| RIGHTEOUSNESS: Declare, Decree, Affirm! Sandra G. Kennedy HIS GLORY REIGNS B. Childress Mar 27 2009 08:00 A.M. Words are powerful weapons. With them we can announce and confirm what will take place in our lives, our families, and our nation. It is with words that we place the devil under subjection and keep him there. Unfortunately, few of us comprehend the gravity of what falls from our mouth all too freely. We don't take our own words seriously. This is apparent since we speak, without thought, curses on ourselves and others - even while laughing. We literally have no idea what havoc we are creating by the evil things we verbalize.
ASCEND INTO HEAVEN? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
word of faith, which we preach;
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
salvation." Romans 10:6-10 We have already established that through the shed Blood of Jesus on Calvary, God broke the power of sin in our lives and abolished our past. He made it possible for those of us who accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to be cleansed from the filth and weight of sin that sentenced us to death and separated us from the Father Who loved us. He sent Jesus to become sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The shed Blood on Calvary and the resurrection of our Lord enabled God to declare each of His family members righteous and able to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints who walk in light (Ephesians 1). Notice the question that is asked: "What does righteousness which is of faith say?" Obviously, both faith and righteousness speak - they utter words. IT'S NEAR US Does righteousness, which is of faith, say that Jesus has to come to earth and defeat the devil again to bring us victory? Does it declare that Jesus has to return from heaven and touch us to heal our bodies? No. Righteousness which is established in faith says that the Word of faith is near us - it's in our mouth and in our heart. And that's enough to bring about salvation in any area we have a need. I (Sandra G. Kennedy) want to remind you that "saved" does not just mean the new birth, although we have whittled it down to mean that in most churches. The new birth is wonderful and important, yet it is only the first step; it opens the door for us to receive so much more! The word "saved" is the Greek word "sozo" and it means soundness, wholeness, restoration, and deliverance from temporal evils to include sickness and disease. Talk about a deal with benefits. Our salvation encompasses every area of the abundant life of God - not just the forgiveness of sin. Praise His Name! SPEAK THE WORD! Notice what righteousness of faith says. It declares that Jesus does not have to defeat hell again. He doesn't have to come down from heaven to do anything for us. His work has been completed and He is seated next to the Father until His enemies have been made His footstool. The Word of faith is here - in our mouth and in our heart. And it will establish the work in our lives that Jesus has accomplished. We use these Scriptures in Romans to evangelize and bring people to the Throne of Grace, but this is an absolute principle that operates throughout the Kingdom. Righteousness, which is of faith, simply speaks and believes the Words of faith which have been given to us by grace in the Book we call the Bible. Here is the process in a nutshell: We speak God's Word until it penetrates our heart, not just our head. And sometimes, to be honest, we have to speak it for a long time before we'll even start to believe it. Just because we declare the Word or memorize Scripture does not mean we believe it in our heart. Although both of these actions are good and necessary, neither even infers that we believe the Word at all. We must say it until we believe it. When that Word finally drops in our heart, faith comes, and we believe unto our benefits of righteousness. In other words, we know what God says belongs to us because we are righteous in His eyes. Then, as that Word continues to flow out of our mouth in faith, its confession brings forth the salvation. LIKE A RUDDER! The book of Proverbs is packed with wisdom concerning our tongue, and I admonish you to read it, but let's take a look at the book of James. It contains one of the most revealing passages of Scripture on the power of our tongue. "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
to bridle the whole body.
about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
kindleth!
body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." James 3:1-6 Wow? Our tongue can defile our entire body! It sets the course of our life in motion - good or bad. James compares our tongue to the rudder on a ship, and although it's a little member of our body, it can completely direct our life. Our tongue can kindle the flames of hellish events if we do not take it under control. Let me clearly say that if our life is in a mess, it's because of what we have confessed with our mouth and believed in our heart as we read earlier in Romans 10. If we don't like where our life is headed, as with a ship, we must first put pressure on the rudder of our tongue. Eventually, if held steady, it will turn the course of our lives. And yet, as important as the tongue is, the decision of what is spoken lies in the heart. Jesus, Himself, said that out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). What is in our heart in abundance? We can determine the contents by listening to the words that flow from our mouth because it is the release valve. Our mouth is the vehicle through which our inner being speaks. It says what our heart believes and we will get exactly what we say, just like the rudder steers the ship toward its ultimate destination! SPOKEN INTO EXISTENCE Our words guide and direct our lives. Too often, however, instead of speaking the unchangeable truths of God which would lead our life toward glory, we declare our problems and the evil that tries and tempts us everyday. We say things such as "I guess this will fall apart," or "You know what happens every time we plan a vacation, the kids get sick." What about: "I just can't remember anything anymore. I must be getting Alzheimer's - ha ha!" When we utter such phrases, we are putting them in motion - we're saying this is okay; this is what we want. The more we talk about problems - how worn out we are, how broke we are, how depressed we feel, how life is not getting any better - the more we are declaring, decreeing, and affirming that we believe those things. We are confessing them out of our mouth and they are established. Our words propel us on the road we will walk in days ahead. We can sit in church and shout "Amen!" all day long - even own fifty Bibles and thirty five notebooks crammed full of the truths on righteousness - but unless we bridle our tongue, we will remain on paths we do not want to travel. What we really believe and speak is what we will become. That is why it is so important to begin declaring God's word until we totally accept what He says about us is truth. His Word is always the truth, and that is what we want established in our lives! Victory! Peace! Joy! Health! We will never live in triumph until we begin to believe and agree with His Word. For instance, He declares that we are the head and not the tail. We may feel like the tail, and it may even look like we're the tail, but that is not the truth of the matter. He said we are the head and God does not lie. IT'S THE TRUTH! We need to declare - and believe - that we are, indeed, what Jehovah says we are, regardless of what is going on around us! We are above and not beneath; more than conquerors. And if God be for us, who can be against us? It's time we confess the eternal truths of the Father over ourselves, our families, and our nation. We are who God says we are - and can do whatever He declares we can do. You may ask, "How can I say such things when my life is such a mess? Aren't I a hypocrite when I say I am healed by the stripes of Jesus and my body is noticeably sick?" Absolutely not!
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17 The reason we can declare, decree, and affirm God's Word over us is because it is pure and without hypocrisy. We are simply stating the truth of what God has already spoken over us. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be what he is not - someone who doesn't live what he or she preaches. But if the Lord says we are one way and we are speaking and acting contrary to the truths God has already declared over us, are we not as guilty? The Lord has done come absolutely outstanding things for us, and yet, our words are strong against His truths, implying they are lies. No, He is true though every man is a liar (Romans 3:4). WORDS OF INTEGRITY Deceit is a prevalent problem within the walls of the Church. Saints who are not truthful are not only unreliable, they are dishonorable witnesses of the Lord Jesus. If we constantly lie - and that may not be blatant boldface lies but merely just stretching the truth, - we will have a very difficult time walking in faith because faith comes by hearing. That includes listening to what our mouth speaks. Sadly, there are some chronic liars who cannot believe their own words. No wonder they have difficulty believing God. Truthfulness is vital to our integrity, which, in turn, is paramount to exhibiting righteousness. If you have not been a person of integrity, I can assure that you will have had great trouble believing God can do anything. When we truly know the Lord, we become a person of high standards and character. We are not considered trustworthy or honest if we do not fulfill what we declare. My friend, it's a lie when we put our word on the line and don't perform or follow through - from the least to our greatest promise. God is not a man that He should lie; and because His nature was planted in us, the more we know Him, the more we should act like Him. Jesus Himself announced that Satan is the father of all lies. We cannot declare the falsehoods of the devil and consider ourselves holy and righteous before God or man. Christians should be above reproach with character that is becoming to Almighty God. Above all, we should be a people whose word can be trusted! DON'T HARM GOD'S TREASURE When we lie, we heap trouble on ourselves which is not of the devil's doing. Speaking untruth pours water on our conscience and it becomes foggy. It distorts right and wrong in our minds making it almost impossible to differentiate the truth from falsehood. Where there should be black and white, there is a gray haze. We must not affirm or repeat the lies Satan hurls at us. Hell says we are not going to change - that we are worthless, stupid fools who will never succeed at anything. The devil whispers that we're really not important to the Kingdom of God because we lived such horrendous lives before our new birth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every child of God is a fragrant rose in His garden. Each of us is a treasure and extremely valuable in His sight! What a great price was paid to retrieve us from the hand of the enemy just so we could be near our Wonderful Savior! Yet, I hear people all over the Church agreeing with those suggestions from hell! I even hear parents criticize their children and tell them over and over they will never be any good - that they will never amount to anything. You, my friend, who call yourself God's are a volcano of Satan's eruption on your children. You are cursing them with your mouth and bringing yourself future heartache, because they will become what you speak. SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAIN! God tells us continually in His Word that if we will simply believe what has been written down for us - getting past the whispering of every imp and demon - and begin to live day to day based on those Words from God, righteousness will exalt and raise us to a higher life! We are not too old to change and come into agreement with the Father! His Word, spoken and believed, will "life" us. It will alter our entire countenance and how we deal with our family and friends. It can even transform our expectancy toward life itself. Our righteous position with Almighty God will dictate our actions, words, and thoughts.
into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark 11:23 A mountain is simply a problem or an obstacle in our life; a situation that is not going according to God's Word. What does Jesus say our course of action must be? We have to speak words to it! - to command the obstruction to be removed and cast into the sea. The Bible doesn't tell us we are to pray to the Almighty to get rid of the mountain, nor does it say we are to ask our Pastor to speak to the mountain. It's our mountain, our problem, and we have to do the talking. DECREE IT! Jesus, Himself, assures us that if we speak it with our mouth and believe it in our heart, we will have whatever we declare. Glory to God! That's why I am asking you to decree what God has spoken - not what the situation looks like. It doesn't matter how gigantic the problem is, it will yield to our words! This principle, on the other hand, works in the negative direction just as effectively. For instance, we say, "We will never get out of this debt, every month we get deeper and deeper toward bankruptcy. I don't see how we will ever get these bills paid off!" By saying these words, the same principle of speaking and believing that could get us out of debt completely will multiply. It is simply because that's what we are believing and speaking over the problem! We believe that we are suffering insurmountable debt, and it's getting worse. Indeed, we might be in debt up to our eyeballs, but declaring it is no road to recovery. Jesus said we will have exactly what we say! And James writes that if we want to change the course of our life, we must apply pressure to the rudder of our tongue. We must speak what we desire to happen. WORDS OF VICTORY! God sees the end as well as the beginning, and if we have His nature in us, we must talk in terms of the end result, which is never destruction. It is always blessing, success, and victory! We may be seeing devastation with our natural eyes but that is not the final outcome (and it is certainly not what we desire) - unless we continue to speak those destructive words over the situation. You might think, "How can we declare what God says when it certainly doesn't look that way?" Yet the same thing happens when we travel. We can be going from Augusta to Atlanta, Georgia, and ride on roads through towns that don't look anything like Atlanta, yet we keep heading toward our final destination. To be sure, Atlanta is nothing like the communities through which we travel to get there. Just the same way, our life goals can be as different as night and day from the paths we take on the journey. And we will reach our desired objective if we keep confessing the end result and keep our mind locked on what we yearn for - not on what we can see with these natural eyes. It is our mouth that keeps us headed in the right directions. Again, we become what we believe and speak. And it is not just the words we utter in church or around the pastor. It's what we say day after day in the privacy of our home. BEING REAL! I am amazed at the number of born again, Holy Ghost filled, tongue-talking Christians who stay in agreement with hell's lies and speak those curses without hesitation. Many even know about the power of the tongue and yet say when challenged on these statements, "I'm being honest. I am just being real." Yes, when we talk like that, we are being real - carnally minded. That's not walking in the Spirit, and I assure you there is no peace in speaking the devil's lies over our life (Romans 8:6). We say, "I'm just telling it like it is" No, we are telling it the way we accept it - expressing what truth is to us, and how we see ourselves. Oh, what joy awaits when we walk, talk, and act in line with the Word of God! Let's lay down this low life and reach for this higher, exalted abundant life and rule and reign with God's blessing. His Word will elevate us to new dimensions, new victories, and new wonders. Friend, we simply must change our behavior and expressions. If we stay centered on the things of this earth - on our aches, pains, and the trials of life - we will become depressed, because life without God saps our spirit. Even more, when we are in opposition to the Father and become strangers to the covenants of promise, we are basically without hope and God is not working in our lives (Ephesians 2:12). We need to begin saying, "This is what is happening, but God..." Or, "Yes I know it looks bad, but God's Word says..." The moment we speak these words we start bringing life to a situation - for His Words are spirit and they are life. Faith is in our mouth! CREATIVE POWER Dear friend, we are not attempting to twist God's arm for Him to bless us, or coerce Him to declare that we are healed. He's already favored us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. We're already a privileged people and healing belongs to us. We just have to "take it" with our words. When our mouth is full of God's promises it is much like a hydraulic pump. It is a force that surrounds and latches onto the problem, takes hold of the burden, kicks it loose, and moves it out of the way! Since we are made in the image of God, our words contain creative power. Recognize the fact that we are the only ones in all of God's creation given the privilege and honor of speaking His Word, of governing evil, and establishing the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven! His love is unsearchable. Thank you Lord! God's Word is God's Word, whether it comes out of our mouth or His. When it is confessed with our lips and believed in our heart it is still the sword of the Spirit - alive and full of power. The Father not only gave His Word to us, He put His faith in it, wrote it down, and commands us to speak it so we can be conformed to the image of His Son and defeat the devil time after time. Praise God for what righteousness has done!
This verse, as translated in The Message Bible, reads: "The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." Those of us who know who we are can say Glory! Some complain, "I don't feel like my prayers get above my nose." Friend, they don't have to. The Holy Spirit lives within you. Don't base anything on how you feel. Our emotions are in the natural realm and therefore subject to the devil's influence - not to mention they are temporal and subject to change frequently. BEYOND FEELINGS The moment we don't sense God's presence is the time we should start confessing in faith: "Lord, I know You are here. You said You would never leave me nor forsake me. You are my Shield and Buckler. You are My God and in You do I trust." We can never change a situation by speaking what it "looks" like or saying how we "feel" about it. We change it in the positive direction by speaking God's Words over it until it yields. The natural realm will always bow to the Kingdom of God if God's Words are declared, decreed, and affirmed long enough, regardless of our feelings. Our bodies can be riddled with sickness and pain in the natural, but that is not the truth according to the Word. Sickness is merely a fact, and although some of it is powerful enough to kill our bodies, truth is higher and exalted, more powerful than facts. The truth, backed up by the Blood of Jesus, is that He sent His Word, healed and delivered us from our destruction, and by His stripes we were healed (Psalms 107:20; I Peter 2:24). So, we keep declaring the truths of health until they become real in our heart. Healing then works its way outward and the sickness departs because life is stronger than death. Once again, righteousness is exalted! Confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart is the process - and our mouth is the key. THE WORD WORKS! Unfortunately, we often think we are believing the Word, yet it is only head knowledge. When it seems as though the Word is not working, we have to stop right there and remind ourselves that the Word does work, every time. We must point the finger at ourselves; there is no problem with God the Father, God the Word, or God the Holy Ghost. That, my friend, leaves us holding the bag. There is a vast difference between head knowledge and heart revelation. When things get tough, the head doesn't stay with the program. If we are not watchful, it will always start to contradict and back off from the Word. On the other hand, truth, having taken root in our spirit, is anchored in the integrity of God. We must keep speaking and meditating on those words until we can "see" it down deep within us, as clearly as our natural eye is reading this book. AUTHORITY OVER SICKNESS This has enormous importance for our healing. We need to view ourselves separate from the house (body) we live in. Our spirit has been declared righteous by Almighty God and created in His image. That is the real man who lives in this physical body. You see, the body is not the man. If we can make a distinction between the real man that is within and the house wherein he resides, it gives us more leverage to speak to our "house" as if it were not us. We are then able to step out and command our dwelling place to line up with the Word of God and receive its healing. By being able to separate what we see in the mirror with who we really are, it's easier to take authority over sickness and disease and control our body. All of this is accomplished by the Word of God coming out of our mouth in faith. ACKNOWLEDGE AND PROCLAIM The power of our tongue is hard to grasp because we have not seen the correlation between our words and the events in our lives. That is why I (Sandra G. Kennedy) have taught for many years on the importance of speaking aloud and declaring, decreeing, and affirming the right words. I've preached it again and again, yet still meet people every day who have not yet caught the message. They can quote the Scriptures. They say, "I know it says that, but..." Any time we speak the truth and add a "but," forget it! We are in unbelief! Is that plain enough. The church I (Sandra G. Kennedy) pastor hosts Healing Explosions frequently to instruct those plagued with sickness and disease on how to receive their healing - basically pleading God's case. I tell them over and over, "You have to take healing with your mouth!" And most of the time I watch the people say nothing. Many just stare at me and keep their lips sealed, yet, I am instructing them step 1, step 2, step 3. I tell them:
I (Sandra G. Kennedy) am amazed when no one says a word. Our spirit needs to hear our mouth proclaim the truths of God out loud! We cannot be tight-lipped Christians. We must declare with our mouth the righteousness of God until it rises up in fury against those hellish things that have lodged against us. Stand up and say, "But God...But God..." You are who Jehovah says you are! WHAT PROBLEM? A word of wisdom: if sickness attacks your body, don't tell people you are not ill, when they can see you are as sick as a dog. You look foolish! Just say, "In the natural, this does not look very good, but I believe I receive my healing - I believe the Bible. God will turn this thing around. I am healed of God! I've heard of people walking into the doctor's office and when the physician asks what the problem is, they reply, "I have no problem. I'm healed." Can you imagine what the doctor must be thinking? Listen, if you have an appointment with a physician, tell him honestly what your symptoms are and let him make a diagnoses. That way you will be able to speak to the infirmity accurately with the Word. Thank God for the medical profession; we're certainly not against physicians. If we need a doctor, we should go. Frankly, in the area of healing, the medical profession is often working closer with God than some churches. The bottom line is that the Father wants us well; but it is to our advantage to use wisdom. AUTHENTIC LIVING Any situation can be turned around, yet it will change only to the degree we speak God's Word instead of the problems of life. Believing in the integrity of the Almighty must become our lifestyle. There is no need to pray for a great move in the corporate Church until we can believe for a miracle in our own home. We can't be a "faith man" in the House of God when we are not one around our own family. When we behave in such a manner we're not genuine, we are fake! When something is real to us, we are the same whether we are at work, home, church, or on the golf course. The faith talk and faith walk should be just a natural part of who we are. When others invite us to a party, they already know what we are like, and apparently don't mind that Jesus is Lord of our life. However, the problem with most of the Church is that others do not see Him in our lives - and are not expecting Him to be with us. When we become one with the Lord, that's when great power will begin to flow. Declaring God's Word will absolutely transform our lives into a higher state of glory than we ever thought possible. Sometimes, the change is so extensive, it is hard to recognize ourselves. But, that's what we yearn for, isn't it? - less of us and more of Him. I can't emphasize this enough: the process starts with our mouth. We will either establish our problem more securely or enter into God's victory by the words we choose to speak. When we continually "declare" the issue, faith for that problem comes and increases because we are hearing it and hearing it and hearing it. THE FIRE! If we could see, as James 3 declares, that the words of our mouth truly are kindling to every "fire" in our lives, we would be much more careful of the words we speak. We have a choice; we can have the fire of hell in our home, or we can experience the fire of the Holy Ghost within its walls. The course of our life is set in motion by our tongue - the rudder of the ship of our life. We will not ever have more than we declare and affirm, so it is imperative that we decree the right things. If our words are divided and we say one thing at our kitchen table, another in the car, and something totally different at church to impress a fellow-believer, we are traveling down a losing highway! My friend, if we are going to talk unbelief in our home (and anything that contradicts God's Word is unbelief), then we might as well converse that way in the sanctuary, because we are the Church . We are carriers of the presence of Almighty God everywhere we go. A TREMENDOUS POWER! Religion has us confused. It may sound good, but can make us miss every thing about God. If the sanctuary is the only place we speak faith, then we're just religious. And, if we only guard our words in front of the pastor, then this walk of righteousness is not real to us. Until we begin to speak consistently, always being the same, we will experience little victory. We are talking about a lifestyle, yet most churches don't talk about living out Christianity. We must make up our mind. Are you willing to change in order to triumph? I don't claim to understand all that is presently happening on the world scene, but I can tell you that Christ is our only salvation. Every community and nation needs to see multitudes of believers who truly are Christ-like. If we will come together and demonstrate who we are in Jesus, hell will shake. Why? Because those who are living right before God are a tremendous power to be reckoned with. We are moving into a time when the words of our mouth will either make us or break us. When we agree with God, it gives Him something to work with. He will never concur with us that we are losers, defeated, or in bondage since in His eyes - because of the Cross and the resurrection - we are not. Hell and heaven both are waiting and listening to hear what we have to say. Our words are that important. They can open the door for the devil to legally wreak havoc in our lives, or commission the angels of God to bring deliverance and peace. RISE UP! For years, I have earnestly prayed for the Church to be the Church in all of her glory and power. I've so longed to see the Body of Christ rise up to the honor of Almighty God. Our cities need to see legions of people who are serious with God and sincerely walking in His grace and integrity before all men. This comes by understanding righteousness; allowing all the Father has deposited in us through the new birth to be a reality in us day after day. How do we begin to show forth His glory and His brightness? By living righteously - doing and saying what is right - acting on what is honorable, even in troublesome times. Yes, bad things happen to good people, but know the power of our words, let's not ever accept evil reports as a normal part of life anymore. Instead, may we take up the sword of the Spirit and the full armor of God, hitting those giants square between the eyes - making the devil crawl in the dust of the earth under our feet, where he was told to be. When trouble strikes, Christians should really excel because we have the answer available to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of our words will overcome whatever hell throws our way! Declare, decree and affirm it! That's what righteous living makes possible. Source: YOUR ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, by Sandra G. Kennedy, Copyright 2004, LifeBridge Books. |
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2010 - HIS GLORY REIGNS
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