination or religion. That is not what faith truly is. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith for us, and denomination is nowhere in the verse (or the entire chapter). Faith is simply trusting God. It is, in the words of pastor and author Creflo Dollar, "a practical expression of your confidence in God and in His Word." Do you believe what God has said about you in His Word, or not? If you believed Him, why doesn't your life reflect what He has said?

I have struggled with this issue in my own life on occasions, because my life does not reflect what God said it should. God said I am healed, yet my back will often not feel that way. God said the Blessing of Abraham is already upon my life through faith in Jesus - yet my bank account is not reflecting the millions that came upon Abraham as a result of that Blessing. I am the righteousness of God, even though my language is not always conducive with that righteousness. So, what is the problem? I guarantee you it is not God. It is not some act of God's Sovereignty that is keeping me from living the full life of Blessing that He has pronounced on me. Take off your religious hat and think with your spirit on this one. If there is anything that is keeping you from living the full, Blessed, prosperous life God has pronounced over you, there is one thing standing in the way... You.

God is faithful to His entire Word. Saying that God is not entirely Sovereign down to the minute detail is not a means of blasphemy or disrespect. On the contrary, the greatness of God is found in the fact that, by His own design, He has limited Himself through His Word. God is so good, so great, so awesome, that He has bound Himself to His Word, and to what His Word says regarding our actions. What do I mean by this? We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:28), and therefore we are the same creative spirits with the same creative power as "God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17, NKJV). The Bible is flooded with passages regarding the power of the words that we use. In James 3, we learn that our mouths have the same steering power in our lives as bits in horses mouths or small rudders on great ships in turbulent waters. No matter what the circumstances may be, God has designed you with the power to navigate them using your words. Religion does not teach this. Even good, faith-filled Pentecostal churches do not fully believe this. They still pray "Lord, if it be your will" which is totally contrary to the Word of God. His Word says that you have the same power of He and Jesus have - which is to speak over your life and change the circumstances. Jesus said that if a person "believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says" (Mark 11:23b). Unfortunately, we have become proficient in doing this negatively; yet, most Christians do not fully believe this can be used to alter their lives for the better. God is bound, by His Word, to honor your words - even if it leads to your destruction.


Take the Children of Israel as a prime example. God promised to lead them out of Egypt into the land he had promised to Abraham. He did not decree that their children would inherit the Land. He did not declare that all the atrocities seen in the wilderness were going to happen. He did not, in His deep Sovereignty, know that all those things were going to happen, and thus it must have been His will the whole time (He probably knew it would happen, but that is a philosophical debate that has no bearing on the points I am trying to make, and would thus only cause more confusion, which is not of God anyway...). God promised that those who walked out of Egypt would inherit the Land we now know as Israel. However, most of them didn't go. They spoke nothing but death, doubt and fear over their circumstances - and died in fear and doubt in the desert. Their words had more power over their circumstances than the promises of God pronounced over them. Keith Moore, pastor of Faith Life Church in Branson Missouri, says "your words have more power over your own life than anyone else's, including God's."Keep your religious hat off and realize this one thing: just because God spoke something over your life does not guarantee it will come to pass. Your words can, and will, alter the course of your life it you let them. You must remain faithful to Him and His way of operating. Your faithfulness is the key to living in all that God has promised you. 


If you call Jesus the Lord over your life, then you do not have the right to say whatever you want. "I just call it like I see it" is not a biblical means of living. Ephesians 5:1 says, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." God spoke things into existence and He expects you to do the same thing. Jesus said that if you abide in Him and His Word you would do even greater things than He did. He did everything through speaking. Proverbs 18:21, says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat its fruit." You are to say what God says all the time. Remain consistently constant in declaring what God has declared over you. Remain faithful to His promises so that they may come to pass in your life. Do not squelch the promises of God by constantly speaking negatively over your circumstances. Faith calls things into being. If your life does not look the way the Scriptures say it should, it is not because of some Divine re-write. God does not go "Well, I Am Sovereign, so I can do whatever I want" and then go off and do something that is contrary to His Word. That would make Him a liar, and He would cease to be God - and we would all be dead. You have to say what He says in order for it to come to full fruition in your life. You have to do it constantly and believe it in your heart. If you feel like you are lying, then go back to the Word and read it over and over until you are thoroughly convinced that His promises will come to pass in your life. Doubt is a cancer growth, it will kill your faith; "for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6-7, NKJV). 


That is how God's will shall come to pass in your life. That is how you will do greater things than Jesus did. Meditate on this principle. Let it sink into your spirit. This morning my wife and I read 1Corinthians 2. In verse 14, it says "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." This stuff may seem silly to most Christians, but it is the truth of God's Word, and it will come to pass to those who let it. Remain faithful to the Word, and remain faithful to declare only what He says about you. Stop calling it like it is, and start calling those things that be not as though they were, and they will be.