Last week we studied how God will always lead us to righteousness, and how as believers today, we serve in newness of the Spirit and not the Old Covenant of the Law. We also saw that the first area that the Holy Spirit affects when He fills us, is our tongue, because when our tongue is under control, our entire body can be under control as well. There is indeed great power in our words and what we speak.
Today we will be continuing this study by taking an in-depth look at the power and benefit that comes from speaking the words of the Holy Spirit. How letting Him control our tongue can bring life and healing to not only our physical bodies, but to every area of our lives.
Our first scripture today is going to be Joshua 1:8:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”
This verse tells us that when we meditate on the book of the law day and night, and observe all that is written therein then we shall make our way prosperous and then we shall have good success. Do you know that there is such a thing as bad success? It is possible to be prospering, but not be able to enjoy the success. Many wealthy people even though they live in outward luxury are miserable inwardly. It is absolutely possible to have many things, but be robbed one way or another from being able to enjoy them… and that is bad success. However we see here that what is gained from doing what is written here, is not bad success, but good success.
Today we have many believers who are in a kind-of intermediate state, where they have been brought out of the world, out of the bondage of the land of Egypt, but they are still wandering in the wilderness – they have not yet entered into the promise land, to experience the full measure of what Jesus has paid to give them. And just as the Israelites, many times this failure to receive the blessings is because of fear. Being too afraid to move in faith. However God does not just want to lead you out of bondage, He wants to lead you into all blessings.
Now here in our scripture in Joshua 1:8, the word “meditate” is the Hebrew word hagah which actually means “to mutter under your breath”. This is not mere mental contemplation, but speaking the Word of God in your mouth. Your tongue is involved here; and as we learned last week, the first area that the Holy Spirit will affect, when He fills a person, will be their tongue, because of the immense power and influence that the tongue has over a person’s life. We also saw last week that the law is no longer what we are to focus on, as we should be serving in the newness of the Holy Spirit and not the oldness of the Law. Our references for that were Galatians 5:18, 2nd Corinthians 3:5-8 and Romans 7:6-8.
So what is this newness of the Spirit? 2nd Corinthians 4:13 says:
“We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;”
This is part of our new nature in Christ Jesus. Because we believe, our words likewise should reflect that belief. When God created the Heavens and the Earth in Genesis 1, He did not look around at the darkness and say “Wow, it’s so dark!” – if He had done that it would’ve actually become darker! But no, God commanded the light to shine forth by saying “Light be!”, and then light was.
Likewise, God created you and I with the same nature, to speak-out in faith. A nature that sin had corrupted, but Jesus Christ has restored. Yet many times, we who were created in the image and likeness of God, oftentimes speak words of destruction, death and lack of faith rather than the life of the Spirit. Let me give you a typical example of how this happens:, turn to James 1:22-24:
“But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.”
These verses are often erroneously applied to works, but the context of these verses actually refer to the goodness of God and the Perfect Law of Liberty bought for us in Christ Jesus – it has nothing to do with works. But as we read these verses, if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like man beholding his natural face in a mirror, who beholds himself, then goes his way, and immediately forgets what manner of man he was.
This mirror is an analogy for the scriptures, and as we look at them, we see the true Word of God (Jesus), also used in 2nd Corinthians 3:18. We all are beholding the glory of the Lord and are being transformed by the Spirit of the LORD. So here’s what typically happens; this is what a forgetful hearer looks like as our verses in James warn us about… We look into this mirror, which is the scriptures, we see the Word of God (Jesus), and when we seeing Him properly, with the Holy Spirit, which as we learned last week will always lead us into righteousness through Christ, then we do not see ourselves with natural eyes of flesh. Instead, we see ourselves as God sees us, through the lens of Grace.
You see yourself as a New Creation in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
You see yourself as redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
You see that God shall supply all of your needs, according to His riches in Glory. (Philippians 4:19).
You see that you were healed of all sickness and all disease by His stripes (Isaiah 53:5).
And notice in verse 23, that God calls this your natural face. See, your true self is not what you see or feel with your human senses, but your true self is what the Word of God says.
So you see all these good things, you see your true self as God sees you, that you are a New Creation, healed of all sickness and disease, redeemed from the curse of the law, with all your needs supplied by God Himself, and then verse 24… you close the book. And you turn on the T.V., and get soaked with all kinds of worldly junk, maybe you hear news about the newest outbreak of virus, and fear creeps in. Or you feel some pain in your body, and worry creeps in, or you open a bill, and anxiety creeps in. You have forgotten what you have read, you are a forgetful hearer.
The pressures of life are all around you, Jesus said in this world you will have tribulation, and the actual world for “tribulation” in the verse is pressure. But people typically do not quote the full verse, so let’s read it together… John 16:33:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus says, that He has told us these things that in Him, we might have peace. Yes in the world there is pressure, but be of good cheer; He has already overcome the world. Your battles have already been won, not through your own effort, but through Christ Jesus.
Now notice that Jesus says that He has told us these things that in Him we might have peace. What things was He saying? Among other things, in verses 23 through 27, Jesus makes it very clear that the Father loves us, and that we can ask Him for things, and He will grant them specifically so that our joy may be full. That’s love, my friends. To give things solely to make someone else glad.
Now these blessings that God gives do not suddenly disappear just because people do not believe in them – no, they are always there. So then why is it that some people have trouble receiving these things that God wants to give us so much… if He loves us why doesn’t He just drop it in our lap? In many cases He has already given it, but as we have also seen tonight, many believers have willingly abdicated their rights, they have willfully given up what was theirs, and as a result, the enemy has laid claim to a certain area or areas of people’s lives. Yet there is a way out, and that way out, as we have seen today, is by recognizing your true nature in Christ, and by using your tongue to speak the truth of the Spirit into your life.
Can it really be that simple? Yes! Is there scriptural proof for it? Yes! Exodus 22:9:
“For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challenges to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double to his neighbor.”
In simple language, if there is any lost thing, for which you actively contend that it is yours, that means claiming your rights to a thing, then the matter is brought before the judges. Now an interesting point of note here is that the word “judges” here, in Hebrew is the word Elohim which is also the name of God, so let’s start putting the pieces together here. Once the matter is brought before God, whoever He condemns must pay back double to the one who was stolen from.
Now we know from Romans 8:1, that in Christ Jesus, we have no condemnation, and we also know from John 16:11 that the enemy is condemned already. So the judgment is already guaranteed in our favor, the only thing left is for believers to rise up and start claiming what is theirs and have the enemy stop squatting on their property!
This is why it is so important to not be a forgetful hearer as was mentioned in James. It is vital for us as believers to not simply lay down as the enemy walks over our land. We must actively refuse the lies that he tries to feed us, and recognize what is ours in Christ and to own it!
These blessings are yours because Jesus Christ has paid for them! Receive them, believe them, own them!
You might say, “But I don’t feel like I have it!”
Don’t go by your feelings!
We are going to close our study today with Mark 11:23-24:
“For truly I say to you, That whoever shall say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he said.
Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.”
Many times we want things, and we may even ask for things, but we don’t actually believe that we have received them. We operate in the realm of feelings instead of belief in what the Word of God says. Instead of speaking the Words of the Spirit of Life, the Word of God which shows us the true reality for us in Christ, we check our human senses and weigh those versus the Word of God and we waiver in doubt.
We want to actually receive the things we ask for before we believe, but God says, right then when you speak or when you pray (notice the two are different) but still, you believe that you receive, and then you shall have.
My dear friends, many times we reverse what God has said, and after we pray or even when we try to speak against something, we immediately start taking inventory of our senses, and we check to see if the pain is still there, or if we feel whether we have any results or not, and if we feel as though we are not healed, then we say “well I guess it didn’t work!” or “God didn’t answer my prayer, it must not be His will!” when in fact He has already told us that we receive by faith, and His Word shows us our reality in Christ. You see, we capitulate to the enemy far too easily, and give up far too much ground that is actually ours in Christ Jesus, and we end up living in poverty (of every kind) simply because we give it away without any real contention for it.
I encourage you today my friends, speak the Holy Spirit’s Words, speak life, speak the truth of who you really are in Christ as the scriptures say. Then, as we have read today, you will make your way prosperous and have good success. You will drive the enemy from your land, and you will have double restored, by God, the true judge and redeemer of the righteous. And you are forever divinely righteous in Christ Jesus. Give Him the praise!
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