The Tongue Conquers the Curse

A teaching transcribed from the television series taught

by David Eells

(Originally titled “Power of the Tongue”)

Let the redeemed of the Lord

say [so].... (Psalm 107:2)

Unleavened Bread Publishing Inc.

Published by

Unleavened Bread Publishing Inc.

www.unleavenedbreadpublishing.org

Copyright © 2011 David Eells. All Rights Reserved. Permission is given to copy and quote portions of this book, provided the context is given, along with copyright notice and contact details.

ISBN:

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In order to make this book broadly available, we also offer it through online book sellers. We have taken the lowest percentage permitted by their systems, so income from these sales is negligible and is offset by the thousands we give away to those who cannot afford to pay for it. We do this to be obedient to our Lord, Who said, “freely ye received, freely give.”

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Scriptures are taken from the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Holy Bible because of its faithfulness to the ancient manuscripts and Bible Numerics.

Numerics is a system designed into the Bible by God to prove authenticity. The Greeks and Hebrews used their letters for numbers.Therefore, the whole Bible is also written in numbers which show perfect patterns as long as the God-inspired original words are not departed from.It mathematically proves the original text and where it has been added to or taken away from. The Numeric English New Testament (NENT) is based on the numeric pattern and is quoted from when necessary.

We have departed from the ASV only in the name Jehovah and Lord Jehovah which we replaced with Lord and Lord God, respectively. Neither represents the original YHWH but Lord is less confusing to many and we did not want this to distract from the teaching. The vowels were added by men to make the name “Jehovah.” We apologize for sometimes using partial texts but this book would have been much larger had we not. Rarely, where italicized words were added to the text and changed the original meaning, we left them out.

This book is dedicated to the children of our Father whom He loves so much and desires that they walk in the steps of our Lord Jesus.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Transcribing audio and then editing the text to printable form is no less than a daunting task; it takes skill, patience and determination. But the dedicated volunteers who took on this project of putting David Eells’ series of audio teachings (originally titled Power of the Tongue) into book form would likely wave-off praise and say it was just a labor of love. And indeed it was. But how better can members of the Body of Christ express the unfathomable love of Christ than to do whatever is necessary to make available to others the Good News of encouragement and edification?

Copy Editor – Dwora Jawer

Proofreader – Brad Moyers

Cover – Michael Duncan

Formatters – Doris and Kaile Hamilton

Others who have worked on this book but do not wish any credit.

Books of the Bible Abbreviation List

Old Testament                                             New Testament

Gen.                Genesis                                  Mat.                 Matthew

Exo.                 Exodus                                  Mar.                 Mark

Lev.                 Leviticus                                Luk.                 Luke

Num.              Numbers                                Joh.                 John

Deu.                Deuteronomy                       Act.                  Acts

Jos.                 Joshua                                    Rom.               Romans

Jdg.                 Judges                                    1Co.                 1 Corinthians

Rth.                 Ruth                                       2Co.                 2 Corinthians

1Sa.                 1 Samuel                                Gal.                  Galatians

2Sa.                 2 Samuel                               Eph.                 Ephesians

1Ki.                 1 Kings                                    Php.                 Philippians

2Ki.                 2 Kings                                  Col.                   Colossians

1Ch.                 1 Chronicles                         1Th.                   1 Thessalonians

2Ch.                2 Chronicles                         2Th.                  2 Thessalonians

Ezr.                 Ezra                                       1Ti.                     1 Timothy

Neh.               Nehemiah                              2Ti.                   2 Timothy

Est.                 Esther                                     Tit.                   Titus

Job                 Job                                         Phm.                  Philemon (1 Chapter)

Psa.                Psalms                                  Heb.                    Hebrews

Pro.                Proverbs                              Jas.                      James

Ecc.                Ecclesiastes                         1Pe.                     1 Peter

Son.               The Song of Solomon        2Pe.                    2 Peter

Isa.                 Isaiah                                   1Jn.                    1 John

Jer.                Jeremiah                              2Jn.                   2 John (1 Chapter)

Lam.              Lamentations                     3Jn.                    3 John (1 Chapter)

Eze.               Ezekiel                                 Jud.                     Jude (1 Chapter)

Dan.              Daniel                                  Rev.                      Revelation

Hos.              Hosea

Joe.               Joel

Amo.            Amos

Oba.             Obadiah (1 Chapter)

Jon.              Jonah

Mic.             Micah

Nah.            Nahum

Hab.            Habakkuk

Zep.            Zephaniah

Hag.            Haggai

Zec.             Zechariah

Mal.            Malachi

FOREWORD

Lord, we praise You that we’ve been delivered from bondage to sin (Rom.6:17), and bondage to the devil (Col.1:13). We praise You, Lord, that You have set us free from this cursed world and have given us the overcoming life of being made free from sin (Rom.6:18,22). We praise You that we’ve been healed (1Pe.2:24). We thank You that every difficulty that we come into is for our good (Rom.8:28), and that You are working all things after the counsel of Your Own Will (Eph.1:11), and that You are bringing us into Your image.

But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit (2Co.3:18). In other words, we keep our eyes on the Son and we behold in the mirror “the glory of the Lord.”

If we keep our eyes on the Son and we keep praising Him, we will go through that dark cloud and come out on the other side, able to walk above the difficulties in our lives. The Lord will give us grace, supernatural grace, supernatural authority and power, confounding our enemies, so we can walk above that dark cloud of the curse. Many only get to see the bottom of that dark cloud, but there’s something better on the other side. We need to “hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not” (Heb.10:23). We need to confess Him before men (Mat.10:32). In praise and in thanks, we need to confess Him before men so He can confess us before the Father, so that we can have all the benefits of the Kingdom.

Praise You, Father! Thank You! Thank You for continually drawing us, gifting us, and gracing us with everything that is Yours, Lord. Praise You, Father! Amen.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Authority Over the Curse Today

2. Agreeing With God 36

3. The Courtroom of Heaven

4. Victory in the Land

5. Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

6. Speak the Things of the Kingdom

7. Praise and Thanksgiving

Closing Prayer

Testimonies

“As you put the Word of God in your heart and come into agreement with the Word, it is ‘Christ in you’ that does the works.”

CHAPTER ONE

Authority Over the Curse Today

I am sure some are wondering, “What is the ‘curse’?” I recommend you read Deuteronomy 28:15-68, which is a fairly good summary of the curse, although much more is written throughout the Bible. Here we see that man’s life, his body, his wife, his children, his property, his crops, his house, his country, his world, etc., are all under the curse because of sin. The curse is everything that ever happened contrary to man’s well-being because of sin; it’s everything negative, everything contrary to the Garden of Eden. When Adam sinned, he was driven from the Garden and into the curse, but Exodus 12 reveals a type and shadow of our Passover deliverance.

(1Co.5:7) … For our passover also hath been sacrificed, [even] Christ. The Passover lamb had the wonderful benefit of delivering from every plague. In Exodus 12, the Israelites were commanded to sacrifice and eat the whole lamb (verses 9,10). They were to eat its head, representing the Mind of Christ, its inwards, representing the desires and life of Christ, and its legs, representing the walk of Christ. Jesus said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves” (Joh.6:53). Which means, of course, we are partaking of the life of the flesh, which is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).

Jesus was “the bread of God … which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (33). He was also “the Word” made “flesh” (1:14). His flesh represented the Word of God and His blood represented the life in that Word. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. And so, when we eat the Lamb, we are partaking of His Word and life. When we study this Word and It goes into our hearts, when we repent and we believe It and we stand upon It, we are consuming the Lamb. He was the Word made flesh and that, in turn, gives us our Passover. To this, the New Testament fully agrees. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus…. Jesus bore the whole curse for us and in the pages ahead, we will see how to cooperate with Him to manifest what was given us at the Cross.

We have been given authority over the curse and we must be careful what we do with it. “Authority” is “the right to use power.” Adam was given this authority and he lost it. (Rom.6:16) Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves [as] servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus was the “last Adam” Who came to restore that authority and we can tell by the awesome promises that He has given unto us. (1Co.15:45) So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit. In fact, to most people, these promises are too good to be true and they say things like, “they had to be talking about someone else”; “we don’t experience them”; or “they were made toward the apostles in the past.” But, the truth is, He’s talking to you and me. The reason I know is because as I believed the promises, I started entering into them, as have many others. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. There is a saying that goes, “The guy with an experience is never at the mercy of the guy with an argument.” Folks, there are multitudes of Christians who are experiencing the authority and power of God and they are rejoicing. There are still people out there denying it, but it’s “to him that believeth” (Mar.9:23).

(Heb.2:5) For not unto angels did he subject the world (Greek: oikoumene, “the inhabited earth”) to come, whereof we speak. Notice our dominion in this verse is not about the “world to come” but the “inhabited earth” here and now. In other words, God gave Adam and his seed authority. According to Psalm 8:6-8, he was given authority over all the works of God’s hands, over all of creation. So Jesus is not called the “last Adam” for nothing. He is the Father of the born-again creation and came to give us authority.

What I want to go on to show is why we have to be so careful about this authority. (6) But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Don’t be deceived here. “Son of man” is spoken not only toward Jesus; we also are “sons of man.” Jesus merely pointed out that He was the Son of God dwelling in the son of man and we are, too. The Bible says that He was made like unto us in all things. (17) Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren…. Jesus came as the Son of God in the son of man. When you accept the Word of God into your heart, that Word of God is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14). He is manifesting more in you the more you accept and believe the Word. Why would God pay attention to us, the little ants that we are? Well, it’s because we are important to God. We are His sons, who represent Him on this earth and He has delegated His authority unto us. (7) Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands. This authority has been delegated not only to man but also to the Son of man; however, we know that this authority is only for those who are sons of the Son of man, Jesus Christ. Both the first Adam and the last Adam were given this authority. Yes, Adam received authority over the works of God’s Hands, but also Adam’s seed would have received this authority if Adam had not fallen into sin. Since our Lord Jesus didn’t fall into sin, He was able to pass on this authority to those who believe.

It is very important to believe that you have this authority, but also that you renew your mind with the Word of God so that you know how to use this authority properly. Of course, it is the Word of God that gives you faith to exercise this authority. We are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), so we are here to exercise this authority, not for us, but for Him, according to His purposes. Many people want to take faith and the power of the Word to indulge their flesh because that’s what they’re interested in, but God is not. We are here to lose our lives in this world and “God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Php.4:19). But this is not for the satisfying of our lusts, since God wants our lusts to die.

(Heb.2:8) Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. We don’t yet see this, but we are coming to the time when God’s people will stand as sons of God and manifest His power. The Word of God will be living in their hearts and that Word is Jesus Christ. He will be doing the works through them. As you put the Word of God in your heart and come into agreement with the Word, it is “Christ in you” that does the works (Colossians 1:27). It is “Christ in you” that lives the Christian life, and so on and so forth. We know this is true, based on what Jesus told us in the Scriptures. (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind (forbid) on earth shall be bound (forbidden) in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted) in heaven. That’s real authority. You probably won’t have faith to do something really strange; most people don’t. So it’s the faith that causes you to be able to exercise the authority. However, quite often, unless you believe that it is something that is God’s Will, you won’t have any faith for it. As you see, it’s not really dangerous for God to make statements like these, even though it may appear that way. Most people are not going to exercise faith in the Word, but the people who do will do it because the Word lives in them. If the Word lives in them, then it’s Jesus doing it, and if Jesus is doing it, then He’s doing it according to the Will of God. That’s the way it works. God has given us His authority.

I know that people say, “Well, that was only for the original apostles.” That doesn’t make any sense. (Mar.11:23) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. “Whosoever” shows that He wasn’t only talking to His disciples and apostles at that time, but that He was talking to all disciples because disciples are the only ones who will take Him seriously and recognize this authority as gift of faith. Again, Jesus was not only speaking to the apostles and disciples back in His time, but to anyone, from them to us, who believes he can have this authority.

Is this just a silly statement that no one will ever really take Him up on? No! There have been many people who have commanded their personal mountains and giants out of the way. Multitudes of people have exercised this authority over Satan, over the flesh, over their circumstances and over the curse. God is faithful to stand by His Word, not because we deserve it, but due to His mercy and grace. He has said, According to your faith be it done unto you (Mat.9:29) and Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee (8:13). “Whosoever” includes you and me and any other believer, so this authority has been put in our hands as sons of the last Adam, and not only given to those disciples in Jesus’ day, as some say.

(Mar.16:14) And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen. (15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. Jesus is referring to the disciples of the disciples. “Disciples” (Greek: mathetes, meaning “learner and follower”) are learners and followers of the Lord. He is our Master, our Lord, our Example, and He is the One Who does the works through us. (17) And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Now we see that these signs will accompany those who simply believe and not only great apostles. That is authority!

Jesus is giving authority to the people who believe these first disciples, or forefathers of Christianity, who wrote these pages to us. He has given us this authority to do good in the Name of the Lord. Do you suppose we have this authority also to do evil? Is Satan taking advantage of those who are exercising faith that is not according to the Word? Yes, he is, and he receives his authority from us. All principalities and powers have been put under Jesus (Matthew 28:18), even “his feet” and we are “his body” (Ephesians 1:20-23). We have this authority but it can be negative or positive. For example, when the Lord brought His people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they continued to speak negatively and exercise their faith in a negative way. Faith is just what you believe. You can believe what God has spoken to you or you can believe the things which you see in the world, but Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Mat.9:29). Faith is both negative and positive. Even fear is faith; however, it’s faith in the curse, or faith in reverse – having faith in adverse circumstances and in the devil. The absolute proof in the world is that what people believe happens to them. Doctors say that approximately 90% and higher of sicknesses are psychosomatic (Greek: psuche, meaning “soul” and soma, meaning “body”). This implies “soul over body” and your soul is your mind, will and emotions. Therefore, your mind, will and emotions are making your body sick.

Can I say the doctors are wrong in stating that 90% and higher of sicknesses are psychosomatic? Yes, I can because that number is 100%. What makes people sick is what they believe. In fact, what you believe can kill you. As we saw in Matthew 18:18, you are the one who binds and who looses, and you are the one who creates your own future. You are the one who gives authority to the devil or gives authority unto God. Jesus needed authority but when He went to His hometown, “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (13:58). They had authority to say no to God and they did; they did not believe in Jesus and His Gospel. They believed in the sickness and the curse and they spoke it. We can believe in the blessings of God and speak the blessings or we can believe in the curse and speak the curse. We will have what we believe because that’s the Word of God. (Num.14:28) Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: (29) your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, that have murmured against me. They complained to the Lord that they were brought out into the wilderness to die and the Lord heard this too many times. The Lord basically gave them what they said. The Lord still does this today and the Bible declares that He does.

One of the fruits of a believer is that they believe in their heart and confess with their mouth (Romans 10:10). There are many people who profess to be believers, yet don’t confess their benefits in Christ, so God says what you say is what you will receive. (21:5) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. What is “against God”? It’s when God has spoken these awesome promises and we think we know better and continue to agree with the curse. For example, the 10 spies who spoke and agreed with the curse and brought the bad report led to the threats made by God to those who believed those spies. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who brought the good report, in agreement with God’s promises. So, speaking against God can be more subtle than what people might think. When God says you’re healed and you say you’re not, then you will remain sick. When God says He’s taken away your sins but you confess what you see and feel in the world, you are speaking against God. (6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Once again, what they spoke is what they got.

I believe the fiery serpents represent the curse. The cure for this was that God commanded Moses to make a “fiery serpent” out of brass and put it on a pole, and as people got their eyes on the serpent on the pole, they were healed (verse 8). As we know, the cure was Jesus Christ, since He was the One made sin and was crucified on a cross. So we have a cure from the curse but we must confess God to receive this cure. Those who profess Christianity but do not confess the benefits of the Kingdom, so that the curse, which was put upon Jesus, doesn’t come on them, cannot gain the promises in Scripture without faith in those promises. Or, in other words, what we profess must be mixed with faith. (7) And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. When people pray, God is merciful, especially if they believe their prayers.

But do you have to continue to live under the curse? Is it necessary, when you can agree with God, to have the “fiery serpents” bite you? These serpents are the curse manifested in so many ways. The serpent is, obviously, also the devil, who is a vessel of dishonor that administers the curse on God’s people, especially when they don’t believe the benefits of God. Jesus told us, “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Mat.9:29) and “Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee” (8:13). You can speak things into coming to pass. If you speak life, you receive life; if you speak death, you receive death. It depends on what you have your faith in. If your faith is in agreement with God’s benefits, then you receive those benefits. If you agree with what is in the world, then you don’t receive God’s benefits and have loosed the devil; you have loosed emissaries to continue to administer the curse on you. Many people are learning this and experiencing what I’m saying. This is nothing new but is the same Gospel which is from the beginning. We have to have a renewed mind so that we understand what to believe and what we should speak.

Faith can be both positive and negative. (Pro.18:20) A man’s belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied. Would you like your needs to be met because of what you say? We would like our lips to come into agreement with the Word of God and learn more and more to walk in His benefits by confessing Him before men. Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession” (Heb.3:1) and He offers that confession before the Father. As we confess Him before men, He confesses us before the Father (Matthew 10:32). The word “confess” (Greek: homologeo) means “to speak the same as.” There should be an increase in our lips; that is, we should learn more and more to agree with His benefits so we don’t have to continue to live under the curses of this world and give the devil authority over us. The devil is motivating many people to turn to God because he doesn’t understand this verse: (Mat.12:25) Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: (26) and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? The thing that he does is just what we need, which is chastening, so we can repent, turn to God and agree with His Word and speak those things that are beneficial. If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth the curse, then that’s just what we’ll have. But if we believe in our heart and confess the Gospel, the Good News, then that’s what we’ll receive.

(Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. I remember back in Louisiana, where I came from, there was a church which had a minister who was preaching about death and how it was not to be feared. I know the church and its circumstances; the minister was actually going to show them how simple it was to die. He pulled up a chair, sat down and said it was as simple as going to sleep. He nodded his head and stayed like that for a while, until the pastor got nervous and went up to touch him on his shoulder, and then shook him. He was gone. He talked himself right off of this earth. There are some people who talk themselves right into the grave. Many people die before their time because their faith is to die; their faith is to be cursed and to receive the things that are around them. Their faith is not in what the Lord Jesus has given to them freely. Truly, “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” This is God’s Word and nothing is being taken away or being added to it. We need to agree with God’s benefits to have them and God will supply your every need to do His Will, if you learn to agree with Him.

The tongue doesn’t speak on its own. It gets its direction from your thoughts and the words that are in your mind. We need to watch our tongue so we can correct our mind. That’s one reason the Lord is telling us to be careful with what we say because when we are careful, we are correcting our thoughts. (Mat.12:34) Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. If we want to speak good things, we need to put good things in our hearts and reject the other things that are there. I am sure that your mouth has spoken things that have slipped out, that you wish you hadn’t said. It’s an automatic thing with some people, but we need to slow down and give the Lord time to correct our thinking. Good people speak good things and bad people speak bad things. In some ways, we are both since we are both son of man and son of God, but we also have authority over that part of us which is still man. The Son of God in us has authority over that man. As the outer man decays, the inner man is renewed day-by-day (2 Corinthians 4:16). That spiritual man is taking over as we walk by faith and believe more and more of the Word of God and, as we do, more and more of Jesus Himself is being manifested in us and He is taking more and more ground from the enemy.

(35) The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Those who get this revelation about the tongue spend much time talking about the tongue, but we must really begin with the heart. We have to repent – change our mind – and believe what the Bible says. Changing your mind and repenting is renewing your mind with what the Word says and agreeing with what it says, but we must do it enough so that it overcomes our natural thinking. Our natural thinking is killing us and all those whose tongues are connected to their natural man. (36) And I say unto you, that every idle (Greek: argos, meaning “unfruitful, barren”) word that men shall speak, they shall give account of in the day of judgment. The Lord obviously wants His Word to bear fruit in us, but there are many words that are unfruitful and don’t bear the fruit of Christ in us. Every idle word will bring judgment upon you. The day of judgment is not that day down the road, the corporate judgment, but it is the day of judgment that you come into. Your idle words, unfruitful or vain, will bring you into judgment. Many people have spoken the curse upon themselves, like the Israelites did. They confessed continuously that they would die in the wilderness and it happened.

(37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. The words that justify are those words spoken in agreement with God. They are words confessing Jesus before God and men, saying what He said and agreeing with what He has taught us in the Word and also by what He put in the disciples to teach us in the Word. We are accounted righteous, or justified, if we agree with God. But if we don’t agree, we fall under judgment, for “by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” If you disagree with God’s Word, it’s like calling Him a liar. God told the Israelites that He was going to bring them to the Promised Land and they basically claimed that God was a liar and that He brought them to the wilderness to die. They spoke it from their mouth and He finally said, “as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you.”

There are a lot of people who don’t make it through the wilderness – what we call the “world” today. (Hos.4:6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…. They agree with the curse and they receive the curse. It’s what they believe; it is their faith. There are people who feel very self-righteous in believing the curse. They believe they are too humble to be presuming upon God’s goodness to believe what God says is true of them. That’s not humility; that’s foolishness. Those people will receive exactly what they believe. We want to be justified, or accounted righteous, before God.

(Pro.23:7) For as he thinketh within himself, so is he…. (Luk.6:45) The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil [man] out of the evil [treasure] bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. There is a spring welling up out of every individual and some of those waters are good. The Bible speaks of water as the Word (Ephesians 5:26). The dragon also sent forth a stream of water to take away the woman (Revelation 12:15). So, the dragon also has words that he uses to deceive God’s people and the people of the world with. (Joh.7:37) Now on the last day, the great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. We are to drink waters, or words. (6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. The Lord has given us supernatural words that are the promises or benefits that have been given in the Scripture. They are spirit and life. He tells us to drink of these words, which are spirit and life; it’s His water that He gives unto us. (7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet [given]; because Jesus was not yet glorified. The Scriptures are the words of life, from which the spring comes, and they who believe have them down in their heart and in their thoughts.

The Spirit of God brings to our remembrance all things that He has said unto us (John 14:26). Many people have received this anointing whereby the Word of God, these words of life, come gushing forth out of their innermost being. They come forth out of us to meet the situations around us, so that we may share the Gospel with the lost and those speaking against their own life and to exercise authority. So out of you is flowing this river of living water. It’s God’s plan; He wants us to put the Word inside of us. He wants us to not deny any of the Word. He wants us to be justified, or accounted righteous, because of the words that are coming out of us, which will deliver us from destruction. When God is seated upon the throne of your heart, where all of your thoughts and words come from, then you have this river of living water. (Rev.22:1) And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, (2) in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve [manner] of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. In the previous chapter, John speaks about the throne of God in the Temple of God. Where is the Temple of God? We are the Temple of God. God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands anymore (2 Corinthians 6:16; Acts 17:24). His Throne is in our heart. This “river of water” is coming up across the “tree of life” and coming forth to heal the nations. This is what Jesus did and that’s what He called us to do: Let that river of living water, the words of Almighty God, come forth out of us and bring life to everything around us.

The “tree of life” is the tongue: (Pro.15:1) A soft answer turneth away wrath; But a grievous word stirreth up anger. (2) The tongue of the wise uttereth knowledge aright; But the mouth of fools poureth out folly. We know that there is negative knowledge, called worldly wisdom, that the world passes on to everyone. Of course, if we don’t have this worldly wisdom, we’re on the outside looking in and the people around us may think we’re crazy. And when we confess God’s blessings before they are seen, the odds are good that people will look at us like we’re crazy. But God will not let us make fools out of ourselves because when we step out by faith in Him, He manifests His goodness. (3) The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch upon the evil and the good. What doesn’t come out of your mouth and is not in your actions, He still sees. Not one hair on your head, or one sparrow, falls to the ground without Him knowing (Matthew 10:29,30). Nothing gets by Him and when we proclaim that we are now disciples of Christ, we are walking that crucified life. We’re giving up who we were and taking on what He is, and He expects us to do this. However, it is He Who does it in us and we can trust in Him, since it is by grace. (4) A gentle (Hebrew: marpe, meaning “healing”) tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit. Devastation and destruction come from a perverse tongue speaking against God. I would assume an overwhelming majority of what we call Christianity speaks against God every day and thinks nothing of it. They are speaking against His benefits, which we must receive by faith. So we do what God does: we “calleth the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17) and we agree with God, even though we don’t see it. This is God’s method of bringing the promises off of the page and into God’s physical creation. He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places]” (Eph.1:3); but when we confess, it becomes ours in these physical places around us. And so, this river of living water should be coming over our tongue to give healing to the nations, just like it did with Jesus. It’s sad to say that sometimes it’s the old man talking and the river is a polluted river. Of course, we don’t want what the curse brings upon us; we want the benefits of the Kingdom. There is only one way to get these benefits and that is to believe in your heart, where that spring comes from, and to confess with your mouth as that river of living water passes over your tongue to your situations, to the world, to your body, to your children and so on and so forth. This is how it comes to pass.

We see that the opposite can also come to pass. (Jas.3:10) Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter? (12) can a fig tree, my brethren yield olives, or a vine figs? neither [can] salt water yield sweet. Many times the problem with our mouth is that a mixture of blessings and curses are coming forth. But with the increase of the lips, we should be growing with the knowledge of God in our heart, speaking and agreeing with this knowledge and denying those things that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God by casting them down (2 Corinthians 10:5). We grow into confessing God’s Word and into righteousness because He imputes righteousness when we agree with His Word. We should be growing into the sweet water, the river of living water coming up from us, and not a mixture of blessing and cursing.

(5) So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! People think that the things that they say are insignificant and that they don’t count. Not so before God and, I might say, not so before the devil because he gets his authority from you. Remember, the devil doesn’t have authority, except what we give him. Jesus said that “all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth” (Mat.28:18). And He put that authority under His feet and gave Himself to be the Head of the Body, the Church. (Eph.1:20) Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly [places], (21) far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (22) and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, (23) which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Who has the authority? Every principality and power has been put under the feet of Jesus, which is the lowest member of His “body,” so we have the authority. The devil has to get us to give him authority and, of course, he works constantly to sow the seed of the world into our hearts. That is what a harlot is – a person who receives the seed of the world in their heart, rather than the seed of the Kingdom.

(Jas.5:6) And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. The tongue defiles the body when our faith is in what we are told by the world and by the devil; therefore, it is what we believe and what comes out of our mouth that defiles the body. The “wheel of nature” or, as otherwise interpreted, “cycle of life,” is sowing and reaping. You speak things that are a curse and cursing comes upon you. You speak things that are a blessing and a blessing comes upon you. There is a cycle that tends to be upward and a cycle that tends to be downward.

(7) For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind: (8) but the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil, [it is] full of deadly poison. When one disagrees with the Word of God, it is a “deadly poison” and no man can tame the tongue, but the Lord can. The Lord has tamed the tongue and will tame the tongue. (Mat.15:11) Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man. It is what we say that defiles us and not what we eat; therefore, the curse comes because you agree with it and believe in it. However, when we believe the Word of God and the benefits of the Kingdom, we are accounted righteous and we are no longer under the curse because Jesus became a curse for us. Therefore, it’s what you believe and what you say that keeps you, as a Christian, under the curse or in God’s blessings. (18) But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings. The spring comes forth from us. For instance, the germs around us do not defile us because we have to give the devil, or the curse, authority; however, the Scriptures say that they have no authority over us because Jesus has already overcome the world and He has borne the curse. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Everything that you consider detrimental to your life in this world, both physically and mentally, as well as emotionally, are all considered the curse, but Jesus bore the curse upon Himself so we could be free. But to walk in this freedom, we need to confess Him before men and agree with His Word. He asked, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luk.6:46). He was our example and, if we are a disciple, we are a learner and a follower of Him. We study Him in order to know what we should say, do and so on. People are defiled by what comes out of their heart, out of their thoughts, in words and over their tongue. They are made unclean and are cursed but God has a cure. We discussed the serpent on the pole, which represents Jesus Christ, Who gave His life for us, so we can see that Jesus is the cure. (Exo.15:22) And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. (23) And when they came to Marah (Hebrew: “bitterness”), they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. (24) And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? (25) And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. Remember what water is; God likes to hide parables in His Word and there is one in here. We read about the bitter and sweet waters, which represent thoughts and words coming out of your heart and over your tongue to the world around you. In this Scripture, the people murmured, or spoke, against Moses, who was led by God. So, in essence, they spoke against God.

We have this miserable problem. We say things because of our old nature and they’re out before we can bring them back. We need a sacrifice because we need some way to conquer this tongue, since man cannot conquer it. The tree represents the Cross. What Jesus did was to make reconciliation. He gave us deliverance from this tongue, from this curse and from this old life. So now we reckon the old man to be dead and the new man to be alive, on account of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. He gave us death, burial and resurrection. Now we understand that the first thing that we need to do to turn our tongues around is to repent – change our mind – and agree with what the Word is saying about our circumstances, our families and those we have authority over, and to speak accordingly. The Bible tells un in Romans 12:1 that we present our bodies as living sacrifices, so we take part in the Cross, as well. Exodus continues and says that He went on to give them healing and health from that Cross. (26) And he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statues, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Testimony

Zachary Sims’ Miracle

Jack “Poppy” Sims - 11/22/07

Here’s an outstanding miracle about our grandson. Jane and I were invited by Rebecca, our daughter-in-law, to her grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving. After we ate, we sat and visited. Most of the children and young adults were outside. Then the devil struck. One of Rebecca’s aunts called to Rebecca and said, “You had better come; Zachary is hurt.” This had not been a good year for Zachary, as far as attacks from the devil. He was attacked two times on separate occasions by two different dogs and had to go to the emergency room on the second attack.

Rebecca ran outside to where Zach was screaming, with Jane and myself right behind her. Zach is eight years old. The older boys had been roughhousing and Zach was right in the middle of them. Zach ran by his uncle, John, who was squatted down. John reached out and grabbed Zach around his legs. The momentum of Zach running spun John around and Zach was being swung parallel to the ground right into the end of a boat trailer hitch, with his right eye making contact with the round part of the hitch where the ball goes. Zach later said that it felt like his eye got “knocked to the back” of his head.

When we got to him, he had both hands over his right eye and, like I said earlier, he was screaming and screaming. Normally, this would be panic time and time to go to the emergency room. But God had other plans to show His glory. There was no hesitation. Rebecca grabbed Zach and headed for the house. We were right behind her. Rebecca and Jane began to pray in tongues.

I had a great peace come over me. I knew God was fixing to put this in our lap. Rebecca went straight to the bathroom and sat down with Zach in her lap. He was still screaming and had both hands clamped down over his right eye. Jane and Rebecca were still praying in tongues. Betsy, Rebecca’s mother, came and joined us. I stood over Zach with my hand on his head and began to rebuke the spirit of pain because pain can be a demon spirit.

At this point, Zach said, “I’m going to be blind.” We all said, “Don’t say that; you are not going to be blind.” Then he said, “I’m not going to the emergency room.” We told him, “You’re not going to the emergency room.” Then God said, “Give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.” I began to thank the Lord for the situation and He said, “Now, ask what you want. John 14:14.” Zach was beginning to calm down. I said, “Lord, I want that eye to be perfect, just like the other one.” The devil immediately said to me, “You know that anyone who gets hit around the eye always has a black eye.” I said, “God, and no black eye.” Zach totally stopped crying and began to smile real big. Rebecca was able to get him to move his hands. That was the most beautiful face I had ever seen. Everything was perfect. God showed His glory this day. From start to finish was less than 10 minutes.

We came out of the bathroom praising God. There were about 30 people present and we were the only Christians. From what I remember, they were quiet and we were making all the noise. Jane and I had to leave at this point. As we watched Zach over the next two weeks, we never saw any sign of a black eye, any bruises or redness of any kind. Every time Jane and I think about or talk about this miracle, it just blows our mind. It shouldn’t but it does. You just had to be there to see how awesome our Mighty God is. We know that the devil came to steal, kill and destroy, but God gave us an abundant blessing this day. We give God all the glory for this outstanding miracle.

“It is words that bring us into judgment, but it’s the righteous words that are in agreement with God that cause us to prevail when we come into judgment.”

CHAPTER TWO

Agreeing With God

Up to this point, we have discovered that coming out of the heart of man is a spring and its waters can be bitter or sweet. We also discovered that the sweet waters are the words we speak in agreement with the Word of God and are a blessing to the people around us. They are a healing to the nations and they spring forth out of our thoughts and hearts, and over our tongues to become words of life. Lastly, we learned that if we want to bring our tongue into submission, we must first repent – change our mind – and agree with the Word of God. In other words, we must ‘reprogram our computer.’

(Mat.12:36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. In this Scripture, the Greek word for “idle” means “barren or unfruitful.” It is also used in James 2:20, which states that faith apart from works is barren. What is the fruitful work of one who believes? The most important work of one who believes is what they say. (Jas.2:18) … I by my works will show thee [my] faith. There are people who say they have faith, but their works don’t agree with this. That is not impressive to God, it doesn’t save and it won’t deliver. Remember, we give account in a day of judgment because of those idle, or unfruitful, words that don’t bear the fruit of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.1:27). (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified (“accounted righteous”), and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. This should make us fear the Lord because God is telling us that what we say is very important and He will hold us accountable for our words. In some cases, if we are paying attention to what we are saying, as we read the Scriptures, we become aware that we are speaking contrary to what God is saying. We must understand that this contrariness is coming out of our heart and that we need to repent. Watching your tongue is watching your heart because your heart is where it’s coming from. (Rom.3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. It is words that bring us into judgment, but it’s righteous words that are in agreement with God that cause us to prevail when we come into judgment because they justify us. These things should make us fear the Lord, depart from evil and train our lips.

(Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. This can be just your death and life or the death and life of the people around you, as we saw in the last chapter. The tongue can bear either fruit unto death or fruit unto life. We are all going to prove whether we love death or whether we love life. We are going to eat the fruit of the one that we love. If you love life, you will obviously pay very close attention to what you say and you will begin to train your tongue to come into agreement with the Word of God. Our minds are like computers; they need to be programmed so that what we see on the monitor reflects something that is beneficial and a blessing. A computer by itself is worthless without a monitor. Basically, God is saying that the monitor is the tongue. It reflects what is inside the programming. If you say that you’re a believer and everything you say is contrary to what God says, then that’s a lie. We need to reprogram this computer so what comes out of our mouth is the Word of the Lord and is effectual in changing us and the world around us. The Bible says the tongue is like a rudder that is able to turn the whole body (James 3:4-8). It’s a very powerful tool that God has given us.

(Rom.12:1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service. Obviously, we came here to die, just as our Lord Jesus did. It’s not necessarily physical, but it is spiritual, the death of the old man. It’s the death of the old tongue, too. That old tongue is a very destructive, powerful force that burns down great forests, according to James 3:5. (2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We must spend time in the Word of God so we can program it into our hearts and we have to put it in there often enough so that it begins to overcome what is already there. Some people touch the Word of God once or twice a week, but they don’t really put it in their hearts and minds enough to empower them to overcome and to bring it back to their remembrance. Wouldn’t you like to show forth what the perfect Will of God is in your life? It’s not going to happen without renewing your mind. You will never walk in perfection without the renewing of your mind.

According to James, it’s not just the mind, but what comes out of the mind that matters. In other words, it’s not just the computer but the monitor as well. (Jas.3:2) For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. We have just discovered in Romans 12 that if we transform our mind, we will prove what the perfect Will of God is in our life. We walk in the perfect Will of God because we reprogram our computer, but James is telling us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17,26). Many people worry how they’re going to bridle this body or how they’ll bring it under submission to the Lord. If you’re worrying about that, then you don’t really have the Gospel down in your heart because the Lord has already taken care of it for you. All we need to do is exercise faith in what He has already done. (3) Now if we put the horses’ bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. If you have ever ridden horses, it’s amazing what that bit will do to make that horse turn. This great big horse is under the control of a little man. God is saying the tongue will do the same thing with your life. (4) Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth. (5) So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! How do we steer this vessel with the tongue? First, we need the will to do this. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). The Lord sets us free by giving us His Will.

Nothing can restrain God’s Will. He does what He wants to in the armies of Heaven and upon the earth (Daniel 4:35). We are frustrated because we have a schizophrenic will. His Will is fighting in us against our will, but as we walk by faith, He works in us both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Php.2:13). Then, when in this way His Will has overcome ours, we are free to do what we like to do. Then His Will in us will steer the body with the tongue. When we hear ourselves speaking words that do not line up with the Scriptures, we can back up and say, “No, I don’t like what I said there. I don’t accept that, Lord. Forgive me. I’m going to agree with your Word.” (Rom.3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. Now, folks, we are about to come into judgment and some of you are in it and don’t even know it. And God is saying that the most important tool is a renewed mind speaking out of your mouth the Word of God. That’s the powerful tool that you have. Jesus and His disciples turned the world upside down with the things that they said (Acts 17:6). The things that they said, they commanded; and the things that they said agreed with the Word of God and brought repentance and deliverance. We have to change our mind and we must be careful about what we put in our computer.

We must be anxious for nothing and let our prayers and requests be made known unto God with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). Paul tells us something about being at peace with what we put in our mind and what we program our computer with. (Php.4:8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Everything we put in our mind is still there but recall is the problem. We don’t want to be polluted by the things of the world. We want to put things in our mind that will cause us to think and speak properly in agreement with the Word of God. We don’t want a leaven that leavens the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). We don’t want to fill up our minds with the television, the things of the world and the love of the world. We want to fill up our minds with the Word of God, fulfilling His Will and walking as a disciple. He tells us to think on the good things, not the bad news, not the conspiracies, not studying the false doctrines. The Gospel is the Good News and “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom.1:16). Paul tells us that “I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple unto that which is evil” (16:19). In other words, stop studying the evil in the world and start studying the good because when you sow the Word into your heart, it brings forth Jesus Christ. That’s why we are told to “think on these things.” These things have the power to bring forth Christ in you and Christ in you can take care of evil so it will no longer be a problem or temptation for us. Christ within you cannot be tempted with evil. It’s the old man that can be tempted by evil; that’s the part that needs to die. So think on the good things, the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and the things of good report.

(Php.4:9) The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you. We have been given awesome examples, not only in Jesus, but in the apostle Paul and many others. They’ve gone out before us, filled with the Word of God, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. It’s a death experience of self, but it’s a resurrection experience of Jesus Christ living in us. He wants to use our tongue to do the same thing that the tongue of His first body did, which brought deliverance and blessing to the world. It turned not only the body but everything around them. In order to do that, we have to fight this warfare that we’re called to fight. He tells us that this warfare is not of the flesh. (2Co.10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (4) (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds). One of those weapons, the most important one, is the tongue. When you agree with the Word of God, you are accounted righteous. Then you are entitled to the benefits of the Kingdom. One of the benefits is the reconciliation, which is the exchange between you and the Cross. God has taken away your sins, your sinful life and your sinful tongue and has nailed them on the Cross. He has taken the righteousness of Jesus Christ and has given it to you. Now He’s given this to you as a benefit but, in order for you to receive this benefit, you must be accounted righteous. That’s why you speak what the Bible says about you. For instance, you were crucified with Christ and it’s no longer you who lives, but Christ Who lives in you (Galatians 2:20). Can you confess that? You might think that people may think you are proud but it makes no difference. This is what the apostle Paul taught us to believe, think and speak. We don’t live anymore; Christ lives in us. That’s the Good News, which is “the power of God unto salvation,” but if it doesn’t come out of our mouth, it’s not going to work. We have to agree with the Word and refuse to say anything that is contrary to the Word. There is no fruit in speaking contrary to the Scriptures; they are “idle” words.

(5) Casting down imaginations (Greek: logismos, meaning “reasoning”), and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The more we are able to do this, the more we’ll be able to speak good things. The more we speak good things, the more our heart is going to change. Remember, the tongue has the power to turn the whole body (James 3:2,3). If we agree with the Gospel, we’re entitled to the benefits. If we’re entitled to the benefits, Christ’s life is our life. His life in us can discern and judge correctly. (6) And being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full. Don’t worry about this. Leave that until Christ is manifested in you. He’ll take care of it. He can judge and we can’t. So we need to rest and trust in Him. We need to renew our mind so that our mouth will say good things. At the same time, we need to study the Word and begin to say these things because our “tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Psa.45:1). We can write the Word of God upon our hearts. We can speak these things down into our hearts so that they come out of us naturally and they will turn our vessels like a rudder turns a ship (James 3:4).

(Pro.4:20) My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Obviously, we have to pull away from the world, if the Word of God is going to be important to us. If the world is more important, God knows it and it will be proven by what we say. (21) Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. Think on them, meditate on them. We know that we love the Word when we wake up in the morning and the first thing we think about is God. (22) For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. If we want life, we must devote ourselves to the Word of God. Put aside everything else that is a distraction. The Bible says that He sent His Word and it healed them (Psalm 107:20). The Word of God is health; it will deliver us from the curse of this world. (23) Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. There it is again. Out of your heart are the issues of your own life. In other words, be careful what you put into your heart because what you’re putting in is what’s coming out. (24) Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee. Put away a mouth that is “out of the way” or not in “the Way.” The Book of Acts called it “the Way” (Act.9:2). We are to follow Christ in the Way that He has said to follow Him. His very life is our example, for He said, “I am the way” (Joh.14:6). (Pro.4:25) Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. (26) Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established. In many ways, we go somewhere with our eyes before we go with our feet. If we have wayward eyes, we will have wayward feet. Eyes are windows to the heart, which rules our feet. (27) Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: Remove thy foot from evil.

(5:1) My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding: (2) That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge. We need to be careful to agree with God. The High Priest of our confession is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1). “Confession” comes from the Greek word homologeo, meaning “speaking the same as.” He offers our confession before the Father (Matthew 10:32). It is very important that you are confessed before the Father. If you “speak the same as” Jesus, He’s going to speak that to the Father and the Father will deliver the benefits that are needed.

We may say things that are acceptable to the world but rejected by the Kingdom. (3) For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil. In this verse, He is talking about the Harlot. Some of you know about the Harlot because you have come out of harlot churches. “The lips of a strange woman” are sweet to the flesh but not to the spirit. When we find God’s words, they’re sweet in our mouth but bitter in our belly (Revelation 10:9). The flesh doesn’t like God’s Word. Let not God speak with us, lest we die (Exo.20:19), was what the Israelites said when they were at the foot of the mountain. When we receive His Word into us, the old life dies and that old harlot will die in us, too. (Pro.5:4) But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. (5) Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol. Apostate religion doesn’t lead us to anywhere but death; it’s a deception, a strong delusion.

We want to come out from among her (Revelation 18:4) and come into agreement with the Word of God, where God says we’re righteous. We need to be justified in our words and prepared to go into judgment because we are ready to conquer, not be conquered. We need to keep the lips of life, the words of life. Now we can go to God. You may lament, as Isaiah did, that you are a person with unclean lips and dwell in the midst of others with unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). Well, the Lord will help you. If this is important to you and you want to live a holy life, He’s listening, so pray. (Psa.141:3) Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips. “Lord, don’t let unclean things come out of my mouth.” You pray that and believe it. It’s all by grace and not by your works. We learned that “the tongue can no man tame” (Jas.3:8). It’s the Lord Who tames the tongue. First, you need to repent. You need to know that you need to agree with Him and in agreeing with Him, you can walk together with Him. (Amo.3:3) Shall two walk together, except they have agreed? The Lord is going to be with you in this; just agree with Him. It’s your faith; it’s not your works. King David understood that it’s by grace. He knew that he must trust in God to tame his heart because He’s the only one Who can. (Psa.141:4) Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness With men that work iniquity: And let me not eat of their dainties. David wanted a heart that was in agreement with the Word of God, so that what he said was in agreement with Him and, thus, he was doing His work.

Your heart teaches your mouth and your mouth gives grace to your heart. We are commanded to teach our mouth. (Pro.16:20) He that giveth heed unto the word shall find good; And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. (21) The wise in heart shall be called prudent; And the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. We see in Exodus 15 that when Moses and the children of Israel were going into the wilderness, they went to Marah (Hebrew: “bitterness”). They couldn’t drink the bitter water there because it was death to them; it was killing them. Think about that. The words coming out of their mouth are killing God’s people. (Mat.15:11) Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out the mouth, this defileth the man. It’s the spring that comes from out of man that is both blessing and cursing. (Jas.3:10) Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter? Out of the same mouth should not come forth sweet water and bitter. So “the sweetness of the lips” here is referring to the words transformed from a renewed mind and in obedience to the Word of God.

If you speak the Word of God, it will increase your life. (Pro.16:22) Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it…. How is that? It’s because what we understand comes out of our innermost being and flows right over our tongue. Jesus said, It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto your are spirit, and are life (Joh.6:63). (7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive … How is it that the Spirit gives us these living waters? Well, as Jesus said, “the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.” These words go into us and, as they do, the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance all things He said unto us (John 14:26) and brings them out of us. Many of you have felt that anointing to speak to people and it is really sweet when you are able to give them a good word, something that they need. It comes flowing out of you; it touches their heart and you are overjoyed by that. That’s that wellspring of life coming out of you and God has a lot more of that for us.

We need to instruct our mouth. (Pro.16:23) The heart of the wise instructeth his mouth, And addeth learning to his lips. It’s very important that we come into agreement with God. We need to train our mouth and we can get our friends, our mate or our children to help us do it. We need to help each other to say things that are in agreement with the Word of God. In Numbers 30, the Lord explains that a husband in authority can disallow, or not accept, rash utterances spoken out of a wife, so don’t be offended if someone helps you. Sometimes we make mistakes and we need to back up and say, “Lord, forgive me. I don’t want to talk that way. I want to agree with Your Word. I want to speak the blessing and not the curse.” (18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue…. It’s supernatural. When we speak the Word and “calleth the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17), we may be speaking something that we can’t see with our eyes, but our tongue has the power to bring it to pass. God hears our tongue and He hears that we are agreeing with Him and so He imparts grace. (Pro.16:24) Pleasant words are [as] a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Your life proceeds from your bones, from the bone marrow where your blood is made. Speak and agree that you are blessed, healed and delivered from the curse of the world, so God can bring it to pass. Your faith goes up to God through the “High Priest of our confession,” the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1). When we speak in faith, He offers this before the Father (Matthew 10:32). It’s our sacrifice. We are sacrificing the old life when we say these things because they are contrary to our old life and our human nature. Then the Lord Jesus will offer these words of faith before the Father and we will receive His grace for it to manifest.

(15:28) The heart of the righteous studieth to answer; But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. Study the Word to know how to answer people and how to agree with God in faith. People wonder how they can answer others when believing with God in faith that they’re healed and others can see that they are not. Remember what Jesus said: (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. “Confession” means to “speak the same as.” The Word says “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1Pe.2:24). Are you going to confess that? Are you going to confess that you believe God and that you trust His Word? Will you confess before men, “I’m not walking by sight; I’m going to accept His healing”? When people do that, they see miracles and power. And if you will do the same thing with your soul, if you will “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God” (Rom.6:11) and begin to speak it out of your mouth, God will give you grace. It’s not because you’re trusting in your power, but in His power. You’re coming into agreement with Him and you’re walking together with Him.

Many Christians are wicked. They do not agree with God and are contrary to His Word. They are calling God a liar every time they open their mouth. God is our Savior and He has already taken care of these things. He has delivered us, healed us and He has blessed us. He is our Savior in all things and He will protect us under the shadow of His Wings (Psalm 17:8).

Who are the righteous? The word “righteous” in the Hebrew is equivalent to the same word in the Greek for “justification.” (3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. The person who is righteous (justified) is determined to agree with God. We need the justification of the Lord to prevail in judgment. The person who is walking in the light, “as He is in the light” (1Jn.1:7), receives understanding from God. He wants to agree with the Word and speak it as much as God wants to hear it. The Lord doesn’t hold anything against us; rather, it is the words that we are speaking that are bringing us under the curse. Therefore, as we add understanding to our soul and learning to our lips, and as we begin to speak in agreement with what the Bible says, then we will come out from under the curse. That’s God’s plan.

We need to learn to be quiet in many instances until we can speak the Word of God. We’re far too impulsive. People who are ruled by their emotions are impulsive and often say things that they wish they hadn’t. Whenever this happens, we need to repent quickly before God teaches us a lesson. This takes practice. (Ecc.5:1) Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools (to speak impulsively): for they know not that they do evil. We know that we are the house of God and everywhere we go we need to keep our walk and our mouth humble. This is especially so in the midst of the brethren. It’s better to hear than speak “the sacrifice of fools,” which is speaking rashly out of your mouth. This also includes speaking of things that we don’t know about. Even Job, who was a perfect and upright man (Job 1:1,8) in the eyes of the Lord because he was justified by faith, spoke things he didn’t know about and repented “in dust and ashes” for the self-righteousness that was coming out his mouth (Job 42:1-6). It would be better if we would learn to be quiet and speak when spoken to by the Lord. (2) Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

God is an awesome Ruler and He doesn’t get the respect that He should get from us. (Pro.9:10) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…. I like to speak and teach the Word of God a lot because you can’t really improve on what the Lord has already said. Anybody who tries is probably getting into some bad areas. Let your words be few. Since God is on the Throne, He is sovereign and “a man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven” (Joh.3:27); and “He worketh all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph.1:11). We need to be careful of what we say in front of Him. We need to honor Him, humble ourselves and just keep the old flesh silent. You let the flesh talk and soon he thinks he has a right to, but he doesn’t have a right to talk since dead men can’t speak. Your flesh doesn’t have any rights in this world anymore. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin…. I remember what a brother told me years ago: “You take a dead man and slap him on the cheek, he turns the other way.” With the tongue, it should be the same thing: shut up and let the Word of the Lord come forth out of your spiritual man. (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Now, some people think that this is referring only to speaking “ugly” or speaking curses. Well, anytime we disagree with the Word of God, it’s a curse. Jesus said, if we aren’t for Him, then we are against Him (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). We are either in agreement with Him or we are not. There is no gray area. I’m not saying that we necessarily have to quote the Word of God but we should be in agreement with it. This is pleasing to our Father. Power is coming forth out of us when we are in agreement with the Word. This power is healing the sick, delivering, turning our heart and so on, but our words should be few.

(Pro.17:27) He that spareth his words hath knowledge; And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Learn to be quiet. You can’t hear anything when you’re talking. You want to listen to the Holy Spirit. He knows what’s going on around you and knows what’s there before you get there. We need to listen to Him. (28) Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; When he shutteth his lips, he is [esteemed as] prudent. This gives hope to each of us. God at least imputes some righteousness for being quiet! (10:19) In the multitude of words there wanteth not (no lack of) transgression; But he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely. In other words, if you talk a lot, there is a likelihood that you are doing a lot of sinning. A person who talks all the time because they just enjoy hearing themselves talk should be careful. (20) The tongue of the righteous is [as] choice silver: The heart of the wicked is little worth. The righteous choose what they’re going to say. Their words are valuable, like silver. (21) The lips of the righteous feed many; But the foolish die for lack of understanding. Spiritually and physically, our words are powerful. In the coming wilderness, we will see how spoken words are going to deliver to us everything that is needed and necessary for life.

The righteous are once again going to live by faith in the days to come because God is designing it that way. (29:20) Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Why is it that a person is hasty and speaks before he thinks? They’re ruled by their emotions and not ruled by the Spirit. People who are ruled by the Spirit are listening a lot. They want to know what God has to say and what He wants to say through them. They want to know what the Word of God has to say and they want to speak from the renewed mind. (21:23) Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue Keepeth his soul from troubles. We can ask the Lord to put a watch before our lips (Psalm 141:3) but, at the same time, we need to restrain words and thoughts that are of the world. When you get in among worldly people, if you are apt to join them in speaking in their worldly ways, the best thing to do is repent and separate yourself from them until you’ve broken that habit. And begin to get in the Word of God and train your lips; give knowledge to your lips. The trouble comes out of your mouth. You agree with the curse, you get the curse and give it to everyone around you. You agree with the blessing, you get and give the blessing to those around you.

We must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. (Jas.1:19) Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: (20) for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. If we will slow down and give up impulsiveness, we will have time for the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Our conscience will guide us if we are slow to speak. The impulsiveness does not come from a Spirit-led life, but comes from a fleshly-led life and from the impulsiveness of emotions. The Lord wants to wean us away from being ruled by emotions.

Sometimes God has to do things to stop us from speaking because He has an agenda that He wants accomplished. We are supposed to be His vessels through whom He speaks this agenda and, if we speak contrary to that, we can hinder it. I think that’s one reason Jesus put people out of the room when they spoke unbelief, so that He could perform a miracle. He didn’t want anyone speaking against it, nor did He want to give any credit to their foolish talk with this miracle. In the story in Luke, Zacharias, the priest, was promised a miraculous child, John the Baptist. The problem was Zacharias spoke against it. (Luk.1:18) And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. (19) And the angel answering said unto him I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. In other words, “Don’t you have any respect? They are the words of the Almighty God.” We should have some respect but Zacharias wasn’t having any respect. He was questioning whether the blessing would be fulfilled. The angel was in the presence of God when he had given him this blessing. (20) And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. The Lord had to shut him up. Zacharias was speaking a curse and he was going to hinder the blessing.

God stands behind His Word and when He says that what you say makes a difference, He means it. Not that you’re so great, but that He has given us authority on this earth to do these things. The Lord has delegated His authority and He’s not taking it back. Jesus came to show us how to do mighty works and people may think that He was an exception since He was the Son of God. (Joh.5:27) And he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. He was given this authority because He was Son of man. Why? Because God gave authority on earth to man. (Psa.8:4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? (6) Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands…. God has given authority on this earth to man and that’s why He wants to move through man, just as He moved through Jesus, the Son of man. Now, Jesus had authority to exercise judgment because He was the Son of man. The sons of God – those who, like Jesus, are manifesting their Sonship – exercise authority through the sons of man. Zacharias was given authority to execute judgment or blessing, depending on what came out of his mouth, but he didn’t believe and negative words came out of his mouth that were hindering God. How can man hinder God? It’s because God has given authority and He won’t take it back. However, sometimes He has to move people out of the way in order to do what He wants because they are just a hindrance. We want God to be able to speak through us these blessings, miracles, signs and wonders. Everything Jesus did He spoke before it came to pass and we do, too. We need to call “the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17); we need to speak them before they happen. Jesus wants to be able to do this through us but we can’t speak against what His Will is because, if we do it with our authority, something negative will come to pass. Sometimes the Lord has to move us out of the way and use someone else. Sometimes being moved out of the way isn’t pleasant; it wasn’t for Zacharias, since he lost his tongue for a while.

Testimony

My Son Was Healed of Autism

April Selenskikh

Our son was once autistic but is now healed by the power of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is our story:

The Bible that “by whose (Jesus’) stripes ye were healed” (1Pe.2:24) and “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases” (Psa.103:3). I learned through this experience that God’s Word is true, no matter what anyone says or even what you see. This trial of faith took almost three years, with many precious lessons learned along the way.

Autism is a neurological disability that strikes one out of 166 children in the U.S. From 2003 until the Lord healed him, my son was one of the afflicted. At the age of 20 months, he began to exhibit many of the tell-tale symptoms, including a speech delay, inappropriate play skills, social isolation, screaming fits and rigidity. Pictures from this time show a pale, unhappy-looking boy with dark circles under his eyes. In 2003, Alexander was given the diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delay-Non-Specified) – a form of autism. We diligently began a traditional course of treatment, including special education preschool, speech and occupational therapy and alternative therapies. Alexander was placed on a strict gluten-free/dairy-free diet, intensive vitamin supplementation and other nutritional treatments to help cleanse the body of heavy metal toxicity. The conflicting theories and treatments, not to mention enormous expense, made choosing a proper course of treatment very difficult. I remember crying out to the Lord in desperation and exhaustion. By His grace, we were given a scholarship to a respected treatment center but the Lord had an even better way in the Word: complete healing.

Between 2003 and 2006, three separate people prophesied that God was going to heal my son but my beliefs at the time did not permit me to believe their words. I had many ideas about healing that were a mix of my own experience and my beliefs at that time regarding healing were pray, pray, pray, hope it’s God’s Will for you to be healed (but are never sure) and then do everything possible by your own strength to effect healing. I also used to read “apologetics and discernment” blogs a lot and was very leery of anything that sounded like the ‘Word Faith’ or ‘Positive Confession.’ I was basically throwing out the baby with the bathwater, not having much foundation of what the Word actually says and promises.

By God’s grace, He brought me to the UBM website where I started reading testimonies and learning the Real Good News, that Jesus already provided healing at the Cross. I also learned about stepping out in faith and how big salvation is. I learned about Jesus taking the curse so that we don’t have to, if we are walking in Him. I began to search the Word, particularly the Gospels, to confirm whether healing and faith were really enough and for today. Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday and to-day, [yea] and forever (Heb.13:8). I found that the Word is clear: God is the same. For I, the Lord, I change not (Mal.3:6). I read in the Gospels that Jesus healed all who came to Him, believing, who were His people; it was as simple as that. That began a new revelation of the REAL FULL Gospel. And it is truly GOOD NEWS!!! Gradually, the Lord began delivering me of religious traditions, doctrines of men and my doubts.

Agreeing for healing on November 23, 2006:

On November 23, 2006, people prayed for Alexander during the online Bible study. I was praising God and given faith and great joy that my son was healed. I threw out my son’s extensive collection of nutritional supplements and stopped the gluten-free/dairy-free diet. When I gave Alexander bread and yogurt for the first time, I told him, “You can eat it now; Jesus made you better.” At first, he was worried. He asked, “This make me sick?” I said, “No, honey, Jesus made you better. “ My son literally leapt for joy and did a twirl of praise. He repeated over and over, “Jesus made me better!!!” And the food allergies were gone.

Acting on my faith:

When the trial of faith began for Alexander’s healing, I got a letter that we won a scholarship for an expensive autism therapy. It seemed to me that this was a test like with Abraham and Hagar. Was I going to wait for the Lord to fulfill His Word or seek healing by my own efforts? Several of the brethren also agreed that it was a test of faith and to hold on to the Word. I returned the scholarship with a note saying, “He is no longer autistic. God healed him.”

My Repentance:

The next season was long and trying. During this time, God revealed to me many areas of sin and disobedience, including submission to my husband, unforgiveness and having a judgmental and critical spirit. I also received a revelation of God’s grace and how big and wonderful it is. He showed me to give grace to unbelievers because without God’s grace to grant me repentance, I would be captive to sin and the same behaviors. I was also seized with an urgency to be sure I knew the real Jesus, not a Jesus concocted by various religious doctrines, my own interpretation and whatever else. Several dreams were given to people about people following false Jesuses and I took this very seriously.

The Lord also quickened the verse to me: (Isa.58:3) Wherefore have we fasted, [say they,] and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find [your own] pleasure … God also showed me verses in the Word that were basically saying I had served Him for my own pleasure. I had the feeling of being justified and even with an over-achieving competitiveness that was based not in love for Him but to obtain things for myself – a feeling of justification, friendship, belonging and achievement.

My husband said one day, “Our son is autistic.” I confessed, “No, he’s not; he’s healed.” I believe this was a test from God because on other occasions my husband would confess that our son was not autistic. Many doubts and fears assailed me during this time. It was a real warfare against my mind and emotions. I repented of unbelief and double-mindedness many times and asked the Lord to give me faith.

(Jas.1:5) But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (6) But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; (8) a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

Seeing the healing through the elders’ faith on May 2, 2008:

I continued to walk by faith for my son’s complete deliverance from autism but often it seemed that the symptoms would reappear. I was walking by sight and being conquered. On May 2, 2008 I sent a question to Brother Bill Rowe, at that time the moderator in the Unleavened Bread Bible Study online chat room, and mentioned waiting for my son’s healing to be fully manifest. He asked me a question that I knew was of the Lord: “Have you commanded the demons to leave, in Jesus’ Name?” “No,” I said. He then conferred with David who said that I should lay hands on my son and cast out all the demons, as there “may be legion.” While I was doing this, David was commanding the demons to come out in the Name of Jesus live on the UBBS program as the brethren on radio and Internet agreed with us. So that’s what happened. At that moment, the Lord gave me such joy and a peace. I was dancing, singing and praising Him in my living room! I was so excited I barely slept for the whole night. I learned later that Bill Rowe, who also happens to be an elder, had a vision of demons leaving my son as he drove home that night!

The next morning I saw dramatic improvements:

- BIG improvements in language. He was using complete sentences with proper syntax.

- BIG improvement in mood. His expression was happy and clear.

- Social skills: He was very cheerful and plays cooperatively with his siblings. He was engaged in appropriate play, including pretend play, reading and coloring. He showed me things that he was doing and asked me to participate with him.

- Self-help: No more potty accidents. I had been potty training him for two years with many, many accidents.

- Got dressed by himself.

- Food intolerances to dairy and gluten were gone.

- Temper tantrums were gone. Rage was gone. We began trying new foods.

- In addition, he read, wrote and cut with scissors well. He liked to ride his bike with his brother Jonah and was learning to hit a tennis ball with his dad. I did not have to make any adjustment for his learning style or character. He would clean up and participate with chores when asked. He was obedient to his parents.

Tempted to Walk by Sight:

After that manifestation of healing came a long season where the symptoms were present and I was responding to them in my thoughts and actions, in essence agreeing with them. I was walking by sight, even though I desired to walk in faith and rest. After about a year of this, I sent in the following prayer request and confessed my unbelief and double-mindedness, asking for prayer. I did not want to confess the failure but felt convicted that I needed the prayers of the saints in order to overcome. (5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

Failure Brings Repentance - Email to UBM - June 25, 2009

For a time there was clear manifest healing, but then the manifestations reappeared. This was due to unbelief on my part. I would not have called it “unbelief” then, but I did not have a foundation to understand that walking by faith “calleth the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17) and being righteous in God’s sight by faith. By God’s grace, He has been leading me out of legalism and religious ideas that made it hard for me to believe. I can see now that I was not understanding nor believing the Gospel and I praise Him for teaching me this through much failure. Self-righteousness and religious zeal would not be allowed to gain glory – only biblical faith which I did not have.

I also fell in the trap of legalism and condemnation, feeling that the Lord would only fully manifest the healing if I was perfect in what I knew of the New Testament. Praying for a revelation of grace and learning that he reckons us righteous by faith (Romans 4:5) before we manifest it gave me understanding to cast down those lies. The Lord also gave me a dream in May 2009 which showed me that I was accepting things in my son which are not the promise but a false fruit. So, by His grace, I am repenting of that to only accept complete healing.

Healing Received on August 25, 2009:

By God’s grace, the healing is NOW truly manifest!!! Many have witnessed this. The Lord did a great work in my heart in overcoming unbelief and putting faith and the rest that comes with it in me. I have been confessing his healing, most recently at a supermarket to a mom who was there with an autistic child. After a recent visit to a fellowship with other believers, I believe the Lord really showed me authority in prayer, entering into the rest by faith, what belief looks like and what unbelief looks like – as I had been asking Him. By His amazing grace, my son has been saved to the uttermost. We now have new child in the home, Alexander – free of autism! Alexander is a loving, compassionate almost eight-year-old boy. He is very sensitive to others’ feelings, affectionate and a leader among his three precious siblings. He is gifted in art and writing. He loves to play and make new friends. I thank the Father, through Jesus Christ, for the clear, happy expression on his face and eyes, the understanding I now see in his eyes. He can make “in-jokes” with me and is a good communicator. He is very, very blessed and so are we. He’s a very happy child, now that autism has been removed from his life.

I think back to a dream that the Lord first gave me when the trial of faith first began. In the dream, I went through stages – things that the Lord led me through and was overcoming in me, in order to receive this healing. Overcoming unbelief, legalism, self-righteousness and doubt are the things in me that needed to be overcome by the Word of God and His promises. I thank Him for His amazing grace and mercy to our family and the blessings purchased for us by Jesus Christ. After falling so many times and then growing in faith, I thank the Lord for His mercy toward me and for putting faith into my heart as I heard more and more of His Word. May this testimony give glory to Him and edify and encourage those who read it. Autism and unbelief are under the feet of Jesus Christ. Praise be to God!

“There is literally a court going on that has to do with our words being judged.”

CHAPTER THREE

The Courtroom of Heaven

We thank the Father for putting a watch over our lips. (Jas.3:8) But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil…. It is very destructive and the foolish destroy their own life with their tongue. (Ecc.5:1) Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. (2) Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. We need to be careful before God because we’re always before the court of Heaven. There is literally a court going on that has to do with our words being judged.

So what exactly is it that our words reveal? (Mat.12:34) … Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Our words give proof of our heart. We’re in the midst of court and we’re being judged according to our words. (36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. “Idle words” can also be translated as “unfruitful words.” They are evidence of what is in our heart and we are in God’s courtroom with the devil as our prosecutor, but we are going to see that Jesus is our defense attorney. (1Jn.2:1) … And if any man sin, we have an Advocate (Defender) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Just as in any court, words have to do with who’s guilty and who’s not. A good example is in Job.

(Job1:6) Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, that Satan (Hebrew: “accuser; adversary”) also came among them. The devil is the prosecuting attorney in this case. (Rev.12:10) And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth (“to accuse, as in court”) them before our God day and night. The devil is accusing us before God day and night. In Job, that’s exactly what he was doing. That’s why he was in the midst of the sons of God, so that he may accuse them, just as his name means, if you translate it. (Job1:7) And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. We will see that in Job 1 the Lord sticks up for Job time after time before Satan. He wants to teach Job a few things and Job has a few things to learn. But Job is doing what he knows to do; he’s walking in the light that he has. You can’t do better than what you know to do and God understands that. (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Job is not doing what he knows to be sin.

(Job1:8) And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil. (9) Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? The Lord is on Job’s side and He sticks up for him. At the same time, He wants this trial to mature Job or He wouldn’t have brought Job to Satan’s attention. (10) Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (11) But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce thee to thy face. Satan has the opinion that Job will speak words against God. It’s not uncommon for even Christians to speak words against God and to disagree with what His promises and His Word clearly states. (12) And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. Well, Satan sent four strong judgments against Job. First, the Sabeans attacked; then, the fire of God fell; then, the Chaldeans attacked; and, finally, the great wind “smote the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men” (19). And Job spoke. This is what the devil waits for in the midst of trials: he wants us to speak things for which he can accuse us. He wants to prosecute us and prove that what’s in our heart is not the Kingdom of God.

(21) And he said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed by the name of the Lord. (22) In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. He didn’t charge God foolishly. People suffer far less today and they charge God foolishly. Even with minor things, they don’t realize they are speaking against the Word of God and that they are charging God foolishly. I can just hear it, “Why did You do this to me, Lord, after I served You?” The next strike on Job was on his body with boils and, at that point, his wife uttered foolishness. (2:9) Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die. (10) But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. Job defended God, even after losing so much, so fast. He knew God was faithful in creating his soul.

(Ecc.5:6) Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. We found that in James 3, the tongue turns the whole body. If we speak negatively, in disagreement and unbelief of God’s promises, we are going to pay a penalty for those “idle” words. He said that those idle words will cause us to be condemned because we are not in agreement with Him; instead, we are renouncing what His Word says. We see that the devil thought that, through these judgments, he would cause Job to speak against God, but God knew Job and He knew exactly what Job was going to do. But that’s not the point: this is a courtroom that we’re in, so to speak. There has to be proof and there will be proof. It’s not only judgment of the heart, but it’s a judgment of the mouth that proves what’s in the heart. (Mat.12:34) … Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

If you want to change your heart, pay attention to your tongue. If, when you realize that you’ve spoken against the Word of God, you have rejected those words, then God honors that. Even if you say it, you can turn around and renounce it. “I’m sorry, Lord. I don’t accept that. I don’t believe that.” Begin declaring what you believe and start confessing the Word of God. Watching your tongue is very important because, in so doing, you are watching your heart. When you repent of things that you say, you are making a conscious decision to reject something that’s in your heart that doesn’t belong there. God honors this. He says, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn.1:7). When we walk in the light of the Word, God is cleansing our heart. God brings us through trials so we can face these decisions. We can never face them otherwise. Job could never have faced the decision that he did without this trial. He would have never been cleansed and matured in the Lord. He would have never discovered the self-righteousness that was hiding in his heart without the fiery trial that he went through. So the prosecutor accused, the Lord defended and Job was found faultless up to this point.

Then Job came to a revelation. (Job3:25) For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me. Fear is faith in the curse and not in the Gospel. If you have faith, Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Mat.8:13; 9:29). Be careful of fear and thoughts because they generally come out of your mouth and, when they do, there is something to be convicted of and a reason for the curse. (12:37) … By thy words thou shalt be condemned. We know that the prosecutor wants to condemn us in the courtroom of Heaven. He is the accuser of the brethren. Day and night he does this before the Lord (Revelation 12:10), until the Lord comes to the point where He’s had enough, frankly, because the saints are speaking their sanctification. Then the Lord casts Satan down.

Another courtroom example is in Zechariah. (Zec.3:1) And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary (accuser). I believe Joshua (Hebrew: “Jesus”) represents the body of Christ in this text. The angel of the Lord is the angel of His presence. Satan was standing at the right hand of the body of Christ, which puts him on the left hand of the Lord. Satan stands on the left hand of the Lord. (2) And the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Who is the Lord Who is speaking here? In many places of the Scriptures, it says “the Lord is God.” The word for “Lord” here is “YHWH” and has been translated “Jehovah” or “Yahweh.” And “God” in these places is plural, meaning the Father and the Son. There is “the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” (Isa.10:20), Whom the Bible says was rejected by Israel. The “Holy One of Israel” is Jesus Christ. Then there is “the Lord of Hosts” (2Sa.7:26) Who is the Father and He is the Judge. The Lord Jesus is our defender, or defense attorney. It is Jesus saying, “the Lord rebuke thee.” What does a chosen Jerusalem have to do with Joshua being accused here? It’s because they represent the same thing; they are the chosen people of God, the Bride, Jerusalem.

(Zec.3:3) Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. Garments in the New Testament represent the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev.19:8) And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. We are making our garments as we go along by our works. The Bible says to “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof]” (Rom.13:14). So we’re putting on the works and nature of Christ. But this Joshua was clothed with filthy garments; he was a sinner and needed to be saved by grace. (Zec.3:4) And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel. That’s grace! (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God. Your faith is proven by what you say. (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

How do we get all the benefits of the salvation that is so broad – that covers spirit, soul, body, circumstances and so on? We receive those benefits by believing and confessing the promises of God, no matter what area of our life those promises cover. Believing and confessing the promises gives us the benefits. This is how we prove faith. (Jas.2:17) Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. (18) … I by my works will show thee [my] faith. It’s important for us to receive this grace that is being offered here to Joshua, or to “the body of Christ.” We have faith and it’s proven faith. If you want the grace of God, speak it. Confess it before men, if you want it. If you don’t, then just let it be in your heart, but there will be no proof for your faith. Jesus asked for proof of faith from the people whom He healed, delivered and so on.

(Zec.3:5) And I said, Let them set a clean mitre upon his head (this is the renewed mind of Christ). So they set a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of the Lord was standing by. (6) And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, (7) Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by. The courtroom suspense of the prosecutor Satan, the accuser, and the defense attorney, the Lord Jesus Christ, is constantly going on day and night before God. And what is the Judge using? (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. So, we should be very slow to speak and we need God’s help to do this. However, when we do speak things and recall afterward that our words disagree with Scripture, we should cast down those words and renounce them. God will honor this. Unfortunately, we don’t always come to the place where we have access among those who stand because many of God’s people continue to confess contrary to the Word of God. They “add to” and “take away from” the Word of God and it brings a curse upon them.

In Numbers, we see a good example of this. The witnesses came back from spying out the nations and brought a bad report, at least all but two of them did. The heart of the people was cast down because of the bad report and they began to confess that they were going to die in the wilderness. God was very displeased with them. (Num.14:11) And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? He calls it despising Him to not believe in Him, to not believe the Word He gave them, which was a promise to bring them through the wilderness to a land of milk and honey. But they kept on confessing and proclaiming that God brought them into the wilderness to kill them there. Notice that when the signs are wrought, that’s when God’s people become responsible. When we see those signs, we should repent and start confessing the Word of the Lord or there will be consequences. (12) I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they. As you know, Moses, as a type of Jesus, interceded for the people of God and God pardoned them for the moment. (20) And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: (22) because all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; (23) surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it. God swore to bring them to the land of Promise but His promises are all conditional upon faith. They despised Him when they didn’t believe Him, so He gave them what they did believe. (28) Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. He did not bring them to the sanctification that we saw in Zechariah, the gift of sanctification or holiness that was given to the body of Christ through Jesus Christ, because they continued to speak against God.

We’re warned that the curse will come upon us, if we continue to add to and take away from God’s Word. (Rev.22:18) I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book. How can we add to the Word of the prophecy of this book? It’s very simple and religion does this quite frequently. Anything you add to God’s Word is leaven. (Mat.16:6) And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They added all their religious ideas to God’s Word and things that, quite frankly, made it comfortable for their flesh. They were not self-crucifying words like the Word of God is. They made it easy on the flesh and God is not pleased when that happens. There is a lot of humanism in God’s people that explains away God with modern-day, flesh-pleasing, ear-tickling doctrines because they permit us to live as we please (2 Timothy 4:3). But when we look at the pure Word of God, we see that we are expected to walk in the steps of the crucified Jesus Christ (1 John 2:6) and in the way of His early disciples, as well as in the way of power over sin, sickness and the curse. When we see that this is what God passed on to us as disciples of Jesus Christ and we begin to add our humanistic ideas and ways, we begin to be identified with the apostate church. As time passes, we begin to not want to be rejected by the world, but rather to be accepted by it, so we water down the Word of God with our own ideas. But you see, God forbids us to add to His Word, not one jot or tittle. (Rev.22:19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. We need to be very careful and fearful before the Lord not to change His Word one or the other in what we say, think and walk. We are commanded of the Lord to walk as disciples of Jesus Christ, which are learners and followers of Jesus Christ (1 John 2:6). In other words, if we add to or take away from the Word, we can expect nothing but the curse. Satan is not only there as the prosecutor, but as the persecutor and executer of the curse. The Lord Jesus wants to be our defense attorney but Satan is constantly prosecuting us before the court of Heaven, according to what we say. When we add to or take away from God’s Word, we grant him the right to do that.

(Joh.14:16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever. What does He mean by “another Comforter”? Obviously, the Lord means that He is a Comforter but that the Holy Spirit is another Comforter. (17) [Even] the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you and shall be in you. The word “comforter” (Greek: parakletos) is a courtroom word. It is similar in meaning to a “defense attorney” and actually means “called to one’s side as a help.” The Lord Himself is the mediator between us and the Judge (1 Timothy 2:5). He comes to our side to be our Helper. He went away in order to send the Holy Spirit. (1Jn.2:1) My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. The word “advocate” is the same word, parakletos. We see that Jesus is our advocate, the One Who defends us before the Judge.

We see the same thing in Hebrews with Jesus as our High Priest. (Heb.3:1) Wherefore, holy (sanctified, separated) brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling (invitation), consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (meaning “to speak the same as”), [even] Jesus. We are partakers of a heavenly invitation. We’ve been invited to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven while still on earth. The Kingdom of God is within you, Jesus said (Luke 17:21). He “hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly [places] in Christ” (Eph.1:3). The more we enter into Jesus Christ, the more we enter into the Kingdom of God and into heavenly places. These blessings are in Christ Jesus, so we are partakers of this heavenly calling, the invitation to come and partake in everything in Christ.

The word “confession” is seen here again and means “to speak the same as”; that is, to speak the same as Jesus spoke, the same as the Word of God speaks. Remember, we’re commanded not to add to or take away from the Word and “confession” represents that; it represents our speech being in agreement with God. As our speech is in agreement with God, the Lord Jesus is able to confess us before the Father. (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. The Lord expects us to agree with the Word of God before men. This is a trial because we want to be accepted by the world and we know that they’re not going to understand us, but the Lord demands that we confess Him before men. When He uses the word “men,” He’s not just referring to the saints or the brethren, but to the world. He wants a witness to the World. He wants us to confess Him and agree with what His Word says before the world in the midst of our trial, like Job, who was being tried. Even though he may not have known it, he was being judged for his words before the heavenly court.

Now, we have been given authority here, for God says, “What things soever ye shall bind (forbid) on earth shall be bound (forbidden) in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted) in heaven” (18:18). When we confess, or “speak the same as,” the Word, we bind the devil and the curse and loose God. When we speak against the Word, we bind Jesus and loose the devil and the curse. It was said of Jesus, “He could there do no mighty work … (Mar.6:5) … (6) because of their unbelief.” What we say and do before men is either confessed or denied before God by Jesus, Who is called “the High Priest of our confession” (Heb.3:1). We create our own future, in a way, by giving our High Priest a confession that He can defend us with. We walk by grace and we create a good future or we walk according to the world and to sin, speaking contrary to God, and create a bad future. (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. So we want to be careful that we say before men what the Bible says.

We know that we have grace for our ignorance, as we saw in Zechariah 3. But when we understand what God’s Will is, we become responsible. (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And we have a High Priest of our confession because He wants to bring this offering before our Father. (Heb.4:14) Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (15) For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. (16) Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help [us] in time of need. Obviously, He’s inferring here both to holding fast our good confession and to the way we draw near to the throne of grace with boldness through our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus because there is no other way to come before God. Our High Priest has enabled us to come before the Father.

(8:1) Now in the things which we are saying the chief point [is this]: We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. As you can see, Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father, and the devil, as we saw in Zechariah 3, is sitting on the left hand of the Judge. I remember a very significant dream that a brother shared with me many years ago. He saw a line of people coming up to the Throne and on the right hand of God was Jesus and on His left hand was Satan. Satan had an old-style cannon in front of him, pointing at the place where people were presenting themselves before God. Satan had a lighter stick and he was dancing around gleefully, wanting to ignite the fuse and set the cannon off to destroy his adversaries. God had His hand in front of Satan to stop him from doing this. That is exactly what the Scriptures teach about the court of Heaven – that we’re on trial and that “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom.10:10). Notice a good confession brings us salvation. This is because we are justified, or accounted as righteous, by agreeing with God and we escape judgment. For as the Lord says, “let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.” We are justified, or accounted righteous, when we agree with His Word. (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue…. (Heb.8:3) For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is necessary that this [high priest] also have somewhat to offer. As the High Priest, Jesus offers sacrifices to the Father from us, but He must have something to offer.

Hebrews gives us a revelation of what that is. (13:15) Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. There are many translations for this verse but some in particular destroy it. After looking at the ancient manuscripts and the Numerics, I have discovered that it is very similar to the one stated here. This is talking about the sacrifice that we give to the High Priest of our confession. This is what the High Priest offers before the Father. No confession, no offering. Bad confession, you give the prosecutor a right to accuse you. We should continually confess, not only in church, but wherever we go, we should agree with the Word of God. The word “praise” is used in the New Testament to refer only to our praise to God. It is used very seldom in the New Testament and it means “of a narration; of a commendation or a praise; to boast about what God has done and said.” We’re to brag on God to everybody. Praise is not just singing songs in a church. It is easy to confess God before the brethren but will we confess Him before men, as Jesus commanded? This is the important thing.

We saw much in Proverbs regarding the fruit of the lips. We saw that either life or death was the fruit of the lips (Proverbs 18:20-21) and that either blessing or cursing is the fruit of the lips. And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Pro.18:21). We “make confession to his name,” we “speak the same as” His Name. His Name is a representation of Who He is. The word “name” (Greek: onoma) in the New Testament means “nature, character and authority.” It is a representation of Who Jesus is to us. We “speak the same as,” or in agreement with, Who He is and what He has said. Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). If you confess Jesus, you confess the Word because the Word is Jesus; it is a physical representation of Jesus. Your word is a representation of you. Of course, we want to change that to a representation of Jesus, so we watch carefully what we say because of these exhortations, since we have the opportunity to turn away from the things that are contrary to God. We also now have the opportunity to make decisions that line up with the Word and God honors our decisions to turn away from contrary speech.

Obviously, we need to give to Him a sacrifice to bring before God. (Heb.9:24) For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us. We are all priests but He is the High Priest. When we bring that sacrifice and offering, that confession before men, He offers it before God and we receive what we confess. In this way, we, through Jesus, enter the Holy Place and presence of God. (10:19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus. You can’t come before God without grace and you can’t have grace unless you believe that you were sanctified through the Blood of Christ. (20) By the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. In other words, He showed us the way and we’re supposed to follow in His steps by rending the veil of flesh through bearing our own cross. (21) And [having] a great priest over the house of God; (22) let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water, (23) let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised. That is an exhortation to us. If we want to enter into the Holy of Holies and walk in the presence of God, we need to hold fast our confession of what He told us, so that the High Priest has something to offer.

(Pro.12:13) In the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man; But the righteous shall come out of trouble. Even the wicked are judged by what they say because it reveals who they are; it reveals their heart. God is inferring that the transgression of the lips destroys the wicked man, but that righteous lips give grace to His people. (13:3) He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life; [But] he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. We have to take this seriously. Is there some destruction in your life because you have spoken against God? We need to be careful and study these things, as we have already seen. (12:14) A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth; And the doings of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him. (15) The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsel. (16) A fool’s vexation is presently known; But a prudent man concealeth shame. Notice: Where does good come from? You speak it right out of your mouth. Also, we see that “a fool’s vexation” is known because it comes out of his mouth. There are things we should never let come out of our mouth and when we realize they’re in our heart, we need to rebuke them and renounce them. Turn away from them and confess your sins unto the Lord before they come out of your mouth. (17) He that utterth truth showeth forth righteousness; But a false witness, deceit. When we speak truth, we are righteous; we are justified. (Rom.3:4) Let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words.

Who is a false witness? We are false witnesses when we give a bad confession before mankind and before the Lord and we don’t agree with His Word. Of course, as we grow up in the Lord, we should be willing to change our mind and our words. Sometimes we are impulsive with our words and should ask the Lord to help us slow down and think before we speak so that what comes out is life, not death. (Pro.12:18) There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword; But the tongue of the wise is health. Our health comes out of our mouth. Will you confess what the Bible says about your health? Will you confess that you were healed at the Cross, as the Bible says? Will you confess that by His stripes you were healed, instead of “we got this and that,” dwelling upon all these cursed things that you are bringing upon yourself by walking by sight? There is no faith in that and it will only perpetuate the curse upon you. (19) The lip of truth shall be established for ever; But a lying tongue is but for a moment. The lips of truth are eternal and so the person who speaks truth is eternal. Notice that those who don’t confess the truth don’t last long. What are lying lips? (30:5) Every word of God is tried: He is a shield unto them that take refuge in him. (6) Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. When you add to or take away from God’s Word, that’s a lie. His words are truth. We need to fear Him. (12:22) Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord; But they that deal truly are his delight. Now, we want to delight the Lord when we are before the Throne and before the Judgment Seat, and so let the Lord Jesus be our defense attorney.

Testimony

God Healed My Alcoholism,

High Blood Pressure and Soul

By Greg Dawson

In November of 1994, I was diagnosed with severe, uncontrollable high blood pressure.

In the next four months that followed, I went to the emergency room three times with my blood pressure in the stroke zone. I could barely see and I was really dizzy. I went from 185 pounds to 145 and my face, especially my lips, were pasty white. I was so skinny and weak that we thought I would be dying soon. The doctors could not control my blood pressure. I’d have good days and really bad days. It was like a crazy rollercoaster ride, up and down, not knowing what to expect. God really had my attention!

Finally, a doctor discovered that I had an abnormally rapid heart rate and said that it had to be slowed down, so he put me on 1.5 milligrams of Xanax, along with my blood pressure medicine, which was 50 milligrams of Cozaar and 50 milligrams of Tenorman (one is a beta blocker and the other an ac-inhibitor). If I felt myself getting dizzy or my scalp “crawling,” I would double up on my medicine. Finally, my blood pressure was somewhat controllable.

After I told my mother that I had a serious blood pressure problem, she told me that my father had died of a massive coronary, which they suspected was caused by alcoholism and high blood pressure. She was surprised to hear that I had just gotten it because my brother had it when he was around 27 years old and he is only a year-and-a-half older than me. He was also an alcoholic. She said that those two things ran in our family.

I had dedicated my life to the Lord when I was 24 and that explains why I was spared from the family curse. I had met and married my wife and we were both devoted to raising our family and serving the Lord. Later, I began to drink when I convinced myself that no matter what, I was saved and going to Heaven. (The “once saved, always saved” doctrine, which I now know to be complete heresy! An enormous lie of the devil, which brought my family and me a lot of sorrow.) I was, indeed, painfully mistaken in my understanding and God, in His infinite love and mercy, was chastising me. I knew that I was an alcoholic and I always told everyone that God was judging me for my drinking.

For 10 years I had quit drinking and was living with my curse. I was grateful that God had stopped me from drinking and I wanted to get back on track. Through all my travels in and out of groups, listening to different brethren, searching for fellowship and truth, the Lord led me to a most amazing website that would change my life! It had a different name back then, but it is now www.unleavenedbreadministries.org. I read the book Sovereign God online with my wife. Wow! We listened to tapes and Bible Studies from the ‘80s and ‘90s from sunup until sundown, daily. We believed it to be the unsealing of the Scriptures for us! The scales were falling off of our eyes and we were seeing things for the first time! Everything was making sense now!

The Bible study called The True Gospel that Saves really hit home. I realized that I could lose my salvation, that I’d had the wrong idea about it altogether and I was possibly in deeper trouble with the Lord than I had thought. For the first time I knew about willful sin and I was guilty! I had known in my heart, even though I didn’t have the complete understanding before, because God had been telling my conscience that my level of drinking was wrong and had become a problem before He had to chastise me with the high blood pressure.

I fell under condemnation. The thought of being lost to God forever was frightening. I prayed and couldn’t talk to anyone. I called David Eells. I confessed my alcoholism of the past and asked him if he thought that I was reprobated. He told me that God grants repentance, so he didn’t think so. If I was reprobated, I would have no interest in repentance. He also told me that he was willing to pray with me for my healing, if I wanted to, but I felt I needed to study more about that, so I told him that I wasn’t ready yet. God really did use David to encourage me a lot then, though.

I continued to search the scriptures and study the Word. The Bible study called Dealing with the Cause of the Curse was really helpful in putting things in perspective. I was sure the curse came on me because I caused it by willful sin. I was also sure that God was telling me that He was going to heal me, especially since I was finding out that He had already done that back at the Cross! I kept hearing in my spirit, “without faith it is impossible to please God,” and my wife was hearing the same verse (Hebrews 11:6)! I knew that God wanted my faith in Him and not in my medicine, which I had become dependent on. If I forgot to take my medicine with me, I would turn around and go back to get it. It didn’t matter how far I’d already traveled.

I had been stock-piling my medicine because I knew when the time came and we couldn’t buy or sell and we were forced into the wilderness, I would need it. The doctor had just doubled the dosage of my medicine from 50 milligrams of Cozaar and Tenorman to 100 milligrams of each. He was not happy with how high it had been for the last few visits. Now, I needed to save up even more! I was seeing how ridiculous that was. I couldn’t possibly stock up on enough medicine, food, supplies or anything for those days. I needed to have faith now! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! No need to wait for tomorrow.

So, I prayed for God to heal me. In my room, by myself, I prayed. I asked God for healing and forgiveness and told Him I believed every Word of His promises. I stopped taking my medicine.

Note from David: We cannot put ourselves or another under a law to not go to doctors or use medicine, for we will be cursed without grace.) (Gal.3:10) For as many as are of the works of [the] law are under a curse. (5:4) Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by [the] law; ye are fallen away from grace. Notice that I have bracketed “the” in front of “law” in these two texts because there is no numeric pattern in “the.” “The” is used when speaking of the Law of the Old Testament. You see here that any law, whether by man or religion, separates a person from Christ and grace, which is needed to receive from God because grace comes from faith. We are not “justified” or “accounted righteous” by a law but by faith. Law would deceptively and dangerously say in our heart, “I cannot or will not go to medicine so I can be healed by God.” However, faith would confidently say and believe in our heart, “I am already healed, according to the Scriptures, and I don’t need medicine.” Faith cannot be legislated; it is a gift of God. After Greg expressed his faith, he had a trial, as usual.

I had numbness here and there at first, but I was not accepting it. Then, on the third day, I was at Walmart and the left side of my face went numb, then my body started to go numb and so did my hands, and I panicked and gave in to a spirit of fear and started taking my medicine again. I knew that God had not failed me but that I’d let fear make me fail. I also knew that I’d be going for it again. I had too much Word on it. The promises were everywhere – in every study we’d be listening to, every Word we’d be reading. Salvation for body and soul; it was already done at the cross; we could hold fast to our confession of hope that it waver not, for he is faithful that promised (Hebrews 10:23). That by his stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24). He forgave all our iniquities and healed all of our diseases (Psalm 103:3). That we were not under the curse any more (Galatians 3:13). That God is Sovereign over the curse, over life, over the earth and everything! So after about a month or so, together with my wife, we prayed for God to heal me. We agreed that God’s Word says that by His stripes we were healed. We confessed our belief in His sovereignty. I thanked Him for His love and mercy toward me and for granting me repentance and forgiveness, and we thanked Him and praised Him for healing me over and over again.

It was my life or death stand. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. I was in my room later the next day and the Lord told me that if I believed He had healed me, then why was my medicine still in my pocket and my stockpile still in my drawer? I was surprised and told the Lord that He was right! So I flushed all my pills down the toilet. He made it clear to me: ALL my pills!

I had some dizziness and tingling here and there. I’d reject them and hold fast to the confession that I was healed and rebuke the devil for attempting to make me fear. My wife would also pray. When I was in Walmart, on the third day, it happened again! The left side of my face and my arm and then my body started to go numb and a spirit of fear tried to come over me, but I rebuked it and said, “I’m not going for this again devil; I’m healed!” On my way home from the store, I pulled over at the local convenience store near my house and got out of the car. I was in tears and prayed, rebuking a spirit of unbelief and a spirit of infirmity! Just then a black mist flew off the back of my neck, up over my head. I looked all around to see if any one else had seen it. I know I did, but I doubted if anyone would believe me. I came home and told my wife, wondering if she’d think I was crazy, but she believed me. Earlier we had heard in a Bible study about a spirit of unbelief actually being an evil spirit and about an evil spirit of infirmity that had bound someone. So the Lord had quickened that to me to cast them out and we believed He did!

The next morning I joined my wife in our living room and declared that it was done! I was healed, end of the matter, and we started praising God on our hands and faces. Then I got up and the look on my face startled my wife. She asked me what was up and I told her that the Lord had just spoken to me, loud and clear, to go and sin no more, lest a worse fate befall me. We both agreed. AMEN!

That was in November of 2004! I have been healed and delivered ever since. We serve an awesome God! Read and believe His Word!

(Luk.1:37) For no Word from God shall be void of power.

(Mar.11:24) All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

(Mat.18:19) Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in Heaven. (20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

(Php.1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

“We have a land to conquer: our life. There is a carnal man that rules in the land and he’s bearing his own fruit in it and he owns the house in the land.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Victory in the Land

We are at the end of an age. Paul said, “Now these things happened unto them (natural Israel) by way of example (Greek: “figure; type”); and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1Co.10:11). So God used natural Israel and her history as a type and shadow for the Church. They were natural Israelites with a natural kingdom and the “letter” was actually written to them. But Paul said that, “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2Co.3:6). Since we are not natural Israelites but we have been grafted into the olive tree because of our faith (Romans 11:19) and accounted as sons of Abraham because of our faith (Galatians 3:7), we’re spiritual Israelites. The seed of Israel hasn’t been passed to us through the natural, but through the Word of God. That’s the seed that brings forth New Testament, spiritual Israel. Yet, everything that happened to natural Israel was a parable for us. God used a smaller group of people to be as a sign for a much larger group of people for our day.

I want to discuss what God called them to do in taking the Promised Land. There are many good things that we can study there so that we may understand that this is talking to us. We have to interpret the letter by Spirit and understand what has been spoken to us at the end of this age. God gave great promises to Israel of their “land of milk and honey” (Exo.3:8). This great land was going to bear much fruit unto them. The only problem was that it was ruled over by people who didn’t know God, people who were sinners – the Canaanites. For now, I will tell you that this land represented our life and the Canaanites represented the old man who ruled the land. The Israelites, who represented our spiritual man, were to take Canaan land, but the Canaanites stood in their way. The Canaanites ruled over the land that was promised to Israel. The Canaanites bore their own fruit in that land, they ruled over it and had their own false gods that ruled over them. God told Israel to go in there, take up their swords and He would be with them, but they had to kill the Canaanites. God commanded them to take their land, dwell in their houses, which represent our bodies, and to raise up their own fruit in that land. So what is the parable for our day and can we get something out of it concerning the power of the tongue over the cursed life?

In the natural, the Israelites took up a natural sword and fought with a flesh-and-blood enemy. People have asked me, “Why, in the New Testament, are we not permitted to fight with mankind and in the Old Testament they were commanded to pick up the sword and kill?” It’s because there’s a difference between the letter and the spirit. What happened to them in the letter has to happen to us in the spirit, since we are spiritual Israelites. (Eph.6:10) Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We are not fighting with men, but with the devil and his demons. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. We are not wrestling with flesh and blood and we are not using a physical sword, but “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (17). But we are fighting a battle.

The gods who were ruling over the Canaanites were demons, as 1 Corinthians 10:20 says. Quite frankly, today, we are in such a situation and we don’t realize it. We have a land to conquer: our life. There is a carnal man that rules in the land and he’s bearing his own fruit in it and he owns the house in the land. He is to be driven-out by the New Testament spiritual Israelites, the Christians. As we continue to read further in the Scripture, we see more clearly that our sword is not a physical sword but the sword of the Spirit, the sword of the spoken Word. (13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. When they stood in Canaan land, they were standing for their lives at the hand of that carnal man that was living in the land. We are talking about eternal life now, but it was their physical life for them. For them it was the letter; for us it is the spirit. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Since we are spiritual people, we take up the sword of the Spirit. We are wrestling with the principalities and powers that rule over the carnal man; they were the gods over the Canaanites. The devil and his principalities attempt to rule this life through the carnal man that lives in the land. Who is our battle with? It is not only with the gods that rule over the carnal man but with the carnal man. However, as we have seen, we do not battle with flesh and blood of the carnal man. (2Co.10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (4) (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds). He’s referring to demon principalities ruling over the carnal man. The gods that ruled over Canaan land ruled over the carnal man that lived in the land.

(5) Casting down imaginations (Greek: logismos, meaning “reasoning”), and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. What we see here is the mind of the flesh that lives in this land, the land of “self.” We need to control the mind of the flesh and we have been given the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to fight with the principalities and powers and the world rulers of this darkness. We are “casting down imaginations,” or reasonings, which means we have to protect our mind, as with a helmet, with the knowledge that we have been saved through receiving the Mind of Christ, His Word. (Eph.6:17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The “sword of the Spirit” is the spoken Word of God. We speak in agreement with the Word and through this we are able to conquer and defeat our enemy. (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises (Word of God), beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So what is it to conquer the flesh, the carnal man that lives in the land, and the spirits that rule over the carnal man? It is perfecting holiness. God is after a holy people, a powerful people. We are to take the promises, like a sword, and go into the Promised Land of our lives to put to death the carnal man, conquer his gods and take that land for ourselves to rule over. When the Israelites went into the land, they went in as the spiritual man to conquer the carnal man. You might say that they went to conquer the lusts of the flesh. We take up our two-edged sword to conquer the flesh and spirit that dwells in the land. (2Pe.1:2) Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God (Word of God) and of Jesus our Lord; (3) that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; (4) whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. We take the promises of the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit to bring into dominion the divine nature, the spiritual man that is created in the image of God. He conquers the corruption that is in the world by lusts, conquering the carnal man. This is our battle. As we are going into the Promised Land with the sword of the Spirit, the spoken Word of God, we don’t need to quote the Word but we must agree or confirm it. When we agree with the Word of God, there is no man or his god that is able to stand before us, as the Lord said.

(Heb.6:4) For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift (Christ), and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5) and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. So much for unconditional, eternal security! After having all of that, if people fall away, it’s impossible to renew them unto repentance. Most people have not received all of that or have come to that state of great responsibility. Along with great power, knowledge and ability comes great responsibility. The Son of God is growing within us, as the Word is manifested in us, and He is the spiritual man. You put Him to death when you give victory to the carnal man by walking after the lusts of the flesh. In this way, you crucify to yourself the Son of God afresh. (7) For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God: (8) but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected (“reprobated”) and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned. He’s comparing the people who have fallen away from the Lord to a land that has received the rain of the Holy Spirit and of the Word of God. It should have brought forth fruit and that’s why it was tilled. He’s saying the people who had been tilled and sown, but didn’t bring forth fruit even after the rain had come, are rejected, or reprobated. Physical land is not reprobated but those people who have received too much to turn back are. They have become too responsible and can become reprobated.

In a falling away, where you give ground to the carnal man to conquer the spiritual man, a person can be “twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jud.1:12). He is representing this land as the people of God. Where did the natural Adam come from? He was created from the earth; he came from the land. God breathed the spirit into Adam (Genesis 2:7), but Adam’s natural creation was created from the dust of the earth. We can see the good application that we are the land – this life that is supposed to bring forth the fruit of the spiritual man, the Word of God, inside. This life represents the land that should be sown with the Word of God.

(1Co.3:6) I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. God is talking about planting and watering people. In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-23), the Sower, Jesus, went out to sow the seed which was the Word of God. He sowed the seed into their hearts. The land was the people and He expected the seed sown in the land to bring forth fruit, 30-, 60- and 100-fold. Paul is typing the planting and sowing of the land, which both the Canaanite and Israelite did, but each with a different kind of fruit. One was born unto the carnal man and the other unto the spiritual man. We don’t want the carnal man sowing any seed of his fruit in the land but we want the spiritual fruit to be born in our land. (7) So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. (8) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. (9) For we are God’s fellow-workers: ye are God’s husbandry (Greek: “tilled land”), God’s building. This applies directly to what we saw in Hebrews 6. Notice that the Scripture here continues with another parable relating our life to a building that is built on the foundation of God’s house by our works and this building shouldn’t be constructed with corruptible materials. (12) But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; (13) each man’s work shall be made manifest …

In Hosea, we see another awesome parable claiming that we are God’s land and that we should be bearing the fruit of the spiritual man. (Hos.10:12) Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Here we have the sowing and the breaking-up of the fallow ground, which is, of course, the hardhearted earth that doesn’t receive the seed through lack of repentance. God also rains His righteousness upon us. (Lev.18:24) Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you; (25) and the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants. (26) Ye therefore shall keep my statutes and mine ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you (27) (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land is defiled). Notice that the nations are all defiled but He didn’t want His people to be defiled. In other words, He is referring to the carnal man in them. The self, the nations and the land are all defiled. Self is that old man that swells in your land and his works are defiled. He is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7) and he must be killed so that the spiritual man can live in your land, live in your house, which is your body. Jesus must sow his seed to bring forth His fruit. The “men of the land” is the old man that rules in the land and the land was defiled because of him. What can we do about it? God told us in Joshua what we can do to have good success in conquering the land, putting the old man to death with the edge of the sword, which is the spoken Word of God.

(Jos.1:1) Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister…. After the death of Moses, Joshua took over. Moses was not permitted to take God’s people into the Promised Land because he represented the Law. He was the lawgiver and represented the letter of the Law. Paul said the Law can make nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:19). When we are talking about going into the land and bearing the fruit of the spiritual man, Jesus Christ, we’re talking about perfection, or maturity. Who can bring us there? Only Joshua, whose name in Hebrew is “Jesus.” Jesus said, “I am the way” (Joh.14:6). He is the only One Who can lead us into the Kingdom of God. Moses couldn’t do it. In fact, Moses has to die in us in order for Joshua to take over and bring us into the Kingdom of God. Many Christians are under the Law in many ways, but the Law won’t perfect and bring us into the Promised Land. The Law depends on the works of the flesh to bring us there, and it’s not possible.

(Jos.1:2) Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. The Jordan represents spiritual death because, in order to enter the heavenly Promised Land, they had to go across the Jordan, just as when going into the wilderness they had to cross the Red Sea, which was a baptism. Baptism is death, burial and resurrection. The old man, the Egyptians, died in the Red Sea, but the spiritual man came up out the other side. The Jordan, therefore, represents death.

(3) Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spake unto Moses. Every place they put their feet, God gave to them. Here is what the Lord told me a few years ago about the Promised Land: The Promised Land, or the land of promise, in another parable, is the Word of God. The Word has all those promises that have been given to us. The place of bearing fruit is the Word of God, all those promises which give us the divine nature of Christ, according to 2 Peter 1:2-4. In any promise that “the sole of your foot” stands upon, God is going to give that to you. What is the purpose of standing on the Word of God so that He gives us that promise of the Promised Land? It’s so that the Word is manifested in us. What are we called to be as Christians? We’re called to be what Jesus was. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. We’re called to be what Jesus was: Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col.1:27). Who is Christ? He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Who are we called to be as the body of Christ? The Word made flesh.

So now you see the two Promised Lands, which are really only one. The Word is to be God’s body in the earth. The Promised Land is the Word, but it’s also the Word in us. When the Word is manifested in us, it is the Promised Land: it is when the spiritual man, who is ruled by the Word and speaks and lives by the Word, has taken possession of his land. You can see that different divisions of Christianity stand on different parts of the Word of God and whatever part they stand on they receive the benefit thereof. We need to stand on all of the Word to come into all of the Promised Land. The Israelites only took one-third of the promised Land and, of course, they don’t dwell on it today. God gave them the boundaries of the land of promise (Joshua 1:4), a very large territory; however, we don’t want to dwell there. We want to dwell on the spiritual Promised Land.

(Jos.1:5) There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. He is talking about the man who dwelt in that land, the carnal man. He resisted the Israelites from taking their Promised Land. It is the carnal man that resists the spiritual man from ruling in your house (your body), sowing his crop and bringing forth his fruit. God says that carnal man will not be able to stand before you because he has already been crucified. (Gal.2:20) I (the old man) have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ (the spiritual man) liveth in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. The Lord has already taken care of the carnal man; He has already given us the land. The Israelites were supposed to go with complete faith because God had already conquered the land. We don’t have a problem with the death of the old man, since the solution has been given, which is Jesus Christ crucified. We may have a problem with faith, which the Israelites had, too. But He says that no man will stand before you; just pick up your sword, which is the spoken Word of God, and go. He guarantees you victory.

(Jos.1:6) Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Our spiritual fathers were given this same promise and they entered into great perfection, walking in the power of God and speaking the Word of God. The former rain gave them victory over their enemy and they had a great revival. Now He says that He will give us this land, as He had given it to our spiritual forefathers. (7) Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. Notice that He wants you to not be just a hearer of the Law, but a doer of the Law (James 1:22), not deceiving yourselves. God wants us to have good success in taking our Promised Land from the carnal man, who is obviously not ordained to rule this tabernacle of God, our body. An example of this would be when the Philistines had taken the Tabernacle of God and brought it into their land. The Philistines represented the carnal man and this brought curses against them. So they decided that they were not made to rule the Tabernacle and gave it back because that Tabernacle brought curses upon every city that it went to. If you rule the land as the old man and take that vessel or tabernacle of God where you want to take it, it will bring a curse upon you. If you let the spiritual man take possession and lead, you’ll be blessed in all that you do and you will have “good success.”

(8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. We need to constantly speak the Word of God. Notice He said how to have good success and how to observe to do the Law. A lot of people feel like Paul in Romans 7:15-25. (Rom.7:19) For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise. (24) Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? (25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He has already given us the victory, so we have reason to celebrate that victory. The Lord is telling us how to observe to do: We keep the Word of God in our mouth and speak it, and we meditate on it day and night to make it easier to come out of our mouth. (Luk.6:45) … For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

I dreamed many years ago that I was in warfare to conquer the enemy – the giants in the land. In this warfare, I had captured one of the enemies and I had him in a neck lock, dragging him through the woods. I came around the corner and saw a campfire with a giant standing by it. (The Israelites saw the inhabitants of the land as giants because they didn’t think that they could conquer them. A lot of preachers teach this about the old man, that he can’t be conquered on this earth and you’ll always be a sinner, so just accept God’s forgiveness. That’s the bad report. It’s the same report that the Israelites gave. You must get away from these people because they are not speaking the Word of God, but the antichrist gospel.)

So I saw this giant and knew that it was a giant but he was my size. The man I had captured, I turned him loose from the neck lock for a moment. When I did, he spoke to the giant and said, “Bigger, BIGGER, BIGGER.” When I realized what he had done, I turned and karate-chopped him on the voice box and said, “No! Smaller, SMALLER, SMALLER.” (He was not to speak because this man I captured was my carnal man. When the carnal man has been given authority to speak, there is death. (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue…. The old man will speak death to the spiritual man and benefits of God. I realized that I’m not supposed to let him speak, so I chopped him in the voice box. I knew that the carnal man had authority to make my enemy bigger and stronger, to make it impossible for me to conquer him, if I would let the old man speak out of my mouth. The spiritual man has the authority from the Word of God to reduce the carnal man and the problems that come along with him.

(Deu.30:9) And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in all the work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers. In these end times, God is going to restore to us what our spiritual forefathers, the apostles, had. We’re coming back to the time when the early disciples walked in great power and holiness, except we are going beyond that because the latter rain (Hosea 6:3) will have a greater anointing. This is when God finishes His work in His people. (10) If thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. The promise is conditional. We still need to obey the Word of God. How? Remember from Joshua 1 that the way is to put the Word down into your heart and to speak it out of your mouth in the midst of the trial and your success will be fantastic.

God is not asking us to do something impossible. It’s something that even the most physically-weak and mentally-simple of men can do. God is not asking us to do something that is great because then only great men would succeed. (11) For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off. There are preachers who say it is too hard and that we can’t be obedient to all the Word of God, that we should only accept God’s forgiveness. These people believe that you can have faith without works but the Bible says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17,26). If you have real faith, you will have real works because the works follow the faith. The power of God and grace comes to those who have real faith. God is saying it’s not too hard, unlike some of the leadership in the Church. It is not something that is far off; it is not something in the future when you go to Heaven. (12) It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? Jesus has already brought it down from Heaven and given it to us. (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? If we don’t hear the Word of God in our heart, we won’t do it. Speaking and doing the Word is the fruit of the Word itself. When you put the Word in your heart, which is Jesus Christ in you, it is Jesus Who does the works. (14) But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. The Word of God that is in your heart and in your mouth will do it for you; it will cause you to keep God’s commands. This is also quoted in Romans 10:8-10 and it is talking about God’s salvation.

What is salvation? Salvation is being delivered from the power of the carnal man and the gods that rule over him, so we may live a holy life. And if we believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, we will have that salvation. Salvation is much bigger than what people have thought. It covers deliverance from the curse, healing of the body, holiness of the spirit and soul, deliverance from circumstances and death, and so on and so forth. The Greek word soteria, meaning “salvation,” or sozo, meaning “saved,” covers all of those things. It is translated in various ways in the New Testament. The truth is that salvation is very big.

Again, when “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom.10:10), we receive our salvation. It can be a deliverance from a sin, a demonic oppression, a sickness or whatever is needed, but we receive it from God and we need to learn not to speak our own words. We are used to speaking our own words but we need to reprogram our minds by faith and speak God’s Word. (Isa.58:12) And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. The foundations have crumbled and we need them repaired. The enemy has come in through the breach but the righteous will repair the breach.

(13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words. We have to keep the Sabbath by ceasing from our works and words. Hebrews 4 tells us that the Sabbath is entered through faith when we believe and speak God’s Word, when we cease from our own works and trust in God’s works through us. Some people say that all works are negative but, if we bear the fruit of Christ, then we have Christ’s works in us. So we will not enter into God’s rest by speaking our own words; it has to be His words and that is what gives us the victory.

(14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. There it is again. We keep on going back to what was left 2000 years ago, to the great inheritance that our fathers received straight from Jesus Christ, and we can still receive it from Him today. Do not speak your own words! (Deu.27:26) Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them … How do you do them? You speak the Word right out of your mouth and you will be able to do them because you are correcting what’s in your heart. When you correct what’s in your heart by speaking the Word of the Lord, you reject the carnal man and his thoughts and give life to the spiritual man inside, and you confirm “the words of this law to do them.” The Lord continues in Deuteronomy 28 with a list of blessings we will receive, if we speak His Word. We’re called not to speak our own words but to confirm the Word of the Lord. If we refuse to let anything but the Word of the Lord be in our mouth, we will be able to do it and will have good success in conquering the Promised Land, putting to death the carnal man and giving the house to the spiritual man, so he can rule instead.

(Psa.107:2) Let the redeemed of the Lord say [so], Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary. We are supposed to be confessing our redemption. The word “redemption” means “bought”; and we have been bought with a price from the adversary and his curse. Our Redeemer is the One Who paid the price that we couldn’t pay. We owed a debt because of our sins that we couldn’t pay; He paid a debt that He didn’t owe. He was the next of kin. The Law said that the next of kin could buy back property that was taken to pay a debt (Leviticus 25). What did the Lord buy back? Us. Our lives. That’s the type and shadow. We owed a debt that we couldn’t pay and He paid it. We are supposed to confess our redemption, confess that we’ve been bought and set free because of what Jesus did. We are no longer in bondage to sin and the curse of sin. Jesus became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). He bore the curse of sin, so we are no longer under the curse of sin and death. Jesus was the next of kin, the last Adam (1Co.15:45), the Father of the born-again people of God and He delivered us out of bondage. (Luk.1:68) Blessed [be] the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people. Your debt has been paid. (69) And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David (70) (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old), (71) Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us. Our enemies are not only the carnal man, who needs to be conquered, but the gods who rule over the carnal man, which are the demon spirits we fight with (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We have been delivered. (74) To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear, (75) In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. We have been delivered from our old man and all of our enemies. The modern “church” doesn’t believe much of this, but it is important that we do.

Testimony

Lost Brain Tissue, Crushed Spine,

Epilepsy & Tourette’s

Mike Doty (as related by David Eells)

Mike Doty’s spoken words of faith delivered him from the curse of lost brain tissue and a crushed spine, and delivered his son of epilepsy and Tourette’s Syndrome.

Mike Doty came to us after being crippled, mentally and physically, for years. He had been in a terrible accident while on drugs, in which he was hit by a truck while riding a horse. His skull was broken and some of his brain was stuck to the highway. The horse was killed and Mike suffered what the doctors thought was irreparable brain and spinal column damage. They told him he would never be able to lift more than a few pounds. They had to remove more of Mike’s brain than what was lost on the highway. This left him with a short attention span, very poor memory, poor mobility and he was heavily drugged for anger and back pain. When Mike came to one of our meetings, he became convinced of the Bible and with childlike faith began to act on and speak what he was hearing. Through our prayers of faith, within a week he was off all drugs and his mind and mobility began to return. His back pain was gone, too. Mike went back to the doctor who had operated on his spine. After the inspection, the doctor said, “My God! What happened to you?” Mike told him that the Lord had healed him.

During this time, he became impressed with these verses: (Mar.11:23) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. (24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive (Greek: “received”) them, and ye shall have them. He prayed in this way for his son Connor, who had been recently diagnosed with epilepsy and Tourette’s Syndrome. Connor was having seizures, tics and cursing episodes. Mike’s wife was complaining of the great cost of the drugs they had to buy. Mike began to confess to me that he just knew Connor was healed. He said, “I did just what you said. I commanded the demons to loose Connor and I believe I have received.” I once asked Mike if he would like us to agree with him for Connor. He told me that it was not necessary because his prayer had healed him. I was reminded of how Jesus was awed at the childlike faith of the centurion and Syrophoenician woman and met their needs.

Without Mike’s faith and confession, this miracle would not have been possible. Jesus gave us the example of expecting expressions of faith out of those whom He helped. Jesus said, “As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee” (Mat.8:13) and, “According to your faith be it done unto you” (9:29). Let us learn from Mike’s bold faith and receive God’s promises like children.

“The tongue has the power to give life, which makes it easy to keep His commandments. Speaking them into existence and agreeing with Him is the key.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

We discovered that keeping God’s commandment is not too hard if we understand the keys. (Deu.30:14) But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. (15) See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. The key here is, if the Word is in our mouth and heart, we can do it. (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. The tongue has the power to give life, which makes it easy to keep His commandments. Speaking them into existence and agreeing with Him is the key. Confirming the words so we can do them is the key. (Deu.27:26) Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. He goes on to talk about the blessings (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and the curses (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). The blessings come to those who confirm the word of the Law. We are called to speak in agreement with God’s Word, not add to it or take away from it, under penalty of a curse. (Rev.22:18) I testify unto every man that heareth the words of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: (19) and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

In James, we’re told that the man is a perfect man who has control over the tongue. (Jas.3:2) For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. Now we see that, if a person can speak in agreement with God’s Word, he will be able to obey because he will be able to bridle the whole body also. Speaking is a manifestation of faith. Faith without works is dead; it’s unfruitful (James 2:17). When we speak in agreement with the Word, we bring the power of God into the situation; otherwise, it is just dead religion. So, since our words can bring blessings and curses, we must, therefore, come into agreement with God’s precious Word that we may receive the blessings. (Psa.107:2) Let the redeemed of the Lord say [so], Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary. It’s absolutely necessary that our faith be completed with works, according to James 2, and the tongue and what we say are the most common way that we fulfill our faith. Faith that is not spoken or acted upon is faith that will not bring you anything. So, if we say we’ve been redeemed, we had better be talking that way. Many people destroy the works of God with their tongue. Out of one side of their mouth they claim that they believe that they were redeemed, but out of the other side they speak against it and they destroy it.

(Col.1:14) In whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. The word “redemption” means “a release on payment of a ransom.” We owed a debt we couldn’t pay and Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe. A ransom is a price that is paid to release someone who is in bondage. We’ve been in bondage to the curse, the old man, the devil, the world, sickness and all the bad things that go along with that. Yet, Jesus paid the price to set us free; He paid a ransom so the devil would no longer have authority over us because we have the forgiveness of our sins. A ransom, according to Scripture, is something that must continually be confessed (Psalm 107:2). We have many opportunities to confess Him before men (Matthew 10:32) so that He, as the High Priest of our confession, can confess us before the Father. It’s not good enough to just loosely say, “I’ve been redeemed.” When we have the opportunity to profess and confess that redemption in the midst of our trials and don’t do it, we are negating what we say we believe and are not bringing the benefits of the Kingdom to bear upon our life or our circumstances. Redemption covers all of the curse. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The curse of the Law in Deuteronomy 28 includes all of those negative things that happen to sinners. We see the curse all around us and even in our own life, until we exercise the authority that we have been given to come out from under it. Jesus paid the price, the penalty, for the curse that we would normally bear. We were redeemed.

(Psa.107:2) Let the redeemed of the Lord say [so]…. Why? Because faith without works is dead (James 2:17). When we get into a situation that involves a curse (something which most of Christianity considers to be quite normal), we know that the normal Christian life is a life delivered from the power of the curse of sin. We understand the truth of the Gospel, that the Lord paid for our sins and we’ve been forgiven of our sins; therefore, we are no longer under the curse. Jesus bore that curse for us. We’re not supposed to bear it and it doesn’t please the Father that we bear it, yet we will bear it, if we do not confess our redemption. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Mat.8:13; 9:29). When we agree with God’s Word, when we watch our heart and tongue, and even ask the Lord to keep our tongue, then God is able to help us confess in the midst of the situations and trials that we are redeemed. It doesn’t matter what the curse is; we have been redeemed from it. Jesus paid the penalty and we don’t have to live under it. We are supposed to agree with this and speak our redemption, which is that we’ve been redeemed from the power of sin (Romans 6:18,22). Jesus has made us free from sin. Do you confess your problem with sin? Or do you know that the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world (John 1:29)? Do you know that God made reconciliation already and sin is not a problem for you any longer, since He’s taken care of it? Now you are to reckon yourself dead unto sin, as the Lord commanded. (Rom.6:11) Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Are you going to “let the redeemed of the Lord say so”? Are you going to confess that you have been delivered and redeemed from the power of sin? Do you really believe that? Most Christians don’t because they have been taught otherwise.

There are many aspects of redemption that we need to confess before the Savior and High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14), Who offers them as our sacrifice (Hebrews 13:15) before the Father. He has redeemed us out of all trouble. (Psa.25:22) Redeem Israel, O God, Our of all his troubles. He has delivered us from the curse. How many troubles would we get out of, if we would just turn to God and confess His redemption? He has delivered us from all evil. (Gen.48:16) The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons and this is our blessing, too. And the apostle Paul said, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work” (2Ti.4:18). Do you believe that this is God’s plan? Most Christians believe their old life, their human nature. They believe that the normal Christian life is just to wait on the Lord to come and save them, but there is a battle to be won before this happens. A few believe in divine healing and a few in deliverance, yet redemption is deliverance from all evil and all of our enemies. What can we identify as enemies? The flesh, the lusts of the flesh, the devil, principalities and powers, the world, the curse and so on and so forth. (Luk.1:68) Blessed [be] the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people, (69) And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David (70) (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old), (71) Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; (72) To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant; (73) The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father, (74) To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear, (75) In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. That’s what redemption paid for! Glory to God!

Most Christians never receive what’s been paid for by Jesus Christ because they don’t confess their redemption. He has redeemed us from a life of vanity, foolishness and failure. (1Pe.1:18) Knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers. We have been redeemed from our “vain manner of life,” a worthless and useless life. If you look at the life of the disciples, the apostles and Jesus, you will see a self-sacrificial life, not a life of materialism and pleasing self. They lived lives of sacrifice for others. This was anything but a “vain manner of life.” Most people live, whether in peace and prosperity or not, a “vain manner of life,” given over to the corruption of the world. They “strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel” (Mat.23:24), making little things big and big things little. Important things are not important to them. What we need to do is confess that we have all of Christ. He was given to us as a gift. He now lives in us and we no longer live (Galatians 2:20). We need to confess this before men, although I know it’s a very unpopular thing to do, even before Christians. But the Father has given us the life of Jesus through the reconciliation. (Col.1:22) Yet now hath he reconciled (“exchanged”) in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreprovable before him: (23) if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. God gave the life of Jesus to us and took our lives and nailed them to the Cross. (Psa.103:4) Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. We’ve been redeemed from destruction. If you look up the word “redeemed” or “redemption” in a concordance, you will see how much has been provided. The Lord Jesus has bought us out of bondage from the devil. The devil had his rights over us because we had sinned and we had no sacrifice, but now that we have a sacrifice, we must confess the redemption that the Lord has given us so we can receive it. If we hold redemption only as a religious dogma and do not confess it with our mouth and accept it in our mind, then it’s worthless.

(Num.14:1) And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. (2) And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness! (3) And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt? The Israelites said this because the spies had come back from spying out the land and told of the giants there and spoke of themselves as grasshoppers before these great giants. As we already learned, we represent the land and the giants represent the old man and the flesh, which most preachers say are unconquerable. They say that we should accept that we are only “sinners saved by grace,” but the truth is the Lord said we can take them and, in fact, He has already accomplished it.

(11) And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? (12) I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they. God can disinherit and He does and will disinherit, contrary to popular opinion. (23) Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it. Notice that He swore to give them the land but changed His mind because they did not keep their part of the covenant, which was faith. This can be more than just missing out on some benefits; it can also be missing out on eternal life! (28) Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: (29) your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, that have murmured against me. They spoke against the Lord and He was highly offended. When Jesus was on this earth and He heard a word of faith from anyone, He was so pleased that He gave the person their request and so it is now.

Only believers will take possession of their soul-life from out of the hand of the enemy. (30) Surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (34) After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation. So God said they had rejected His covenant and had come to know His “alienation,” which means “the revoking of His promise.” Why? It was because they refused to confess their redemption. In the midst of the fiery trial, they refused to say what God had done for them. We must think about how in our daily trials we say the very opposite of what we should believe as Christians, which is that Jesus has delivered us. We each need to watch our mouth because, in so many ways, we’re bringing a curse upon our life, upon our children and upon the people around us.

(Mar.11:12) And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, he hungered. (13) And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. (14) And he answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it. What do you think Jesus was talking about? Well, God’s people are the fig tree and the next verses seem to imply that God was reprobating people here, even before they bore fruit, just like the actual fig tree. (15) And they come to Jerusalem: and he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; (16) and he would not suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple. (17) And he taught, and said unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers. I believe He was saying here that these people were not bearing fruit. We have our opportunity to bear fruit and it has everything to do with what we say and do with the Word of God. We pray the prayer of faith for our children, but then many times we get caught up with frustration when we see them running after the world and not doing the things that we have been praying, believing and hoping they would do. We should, instead, be walking by faith for them and confessing their salvation by faith. Jesus said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (past tense, according to the Numerics translation) them, and ye shall have them” (24). “Received” is past tense here because we received everything at the Cross.

How do you speak when you believe you have received? What do you say about the circumstances for which you have prayed, when you believe you have received? Do you speak in agreement that you believe you have received? Are you believing for your children? Are you calling the “things that are not as though they were” (Rom.4:17) for your children? This could include praying for your wife, husband or neighbor who has gone astray, or someone else who has problems, and so on. For example, alcoholics are taught that they will always be an alcoholic but is that really true? Not if you believe the Gospel. You don’t have to worry anymore about being an alcoholic since Jesus bore the curse upon Himself on the Cross. Don’t let anyone deceive you. Believe what the Gospel says, which is that you have been delivered. Jesus made you free from sin, as Romans 6:18 says. He set you free from the curse, as Galatians 3:13 says. He delivered you out of the power of darkness, as Colossians 1:13 says. You are no longer under the power of alcoholism. We need to confess this to receive it. (Heb.10:14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Mat.9:29) According to your faith be it done unto you.

I am reminded of a dream my wife had. She was praying for a friend and, in this very vivid dream, my wife saw her friend inspecting her fruit tree, which probably represented herself. She saw fruit on the tree but there were worms in the fruit. She had a can of spray and was broadly spraying the entire tree; however, my wife told her friend that this wouldn’t work. Then my wife walked over to her and told her to spray each worm right in the mouth. She took the can from her friend and noticed that it wasn’t worms in the fruit, but little serpents, so my wife sprayed the can into each serpent’s mouth. The thing that is ruining our fruit is the “little serpents” that are from our carnal nature – those thoughts and words that come out of our mouth. We don’t come into the fruit of Jesus Christ, either His works or nature, because we don’t confess our redemption in many of these areas. We need to pay close attention to what we say in each individual situation in which the curse is manifested, and not just broadly “spray the whole tree.” If we speak a word against our redemption, we need to deny that word and, in some cases, come against it. I think a good example of this is in Numbers. It speaks of a husband having the authority to disallow the words of his wife when she says things that bind her own soul, which the Bible calls a “rash utterance of her lips.” (Num.30:6) And if she be [married] to a husband, while her vows are upon her, or the rash utterance of her lips, wherewith she hath bound her soul (this is speaking things that bind our soul; the very opposite of our redemption), (7) and her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he heareth it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. (8) But if her husband disallow her in the day that he heareth it, then he shall make void her vow which is upon her, and the rash utterance of her lips, wherewith she hath bound her soul: and Lord will forgive her. The same is said here of a father for his daughter. The father can deny and disallow what he sees and hears, but in the same way, he can just let it go and the Lord can hold her accountable for that. The one in authority here has the authority to let these words stand or to say no to things contrary to the Word. “No, we’re not believing that for our child, or about our situation, or about our health. We’re not accepting that.” Of course, it always has to be done with kindness, since it could cause some friction.

When my wife and I first came to understand this, we began to help each other and the children with what we were saying and it was very helpful to remind ourselves of what we were thinking. I remember when I had gathered the kids together and lectured them on why they had left their shoes out on the front porch. I said, “I told you, if you leave your shoes out on the front porch, a dog can come and take one of those shoes off and then the other shoe is good for nothing.” Well, that is exactly what happened. A dog came and took one of their shoes and I realized that I was the one who made it happen. I had said that a dog would come and take one of their shoes. To make a long story short, I told them to go out and look for the shoe but they couldn’t find it. So then I said, “Here’s what we’re going to do,” as I looked out the front window at the porch. “We’re going to command that dog to bring back that shoe from where he got it,” and that’s just what we did. We didn’t think about it anymore. The next day we just happened to be standing right by that window and I think it was my son who yelled out, “Look!” We all looked out the window and here comes this dog from around the neighbor’s house, with a shoe in his mouth, and he drops it in front of the door. Of course, the kids and I were amazed. I spoke that thing and God took me up on it. We have the power of destruction or creation in our mouth. We’re sons of God and the Lord Jesus Christ lives in us. He has given us authority. (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We need to pay attention to what we say and be careful to agree with the Word of God.

There are places where speaking a curse is actually a blessing. It needs to be done. You can speak a curse to a cancer and command it to die in the Name of Jesus, just like when Jesus cursed the roots of the fig tree. However, a lot of cursing that goes forth from us is not something that we premeditate. God said, “as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you” (Num.14:28). It came quite naturally to them to say that they were afraid because they were not believing what God said and He was offended. We are in the same situation. (Mar.11:22) And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God (according to the Numerics translation, “Have God’s faith”). (23) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. We see here that He is not talking about having faith in God, but about having God’s faith inside you. Some people may say that they don’t have enough faith. First, they should stop saying that because it’s not the truth. God has given to every one of us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). He also made reconciliation at the Cross, which gives us everything we need, including the faith. (Col.1:21) And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, (22) yet now hath he reconciled (Greek: apokatallasso, meaning “to exchange completely”) in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: (23) if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. If we’re not moved away from our faith in the Gospel, then we’re now reconciled through Jesus Christ, meaning an exchange is made. Now we have Jesus’ faith and His righteousness. We are the righteousness of God in Christ (Romans 3:22). Now we have all that has been given unto us. At the same time our sins have been taken away; He has borne them on the Cross and they have been nailed to the Cross. We are to confess our redemption, our reconciliation. Now we have the faith of God. How many things that we say do we really believe? We haven’t cast any mountains around lately but we say a lot of things that we believe.

Faith can be positive or faith can be negative. (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Most people, when they are not lying, are saying what they believe. (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. We have to exercise faith for some things, while for other things we exercise faith quite naturally because it is our belief and it does come to pass. Do you believe, for instance, that what Jesus desired of people 2000 years ago, He still desires today? (Mat.8:13) And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour. How did Jesus know that the centurion believed? Did the centurion tell Jesus that he believed? No, Jesus knew that the centurion believed by what came out of his mouth.

God knows what people believe in their hearts but He doesn’t judge people for that. He said no man will be judged except out of the mouth of two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1). He’s going to judge every man according to his works (Revelation 2:23). He also said He will render to every man according to his doings (Matthew 16:27; Proverbs 24:12). (Gal.6:7) … Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. How do we sow things in the New Testament? When the sower went forth to sow, how did he sow his seed? He sowed the spoken Word. He sowed a seed called “the Word” in the hearts of men. How did Jesus know if this centurion had faith? He wanted Jesus to heal his servant who was sick of the palsy and grievously tormented. Jesus said that He would come to heal him (Matthew 8:7). (Mat.8:8) And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. How many times do you hear people say such a thing? Jesus knew by the fruit of the centurion’s lips that he had faith. Jesus knew by his confession and then Jesus gave the centurion what he had confessed. Do you think it is any different today? Jesus is waiting for us to confess our redemption, our reconciliation, and He is going to render to every man according to his works.

Faith without works is dead. (Jas.2:14) What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him? (17) Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. (18) Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from [thy] works, and I by my works will show thee [my] faith. God does everything legally and He’s not judging people based on what they think but, rather, by what they do. When you judge someone based on what they do, you are judging their faith. I will show you my faith by my works. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren (Greek: “unfruitful; inactive; idle”)? In other words, it won’t bring out the desired effect. (22) Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.

God is not judging our faith based on what He perceives in our heart, but He is judging based on what comes out of our mouth and other actions. We’re proving before the court of Heaven whether we have faith or not. When we prove it, God grants our request. So what did Jesus say to this centurion who believed that all Jesus had to do was say the word and his servant would be healed, without Jesus actually going to his house? (Mat.8:10) And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. (13) And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour. We believe a lot of things and our words reveal them and bring them to pass.

(12:34) Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. We speak what’s in our heart; we speak what we believe. (36) And I say unto you, that every idle word (Greek: “inactive; unfruitful; barren”) that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. The centurion was justified because he spoke his faith. And Jesus said, “As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee.”

Our faith can be positive or negative. Many things that we speak do come to pass. Even negative things that we say can come to pass, so we should be very careful. Many times when we speak what we believe, we are speaking the curse because what we believe is not in agreement with the Word of God. We are not believing what we’ve prayed for; we are not believing what the redemption brought us through Jesus Christ. We are not believing what the reconciliation gave us in Jesus Christ and we need to study to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15). (9:27) And as Jesus passed by from thence, two blind men followed him, crying out, and saying, Have mercy on us, thou son of David. (28) And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. (29) Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it done unto you. He let them give their confession, “Yea, Lord,” and Jesus said, “According to your faith.”

Every work that we do is not a confession of the lips; in some cases, the work is our actions, our feet. (2) And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. Later, Jesus healed him (verse 6-7). Jesus saw their faith but they didn’t say anything. However, the men had torn off the roof of the house and lowered down the palsied man with his bed to get to Jesus. Do you think they would have gone through all that trouble, knowing they would have to fix the roof, if they weren’t going to get a reward for it? Through this, Jesus saw their faith. Some people go through great trouble to get to Jesus. Others go through great trouble to trust in men. They don’t trust in the Lord and God sees that, too. We see here that this was not a “tongue-confession” but a “feet-confession.” (20) And behold, a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: (21) for she said within herself, If I do but touch his garment, I shall be made whole. She didn’t say it outwardly, but she acted outwardly; she touched His garment. She thought within herself that if she could just touch Him, that she would be made whole. (22) But Jesus turning and seeing her said, Daughter, be of good cheer; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Once again, an action, a confession, a step. Most of our works have to do with our tongue. We talk too much and mostly about what we believe. We need to remember what we believe is what was accomplished at the Cross. We are calling “the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17). We are to believe for the benefits of the Kingdom upon our family, upon our children and upon the people around us who need these benefits. We need to speak those benefits over them. We need to agree with what God says about them. We create many of these promises ourselves because we pray the prayer of faith for people. The Lord says, Whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mar.11:24). See, what you pray and believe becomes the promise by manifestation.

We’re manifesting a promise for someone for whom we believe. We believe we have received after we have prayed; therefore, if you believe when you pray, what do you say about that person, to that person? This also includes the circumstances around your life. If you were redeemed from the curse, from all evil, what are you going to say about the circumstances around your life – all the lack, all the despair, all of the curse? Are you going to begin to agree with the Word of God so that Jesus, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), will say unto you, “as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee” (Mat.8:13)?

Testimonies

Two of our television program producers, Kevin and Holly Rhea, had a catastrophic hard-drive failure happen with many of our television programs on it. This would have been a terrible curse for our ministry, had Father not heeded our words of faith and praise. Here is their testimony.

Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

Restored by God on January 15, 2007

This is a testimony of God’s power to fix anything: (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. We have been producing the Unleavened Bread Bible Study TV programs for Unleavened Bread Ministries. In doing so, we use a high-end video software package which recommends separate hard-drives for editing and rendering purposes. In our case, we use a notebook computer with external hard-drives to fulfill the recommendations of the software.

On the morning of January 15, 2007, I began to continue work on the new version of Hidden Manna for the End Times. As I turned on my computer, an error came up indicating a catastrophic hard-drive failure on my external hard-drive. Basically, this meant that not only was the hard-drive not accessible anymore, but that the data on it was now corrupt. All of our video program data was on that hard-drive. (In the natural, our data was lost; hundreds of hours of work – gone.)

After eventually catching my breath, I called Brother David Eells to discuss the situation. We immediately went to the Lord in prayer – he, myself and my wife. We needed a mountain to be removed and we all prayed accordingly that the hard-drive be restored. David recommended we lay our hands on the hard-drive by faith here in Utah, while he spoke the command for it to be restored in the Name of Jesus, which we did. Then we thanked and praised our Heavenly Father.

(We were in a place of total weakness and needed a miracle from God.) (2Co.12:9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

After we got off the phone with David, my wife and I needed to run some errands in town. While we were out running errands, the devil kept constantly telling me in my mind that the hard-drive was still damaged, but … I could send it to the manufacturer to possibly retrieve the data on it. Firstly, sending the hard-drive in to the manufacturer for retrieval would take too much time (which we didn’t have); and, secondly, there would be no guarantee that the data would be retrieved (according to the manufacturer of the hard-drive, this was an “irrecoverable failure”). At the same time the devil was talking to me, I heard the Lord reminding me of Scripture such as these:

(Jas.2:17) Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.

(Heb.10:23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised.

(2Co.5:7) (For we walk by faith, not by sight).

(Rom.4:17) (As it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.

Therefore, my tongue and feet needed to be in agreement with what we prayed for earlier; even though I was getting bombarded with contrary thoughts from the enemy, I needed to endure the fiery trial. I continued to cast down all vain imaginations (2 Corinthians 10:5) throughout this time and my wife and I continued thanking the Lord (Philippians 4:6) for healing the hard-drive.

(2Co.10:5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

(Php.4:6) In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

After returning home, I sat down on our couch and looked at the computer (at this point I hadn’t turned it back on since we prayed). As I was looking at the computer and the external hard-drive, my eyes were drawn to a framed Scripture that we hung on the wall just above the computer, which reads, (Mar.16:17) And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

As I focused in on the framed Scripture on the wall, an amazing thing happened: the Holy Spirit quickened the Scripture to read: “… they shall lay hands on the disk, and it shall recover.” It’s as if He rearranged the letters before my eyes. I thought, “Wow, did that really happen?” (We did, in fact, lay hands on the hard-drive [disk] when we prayed with David.)

At this same time, my wife was getting ready to cut my hair and the thought came to my mind that I would test the computer/hard-drive out after my haircut was done. (Doubt and unbelief were trying to creep in by delaying.)

Then I heard the Lord tell me in the Spirit, “If you believe that I healed the hard-drive, what are you waiting for? Turn your computer on.” So I immediately turned on the computer; the hard-drive spun up, was recognized by the computer and all the data on it was fine. (Please note: this miracle defies natural physics and electronics.)

The Lord healed that hard-drive perfectly, as if it just came out of the box! There’s nothing He can’t do! Amen.

Sovereign God Helps Edit Sovereign God Book

Brad Moyers 4/10/07

I’m narrating SG and had finished the first seven chapters. I had recorded chapter 8 but hadn’t yet edited it. I decided to format my hard drive since it had been 2½ years since the last time I’d done it. I had to burn everything I wanted to keep to DVD backup. When I finished the format and started reloading my files, I kept getting an error when I tried to transfer chapter 8 from the DVD to my hard drive. I was getting what is called a “cyclic redundancy error.” It turns out it is common and it means that there was an error in the burn process for that particular file. I downloaded a program that supposedly will recover most files with such an error and, if that program couldn’t do it, nothing could. Well, that program failed to recover anything.

I told David about this and we agreed in prayer that God would work a miracle like He has for mine and others’ computer problems in the past. The next day the file was on my hard drive with the other seven chapters and it was NOT there before. Furthermore, the chapter is there in its entirety and there are no errors in it. Out of curiosity I put in the DVD backup with chapter 8 on it to listen to it and it glitches and skips all the way through. PTL! God not only transferred the file to my hard drive but He removed the skips and glitches for me.

That will save me a bunch of time because chapter 8 is tied with chapter 4 for being the longest chapter in the book.

“We speak the things we have according to promise and not according to what we see in the world. This faith that we have and speak changes the things around us.”

CHAPTER SIX

Speak the Things of the Kingdom

The Bible tells us that Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pro.18:21). Let’s study how we can cooperate with God in this process of sanctification so that we are those who speak life and partake of the benefits of the Kingdom. (Jas.3:8) But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil, [it is] full of deadly poison. (9) Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God: (10) out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening [sweet water] and bitter? (12) can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither [can] salt water yield sweet. We want to learn by the grace of God to bring forth those “sweet waters.” When Moses and the children of Israel came up to Marah, meaning “bitterness” (Exodus 15:22-25), they couldn’t drink the water. God commanded that a tree be cast into the waters so that they would be made sweet. Marah represents the bitter waters of the fountain, or mouth, which were cured by the tree, representing the Cross. The Cross has conquered our tongue and has given us this gift of the sweet waters so we can bring forth blessings, instead of the cursings, out of this spring of our mouth. But the Bible also tells us, “The heart of the wise instructeth his mouth, And addeth learning to his lips” (Pro.16:23). So we want to educate ourselves to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath” (Jas.1:19). We need to think about what we are saying and disagree with the devil because he tempts us from birth to speak the things of the world and not the things of the Kingdom. The Lord is helping us and He has already conquered the tongue, which no man can tame, but the Lord can through His Word and promises. Jesus was the sacrifice Who gave us a new tongue through the reconciliation.

(Jos.1:6) Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I sware unto their father to give them. (7) Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. Notice that God said that Joshua (Hebrew: “Jesus”) was going to cause His people to be brought into their inherited Promised Land. As we have discovered, the Promised Land is actually us (Hebrews 6:4-7). The Son of God is being manifested in His people. (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is a product of the Word of God being assimilated in your life; Christ is the Word of God (John 1:14). You crucify that spiritual man when you walk in the flesh and for the Christians who have the power to do otherwise, who have been filled with the Holy Spirit and enlightened, who have tasted of the heavenly gift, this will become a curse unto them. (Heb.6:7) For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God: (8) but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned. We discovered that the word “rejected” is adokimos, meaning, specifically, “reprobated.” The apostle Paul said that he kept his body under control if, perhaps, after he had preached to others, he himself would be “rejected” or “reprobated” (1 Corinthians 9:27). God doesn’t reprobate land; He reprobates people. The Bible is very plain, in the original Greek, that we are God’s “tilled land” (1Co.3:9). God wants to plow this earth, our bodies, and plant His seed in the midst of it, bringing forth the fruit of Jesus Christ in us. The land that Joshua wants to cause us to inherit is referring to our life. The spiritual man, the Israelite, is to conquer this land with the edge of the sword, the Word of God. The spiritual man is to take the land from the Canaanite and live in his house, our body, and plant his crop and bear the fruit of the spiritual man, rather than the fruit of the carnal man, the Canaanite.

(Jos.1:7) Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. Notice that turning to the right or left would cause failure to take the Promised Land.

I had a dream many years ago where I was standing on a mountain, looking down into a valley and a road that went down the side of this mountain. The road had a ditch or trench down the middle of it. I was in a car, with one set of tires on one side of the trench and the other set on the other side, going down this road to the bottom of the mountain. I realized I couldn’t turn to the right or the left because, if I did, two wheels would fall into the trench and that would be the end of it; I wouldn’t go any farther. I steered very carefully, not to the right and not to the left, as I went down this mountain. The Lord gave me the understanding of this afterward that this mountain represented the kingdom of the world – man, self or the old life. I was to navigate this road and not turn to the right or left, until I got off of this mountain. As soon as I was at the bottom, I immediately realized that there were enemies everywhere. To the extent that we humble ourselves to the Word of God, going down the mountain of “self,” the more enemies we will have, even religious enemies or so-called “Christian” enemies. (2Ti.3:12) … All that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Most of the persecution toward Jesus and the disciples came from the people who called themselves the “people of God.” When I got to the bottom and knew that the enemy was everywhere, I went under a bush and there I found tools that I picked up, as if they were treasure. These tools were hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches and so on. The Lord later revealed to me that these tools represented the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18), as all of these tools do. The Lord was basically telling me that I was coming to a time, when under the bush, I was going to pick up this authority.

At the time of the burning bush, Moses was given authority to go into Egypt to act for the Lord. I’ve been binding and loosing for many years but I believe that we’re coming to a time of real power from God. It’s only going to come to those who humble themselves to this world and don’t turn to the right or to the left, but stay on God’s road, a self-crucifying path of obedience to the Word of God. When I picked up these tools, I went up another mountain, which was Mount Zion. I went through the front doors of a great temple, which I believe represented the New Jerusalem on Mount Zion. Whom did I see there? I saw Jesus sitting on His throne. I went over and sat down next to Him, as He said that overcomers would do. (Rev.3:21) He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.

As I was speaking with Jesus, I heard people trying to come into the throne room by a back way and not through the door that I had come through, similar to John 10:1. Jesus saw these people and said, “Don’t worry about them; they can’t come in here.” Basically, it was people looking for “throne room” authority but they wouldn’t humble themselves to the Word of God and pick up that authority to bind and loose. We talk a lot about faith and speaking faith but you can’t disconnect it from obedience to the Word of God. God will give authority only to those who overcome (Revelation 2:26).

(Jos.1:8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Speaking the Word so that you walk it will bring good success when conquering our Promised Land for the Lord. Let the spiritual man conquer the carnal man. We must speak according to God’s promises, even in the midst of the fiery trial. Do we speak according to the promise or do we speak the things of the world? Are we moved by our carnal senses to speak against what we have in heavenly places? As Christians, we “calleth the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17). We speak the things we have according to promise and not according to what we see in the world. This faith that we have and speak changes the things around us. This is God’s plan. We let the Word, or our agreement with the Word in what we say, come from our mouth so that we may have good success in conquering the Promised Land. We will take the land for the Lord.

Further on in Joshua, we see that he is still leading the people of God to conquer their Promised Land, in order to put to death their enemy. In this particular case, the head of God’s people, Joshua, is conquering the Amorites. (Jos.10:12) Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon. I believe God is showing us here to what extent He would go to give our enemy into our hands, if we would speak the Word with boldness. He will go to great lengths to give us victory over our enemy. (8) And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thy hands; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. We discovered that the “man” He was referring to was the old man who lived in the Promised Land before the new man took possession. The old man represented the lusts of the flesh, which would not be able to stand. Joshua and the children of Israel were having victory over the Amorites but they were running out of time. Remember, the Lord said that if we confess Him before men, He shall confess us before the Father (Matthew 10:32). Likewise, Joshua confessed in the sight of Israel. He didn’t hide and speak this, in fear that it wouldn’t work or that he would be made a fool. Joshua was bold and full of faith and he spoke it right in front of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon (12). (13) And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

Think about this. At first, I thought God just stopped Earth from spinning, but I later realized that the moon stayed in the same relative position as the sun and Earth didn’t spin, but the whole solar system had stopped. This is a very dangerous thing to do, unless you also control the rest of the universe. Things would tend toward collision down the road somewhere. Can you imagine that God stopped the solar system and more, just so Israel could conquer their enemy? What kind of other big miracle can you imagine that God would do for us to give us victory over our enemy? God gave the Israelites an awesome victory over their enemies! Of course, they needed the time and, for a whole day, the system was frozen. People claim that God only did that back then and does not do that today, simply because of the verse right after it. (14) And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel. Well, the Lord still hearkens unto our voice, for many people speak miracles today and they come to pass as they did in the Bible long after Joshua. But I want to point out that “he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mat.11:11). This is speaking about John the Baptist, whom the Lord said was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. In the Old Testament, His people hadn’t entered into the Kingdom yet. By the way, who is it living in us? Is it God or man? It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.1:27). Who was Christ? He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14) and He is still in His Body. He also said, “the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life” (Joh.6:63), meaning they are His Spirit and His life. In other words, it’s the life of God living in us; it’s the spiritual man who speaks in agreement with the Word of God. Also, remember that it is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph.6:17). Therefore, it’s not as if God is hearkening unto the voice of a man, but He is hearkening unto the voice of His sons. That spiritual man in us is not man, but God. The Son of God is manifesting in His people and He speaks words out of us. When we come in agreement with the Word, we can be trusted. The Lord said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (Joh.15:7). Why? The Word in you is trustworthy to God. If you fill yourself up with the Word and you desire earnestly to walk in agreement with it, God says you’re trustworthy.

A long time after Joshua, the Lord wrote this: (Isa.45:11) Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. Does God really do that? When you command something to be done, like when His disciples commanded healings, deliverances, provision and so on, who is it who fulfilled that? It was God. It wasn’t their power but the authority they had been given by God. Authority is the right to use power. Authority is also what we do when we speak in agreement with the Word of God and God brings it to pass. In effect, what we are doing is commanding God, since He said that if we do, He will do it and Jesus said the same.

To whom did God give the power over the work of His hands? Psalm 8 was spoken concerning natural Adam and his seed, but also in type to spiritual Adam, Jesus Christ, and His seed. (Psa.8:6) Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet. This was said of man and the Son of man. Jesus said that God had given Him authority because He is “son of man” (Joh.5:27). Man was given authority on the earth but we lost it through Adam because he sinned. However, we gained it back through Jesus Christ because He was faithful. Once again, we have been given this authority over the works of God’s hands and when we speak in agreement with the Word of God, God fulfills it. Maybe it’s not the same situation as it was with Joshua in the natural, but God still fulfills the Word of God and has put everything under our feet. (Lam.3:37) Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Even the devil has no sovereign authority; he has to get permission, as we see in the book of Job. To reiterate the point, Joshua exercised dominion and authority given from God, even to the extent that the solar system was frozen in place so God’s people could conquer their enemies.

The next thing we see in Joshua is that they went after the five kings who were ruling the Promised Land. (Jos.10:16) And these five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. (17) And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah. (18) And Joshua said, Roll great stones unto the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to keep them: (19) but stay not ye; pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand. The first thing they did was trap the five kings in the cave and then they rolled great stones over the mouth of the cave. Remember that Adam was created from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7) and this old man is earthly, but “as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1Co.15:49). We are both earthly and heavenly, a spiritual man of the heavens and the carnal man of the earth. The carnal man of the earth has a mouth and here it’s called “the mouth of the cave.” The Lord made the spiritual men roll these great stones over the mouth of the cave. What’s the purpose of that? The five kings represent the five senses and the spiritual man put stones, that represent the Word, over the mouth so the carnal senses are not permitted to speak.

Let me explain further. The Bible says that senses must be exercised by the Word of God so that we understand the difference between good and evil. (Heb.5:13) For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. (14) But solid food is for fullgrown men, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. As born-again people, we must have born-again senses. As spiritual men, we must have spiritual senses. Our carnal senses trapped us and ruled over us and our land because people lived according to their carnal senses and they saw and felt and heard as the world did. They couldn’t walk by faith or see the end from the beginning, as God is teaching us to do. (2Pe.1:3) Seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue. Can you see that God has already provided you everything that pertains unto life and godliness? You don’t have to fight and struggle for it anymore. Now you have the eyes of a dove (Song of Solomon 1:15). You have the eyes of the Spirit when you begin to see that the promise is true but the world is transitory. It’s passing away but the promise is true. (4) Whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises (the stones at the mouth of the cave); that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. So, if we have eyes to see, we can partake of God’s nature, we will have spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, spiritual touch, spiritual smell (or discernment), spiritual taste and words – we will have those spiritual gifts that enable the spiritual man to take over. The Israelites had captured the five kings who ruled the Promised Land in a cave and they closed up the mouth with great stones. As you know, Jesus is the Stone; He’s the Rock which is the Word of God. These great stones represent the great promises of the Word of God. We’re adding learning to our lips, which are the “mouth of the cave.”

When we study the Word of God, we learn and see what we are supposed to say and what we’re not supposed to say. The Word of God gives us restraint to not say things that would permit a curse upon our life. The Israelites knew that to conquer the Promised Land, they had to conquer these senses first, these kings that ruled over the carnal man and bring the curse upon him. And this is what the parable points to – rolling out those stones in front of the mouth. (Eph.4:29) Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying (building-up) as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear. If we see and walk in the Spirit, then we speak in agreement with the Spirit. (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We have the power to change our nature and this is accomplished by the Word of God. As long as you agree with the world and see your natural face in the mirror, you are never going to be any different. But we need to behold in the mirror the glory of the Lord so we can be changed into that same image. (3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. If we have eyes to see only in the natural, then we are not going to conquer the curse for the Kingdom. When we see a need, such as someone living under the curse, we should speak things that answer the need. What we speak should give God’s people grace to overcome, grace to meet that need, whatever it may be. When we speak according to the Kingdom, we are meeting someone’s need for God and His benefits.

(Col.3:17) And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, [do] all in the name (Greek: “nature, character and authority”) of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Do it as if you are representing Him because you are an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), so speak His words to this world. That’s what we’re called to do. We’re called to confess Him before men always and to speak in His Name (nature, character and authority). (1Pe.4:11) If any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, [ministering] as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. When we speak as an oracle of God, that is His Word coming out of us. We’re letting Him do the speaking. We’re letting the spiritual man, who is in communication with God through our spirit, do the speaking. We are not to let the carnal man, who is in communication with the world through the flesh, do the speaking. As Paul said, Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear (Eph.4:29). This is what it means to roll the stones in front of the cave’s mouth.

A lady we knew constantly fell back into the same old problems because she would never agree with the Word of God. She would never speak the things that are not as though they were and she would just never walk by faith. So my wife had a dream one night that she was in a room on a bunk bed with this lady. My wife was on the top bunk and this lady was on the bottom bunk. She heard this lady speaking all these negative things: “Just don’t know if I can make it. I can’t overcome this; I can’t!” On and on these problems were coming out of her mouth. She was speaking the things that are, instead of the things that are not. My wife peeked over the side of the bunk and said, “That’s not what the Word of God says,” and then she continued on to quote the Word. My wife said she knew the place that she was in was called “Holiness.” She knew that unless you agreed with the Word of God, you couldn’t abide in this place called “Holiness.” So she began to correct this woman, who then said, “I just don’t know if I can stay here,” and then she was gone. That happened in the physical, too; she had left us.

To walk holy is to walk separate. The Greek word for “holy” is the same word for “sanctified” and it means “separate”; that is, separated from the world, separated from sin, separated unto God. We speak His words, we think His thoughts and we do His works because He lives in us. The more we do that, the more we grow in holiness. It’s the place of Holiness. Without holiness, no man can see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is what we grow in when we bear the fruit of Jesus Christ. It is separation from the old man, who is moved and ruled by the carnal senses, unto the new man, who is ruled according to the spiritual senses. (Isa.11:2) And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (3) And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; (4) but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (5) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. We are to be walking in the Lord’s steps, if we abide in Him (1 John 2:5,6). Isaiah is speaking here about the “branch” (1), which is being raised up in our day, called the Man-child. This is Christ in His first-fruits in the end-time. We are not to walk according to our carnal senses because “he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears” (3). Instead, we are to have our senses exercised to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). We are to have our senses exercised by the Word of God, which is the “washing of water with the word” (Eph.5:26). As our senses are exercised, we begin to see and hear spiritually; we begin to hear and speak the Voice of the Spirit.

It’s similar to when David went to slay Goliath, the giant in the land. He went to the brook and pulled out those five smooth stones that were exercised by the washing of the water, which represents the Word. He took only one of those stones and he felled Goliath (1 Samuel 17). David spoke it to him ahead of time, declaring that he would take off Goliath’s head and feed him to the birds. That’s very bold! And because David spoke it, that’s exactly what he did. The stone, or sense, that David was using was the tongue. The tongue senses tastes but it also speaks the Word. We assimilate things from our five senses into our mind and, in turn, we speak them out of our mouth. It’s different with the world because they assimilate the things that are but the Lord says that He has chosen the things that are not, that He may bring to nothing the things that are (1 Corinthians 1:28). He wants to change the things of this world by calling the things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17), so we must have spiritual senses in order to see things the way God sees things and to hear things the way God speaks them. We have to be like David who conquered Goliath because he had spiritual senses. David saw what those other men could not see, which is why they wouldn’t dare step out in front of that giant. They were afraid because they didn’t have the Word of God in their thoughts and coming out of their mouth. David conquered Goliath because the Son of God was spiritually living in him through the Word.

Now we can return to Joshua. He told the Israelites to go after their enemies, since the five kings were already trapped in the cave and they couldn’t command their subjects from there because the mouth of the cave was closed off with the stones. Now the Israelites were able to conquer those whom the kings had ruled over. If you don’t stop those kings from speaking, you will never be able to conquer those that they rule over, the carnal man. (Jos.10:20) And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, (21) that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. (22) Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring forth those five kings unto me out of the cave. (23) And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. (24) And it came to pass, when they brought forth those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the chiefs of the men of war that went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. They let them out of the cave and they had to keep them from speaking, so they put their feet on their necks. It reminds me of the dream I shared with you in Chapter Four, about being in a war with a giant and not letting the old man speak. When he did, he said, “Bigger, bigger, bigger!” We have a lot of giants around us – a lot of big problems and a lot of big enemies. We can’t let the old man, whom I captured in the dream and who was in bondage to me, speak out of our mouth. I’ve been ruling over him for many years but it used to be the other way around – he was ruling over me. I didn’t want to let him speak because the old man has the authority to make the situation worse and make the enemy stronger and bigger. But I refused him and demanded that the giant be reduced, saying, “No! Smaller, smaller, smaller.” So the giant that I saw ahead of us, standing before us, was not able to conquer me because I corrected the old man. Similarly, the Israelites put their feet on the kings’ necks, causing the five senses to not speak or to rule over the body. (25) And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. (26) And afterward Joshua smote them, and put them to death, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. Notice that all of our enemies will be conquered in this way.

Jesus Christ was hanged upon a tree, or cross, and they wanted to take Him down before evening, too. Jesus also was buried in a cave. So why is God applying this to the senses of the old man? We were crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and that includes our five senses. We too often get caught up in the idea that “I” have to conquer my senses, “I” have to conquer this tongue. Well, you are putting all the responsibility upon yourself, instead of remembering that the Lord has already taken care of this problem. He was crucified on that tree and you were crucified with Christ and you don’t live any longer but Christ lives in you. (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. Remember that your old senses were crucified with Christ. You have been given this gift of the new man, “for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb.10:14). This gift comes along with these new spiritual senses. We walk in the spirit according to these divine senses, the senses that are attuned to the Kingdom of Heaven, the senses that see how to walk in the Kingdom, instead of how to walk in the world. It comes quite naturally to us to walk in the world but it comes supernaturally to us to walk in the Kingdom; that is, to have our senses exercised by the Word of God to see and hear the way God sees and hears, and to smell, or discern, the way God does. It is also to have our emotions in communication with God.

(Jos.10:27) And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, unto this very day. So why cover the kings now? Well, the old man is still in the inside but he’s dead now and that’s the whole point. We are to come to the place that we don’t let that old man speak ever again. If you let him speak, let him live, let him come down off that cross, he will continue to live, to grow and to rule your life. You need to remember that the Lord has crucified him, including his senses. God has already taken care of this and we get to rejoice in the victory that has been given to us already. The victory is that the old man and his senses are dead and the new man, Who is Jesus Christ, lives in you. Because of your faith and speaking that faith, God will bring it to pass. It’s not that we are able to do so by our own power and ingenuity; the old man is not going to put the old man to death. It’s through faith and not by works. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory.

We really can’t help ourselves but we know Someone Who can. We know we can turn to the Lord, Who gave His life for us. We also know that He has given us these spiritual senses and we can claim them by faith. We claim that God has given us a new tongue and a new life, that by one offering He has perfected us (Hebrews 10:14). “I accept Your perfection, Lord. I accept that Jesus lives in me. I accept that You will put a watch upon my lips and You will not let anything go forth out of my lips that is not in agreement with Your Word.” He tells us to do just that. (Psa.141:3) Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips. (4) Incline not my heart to any evil thing, To practise deeds of wickedness With men that work iniquity: And let me not eat of their dainties.

Testimony

God Fixes Air Conditioners

David Eells

Years ago, my neighbor, who didn’t have much money, told me that his air conditioner had gone out. He checked it out as best he could but, like me, didn’t know a lot about them. I told him that if we agreed, God would fix it for him. He did agree with me and I commanded it to be restored. I then told him it was fixed. He went home and turned it on and told me that it was now working. Praise to our God!

More recently, but still a few years ago, my air conditioner went out. I went out to look it over and had some suspicions but not the understanding or instruments to check it out. I didn’t have a lot of money, so while I had the cover off of it, I just felt to ask the Lord if He would send someone to check it out for me. Normally, I would have just prayed over it. When I went back inside, my wife asked me what I was going to do with the air conditioner. I said, “Nothing. God is sending someone to check it out.” The next thing I knew, a man showed up at my house. I recognized him as a very unfriendly neighbor. He said, “I saw you outside looking at your AC and I just finished AC school (which I never knew he was going to) and decided to see if I could help.” Sure enough, it took him no time to find the bad part and put it in my hand. I thanked him kindly and told him I had just asked the Lord to send someone. I went and got the part and installed it myself. I had been hoping for an opening with this obviously hurting man.

The next day, his Christian wife called me and said, “I saw my husband grab a tool pouch and walk around all the fences to your place and wondered what was happening.” So, I told her that I was believing God to send someone to fix my air conditioner and I guess God had him watching me and then sent him to do it. She was amazed, saying, “He never helps anybody.” I said, “God put it in his heart,” and she agreed. Praise the Lord!

One thing that prepared me to take this unusual step, at least for me, was when my refrigerator had gone out some time before this and God wanted to show me He could fix things in other ways when it was useful, so I was listening to the Lord. A refrigerator, of course, is just another kind of air conditioner.

When mine quit cooling, the Lord led me to do something strange. I pulled it out from the wall and looked at the schematic on the back. I’ve never been able to read an electric or electronic schematic before. As I looked at it, my puny mind came to a conclusion and I was sure of it. I went around the front, pulled the bottom aluminum plate out of the bottom of the freezer compartment and pulled out a gizmo that the Lord made me sure was the problem. If I remember correctly, I found out it was a thermostat. Anyway, as soon as I had this in my hand, I heard a knock at the door. It was a brother named Terry. He asked, “What is that?” I said, “I am not sure but I believe this is the problem with my refrigerator.” He said, “Well let’s go get one,” which we did and he insisted on paying for it. It was a good thing because I didn’t have the money but I didn’t tell him. To make a long story short, I put it in and the fridge worked great. This was a bigger miracle to me than if I would have just commanded it to be fixed.

Before, I had no faith that God could give me the wisdom to find the problem on a schematic and fix it myself. Praise the Lord! Now that I know this, I still prefer the other method.

“We have ‘authority over all the power of the enemy’ (Luk.10:19). We have power in praise. When we praise the Lord, He gives us the victory.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Praise and Thanksgiving

The apostle Paul tells us, “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be (Greek: “building up of the need”), that it may give grace to them that hear” (Eph.4:29). So the words that come out of our mouth must be words of grace, but sometimes people have a misunderstanding of what grace is. Grace can be chastening, or even hard words that need to be said to people. Grace is what we need from God – His favor. We should consider even God’s chastening as favor because He chastens every son which He receives (Hebrews 12:6). I certainly want chastening, if I need it to turn and serve the Lord. The best way, I believe, to not have corrupt speech come out of our mouth is to obey in “giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (5:20).

“Giving thanks always for all things”? I’m sure that bothers some people because they don’t think all things come from God. In fact, there is a theology out there that everything good comes from God and everything bad comes from the devil. If any of you are parents, sometimes you know that you have to give things to your children which people don’t think are good, such as sometimes spanking them. The devil is very good at that. We saw in the book of Job that Job had some self-righteousness and it really took the devil to bring it out and make him willing to repent. The devil got permission from God to chasten Job, who came out of it well and he was a better man for it. (1:11) In whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. “All things” leaves nothing out. Our Lord works “all things after the counsel of his will” and all things together for our good. (Rom.8:28) And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. God is the only One to Whom the Bible attributes sovereignty. The devil is only permitted to do things because mankind permits him to do them. It is part of God’s law. If we choose the devil, we get him for awhile to chasten us, to motivate us to repent and turn to God. We can give thanks for all things because they all come from God. (Joh.3:27) … A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. Ultimately, it all comes from God, even chastening and even when we’re turned over to the devil, as when Paul turned a man over to the devil so that he might be saved. (1Co.5:5) To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. There’s a good purpose there. So, again, it all ultimately comes from God.

God tells us that He works all things together for our good. When He says this, it means the good and the bad that come our way are for our good, even if something bad comes to teach us to use our faith against the bad. We must know that all comes from God because we really don’t have a good reason to repent if it’s only the devil coming against us. But Job understood this. (Job2:10) … Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. He attributed the good and the bad that came into his life as being from the Lord and we should, too, because God is sovereign and He “worketh all things after the counsel of his will” (Eph.1:11).

So we’re to give thanks; this is a secret of power. We need to give thanks to God for the good and for the bad. When we pray for the good, we need to give God thanks before we even see it. We can do this, since we know it all comes from Him. He also taught us that we should believe that we have already received; therefore, we shall have it. (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive (Greek: “received”) them, and ye shall have them. After we pray, we have another reason to give thanks because we have our answer. (Php.4:6) In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. In everything! Again He tells us to pray, give thanks and leave it in God’s hands. Even before you see the answer, give Him thanks. You know He’s in control and doing all things for your good. You might as well give Him thanks and He’ll appreciate that because He will give you the peace of God and keep your thoughts, as it says. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

I don’t know how many people have read our book, Sovereign God For Us and Through Us, but we receive testimonies from all over the world from those who claim that it has given them such peace to know that they are in the hands of the Lord. The book provides a good foundation of faith to do the works of the Lord, too, and to receive grace from God to be what we need to be. Once again, only God, Who is in control, can say, “In nothing be anxious.” Anxiety and fear are unbelief and they can prevent a person from receiving God’s benefits.

Pray and give thanks. The power of the tongue will bring you into the peace and protection of God. (Heb.13:15) Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. We’re commanded to give a sacrifice of praise unto God that agrees with His nature, character and authority. Praise doesn’t mean what a lot of people think it means. “Praise” means “to brag” on God about what He’s done. We know that He’s done it all, so we have a lot to brag on. When we ask God for something, the best thing to do from then on is to praise Him and thank Him for it. Prayer is to be just 1% asking and 99% praising and thanking until you see it come to pass. We know it shall come to pass because Jesus said, “believe that ye receive (Greek: “received”) them, and ye shall have them” (Mar.11:24). We might as well thank Him because that’s faith, calling “the things that are not as though they were” (Rom.4:17). We believe we have received and our thanks is a way of expressing our faith. Our praise is also faith because it’s bragging about what God has done and bragging on Who He is. What has He done? “God has healed me.” “God has delivered me.” “God has provided for me.” “God has made me holy.” “I’m a new creation; old things have passed away and all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All of that is praise to God.

He has already done it and, as you see, praise is a “language of faith,” just like “thanks” is when you thank God for something that you haven’t seen yet (Philippians 4:6). It doesn’t take a long time to ask Him because He already knows what we need. You are not going to be heard for your much speaking (Matthew 6:7). Just ask God and keep thanking Him and praising Him. When you get a chance, confess Him before men. Tell them what He has done for you. For example, when someone questions you about some sickness that it seems apparent to them that you have, but you know you have given it over to the Lord and that by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24), you can praise God to them, which is powerful. Many people are healed or blessed in some way after doing this. We can confess that we have been healed because Jesus bore the curse for us; He bore the stripes and what we should have received for our sins.

(Psa.34:1) I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Praise should continually be in your mouth. Do you think the Lord has a problem with ego, that He needs praise? Do you think that this is the way He wants us to spread the Gospel, the Good News? A lot of people think that praising the Lord is something you do in church. Actually, the Bible teaches that He wants us to praise Him in front of the pagans, too. They need to hear the Good News and we have to brag on what the Lord has done. “He has delivered me!” “He has healed me!” “He has saved me!” “He has provided for me!” It looks silly to some folks, but when it comes to pass, they know you’ve had a word from God. (2) My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad. In the Old Testament, in most instances, the word “praise” means “to boast” or to brag on the Lord and on what He has done. “Hallelujah” is the command to “Praise ye YHWH.” Many people only repeat the command, instead of obeying it. (3) Oh magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt his name together. The word “magnify” also fits in the definition of “praise.” You cannot make the Lord bigger than what He is. The problem is most people don’t see a big God. They need to know the big God that you know, especially in these days, so magnify the Lord in their sight and boast about Him. God appreciates that.

So many people are under a curse because they can’t exercise any faith; they don’t know if God is able to handle their problem. They are full of fear, which is faith in the devil and the Curse. (4) I sought the Lord, and he answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. This is one of the by-products of praise, that He delivers you from your fears. Fear is a powerful tool of the devil that causes a lot of people to lose faith in the Lord and fall back into their worldly ways. (5) They looked unto him, and were radiant; And their faces shall never be confounded. Those who praise the Lord will never be put to shame. (6) This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. Here is another by-product of praise, that He delivers you from all troubles and afflictions. (7) The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, And delivereth them. (17) [The righteous] cried, and the Lord heard, And delivered them out of all their troubles. (18) The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. (19) Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Praise the Lord! (149:1) Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, And his praise in the assembly of the saints. People who really love the Lord and are fired-up about what He has shown them in the Word enjoy talking about Him to one another. They love to praise Him. He is their favorite companion and friend. They love to brag on what the Lord has done for us in the Scriptures. That’s what the Lord wants to be coming forth from us. People of the world see that and they say that we are crazy fanatics but they know we have something, especially when God answers our praise and thanksgiving with His love and provides the answer to our problems; that leads to testimonies.

If you don’t know the Gospel or what it’s really about, then how will you brag on Him? What has He done? Those few who know can tell people that He has healed, delivered, provided, made holy, delivered from the curse of this world. The Gospel covers quite a lot. It is salvation in spirit, soul, body and circumstances, yet surprisingly few people know it. People aren’t able to brag on Him about these things because they aren’t even aware that it’s a provision that God has given to them. Praise in the assembly is good but it is probably one of the least important places to do this. God is interested in getting the Gospel out, which is what we do through praise.

(96:7) Ascribe unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the peoples, Ascribe unto the Lord glory and strength. People need to know that the Lord is big enough and strong enough to handle their problems and situations, and we need to tell them. If you have a testimony to share of how the Lord answered your faith and took care of your problem, you need to share this with others so that they understand that He will take care of their problems by their faith, also. He is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11) (8) Ascribe unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come into his courts. We are told that praise and thanksgiving is the way to enter into His courts (Psa.100:4). The offering, as we have discovered, is the sacrifice of our lips in giving praise to Him (Hebrews 13:15). (9) Oh worship the Lord in holy array: Tremble before him, all the earth. (10) Say among the nations (not only in church), the Lord reigneth: The world also is established that is cannot be moved: He will judge the people with equity. There are many church songs that people just sing because they enjoy singing but their hearts are not into the words, just the beat, and they’re not praising the Lord before anyone who’s really listening. People are singing because someone else is singing. There is a lot of phoniness in religion and a lot of things are done in church that are simply done out of habit. If they were singing songs of the world, they would enjoy them just as much.

Those who are alive in Christ love to “Say among the nations, the Lord reigneth.” He is in control. However, some are unable to say this because they’re caught up in false doctrine. It makes them nervous to think the bad things happening to them are chastenings from the Lord and not just from a bad devil. That “the Lord reigneth” puts fear in the wicked because they have thought all things come by chance – “things just happen.” Nonetheless, things do not just happen. God works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). This puts the fear of the Lord in the heart of the sinner. The Lord reigns, He is in control and He is bringing judgment upon the world. There are a lot of liberal churches out there that quickly tell people that the Lord didn’t do it when something bad happens. If that was really true, then why should we fear Him at all? Therefore, we are supposed to praise Him amongst the nations, not just in church.

It’s also true that, among the people of God, we need to hear more praise and testimonies in churches about what God has done in people’s lives, since there’s not much of that going there, either. I was in a house where the husband attended our Bible studies. The wife attended a mainline denomination. She shared with me that she had restless leg syndrome and had not been able to sleep decently for years. I told her that was a demon, from which Jesus had already delivered her at the Cross. I told her that because of what Jesus did (Colossians 1:13), all we had to do was cast it out. She agreed, so I commanded it out as her husband prayed. It left immediately. She was overjoyed and wanted to share this with her church, where she was the secretary. She asked the pastors if she could share a testimony at the end of the sermon and they agreed. When she shared what happened, the people were happy and some congratulated her because they knew her as a friend. However, the pastors seemed aloof and left the room. She went to them and asked if anything was wrong and, although they said no, she knew they were troubled. There’s not a lot of faith being preached, nor is there a lot of the real Gospel being preached, so people don’t know they have opportunity to partake in the miracles, signs and wonders of the Lord in their personal lives today. That’s a sad thing. They miss out on much of the testimonies that would be heard in a real New Testament Christian church. I have had the opportunity to brag on the Lord in many old-order denominations and the people there are hungry and love it, but it is the preachers who hate it. They have jealousy and want to protect their ego.

Praise has power to deliver you from the enemy. It has power to bind the enemy. (149:6) Let the high praises of God [be] in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. The Word of God is a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Israelites, with their two-edged sword, went into the Promised Land to put to death their enemy. The sword is the Word of God and it comes forth out of our mouth, as it is in the Lord’s mouth when He comes back to slay His enemies (Revelation 19:15). When He says, “the high praises of God be in their mouth,” it means we are bragging on what the Lord has done. He’s conquered our enemies already. He’s redeemed us from the hand of the enemy and from out of the hand of all who hate us (Luke 1:74). So “the high praises of God” are like that sword in the hands of those Israelites and we are conquering our Promised Land with them.

We also have authority in the Will of God over our physical nations and their leaders through praise and the spoken Word. (7) To execute vengeance upon the nations, And punishments upon the peoples; (8) To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; (9) To execute upon them the judgment written: This honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. The praises of God will “execute vengeance upon the nations.” Most of God’s people have not learned what praise is or that they should do it without ceasing. It’s going to be necessary in the days ahead for God’s people to be spared at the hands of the nations. When the nations came against Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem and Judah, Israel was greatly outnumbered and likely to be destroyed, if God didn’t step in. (2Ch.20:1) And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. (2) Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi). (3) And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto the Lord; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. (4) And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek [help] of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. (5) And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court; (6) and he said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thy hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. Did you notice the praise? Did you notice the bragging on the Lord, Whom Jehoshaphat said would execute punishment on the nations and bind their leaders, as we saw in Psalm 149?

Jehoshaphat continues with a lot of other reasoning as to why God should preserve them from their enemies, which are the “United Nations” of the North, South and East, in relation to Jerusalem. (10) And now, behold, the children of Ammmon (North) and Moab (East) and mount Seir (South), whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not; (11) behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. The beast came to take back the Promised Land. A great army was coming against them. (12) O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. Isn’t that like what Paul said? (2Co.12:9) Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

The Lord showed me years ago that this 2 Chronicles text is going to be fulfilled again in the end-times. There is a great persecution going on during the last 3½ years of the Tribulation, when the armies of the world are rising up against God’s people. This is going to separate the true wheat from the chaff and tares but then God is going to stand up and bring destruction to these armies. He will draw the king of the North, the king of the South and the king of the East together at the beginning of the Day of the Lord (Zechariah 14:3) to face God’s saints who are praising Him in His Ark of safety. (2Ch.20:16) To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. (17) Ye shall not need to fight in this [battle:] set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them; for the Lord is with you. (18) And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. (19) And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice. (20) And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. (21) And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto the Lord, and give praise in holy array (some translations say, “in the beauty of holiness”), as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto the Lord; for his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever. Notice that “praisers” went out before the army. Can you imagine anyone going out into a battle with overwhelming odds against them and putting the “praisers” out there first? They’d all be dead, if it wasn’t for God Almighty. Thanks and praise be to God that they did! This brought God’s power into the picture and His power was made perfect through their weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God told them they didn’t have to fight and He would take care of it. (22) And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten. (23) For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. They destroyed each other and the saints were preserved. This is going to happen again when the armies of the world – the king of the North, the king of the South and the king of the East are going to rise up. Some people say that they will come only against natural Jerusalem, but everything that is fulfilled in the letter is also fulfilled in the spirit. Christians worldwide are going to be hated of all nations (Matthew 24:9) and there will be an attempt to wipe out Christianity and its true leadership, just as they attempted in the physical to wipe out Jerusalem. However, God’s people are going to praise the Lord and He is going to preserve them in the spiritual Ark, while causing their enemies to destroy each other. What’s going to do this? Praise!

Praise binds and destroys the enemy. You have enemies that are not all physical; some are physical and some are spiritual. (Psa.149:6) Let the high praises of God [be] in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand; (7) To execute vengeance upon the nations, And punishments upon the peoples. During the Tribulation, so many things will get very bad. The great and terrible judgments that fell in Egypt and that fall in the book of Revelation are because of the great persecutions of God’s people. God is defending His people with these judgments. He’s trying to get people to wake up and cease from what they are doing. Through their praise, God is using His people to judge all the nations around them. He was judging Egypt so that their leadership would “Let my people go” (Exo.5:1). In the end-time, it will be the same way, just as it is in our text. (Psa.149:8) To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron. Who has the authority to bind? We do. Jesus gave that to us. (Mat.18:18) … What things soever ye shall bind (forbid) on earth shall be bound (forbidden) in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted) in heaven.

When it says, “To bind their kings … and their nobles,” that can have a double meaning. Who really are the principalities that rule over the heathen? They think they elect their officials but Satan is the god of this world (Matthew 4:8,9; 2 Corinthians 4:4). The Bible calls him the god and king of Babylon because Babylon worships and serves him (Isaiah 14) and his nobles are the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). Yes, he is the god of this world and the whole world is Babylon because it all came from Babel, out of which it was dispersed and spread across the world (Genesis 11). So Satan has his princes that rule but we can see here that the “high praises of God” in the mouth of the saints, which is none other than the Word of God, the sword, will “bind their kings … and their nobles.” We have “authority over all the power of the enemy” (Luk.10:19). We have power in praise. When we praise the Lord, He gives us the victory.

As we have seen, in a type, God divided the whole world at Babel and later He divided the nations of the world, which came to destroy God’s people. God divided them and caused them to kill off each other. During the Tribulation, God will again cause the nations to fight with each other, especially during the last 3½ years, because they persecute His people. God is defending His people with these judgments. (Psa.50:23) Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; And to him that ordereth his way [aright] Will I show the salvation of God. God says the same thing about thanksgiving as He does with praise because they’re very much related. As we learned in previous studies, the word “salvation” (Greek: soteria; verb form: sozo) in the New Testament covers salvation, deliverance, healing, provision, salvation in circumstances and much more. Most of God’s people don’t know that through grace they have already been saved (Ephesians 2:8). If you know that you’ve already been saved at the Cross, then you are in a good position to praise God in the midst of adverse circumstances because you know He’s already answered.

Just as in praising God, whoever gives thanksgiving to God glorifies Him and they shall be shown the salvation and the deliverance from the problem. (14) Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving; And pay thy vows unto the Most High. Sometimes you don’t feel like giving thanks to God and it feels like a sacrifice to do so. Your mind tells you not to do it because you can’t see anything to give thanks for. Well, we are told that we are supposed to give thanks right after we pray (Philippians 4:6). We’re supposed to thank God because He’s heard our prayer and has answered. Remember when Daniel fasted and prayed for three whole weeks, and when the Lord showed up, He said that he heard Daniel the first day (Daniel 10:12)? We don’t have to beg God, since He does hear everything we say. He’s very close to us and we are very important to Him. Don’t spend time begging Him; just thank Him and praise Him once you’ve made your request known.

(15) And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. You give your sacrifice of thanksgiving. You call upon Him and He will deliver you because deliverance is part of our overall salvation provided at the Cross. (54:6) With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto thee: I will give thanks unto thy name, O Lord, for it is good. (7) For he hath delivered me out of all trouble; And mine eye hath seen [my desire] upon mine enemies. He’s already done it, so He will do it. (2Ti.4:18) The Lord will deliver me from every evil work … This is a “praise” to God, although some people don’t recognize this as praise. Of course, Paul is thanking God that it’s already done.

“He hath delivered me out of all trouble.” Many people don’t understand faith and think that happened manifestly to him right there, but we can thank Him because “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb.4:3) and we are entering into those works by faith. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, He’s already delivered, saved, healed, sanctified us and so on. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. We speak in the Spirit when we praise God. We brag on what He has already done. He’s already done all of this for us and we should be giving thanks and praise unto Him. Thank You, Father!

(Psa.118:19) Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto the Lord. (20) This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous shall enter into it. Giving thanks is the gate into His Presence. The righteous are going to give thanks unto God and will praise Him. (21) I will give thanks unto thee; for thou hast answered me, And art become my salvation. We can proclaim it’s been done. The Lord said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive (Greek: “received”) them, and ye shall have them” (Mar.11:24). We praise God because He has already done it. Once again, salvation, like deliverance, is provided to those who give thanks unto Him. (Psa.149:6) [Let] the high praises of God [be] in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand; (9) To execute upon them the judgment written: This honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. We are conquering our Promised Land and coming against our enemies. (1Co.3:21) … For all things are yours. Because we believe it, it will come to pass. (Rev.11:15) … The kingdom of the world is become [the kingdom] of our Lord, and of his Christ…. We are “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom.8:17) and we own this creation.

We are conquering the physical and the spiritual land. The Israelites were going into their Promised Land to conquer it, in the book of Judges. (Jdg.1:1) And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? (2) And the Lord said, Judah (Hebrew: “praise”) shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. How are they going to conquer the Canaanites? They’re going to send praise first. How are we going to conquer the enemies of our spiritual Promised Land and the physical Promised Land around us? Praise has to go first. God is giving us a key here. (3) And Judah said unto Simeon (Hebrew: “hearing or to hearken; to hear and obey”) his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. When you have praise and you hear and obey, nothing can stop you from taking the Promised Land. (4) And Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men. (Psa.149:8) To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; (9) To execute upon them the judgment written: This honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. What honor? The honor is to bind their kings and nobles. Psalm 8 basically says the same thing. (8:2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength, Because of the thine adversaries, That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. You don’t have to be mature, the most grown-up or the most wise among God’s people to bind the enemy. When Jesus quoted this same verse, He said, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise” (Mat.21:16). He called it “praise.” So what is “strength”? It is “praise.” We need to “still the enemy and the avenger.”

I want to share a revelation with you from Merlin R. Carothers, who wrote the book, Prison to Praise. You may have heard of it; it’s famous all over the world. He wrote a book on praise and he specializes in praise. God gave him a vision that pertains to our study (underlining has been added for emphasis and my notes are in parentheses):

I saw a beautiful, bright summer day. The air was filled with light and I had a sense of everything being very beautiful. Up above was a heavy, solid black cloud beyond which nothing could be seen. A ladder extended from the ground up into the black cloud. At the base of the ladder were hundreds of people trying to get a chance at climbing the ladder. They had heard that above the blackness there was something more beautiful than anything a human eye had ever seen, something that brought unbelievable joy to those who reached it. As person after person tried to ascend they quickly climbed into the lower edge of the clouds. The crowd watched to see what would happen. In a short while the person would come wildly sliding down the ladder and fall into the crowd scattering people in all directions. They reported that once they got into the blackness they lost all sense of direction (in other words, their mind was no longer in control here).

My time finally came, and I made my way up the ladder into the blackness. It grew so intense that I could feel its power nearly forcing me to give up and slide back. But step by step I continued until suddenly my eyes beheld the most intense brightness I had ever seen. It was a brilliant whiteness too glorious to describe in words. As I came out above the dark cloud I realized that I could walk on top of it (walking above the darkness). As I looked into the brightness I was able to walk without any difficulty. When I looked down to examine the nature of the cloud I immediately began to sink. (Some of you remember the visions that I have had. If you keep your eyes on the Son, you are able to do supernatural things.) Only by looking at the brightness could I stay on top.

Then the scene changed and I was back looking at all three levels from a distance.

“What does it all mean?” I asked, and the answer came:

“The brightest sunshine below the cloud is the light that many Christians live in and accept as normal. The ladder is the ladder of praising Me. Many try to climb and learn to praise Me in all things. At first they are very eager, but when they get into things that they don’t understand, they become confused and cannot hold on. The lose faith and go sliding back. As they fall, they injure other people who have been hoping to find a way to live in continual joy and praise.

Those who make it through those difficult times reach a new world and realize that the life they once thought of as normal cannot be compared to the life that I have prepared for those who praise Me and believe that I carefully watch over them. He who reaches the light of the heavenly kingdom can walk on top of difficulties, no matter how dark they may seem, as long as they keep their eyes off the problem and on My victory in Christ (in other words, the fact that it has already been accomplished). No matter how difficult it may seem to trust God to work in every detail of your life, keep clinging to the ladder of praise and move upwards!”

We need to praise Him and give thanks to Him in the good and in the bad and we will, by God’s grace, make it through. It was like he was told to keep his eyes on the sacrifice. We need to keep our eyes on the Lord, Who is able to keep us through every circumstance and every situation. When we praise the Lord, we bind those enemies and we are delivered from those enemies, and God causes our enemies to fight with each other. The devil can’t do anything with faith. Praise is faith that destroys the curse around us. If you have the Word in your heart, if you speak faith and brag on what God has done, then there’s nothing that the devil can do to stop you. We all need to learn to pray and give thanks to God continually (Colossians 4:2), keeping our eyes on Him.

I once had a vision that I was floating on my back in a river, which I could do as long as I kept my eyes on the sun. I could not only float on my back when I kept my eyes on the sun, but I could float upstream. The Lord told me that this is against nature. It’s supernatural! Keep your eyes on the Son and you’ll have a supernatural life. You’ll live above the laws of the world. There is a “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom.8:2), but there are laws of the world. A law is something that you cannot overcome in the natural. The law of gravity is always enforced in the natural and you cannot overcome it without the supernatural. God says the way to the supernatural is to keep your eyes on the Son and His Word. If we do, we will overcome the curse. God will cause confusion to our enemies, the principalities and powers and rulers of darkness that make war on us (Ephesians 6:12). Glory to God!

We need to ask God to put it in our heart to constantly give praise and thanks unto Him. The benefits are out of this world. God bless you all.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, by Your grace, we ask that You manifest in us the gift that Jesus gave us on the Cross. Would You enable it in us, dear Father, to speak the words of the Kingdom? Lord, You said that Your Spirit will bring to our remembrance all things that You have said unto us (John 14:26). And we ask, Lord, that You would help us to be slow to speak and quick to listen to the voice of Your Spirit and quick to hear the promises and the Word that comes up in our heart when we let Your Spirit speak to us.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us the grace, anointing and the fullness of your Spirit to walk and speak the words of the Kingdom, to represent Jesus Christ, to be an oracle of God (1 Peter 4:11), to be one who is used by Your Spirit to speak Your words. This is what we claim in the Name of Jesus. We thank You for Your grace, Lord. We ask, Lord, as we go forth, that Your Spirit would be constantly with us, reminding us to agree with Your healing, deliverance, provision, holiness and all things You have said. You said You would supply our every need according to Your riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). Let our speech agree with the promises of all things that You have given unto us, Lord. Thank You, Father. Thank You.

We depend upon You, Lord. We depend upon Your grace. Work in us to will and to do of Your good pleasure (Philippians 2:13), Father. We know, if Your Will is working in u,s we are free, for as Jesus said, ‚ÄúYe shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free‚Äù (Joh.8:32). Lord, we are torn between Your Will and our will. Sanctify us to Your Will alone. Then we will be free, for You always get Your Will and You always get Your way. We desire, Lord, to desire and remember the things of the Kingdom and to speak the things of the Kingdom so that Your life would be manifested out of us and we would have good success in conquering this Promised Land. Then the Lord Jesus would live in us. He, through us, would be what He was in the world 2000 years ago. He, through us, can continue to go forth to meet the needs of the brethren and to speak the blessings and not the curses. Thank You, Father.

Please let no corrupt speech proceed our of our mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Thank You for going forth and anointing the true disciples who are out there and blessing them with the power of Your Holy Spirit. Lord, it‚Äôs Your anointing that breaks the yoke and we desire earnestly to have the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives. We ask You, Lord, to fill multitudes out there with the power of Your latter rain soon so they may walk in the Spirit and it would be natural to them. Jesus said, ‚ÄúBut ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses‚Äù (Act.1:8). Lord, we want to be a witness of Your life to the whole world, so that when they look at us, they see Jesus in us. Thank You, Father.

TESTIMONIES

Jesus Healed My Alcoholism, Blood Pressure and Soul

Greg Dawson

It has been a year and two month now! I am healed! We serve an awesome God! I hope this encourages someone!

Healed of Back and Shoulder Pain

Chris Stewart

As I praised the Lord and shared this with my family, my husband suddenly realized his back was no longer in pain. Praise be to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son, our Saviour, our Healer, our Deliverer.

Healed of Eczema

Michele Pivano

Praise God! I am now claiming many other things and I am believing without doubting. Also, Brother David‚Äôs words have encouraged me that we are not healed because we see it ‚Äì we are healed because God said we are!

Eyes Healed

Kaile Hamilton

Praise the Lord! By His stripes, He has healed my eyes and my vision continues to get better and better each day! I don‚Äôt know why now I waited so long to trust in Him for my eyes but now I‚Äôm so thankful for what the Lord has done! He healed my eyes! Praise the Lord!

Healed of Chronic Fatigue &

Fibromyalgia Syndromes & Immune Dysfunction

Kevin and Holly Rea

Both Kevin and I have had other healings and continue to have healings in our bodies, as well as being touched in many other areas of our life by God.

Thy Faith Hath Made Thee Whole (Heart Attack)

Adele Frederick

I tell you this because a couple years ago, before I started listening to your Bible studies, I would have handled this completely differently. I would have trusted in the arm of the flesh. My walk with the Lord is growing and is completely different now. There are things happening in my spirit that I can‚Äôt even explain because I don‚Äôt understand them yet. I just know the Lord is moving in me and changing and delivering me. Sin that has held me in bondage for years is just melting away. I have such a desire to be obedient to the Lord and my husband. I am so excited. Again, I tell you this because I want you to know the effect this ministry is having on God‚Äôs people.

Healed of Multiple Infirmities

Bob Aicardi

With God‚Äôs mercy, I have been the recipient of a multitude of faith-building miracles and events in my life. I would have to say that the main reason I have some 12-15 years with this ministry is because UBM believes in the truth of God‚Äôs Word and believes in acting in faith upon that truth.

Son‚Äôs Arm Healed

April S.

Thank you for agreeing with me in prayer for healing of my three-year-old son Jonah‚Äôs arm which was injured yesterday. Last night he was in a lot of pain and woke up crying in the night. You all agreed with me in prayer for his healing during the live Unleavened Bread Bible Study. Praise God, when I woke up this morning Jonah was outside playing basketball on the porch, completely restored! I thank Jesus that by His stripes Jonah was healed and so are we!

Miracle Baby Girl

Bob Aicardi

Praise the Lord that our trust remains in Christ not to lean on the arm of the flesh or doctors. Haley Marie Dixon was born perfect with no water on the brain, no need of a shunt or any other work to be performed. Father, I thank You over and over for your endless Grace and Mercy.

Migraines Gone

Brad Bradley

SO PRAISE THE LORD! His method of PRAYING AND BELIEVING far surpasses natural man‚Äôs arm-of-the-flesh prescriptions and methods! MUCH MORE PLEASANT, TOO!!! In what occurred this past Monday (3/03/08), I kept professing Jesus Christ and Him crucified and claiming the promises of 1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 3:13 and Mark 11:24. God was faithful to allow me to experience just enough of the pain to draw me unto Him in nearly continual prayer (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17). In response to that prayer, He ZAPPED that evil spirit and healed me! It actually took less than three to four hours once the pain began (or less, since I didn‚Äôt really feel any pain once I awoke at 10:00 PM). I‚Äôve never experienced relief that quickly before!

For many more encouraging testimonies

and Scripturally-based teachings, go online to:

UnleavenedBreadMinistries.org.

Books Available Through Your Servants at UBM

Unleavened Bread Publishing Inc.

UnleavenedBreadPublishing.org

- Sovereign God For Us and Through Us by David Eells

- Hidden Manna For the End Times by David Eells

- The Man-child and Bride Prophecy by David Eells

- Perfection Through Christ by David Eells

- How Shall We Die? by David Eells

- Destructive Demon Doctrines by David Eells

- The Tongue Conquers the Curse by David Eells

- Are You Following a Wolf? by David Eells

- Weakness, the Way to God‚Äôs Power by David Eells

- Speak Grace, Not Condemnation by David Eells

- The Tithe That Binds by Rory Moore

- The Father‚Äôs Gift.......The Holy Spirit by Rex Veron

- Numeric English New Testament by Ivan Panin and UBM (Also Available for e-Sword)

Many Audio/Video Teachings Also Available

For Free at UnleavenedBreadMinistries.org

Table of Contents

FOREWORD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Authority Over the Curse Today

Agreeing With God

The Courtroom of Heaven

Victory in the Land

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

Speak the Things of the Kingdom

Praise and Thanksgiving

CLOSING PRAYER

TESTIMONIES