Published by admin on 07 Jun 2019 at 12:38 pm
OVERCOMING FAITH
It is written in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
“It is written”. I like using that statement, because Jesus used it also. And if it is written, then it is settled. Pilate had the sign made to put above Jesus when He was on the cross that said, “The King of the Jews”, and the Jewish leaders didn’t like it and asked him to change it to “He said I am the King of the Jews”. Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” In other words, “Shut up, it is as I wrote, and it is SETTLED.”
Many times I have taught that whatever God put in His Word, it is settled. We don’t need to hold a Board Meeting at church to decide if it is so, or not. We don’t need to add to or subtract from it. What is written, is written, and it isn’t subject to our approval or editing. It is God’s Word and will, and what God says, IS, period.
We can see that in the first chapter of Genesis, it is written eleven times, “God said”. And everything God said came to pass, exactly as He said. The point I’m making is this: go back and read 1 John 5:4 again, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Notice it doesn’t say “Whosoever is born of God….”, it says “WHATSOEVER” is born of God. What exactly is “born of God”? It is His Word. It is written in John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
God created mankind in His own image, with the ability to use our words to frame our world, even as God used His Words to create all that exists. No other creatures that we know of were given free will to speak as they desire. Angels can speak, but they can only speak what God tells them to speak. Not so with mankind, we have free will to speak whatsoever we desire. And as you can easily see, we have used our free will to speak things that ought not to be spoken, and the world is stuck with what has been created by those words: hatred, envy, jealousy, greed and so forth that has resulted in wars and murder ever since Cain and Abel.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world….” Words going forth from us have overcome the world, because they have been spoken, not just “thought”. The creation has no choice, but to respond to the words of God, and OUR words as well. You may not think your words affect much in this world, but they do, not because I say so, but because GOD said so, in that we were created in His image. So we must be very careful with our words.
But not many people are careful with their words. I myself find that I need to be more careful with my words, and I’m aware of the consequences of them. And yet I slip up far more than I should. How much more so for people who haven’t been taught that their words have creative power?
If only every word you said all day was recorded and played back to you before you went to bed, and you were required to listen to them. You’d quickly find out that, given the opportunity, you would recall many of them, or wish you hadn’t said them in the first place. But once the words have gone forth, they’re gone, and they’re not coming back, no matter how much you wish they would. And do you know what? They’re going to accomplish what you said; good or bad.
Did you tell you loved ones how much you love them today? Those words encourage and edify. But instead, maybe you argued with your loved ones, and let me tell you, I can walk in a room where someone has been arguing, and I can feel the atmosphere there, and it isn’t good. Something is created by every word you say. It is written in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Now that’s GOD speaking about HIS words. But remembering the fact that mankind is created in GOD’S image and likeness, then OUR words also do not return to us void either.
How does that affect your life? Glad you asked! Again, “It is written” in 1 Peter 3:10-12, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the LORD are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the LORD is against them that do evil.”
You see, Peter knew the power of our words, how they either create evil or good. And he is warning us for our good, that the LORD is attentive to the prayers that speak good, but that He is AGAINST those who speak evil, bringing evil to pass by their choice of words.
Pay attention to your words today. Ask the LORD to put a watch over your mouth, even as King David asked the LORD to do. Be aware that what you say, you will have. God himself created you with the same measure of faith that Jesus came to earth with. How can I assert that? Jesus came to earth in the form of a man. He stripped Himself of His Godly authority to become a fleshly man, stepped into OUR world and had to play by the same rules every other man or woman ever created had to play by. He had no divine favor, as some would have you believe. He called himself the “son of man”. He had to eat, sleep, and live like every other human being. He learned the Word of God the same way YOU do, by HEARING it from others and by the careful study of the Holy Scriptures.
But oh, my, what Jesus DID with the Word! He did all kinds of creative miracles, and not as the Son of God, but as the Son of Man. What am I saying here? Could it be that YOU could actually do the same things Jesus did? When you carefully study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they have the actual words Jesus spoke. Did Jesus ever say, “I’m so broke I can’t pay attention”? Did Jesus ever speak of being sick? Did Jesus speak gossip or unbelief? Did Jesus curse when things didn’t go right? No, He didn’t. He created life and good everywhere He went by His words. And people were amazed at Him, for He was not like the rest of us, misusing our words and creating strife.
It is written in Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
YOU have the same exact measure of faith that JESUS had, that the Disciples had, that I have, and that everyone else has. It is not “A” measure of faith, but “THE” measure of faith. There’s only ONE measure, and we all have it. What we DO with it makes all the difference.
Faith is like a servant, it will only work when we use it, so don’t give your faith a day off. We can do what JESUS did and use our words to create good, or we can be like the rest of the world and ignorantly use our words to create evil. What then overcomes the world? Even our faith, which sends forth our words. Let’s start paying better attention to our words, ok? With our words, we are creating the world we are living in. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to live mine in peace and good, and blessing and health. And that won’t happen unless I’m speaking GOD’S words over my life, nor will it happen to you unless YOU are speaking GOD’S words over yours.
We ALL have been given faith that will overcome. But what are we using it to overcome? Are we using our faith and our words to overcome evil and create a better world for everyone, or are we just using it to make our own personal world better? You know, LORD, give me this, LORD give me that…. Our words are very powerful, and they WILL accomplish that which they are sent to do, because we are created in God’s image, in His likeness.
YOU have been given OVERCOMING FAITH. Use it to further God’s agenda on this earth, not the world’s agenda . You’ll be so glad when God says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your LORD!”