Today we continue to teach on our overall theme for the year: “GREAT FREEDOM.” In this series, we have studied 2 Corinthians 3 and 4. Last week we got to 2 Corinthians 4:13. I have been stuck on this verse. The Holy Spirit won’t allow me to move forward. Let’s go back to it today.
(2 Corinthians 4:13 NKJV)
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.
In our last message I said the following:
“Mary considered what God revealed to her — that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, that she would have a son, that His name would be Jesus, and that he would be the Son of God — and she had the audacity to say, “Okay, be it unto me, according to what You have said!” As crazy as it sounds for a virgin to get pregnant, she believed it and she SPOKE IT!”
Today I am teaching on this thought: Speaking what God has spoken over you!
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God has already spoken some things over your life.
a) I have already taught you, from many scriptures, that God made plans for you before the world began. What God does now is reveal TO us what He had already prepared FOR us. When He does this, it is our job to SEE what God is saying (seeing it in the Spirit), believe it in our heart (no matter how crazy or impossible it seems), declare it with our lips (by faith, speaking what God has spoken over us), and then launch out into this world, ready to perform the corresponding actions required in order to experience an earthly manifestation of what God revealed. This is the life of faith.
b) For Mary, what God revealed was that she had been selected to be the mother of our Lord. She did nothing to earn or deserve this assignment. Her job was not to work for it. Her job was to believe it!
c) For David, what God revealed was that he had been selected to be the next King of Israel. He did nothing to earn or deserve this assignment. His job was not to work for it. God’s call comes by grace. His job was to believe it!
d) For Gideon, what God revealed was that he had been selected to lead a revolution over the Midianites and Amalekites. This seemed crazy to Gideon. God was calling Gideon a “Mighty Man of Valor!” However, Gideon saw himself as the weakest man, from the weakest clan in all of Israel. But in the end, Gideon believed what God believed about him, he spoke what God declared over him, and he led 300 men in a revolution against over 100,000 men.
e) For Abraham, what God revealed was that God wanted to make his name great, to bless him, and to bless all the nations of the world through him. Abraham at the time was Abram. He was a 75-year-old man, with a barren wife, living amongst idol worshippers. But God chose him before he was born. Once God revealed the call, Abraham had to believe it and receive it. Next, he had to align his lips (his words) and his legs (his actions) with what God revealed. This is the life of faith.
f) Make no mistake, God made plans for you before the world began. He has already spoken over you. As He reveals those things to you, your job is to say what He has already said; to openly declare what God has already decreed over your life! Part of living the life of faith is speaking the language of faith. Faith speaks what God reveals, even when there is no sense-realm evidence to support it. Even at the risk of looking foolish!
2. God’s grace is contained in His Word.
a) God speaks words to us that reveal His thoughts about us. When He does, we must realize that His power is contained in His words. Said another way, when you receive a Word from God, you must realize that, at the same time, you also received the power to DO what God’s Word commanded. No Word from God is without the ability to perform it! God will never instruct you to do something He has not already equipped you to do!
b) What the angel said to Mary was a human impossibility. As a human, this CANNOT happen. But Mary was receiving A WORD FROM GOD that it could happen. The Word was calling her into the supernatural. The Word was requiring her to believe the impossible. And there is the key: the WORD CAME WITH THE POWER TO PERFORM IT! Once again, No Word from God is without the ability to perform it!
c) At first, Mary did not understand the Word. Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen? I am still a virgin.” She was saying, “This is impossible.” But when the angel told her that her cousin, who was old, and who could not have children, was pregnant; and when the angel said, “God can do anything!”, Mary believed God!
When you get a WORD FROM GOD, you don’t have to DO it! You just have to BELIEVE IT!
If it comes from God, it will be BIGGER THAN YOU ANYWAY! It will be BIGGER than your ability to perform.
*** God calls you to do things you CANNOT DO!
*** God calls you to do things ONLY HE CAN DO through you!
*** Your part is to BELIEVE!
When Mary said, “Okay, be it unto me, according to what You have said!” As crazy as it sounds, a virgin got pregnant! Why? Because God spoke this over her life before she was born and she had the faith to SPEAK what God had SPOKEN!
In closing, do you? Do you have the audacity to DECLARE what God has DECREED over your life? Even when it does not make sense. Even when it is bigger than anything you have ever imagined. Even when it seems impossible?
Say what God said and you will SEE what God SAID in your life!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You made plans for me before the world began. I accepted Your Son Jesus as Lord. I am now Born-Again. Your Spirit lives in me. Your Spirit reveals TO me the plans You made FOR me before I was born. As He does, my job is to believe what You have spoken over me. I declare that I do. Not only do I believe it. But I declare it. I SPEAK what You have SPOKEN over me. I DECLARE what You have DECREED over my life. In this way, I align my LIPS and my LEGS with my destiny, and I become the man/woman You called me to be! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
