Psalm 29 describes the voice of the Lord and how it causes change in physical reality...He commands and it is done. We see this throughout the Bible, from Genesis 1 to the close of Revelations. His words are commands—they are settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and all things are His servants [Psalm 91:91].
But wait...didn't He say that all things have been given to us, richly to enjoy [1 Timothy 6:17]? That all things belong now to us? [1 Corinthians 3:22]
Where's the disconnect?
I believe it lies in our lack of understanding of how things really work, who we really are in Christ and what words really are.
God's Words Are Commands
Psalm 68: 11,12 sheds much light on this.
'The Lord gives the command [Heb. emer, usually translated word]; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host [Heb. tsaba, or army];
[and this is the word or command from the Lord that they proclaimed...] "Kings of armies flee, they* flee, and she who remains at home will divide the spoil!"
* In the original Hebrew, the word they is not there. So it actually reads “Kings of armies, flee, flee!” A command rather than a statement.
Obviously, the men have gone out to battle. It is the Lord's will that they reign in life [Romans 5:17] so He issues the word, or command. The thing is, His works were settled before the foundation of the earth [Hebrews 4:3] and His word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89]. So He's already given the command that they succeed...and we know that the voice of the Lord changes physical reality.
But we also know that man [male and female mand] has free will, which he executes with his mouth. [See
The Tower of Babel in
Fabulous Finds] So we can choose the blessing—His commands [Deuteronomy 30:15-20]—or the curse, the consequence of living outside of His blessing [words, commands].
I see it like a spiritual game of telephone...The Lord gives the word, or command, to the women who have stayed behind, and they 1) agree with it, and 2) proclaim it into the earth for their army. They are, in fact, the army [host] behind the army, bringing God's command of victory into the earth for those fighting at the front.
Would the natural army have succeeded without the command of victory coming into the earth? Only if they were physically bigger, badder and better equipped!
Without the word [command] of God working actively in our lives, our success is proscribed by our natural abilities and limitations.
Created in His Image
We are created in His image, filled with His Spirit. The importance of our words in shaping our lives is manifest throughout scriptures—we are like Him, and our words are commands, too. Ephesians 4:24 tells us to '...put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.'
Jesus said if we believe that what we say is going to happen, it will be granted him [Mark 11:3] and James compared our tongue to a ship's rudder or horse's bit. The entire book of Proverbs talks about the power of words in natural life.
You Mean Faith Confessions?
The Faith Movement has done great things for the Body of Christ. It has paved the way for us to understand who we are in Christ and how things work upon the earth.
But I think that, in large part, the message has been misunderstood.
We have taken the powerful truth that faith is in our hearts and in our mouths and have ritualized it to a set of spiritual prayer beads.
First, we have not realized the full truth that our old spirit was crucified with Christ, buried with Him in baptism and raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places. This is an actual, quantum fact. The only Spirit residing in our earthen vessels is Jesus and The Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are the temple of the Lord and we have this treasure in this earthen vessel. In our reborn Spirit, we have been made complete in His fullness, filled up to all the fullness of God. And we live in two places—on the earth and seated in heavenly places.
What???? How dare I say such a thing!
Well, it's all in the Logos of God—His written Word, or command. These truths have been commanded upon us, for us, to us...it is His will, His command that we be filled up to all of His fullness.
His Logos—His Word—was made flesh and dwelt among us [John 1:1]. And we who have believed are the Word multiplied [Acts 12:24], the Body of the Word in the earth.
But this rebirth has taken place in our spirits—our hearts—not in our minds or in our flesh. Our spirit—the Spirit of God—has spiritual eyes to see the unseen, spiritual ears to hear the Word, the spiritual Mind of Christ, the anointing which teaches us all things [2 John 2:20,27]. 1 Corinthians 2:12 says that we have received the Spirit Who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God...and we know that He has chosen to freely give us The Kingdom [Luke 11:32]!
Back to Faith Confessions, Please!
Oh yeah, I did wander a little bit there. But I think it was necessary to give some background before completely blowing your minds!
Okay. The truth is that Jesus did tell us to speak to physical things, and to believe that they would obey. And He demonstrated it over and over again in His earthly walk. Then He told us that we would do greater works than He did [John 14:12]!
Unfortunately, we have somehow turned these powerful truths into meaningless repetitions.
For example, Joel 3:10 says 'Let the weak say, "I am a mighty man."
So we sing this, over and over, and we repeat "I am a mighty man [or woman], I am a mighty man, I am a mighty man, etc etc"
What we don't realize is that the voice—the spoken word—is to be used to command the natural! We are created in His image, and when reborn, have His Spirit in fullness within us! So instead of repeating faith confessions over and over, hoping that somehow they will come to pass, we must speak God's forever settled word as a command out into our lives to reign in the natural!!
The key to Mark 11: 22-25 is to have faith in God! Give the command to [whatever—tree, mountain, wind, body, money, etc] and know that it will happen! Jesus taught this, and then continued to demonstrate it over and over again. When caught in the storm, his disciples wakened Him to help, and He said to them "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Or in other words, why didn't you do it and let me sleep? Haven't you learned anything?
The Short Version
To summarize:
- Word are commands, from the spirit to the natural...this is true for God as well as man, both regenerate and unregenerate
- God's Word, or command, is settled forever...we bring it to pass by seeing and hearing it with our spiritual eyes and ears, and giving the command or Word into the physical realm
- Then, at that moment, we choose to believe that what we say happens.
We are not speaking vain repetitions in the hope that they might [please oh please oh please] come to pass...we are giving the commands settled from before the foundation of the world into our lives, to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God! [Romans 12:2] To bring the blessings that are already ours from the spirit into the natural, physical realm...to reign upon the earth! [Revelations 5:10]
One More Thing...
And just to make sure that His will for us was unmistakably clear, He stated unequivocally "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." [Isaiah 55:11]
In Romans 12, He says that His will is good and perfect and acceptable. James 1:17 tells us that every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. And Psalm 84:11 says 'The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.'
In other words, His will for us is wonderful...He commanded it and He expects it to come to pass! We need to agree with Him and command His words out of our mouths.
Do you know why God can't lie? [Numbers 23:19] Because if it wasn't true when He started the sentence, it would be true by the time He finished! The creative power of His Word never fails.
Never question the power of His forever settled Word, or His purpose for it to accomplish what He sent it for. In fact, nothing can stop it from producing physical, natural results, except us! We can choose cursing instead of blessing, death instead of life. We can choose not to believe His word, or not to believe it specifically for our own lives. We can choose not to understand how the universe works and go our own way.
Just Do It!
Yes, you have to choose whether to obey or rebel...it's that simple. Discard any brainwashing you may have received about the so-called Faith Movement, or Positive Confessions, or [fill in the blank]. Or any excuses, such as I don't want to, it's too weird, I don't believe that works, my pastor thinks it's heresy, etc etc.
I've laid out a good, solid Biblical argument. Now it's up to you to read the Scriptures for yourselves and decide whether to obey or not. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm trying to help you see how to move God's blessings from the Spirit to the natural.
We are One Spirit With the Lord and we are created to reign in life. The commanding power of the spoken voice, from the spirit through the mouth, is the tool by which we do this.
In Conclusion...No, Really
The Word is called the Sword of the Spirit, and it comes out of the mouth. Jesus puts it this way in Luke 6:45..."The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
Remember, ' But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves...' [2 Corinthians 4:7] The Holy Spirit, through Paul, prayed that we be strengthened with all power [Colossians 1:11]—strengthened with power through His Spirit in our inner man [Ephesians 3:16].
Why is He in us, in fullness, in all power? Is He some sort of spiritual hitchhiker, along for the ride? Or is it to empower us to do the works of Jesus, and greater works than those? Is it to prove His good will in our lives to the world and to those enemies arrayed against us? Is it to enable us to reign in life, to receive every blessing..health, wealth, angelic protection, blessings upon our children...favor, wisdom, love, joy, peace...all already settled in heavenly places and in our spirits?
Psalm 84 explains quantum realities:
'How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose [lit. their] heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca [weeping] they make it a spring; the early rain also cover it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.'
In our hearts—our spirits—are the highways to Zion! Hebrews 12:12:22 says that we have already come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem! We are already seated with Him in heavenly places [Ephesians 2:6], and from there we make our places of weeping a spring! Hallelujah!
Give the command! Make His will so in your life! Say, as Mary did, "May it be it done to me according to your word..."
Hallelujah!
