The 40 Day Empowered Words Season begins on Sunday April 7 and runs through May 16.
Jesus makes a very profound statement in the Gospel of John when He was speaking to Jews who had believed in Him ...
31 ... “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31–32)
To truly be one of the Lord’s disciples we must “continue” or “stay or remain in a particular place.” That place that we are to “stay or remain in” is the Word of God. It is in God’s Word that we find truth and it is only the truth that is going to set us free. If our beliefs concerning God, ourselves, others, or our circumstances are not founded in God’s Word, then we will not walk in the spiritual freedom that is available to us in Christ.
“There is a difference between believing in Jesus and believing like Jesus” (Steve Backlund).
Many people believe in Jesus, but it is knowing the truth leads us to believe like Jesus. Jesus was free because He believed truth in every area of His life (provision, identity, health, power). We too are to renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word so we can walk in the freedom and power of God.
During this season of Empowered Words, we want to declare the truth of God’s Word over our lives, and in particular, over those areas where we have believed a lie about God, ourselves, others, or our circumstances.
Whenever we are speaking truth over our lives it makes it more difficult to believe the lie that we may have believed for so many years. This is a process that aids in the renewing of our mind so we can “prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12.2).
God's thinking is supernatural ...
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8–9).
Meditate on God's promises and the truth found in His Word. It will activate your faith and increase your confidence in God. Remember, you are who God says you are, not who your experiences say you are. You cannot afford to have a thought in your mind about yourself that God does not have in His mind about you.
In many ways, the Christian life is a progression of replacing lies with truth. Ask God to give you revelation of any lie that is hindering you from being all that God has created you to be.
Our future depends on our belief system. My current, present reality is the result of my past belief system. My future depends on me upgrading what I believe and bringing it into alignment with the Word of God.
When we talk about making declarations over our lives, are we embracing the concepts behind Positive Thinking that we see in the New Age Movement?
Look at what Paul says in his letter to the Phillippian believers ...
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things (Philippians 4:8).
What we meditate and think on affects how we believe and what we believe about life. Ultimately it affects how we respond to life since we respond to life based on what we believe.
Our declarations are not an exercise in positive thinking, but an exercise in biblical thinking. A time to make sure our thoughts align themselves with God’s Word.
One last thought ...
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2.9).
We are called to “proclaim” or declare the “excellencies” of Christ, who He is, and who we are in Him.
To help you focus your thoughts on the truth found in the Word of God, we are making available to the church a book entitled, Igniting Faith in 40 Days by Steve Backlund. The book sells for $11 but we are making it available to people in the church for $5. More books will be available this Sunday if you would like a copy.
For more thoughts on the 40 Day Season of Empowered Words see last week's blog post- click here.
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