BY THE POWER OF YOUR CONFESSION

esus Christ has shown us how incredibly important our confessions are. When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, we are confessing our own identity as his siblings and God’s children. When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, we are confessing the truth. We are confessing what God says and we are coming into agreement with what God thinks and has done for us through Christ. By speaking and confessing God’s thoughts about us, we are transferred from death and given eternal life. John 1:14 (NLT) tells us, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, and his Spirit lives in us. But so often, even when we receive salvation, we continue to think, speak, and confess the opposite of what God’s Word says. This thinking, speaking, and confessing negativity disconnects us from the truth.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. John 16:13(NLT) tells us, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” How can a person be guided in the truth if they will not speak the truth? The words we speak demonstrate whether or not we have chosen to be led. Our words are a gateway that allow us to connect with the power of the Holy Spirit, where we can begin to create for ourselves the life that God desires for us.

In Genesis 1, God showed us His thoughts, and He also showed us the power of His Holy Spirit to turn His thoughts into everything we see. He said, “Let there be light!” and light appeared. It responded to the power and authority of God. It had no other choice, because the Source of light spoke it into being. God continued to speak His thoughts, and the power of the Holy Spirit got busy turning those thoughts into reality. These are God’s laws at work. Transferring thoughts from the containment of our minds into words that flow from our mouths is following the pattern God, Himself, has set.

Again, our words create the gateway for us to connect to the power of the Holy Spirit, and that power is in us. If you speak and confess something other than what God says, you will deny yourself access to the power of God. We must always speak God’s Word. Jesus Christ demonstrated this in Matthew 4 when he was tempted by satan. He has fasted forty days and nights and was physically very hungry. It was during this time that the devil came to him and tempted him to turn stones into loaves of bread. Mathew 4:4 (ESV) tells us, “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Each time that Jesus Christ was tempted by satan, his response was “IT IS WRITTEN…”

Our Master Jesus studied the writings of the prophets from the time he was a child. If God required Jesus Christ to study the Word, we can know with certainty that it is required of us. We have to know the Word of God. You cannot rise above what you don’t know. So, in those times when you are tested and tempted by satan, you must realize that only power and authority of Christ overcomes the evil one, and that power and authority of Christ is the Word of God! Jesus Christ only spoke what God said in His Word. Our victory comes from the Word, from living and confessing what he, the living Word of God, spoke.

The Word of God is what makes demons flee seven different ways, but that won’t happen if you don’t open your mouth and say what God says. When our words line up with God’s Word, God’s power can then flow through the gateway that our words produce. This will not happen if we don’t speak the truth. The Holy Spirit can only connect with the truth; he can only connect with the mind of Christ, and this is one of the reasons that many of us are not witnessing the dynamic move of his power. It’s because we are not saying what God is saying. We are not thinking what God is thinking, and not confessing what He says in His Word. This is not difficult to change, but it takes practice and commitment.

When God’s Word is spoken and believed, light enters a dark situation. When God’s Word is spoken and believed, chaos is turned to order. When God’s Word is spoken and believed, newness is ushered in. Marriages are restored, sickness and disease are delivered, and wholeness is restored when His Word is spoken and believed. God’s Word is always the solution. When we are obedient to confess and live by it, He will give us solutions and strategies to overcome.

This is the ultimate partnership, it’s the partnership that we have with God in Christ, through His Spirit. Whatever God says, we must obey, and we must confess what He says. If we are in agreement with the truth, we can release God’s power and authority in a situation. Watch what you say! Speak life, and not death, into your own life! We cannot afford to say what the world says, neither can we be aligned with it if we want to become all that God has called us to be. We must not only control our tongues; we must recognize the authority Christ has given us to call those things which are not as though they were.

We expand God’s Kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit, by thinking, speaking, and behaving like Christ and confessing what he says. We will not be put to shame for doing this, because Christ cannot fail, and our hope should forever be in him. So, we must let God’s transformation take form in us by confessing His Word and believing it in our hearts. Through the power and authority that Christ has given us, we can live powerfully and have the life we’ve been destined to live. When we speak the truth in love and serve others, and when pleasing God is the most important thing to us, we can walk in the power and authority of Christ every day of our lives. ■

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If not, please let us know with a quick email to: sundiemorning@hotmail.com any of us say that we want whatever God wants for us, but is this really true? What happens when He reveals His plan and purpose for our lives, and it doesn’t match the vision we’ve been floating around in our heads? We think we found the man that God has destined for our lives and it turns out he wasn’t. We imagined a career in entertainment, and we’ve been a manager at an RV dealership the last 13 years. We wanted to live in a huge metropolitan city and take it by storm, and instead we had to drop out of college and never had enough funds to start over. Many of us ended up in a place we never thought or wanted to be, and we’re unhappy about it. We tell ourselves repeatedly that the life we’re living just can’t be God’s plan for our existences. It’s not what we expected, and we don’t understand why.

Thank you for helping us strive for excellence for the Kingdom of God.

The foundation of any life that is lived well is faith in God. Period. Without faith in God’s love, Word, and goodness, we don’t have a foundation. We’re going to be lost because we don’t trust His Word and therefore, lack His direction. Proverbs 3:5-6(NLT) gives us an absolutely crucial truth for building a life. It says, “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” When it comes to where we have our feet firmly planted this very moment, we must allow an opening in our hearts and minds for the reality that God had something to do with that. Whether it’s to our liking or far from it, our positioning is purposeful to where the Lord is taking us.

God knows that if we lean on our own understanding, we will be disappointed, confused, and dissatisfied with life. On our own, we lack the understanding to move in a way that He has purposed. So, wherever we are in life this very moment, He doesn’t want us to forget that He alone holds the key to our tomorrows.

In Acts 17:26-28(NLT), God tells us exactly how to frame our thinking around our positioning in life. This passage states, “26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 "His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him--though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” God, and God alone, has the plan for our lives. He determined our boundaries. The time of our births, where we were born and who our parents would be, all of this was predestined according to His divine plan. He has strategically positioned us so that we would seek after Him, and every detail of our lives, from the smallest to the greatest, is for that purpose.

Verse 28 of this same passage tells us that it is in God that we live, move, and have our being. It’s in Him that we find everything that we could ever possibly need, and as His children, we shouldn’t exit this life without realizing this truth. Jesus Christ commands us in Matthew 6:33 (NKJV), “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This commandment is the answer many of us have overlooked. It is only when we seek God first, when He is first in our hearts and lives, that we will begin to walk in all that He has in store. The bottom line is that we are strategically positioned right this very moment to give God the praise and glory regardless of our conditions and circumstances.

From where we are, we have the perfect view to see the vision of where God wants to take us. We’re in the perfect place to seek Him with all our hearts so that we understand that He is our greatest treasure, and no one compares to Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) tells us “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God’s plan is infinitely better than any plan we have for ourselves. Whether you realize it or not, your life is proving this truth in one way or another. Humble yourself before God. Let your prayers be about seeking Him and getting to know Him better. Ask Heavenly Father to help you truly want what He wants for you. When this is your aim, no matter where you are, you’ll have a song in your heart every day. ■ his verse in Psalm 145:19 is very encouraging for those that have marriage on their minds. As single Christians, we can be crystal clear that God is faithful to His promises. For those who honor, love, and obey Him, it’s His Will to grant them the desires of their hearts. His promises are not filled with holes. We can depend on them with all that we are. He hears, He rescues, and He certainly delivers us from darkness and tribulation, because this is who He is. Romans 8:32(NLT) declares, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” God is a God who blesses His people, but we can’t forget that as His people, we have a responsibility as well. Jesus Christ said in John 14:15 that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. Our commitment to do His Will always gives us the faith to see God’s promises come to pass in our lives.

In the mind of just about every sane and moral individual is an understanding that nothing is free, and everything has a price. Sin has a price, and the corporate sin of all human beings had an extremely high price. Jesus Christ paid it for us all and did so with his life. 1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT) says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” Jesus paid the debt of our sin and redeemed us from satan’s realm of darkness. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages or cost of sin is death, and Jesus Christ paid it with his sacrifice on the cross.

A good parent will not raise a child to think that it’s okay to be an adult that always accepts things for free and never earns anything by working for it. God put Adam in the garden to tend it. Adam had work to do. This sets a Godly precedent for all those who sojourn on earth. Jesus Christ is in heaven preparing a place for us. He’s advocating for us in the courts of our Heavenly Father, so Jesus is working. 2Thessalonians 3:9-11(NLT) takes us to school on this by letting us in on the Apostle Paul setting the church straight. It says, “9 We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.

10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” Good works and a good work ethic is the mark of a true disciple of Christ. God commands us in Colossians 3:23(NLT), “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” hether it’s marriage or not quite there yet, significant relationships teach us a lot about our relationship with Heavenly Father. When we find the person that God has ordained to walk with us through life, it’s exciting and fulfilling. It makes our souls feel good because not only do we like this person, but we get to spend time with them. We love being in their presence and look forward to

Each of the twelve disciples that Christ called had to take up their cross and follow him. They had to leave everything behind and learn from him. He prepared them to carry on the work that he set in motion during his time here. We cannot think that we are greater than them. In truth, none of us have measured up to even a fraction of the good works and deeds that the disciples who walked with Christ did. We have infinitely more tools, technology, and knowledge, yet we do less. God doesn’t punish us for this, but Galatians 6:2(ESV) warns, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” If you’re not doing the sowing according to God’s Will and Word, then you cannot reap.

MATTHEW 4:4(ESV) the relationship deepening through communication, affection, respect and honor. We’re created by God to respond to each other in this way. We need to think deeply about that. Our Heavenly Father is an ‘on-purpose’ God. He’s doesn’t do anything randomly, and because of this, we can have confidence in Him and in the relationship that He desires with each of us.

God has a Will. His Will is His Word. If we ever want to know the plans that God has for us, we need only look in His Word. 2Peter 1:3 tells us that God, the One that created and called us to His own glory and excellence, and given us extreme, unfathomable treasure. This treasure was given to us through His divine power and here’s what it is: it is everything (All, without exception) that is related to life and Godliness. The treasure is wrapped up and delivered to us by the access to the knowledge of Him through His Word. In other words, God has provided us beyond overwhelming access to the knowledge of God’s Will, and this knowledge of Him and His Will is everything (All, without exception) that you and I need to live a Godly life.

God didn’t leave not one thing out. The knowledge of God and His Word fills us to overflowing with His goodness, and it is all that we need in life. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 4:4(ESV), “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” God’s Word feeds us deep down in a place that is at the core of our very existence. All of us are aware of this place deep down, and we are all aware that it needs to be fed. Jesus Christ makes it clear that we must be fed by the Source, which is the One True Living God.

Our problem is that most people don’t do this. They don’t go to the Source through Jesus Christ, but look to people, relationships, materialism, substances, and other things that are disconnected from God. They seek these and try to make them their source. We will always run on empty when we do this.

As human beings, we long for connection. God built us that way. Genesis 1:26-27(ESV) tells us, “26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Our Heavenly Father is letting us in on the conversation He had with His

Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, in 1Thessalonians 5:23(ESV), God sheds more light on how He’s created us. This verse says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

From His Word in Genesis 1:26-27, we know that we are created in the image of God, and we are three-part beings. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 1Thessalonians 5:23 affirms that He created human beings to be three parts as well. We are spirit, soul, and body. The spirit of a human being is often referred to as “spirit man” or “inner man”. The human spirit is not to be confused with God’s Holy Spirit. Our human spirit or spirit man is the highest part of our being because it is the part of us that connects to God through the salvation that Jesus Christ offers.

Many people haven’t learned about our Heavenly Father and His love. They don’t know that He created us to be His children so that we can be in close relationship with Him. They don’t know that what they’re really longing for in life is an intimate connection with their Creator in the most intimate of ways. This longing for God is in us, and it responds to His longing for us.

Jesus Christ said in Luke 15:10(ESV), “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” He then went on to elaborate on this in his parable of the prodigal son. The parable begins with a father who had two sons. As it was common for a father to leave an inheritance to his sons after his death. Both his son understood that they would inherit their father’s wealth. The youngest of the two brothers was impatient and did not want to wait until his father died but wanted it right then and there. Luke 15:12 tells us, “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.”

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“ARE YOU SAVED?”

This is one of the simplest yet most consequential questions that we can ask a person. It opens a door that can transfer them from death and darkness to life evermore in Christ. When I’m out and about, I’m sometimes compelled by the Holy Spirit to tell someone that I may not know personally about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, we also have a beautiful opportunity to witness to those closest to us. With our family and friends, it is easy to assume that they know our wonderful Redeemer in the pardon of their sins, but it isn’t always the case. They may not have repented and made the confession of Romans 10:9-10, and it’s possible that they have not invited the Holy Spirit to come into their lives.