Many, if not most of us, have been part of a church where the accepted practice was for individuals, marriages, and families to project an image of relational health and spirituality that approximated the Christian idea.  The truth is that very few of those individuals or families were very close at all to the image they projected. In all fairness, they projected an image because they thought they would be rejected by their Christian community if they didn’t “have it all together.” Our fear of being judged and rejected is the very thing that often keeps us in bondage to the thing we won’t confess.  Whatever we won’t acknowledge and confess has power over us.

James tells us, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed^” (James 5:13-16).  Not only physical healing but spiritual and emotional healing as well come through confession.  Confession of sin or weakness is simply choosing to be transparent with God, a mature believer, and even yourself.  It is simply agreeing with God about some part of your life that is misaligned with the Father’s will and acknowledging it to others.

Transparency allows healing for several reasons.  First of all, many illnesses – physical and emotional – are manifestations of demonic spirits.  It is amazing how many illnesses and infirmities in scripture were caused or, at least, maintained by unclean spirits. The list includes blindness, deafness, seizures, muteness, back problems, etc. All of those were healed immediately after a demon was cast out.  We also see individuals tormented by demons and the scriptures name spirits of fear, heaviness (depression), confusion, and a host of other spirits that affect our emotions. If we have sin in our lives that we haven’t dealt with through the cross, then that sin gives the enemy a legal right to afflict us until we have confessed the sin and repented.  Transparency through confession enables us to rid ourselves of those demons.

Secondly, I believe that everyone’s deepest fear is the fear of being unloved, i.e. rejection.  We avoid transparency because we fear that if others were to become aware of our shortcomings, they would no longer accept us or love us. The truth is that many of us have experienced the withdrawal of love because we didn’t live up to another person’s demands or unrealistic expectations.  We learn early to hide our failings or to blame others for them.  As long as we hide our failings, our fears, our weaknesses or our sins we will never overcome them.

Paul told the church at Galatia, “Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each onelooking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal.6:1-2).  The sense of “being caught in a trespass” is not that someone discovered another person’s secret sin, but that someone has been entrapped or overtaken by a sin or a weakness. The wisdom here is that we should confess our sins to the spiritually mature because they will not reject us and they will maintain appropriate confidentiality.  The spiritually mature are all too aware of their own weaknesses and have long since stopped judging others.  They see themselves in a priestly role of hearing confession and dispensing grace to those who need it.  It is very healing to share your deepest shame with another person and discover they do not reject you but respond with love and compassion to your vulnerability.

Satan works in the dark.  When we hide our sins and our struggles, he will reinforce them and use them against us.  He will constantly blackmail us with the fear of discovery until we choose to bring our struggle into the light.  He then loses his power over us.  Both our acceptance by the spiritually mature and our choice to be transparent with our sins or weaknesses is healing.  I want to emphasize that ff you have something to confess, do so with people you can trust.  Ask around. People in a church tend to know who will dispense grace and healing rather than judgment.  It is usually those who have chosen transparency themselves.

A third transforming power in transparency is found in John’s first letter. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn.1:8-9).  The word translated as “purify” in this verse is a word that means to remove a stain from cloth.  Sin leaves a stain – a residue in our hearts, our minds, and even in our genetic makeup. I believe that as we confess our sin and receive God’s forgiveness, the Spirit of God gets busy scrubbing out the stain so that it loses its influence.  It no longer remains addictive and has less and less power to draw us back.  It loses its power to produce shame in us and even them memories take on a different meaning for us. Confession or transparency also tends to broaden our own awareness of areas within us where the Spirit needs to do some work.  Just as important, sharing my fears and my failings with someone else is also an exercise in taking personal responsibility for my actions.  That is also a first giant step in spiritual maturity.

This decision to be transparent is a powerful step toward freedom and healing. In many cases, God requires it. Transparency and acceptance have been the power and attraction of twelve step programs for decades and the church in many places could take a page from their playbook. As essential as transparency is, I will admit that not every environment is safe for us to be open about our struggles. Because of that, I suggest that you ask the Lord to lead you to a safe place. Some churches are very transparent because their leaders are transparent. Perfection isn’t required and if someone pretends to be perfect they are not trusted in those churches. Small groups can be that place of safety.  If that is not available, ask around and find a spiritually mature person to mentor you. In that mentoring relationship you will find safety to be transparent.  Moments of transparency are transformative. Even Jesus, who was without sin, was transparent with his closest disciples. He didn’t try to be superman.  He acknowledged that he was tired. He expressed doubt and frustration at times. In the Garden, he shared that his soul was overcome with sorrow and dread asked them to stay with him and pray.

We need people with whom we can be totally transparent.  It is healing and it is a significant door to freedom.  But I also believe that we should not live life as an open book because many people can’t be trusted with our openness.  The gospels tell us that Jesus wouldn’t entrust himself to men because he knew what was in their hearts.  With those closest to him, he was totally transparent.  Our transparency must be guided by wisdom and not recklessness or a false sense of spirituality because we are totally open and totally frank.  Proverbs tells us to measure our words and speak them at just the right time and in just the right ways, rather than blurting out whatever comes to mind at any moment.  Having said that, however, we will not overcome some of our deepest wounds and most besetting sins until we openly talk to someone about them. Commit to it and ask God to provide that moment and the people you need.

If, in fact, Christ has purchased healing for us as well as forgiveness under the New Covenant, then my next question might be, “Since I have been taught the opposite for years, how do I come to have faith in my heart for the healing that is mine?” Let me offer a few thoughts on that.

First of all, I need to study the word of God until I am convinced that scripture does indeed teach that Christ not only purchased forgiveness by his blood but also healing by his wounds for every believer. Until I am certain that this proposition is true, my faith will waiver in moments when I need to operate by faith rather than sight. I would recommend reading some books on healing. I have already recommended F.F. Bosworth’s classic book, Christ the Healer.

Secondly, I can ask for the faith to believe in my heart what I now believe in my head. Paul declares, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom.12:3). If my measure of faith is given to me, then I can ask for a greater measure. I will need to cooperate with God in the growth of my faith, but ultimately, faith comes by grace like anything else. In the same way that we can ask for more wisdom, more of the Spirit, etc., we can ask for an increase in faith for healing.

Thirdly, we need to consistently confess what we now believe to be true. This is a primary way tin which we cooperate with God for the increase of our faith. Paul speaks to this as well when he says, “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom.10:8-10).

This verse suggests a causative connection between confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart. Verbally declaring something consistently over time tends to write that truth on our heart. The declaration of God’s word has power. The writer of Hebrews says that God’s word is living and active (Heb.4:12). As we declare his word, it operates not only in the atmosphere around us but also on our hearts. The Holy Spirit can then take that and give our heart a revelation of that truth. As the Spirit uses our verbal declaration of God’s truth to bring revelation to our hearts, our faith increases. Our part then is to speak in ways that are consistent with God’s truth regarding his healing for us.

The fourth thing we must learn is to live by faith and not by sight. This means that when we begin to experience illness or pray for healing that does not come immediately, we still stand on the promises of God that he is in the process of healing us. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (Jn.14:12-14). We know that healing is God’s will. We know that if we ask for anything that lines up with his will he will do it. Therefore, if we have asked with any faith, he will do it. Jesus reserved the timetable for himself, but we can say with certainty that he is in the process and our healing is in the pipeline.

Lastly, our faith is often undermined when we don’t see what we have asked for immediately. Sometimes, God is simply in the process and our answer has been ordained. However, we must also consider the possibility that something in the spiritual realm is in the way of our answer. We are told in 1 Corinthians 11, that some Christians were sick because they were defiling the Lord’s Supper by taking it when they did not love the brethren and were even abusing them.

In James 5, we are told that if any among us are sick, they should call the elders of the church to pray over them and their prayer of faith will raise them up and if they have sinned they will be forgiven. This tells us that although our own prayers can bring healing at times, some illness is to be overcome by the prayers of spiritual leaders. Again we are told that some illness lingers because we have unrepented sin in our lives that we have not confessed to others- – sin that needs to be forgiven before healing can manifest.   Hidden sins, unforgiveness, unbelief, bitterness, etc. that we have not confessed and dealt with through the cross can hinder our prayers and our healing.

In Daniel 10, we also see that demonic spirits can hinder the answers to our prayers as well. Generational curses from our “fathers” and sin curses or word curses from our own actions or from our own mouths can also get in the way if they are not dealt with through the cross. Before we start declaring the healing power of Jesus over ourselves, we should take a spiritual inventory to see if something in our present or our past may be hindering that grace from operating in our lives. James underlines this necessity of repentance and confession when he tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed (Ja.5:16).

As we conclude this short series, my hope is that the Holy Spirit has borne witness with your spirit that the in heritance of every believer in Christ is healing. The ultimate expression of that is to walk in divine health but we are not promised that we will never get sick. However, we are promised that Christ bore our sins, sicknesses, and infirmities on the cross and that healing is available to every believer who can receive it by faith. As we think this truth, speak this truth, pray this truth, and teach this truth we are sowing seeds from which we will eventually reap a harvest of faith and healing. If you are ill now or struggling with some infirmity, may Jesus impart healing even now for the sickness he has already carried away.

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.      But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down…Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Rev. 12:7-12

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into a battle that took place in the heavenlies at some point in the far distant past. Satan, desiring to be on the throne instead of God, formed a rebellion and was cast out of heaven and hurled to earth along with the angels who had sided with him. He is described as the accuser of the brethren who accuses them day and night. In this text, he is said to accuse them before God but one of his primary strategies is also to accuse the brethren by accusing them in their own minds day and night. Satan is a master at bringing up the past and framing our weaknesses and mistakes as things that disqualify us from serving God or from receiving his blessings.

As a strategy, every time life happens to a believer and a challenge arises or a painful moment comes our way, Satan jumps in to accuse us and plants the thought that we are being punished for our misdeeds or rejected for our weaknesses. In a flurry of thoughts, he loves to heap condemnation on us and reinforce an identity of being a gross sinner, a target of God’s wrath because of our evil hearts, an abandoned child because of our misbehaviors, and a hypocrite who should be ashamed for even posing as a follower of Jesus.

Not only do those condemning thoughts rob us of our security but they also take away our joy and our peace. In addition, they prompt us to become accusers of those around us. Since accusation is based on performance, we find ourselves wanting to point out all the faults and failings of those around us in an effort to level the playing field. If you are prone to fault-finding in others or blaming others for the problems in your life, you are likely living with law as a reference point rather than grace.  You are trying to relate to God on the basis of your performance rather than his grace. Paul points out in Romans 8:1-2 that condemnation thrives in an environment of law in which a record is kept of every violation. Satan has the most success with those of us who still tend to view our relationship with God as a relationship defined by law rather than grace.

Law defines my relationship with God as a relationship based on performance. Under law, I am always asking the question, “Am I good enough or have I done enough to be loved, forgiven, and blessed by God?” Under law, our Father in Heaven becomes a perfectionistic parent withdrawing his blessings and affection every time we fail to live up to his lofty standards. On the basis of law, everything is open to accusation and condemnation. Under a mindset of law, Satan is free to accuse us not only of blatant sins but even of our attitudes by degree. Where we have repented, he will suggest that we did not repent enough. When we think about our love for God, he will accuse us of not loving God with all of our heart. When we acknowledge a weakness he will call us hypocrites for pretending to love Jesus when we still fail so often. When we give generously, he will always suggest that we should have given a little more. The accusation and feeling of condemnation is never ending….day and night.

The only escape from the devil’s scheme is to absolutely know that there is no condemnation in Christ because the blood of Christ has removed us from a system of law and placed us in a relationship based on the unfailing love of a Father who does not love and bless on the basis of performance but only on the basis of his heart. You must know that Jesus became sin for you that you might become the righteousness of God. You must know that you have been given positional righteousness in the eyes of God based on what Jesus did, totally apart from your own righteousness or your own spiritual performance. The good news is that God does not love you because you are perfect, but because he is perfect.

The proper response to the accusations of the devil when he brings up your past or even present weaknesses and whispers that you are falling short of God’s standards is, “Of course, I am falling short. So what? That is why Jesus died for my sins and because of that, God does not hold my sins against me. I live in a condemnation free zone by the blood of Christ and by the grace of God. Satan you have no power here and your accusations have no weight. My past has been blotted out. My present is in process and my future is secure. I am justified in Christ and it is you that are condemned. Now go away!”

When accusation comes, don’t brood but respond with God’s truth. When condemnation raises its head, dismiss it as a lie. When Satan runs up the flag of rejection, ignore it because that sign has no meaning in the kingdom of God. Too many of us believe that punishment motivates us to change. If that were true, there would be no repeat offenders in prison. Too many of us believe that accusation, condemnation, and self-loathing will prompt us to do better and so we agree with Satan’s accusations.

But accusation, condemnation, and demeaning criticism only solidify our identity as broken and worthless. When the prodigal returned, he was given no lecture, no condemnation, no probation. Instead his return was celebrated and he was immediately given back his identity as a son. His true identity as a respected son of a proud Father was reinforced and that is what will bring our own growth and transformation. So remember, when the devil knocks on the door of your mind, post your Condemnation Free Zone sign and send him on his way.

So…what do we do when the faithful fail? What do we do when we fail, when we slip back into a sin we thought we had left far behind, or when weakness overcomes our faith? There are many who would say that the cleansing of deep regret and overwhelming feelings of guilt are the right response to realign our hearts with the Father. Many of us believe that a sense of shame and guilt and the emotional pain of our failure will keep us from sliding into sin again. But there is an interesting passage in Nehemiah that raises a question about that course.

In the book of Nehemiah we find the prophet in exile. Jerusalem had been sacked and burned and the best and brightest of the Jews deported. When word reached Nehemiah that the city he loved was still devastated with the walls lying in heaps of rubble and the gates burned he cried out to God. God moved King Artaxerxes to allow Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and restore the city. After a remarkable restoration project, the wall and city gates were rebuilt. Nehemiah and the people were certain that all the things that had happened to Israel were because of their sins, so when the wall was completed Nehemiah called for a solemn assembly to re-consecrate the people and the city. Ezra the priest stood and read the Book of the Law to all the people.

The text says, “They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.   Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh.8:8-10).

The natural response of the people to their sin and the righteous standards of their God was to weep as they felt the guilt and shame of their sins and the sins of their fathers. And yet, God instructed them not to weep but to celebrate. This is a clear picture of the difference between condemnation and conviction.

Condemnation is a tool of the enemy that he uses against us when we fail. Condemnation produces shame and shame pushes us away from the Father at the very moment that we need to be drawing close. Remember, Adam and Eve felt shame in the garden at the moment of their sin and the realization of their nakedness. That shame caused them to hide from the Father and to blame others for what they had chosen to do. Satan loves to come and condemn. In response to the enemy’s strategy, Paul declares that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1).

Shame is the very thing that drives many of us to sin in an effort to cover or medicate our sense of unworthiness. Our unbearable feelings of insignificance, defectiveness, and inadequacy drive many to substance abuse, sexual addictions, comfort eating, and so forth. Condemnation simply increases our shame and our need to medicate so that we get caught in a destructive cycle. Condemnation convinces us that even God can’t love and that being the case … we are on our own. When we are on our own we are dangerous to ourselves and others.

Even in the face of their sins, Israel was commanded to celebrate rather than weep. The celebration was not a statement that their sins did not matter, but rather a recognition that God’s love and grace were greater than their sin. It was a celebration of God’s love and mercy that draws us back to him rather than driving us away.

In the Nehemiah passage, God calls on us to focus on his grace rather than on our failings. Bill Johnson speaks to this when he says, “The real problem is not in what we lack, but how we respond to what God has said. Focusing on our problems more than God’s answers should be a dead giveaway that we’re really dealing with condemnation not the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Focus on God’s answers – not your problems. When the Holy Spirit shows us where we are falling short. The bigger reality is not the areas where we’re not yet walking in our destiny, but the destiny itself…The conviction of the Holy Spirit is actually a call to turn our focus away from our sin and our limitations. He’s saying, ‘You’re made for more than this. Lift your head and set your sights higher’” (Bill Johnson, Strengthen Yourself in the Lord, p.136-137; Destiny Image).

There is a time for godly sorrow, but the sorrow should quickly turn from our self- focus on our weakness to God’s strength, from our unfaithfulness to his faithfulness, from our failures to his victory, and from our discouragement to his grace. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We will have greater victories over sin if we focus on Him rather than us. The constant goodness of God and his willingness to forgive any sin as soon as our heart turns to him is a reason to celebrate. It does no good for us to wallow in our self-loathing or despise ourselves as if beating ourselves emotionally will pay for our sins or convince God of our sorrow. Our sins are already paid for and the proof of repentance is not found in self-loathing but in loving God.

When we fail in our walk with the Lord, we should own it, confess it quickly, and then get on to celebrating God’s goodness and love. There is joy in that and in that joy we find strength for the next stage of our journey wherever we are. Blessings today as you celebrate the goodness and grace of your Savior.

When participating in spiritual warfare, the word of God is essential. It is essential not just for discerning what is “scriptural” or not, although that is important, but scripture is a weapon to use directly against the enemy. When confronting the enemy who is harassing, tempting, or afflicting you or another, the word of God is powerful.

Paul tells us, when speaking about the armor of God, that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph.6:17). We are also told by the writer of Hebrews that the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword (Heb.4:12). In the book of Revelation, John describes a vision of Jesus and says, “In his right hand he held seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword” (Rev.1:16). That picture of Jesus establishes him as one with great power and authority. His words leave his lips as a sword with power to judge.

In the wilderness temptation recorded in Matthew 4, Satan came to Jesus to tempt him. The devil always shows up when our strength (spiritual, emotional, or physical) is somehow depleted. Satan approached Jesus after forty days of solitude and fasting. His energy levels were low and he had been without the encouragement of friends or family for over a month. Satan, believing Jesus to be extremely vulnerable, came to tempt him as he did the First Adam. Jesus fought back with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

Jesus quoted scripture in response to every temptation of the enemy. The words of believers carry authority and power. How else could the commands of God’s people bring healing and deliverance or even raise the dead. In the spiritual realm, our words have substance and weight. But if our words have substance, how much more do the very words of God spoken from our lips.

Again, we are told that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. I believe when we declare that word with faith and conviction it cuts and bruises the enemy. When we are confronting the enemy, declaring appropriate scripture has a powerful affect that afflicts and torments the enemy.

Declaring the authority of Christ over the enemy is a powerful use of the word.  Scripture is filled with such verses declaring that Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth; that Jesus has a name that is above every name; that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. etc. In the wilderness temptation Jesus did not give chapter and verse, but simply said, “It is written… We can do the same when confronting unclean spirits.

For example, we might say, “The word of God declares that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth and I now declare his authority over you.” Or we might say, “ I command you in the name of Jesus, who is declared by the written word of God to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and you will obey his commands as I declare them to you.” Or… “It is written that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord and now you will bow the knee to his commands as I declare them.”

Declaring scripture strengthens our own faith in the moment while it weakens the enemy and torments him. Demons do not always depart with the first command. If a stronghold exists, you may have to “assault the walls of the enemy’s fortress” more than once with numerous commands. Declaring the word of God over that person or a situation takes big chunks out of the stronghold walls.

Every believer should have a catalogue of scriptures on hand to wield against the enemy: scriptures that declare who Christ is, who we are in Christ, the defeat of Satan, the victory of the church, God’s willingness to heal and set captives free, and scriptures that defeat fear and temptation of every kind. As believers, our words carry authority but the very words of God from our lips, carry even more power and authority with which to defeat and torment the enemy. Make a list, memorize them, and keep them handy.   We live in a dangerous world. Don’t leave home without your sword.

In this Psalm, David makes some astounding claims regarding God’s protection for those who maintain an intimate relationship with him. In the current spiritual environment of America these claims would seem outlandish, boastful, and even presumptuous. Listen to what David says: He (God) will save you from the fowler’s snare, from deadly pestilence, from any terror that stalks at night, from arrows aimed at you, from stumbling, and from lions and cobras. He says that even though a thousand may fall at your side or ten thousand and your right hand, you will be kept safe from disaster, disease, and attacks. David declares that God will even assign angels to protect you in the midst of danger and crisis. For the most part, our culture – even today’s Christian culture – does not seem to view God and his personal involvement in our lives in the same way David viewed it.

Perhaps, our first thought is that David is using the literary device of hyperbole or exaggeration to make his point. But lets think about it. How many literal, biblical accounts are there of God providing miraculous protection for those in battle: the Red Sea crossing, the Jericho campaign, Joshua leading Israel in numerous battles against their enemies in the promised land (when Israel was faithful), Gideon’s unlikely but overwhelming victories, David taking down Goliath, Samson killing a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, David’s multiple miraculous escapes from Saul, one angel taking out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers camped around Jerusalem, Elijah taking on 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel, and hundreds of other accounts where the supernatural power of God protected his people in battle and gave them victory.   But does God still do that?

I have a friend who served in Vietnam and during the war his platoon was ordered to move into a village. On the outskirts of the village, a small shed came under fire as a possible outpost for enemy snipers. My friend said that they fired numerous rockets at the shed that kept inexplicably veering off and so they overran the shed, kicked open the door and found a Christian mother and her children hiding there, huddled in prayer. If you ask my friend he will tell you that Psalm 91 still paints possibilities for today.

We could continue to talk about angelic warnings and deliverance for God’s people from all kinds of threats throughout scripture including shutting the mouths of lions and protecting men from the flames in the book of Daniel. We could talk about the venomous serpent that attached itself to Paul’s arm without injury in the book of Acts. The truth is, from Genesis to Revelation there are numerous accounts of God’s intervention in the lives of men and women that parallel the claims of David in Psalm 91.

Some of that supernatural intervention simply flows out of God’s grace but one statement made by Jesus also sets a condition on some of that intervention. “Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be done to you” (Mt.9:29). In other words, to the extent that we expect the intervention of God, we will receive it. David echoes that thought in Psalm 91. “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust” (Ps.91:2). The rest of the Psalm is really a confirmation of David’s faith and a declaration that because of the love and care that flowed from the Father toward David, God would certainly protect him from his enemies, from plague, and even from wild animals.

I don’t believe David was born with that certainty but his history with God began to write that certainty on his heart. Before facing Goliath, David reflected on moments when, as a shepherd boy, God had delivered him from a lion and a bear. Upon reflection, David realized that he had not overcome those threats through his own brilliance and strength but that God had supernaturally intervened to save him. Part of our problem is the absence of reflection and meditation in our lives. Long days and nights alone in secluded pastures provided David with a lifestyle that encouraged reflection, introspection, and an ongoing conversation with the Father – since there was no one else to talk to. We might do well to intentionally seek out evenings or occasional days of solitude with the Father ourselves to intentionally reflect on his character and to look back to map his hand and his faithfulness in our lives.

It is important to notice that David declared God’s faithfulness and protection over his life on a regular basis. In doing so, he wrote that truth more deeply on his heart each time he spoke it or wrote it. As we begin to align our thoughts and hearts with God, we should also declare, write, and memorize the Word of God as it declares the truth we need to write on our heart. As we do so, the paradigm of God’s love, care, and faithfulness will begin to function as the lens through which we view life allowing us to see God’s care and protection daily in both big and small ways which, in turn will strengthen our faith. Intentional thinking, speaking, and acting are the keys to faith and faith is the key to unlock the promises of God. Let me encourage you to personalize Psalm 91 placing your name in the text, meditating on its application to your life, and memorizing all or sections of it so that faith in a day of uncertainty can stand on the same promises on which David stood. Be blessed.

In my last blog, we explored the concept of “confession” which I believe is a powerful weapon in the arsenal God has provided for his people. In its simplest form, confession means that I say what God has said about any issue and not only say it but also agree with it. If I confess sin, then I am saying what God has said about an unacceptable trait, thought, or behavior and, hopefully, am agreeing with him about that in my heart. The third area of confession is simply developing a practice of saying what God has said about others and myself in the Lord.

We all know how important it is for faith to be transferred from a person’s head to his heart. To believe something intellectually is not as powerful as believing that same truth at a heart level. Speaking (verbally confessing) a truth facilitates that transfer. Paul says, “       But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom.10:8-9). In this verse, Paul is encouraging us to confess our faith with our mouths rather than just holding it as an intellectual conviction in our minds. He also suggests that the act of doing so facilitates belief in our hearts.

In the Hebrew mind, there is often a causal connection between two things joined together with the conjunction and. For instance, if someone were to say, “I slipped on the ice and broke my wrist,” we would assume that the slipping contributed to the breaking. One helped to cause the other.   In the same way, confessing with my mouth has a connection with believing in my heart. One powerful tool for transforming a belief in my head to faith in my heart is verbally confessing God’s truth regarding any area of my life.

Most of us struggle with our self-image. The world and the enemy love to beat up on us and leave us feeling unworthy, useless, and condemned even as believers. That is not the message of Christ. Jesus came to redeem us and to makes us into something new. That is the essence of being born-again and being a new creation. The New Testament is filled with God’s declarations about who we are now that we are in Christ. Those declarations should form our new identity in Jesus. Phrases such as, “the righteousness of God, fully forgiven, acceptable, worthy, holy, friends of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, empowered, competent, ambassadors for Christ, kings and priests, etc. all apply to every believer. They are part of our new identity that needs to seep down from our heads into our hearts.

The Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Another way of saying that is, “We live up to whatever we believe about ourselves.” Verbally, declaring who we are in Christ, on a daily basis, is a powerful tool for transformation. Speaking the same things over one another (especially our children) is also very powerful. As we agree with God about who we are, those truths are eventually written on our hearts. When they are written there, our view of ourselves changes and when that changes we change.

There is also a prophetic aspect to our verbal confessions. Isaiah declares that when God’s word goes forth it always fulfills its purpose. God spoke and his words created the universe. We are made in his image. When we speak our words have creative power, especially when his words go forth from our lips. When we declare his truth over any situation, we release God’s power to make those truths a reality (on earth as it is in heaven) whether it is shaping our identity, releasing his promises in our lives, or establishing destiny over our marriage or our children.

Confession aligns us with Christ, revokes the enemy’s authority to oppress us, writes his truth on our hearts, and releases the power of prophetic words to shape our hearts and the future. We should exercise this divine weapon often. It is how your authority as a believer is expressed. God gave you authority so exercise it for his purposes in your own life and lives of others. Remember, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb.4:11). Use it against the enemy.

Confession is a divine weapon that can have powerful, effects when exercised consistently. We tend to think of confession as the confession of sins either to God or to one another. If you have a catholic background it will summon images of confession to the local priest. Confession can mean that but encompasses much more. According to Strong, the Greek word exomologeo can be translated as: to confess, to agree, to approve, to assure, to promise, to admit, to concede and, judicially, to make a statement, or in the legal sense to bear witness. It also includes making solemn statements of faith.

I think the easiest way to understand the concept of confession is to think of it as agreement with the truths of God. Literally, it means “to say the same as,” to agree with God”, or “to say what God says.”  As I’ve already mentioned, one aspect of confession regards our sins. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (Ja.5:16). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn.1:9). To confess our sins means that we agree with God that what we have done is wrong and that we acknowledge our culpability in the sin.

In Psalm 51, David confesses his adultery with Bathsheba. He makes no excuses and blames no one else for his choice. “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge” (Ps.51:4). Notice that he takes full responsibility for his actions and declares that God’s standards are right and just. He confesses or agrees with God about what he has done. He agrees in his heart, not just with his words. A sincere confession is always woven in with godly sorrow. Confession of sin is a defensive weapon because a consistent practice of confession gives no place to the enemy to come in because we stand in agreement with God rather than Satan. Confession cancels any legal right Satan would have to oppress us and keeps any barriers from forming in our relationship with God.

There is another side to confession and that is standing in agreement with God about Jesus. To confess Christ is simply to say what God says about him. It is our way of declaring belief and belief is simply a conviction that what God has said about his Son is true. Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Mt.10:32-33). When we confess Jesus before men we agree with God about Jesus and we say so. We say what he has said.

Declaring who Jesus is will always include a confession that he is our Lord and Savior. That confession declares our alignment and allegiance to Christ and declares not only to men but also to the spirit realm that we serve Jesus. That declaration establishes our authority in the spiritual realm as followers of Jesus and sons and daughters of the king. Just as law enforcement officers have to identify themselves by uniform or announcement before exercising their authority, we need to do the same before exercising authority in spiritual matters. If we do not belong to Jesus, we cannot operate (pray or command) in Jesus name. Our confession of who Jesus is and who he is to us is critical when we stand against the enemy.

Thirdly, confession of who we are in Christ and what he has done for us is a powerful weapon to keep the enemy at bay and to write God’s truth more deeply on our hearts. There is also a prophetic effect when we declare God’s word regarding ourselves, other believers, or our own children and families. Next time I want to really develop this important aspect of confession because it is so powerful and yet so neglected. Be blessed today.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.             Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

The second part of God’s armor that Paul lists is righteousness. We are to wear it as a breastplate. I believe Paul is referring to righteousness as a quality of faith and character that guards our hearts from the attacks of the enemy. As believers, we possess righteousness in two ways. First of all, the Father declares us to be righteous on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). We also possess a righteousness in proportion to our righteous living. The first thing every believer must know and stand on is that our salvation comes from a righteousness that has been imputed to us by the grace of God because Jesus paid the price for our sins. Our salvation does not initially stand on the basis of our own efforts and it is not sustained by our own efforts. We are saved by grace and continue by grace. The enemy would have us believe different.

The greatest attack on our faith comes from the enemy planting seeds of doubt in our hearts through thoughts of condemnation and accusation. As soon as we feel condemnation we assign the thoughts and feelings to God. At that moment, we sense rejection and begin to feel as if we are on our own in this world and will need to earn or work our way back into his graces. Those of us who feel alone will typically shift into a “high-control mode” because if God is not caring for us then we have to take care of ourselves, provide for ourselves and protect ourselves. We become number one in our lives. Our grace for others, our patience, and our forgiveness are curtailed because each of those actions makes us vulnerable. Both relationships and faith go south when we are feeling condemned and rejected by God.

However, condemnation and accusation are NOT from God. Satan is the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev.12:10) and for those in Christ there is no condemnation (Rom.8:1). Knowing that our righteousness is a result of our position in Christ rather than our condition in this world guards our heart from the attacks of the enemy. It is true that the Father expects us to mature and grow in righteousness as believers, but there is never an expectation of perfection. The enemy constantly hoists that standard as a source of accusation and discouragement but we do not have to live perfect lives because we have a perfect savior.

Even though the blood of Christ gives us a righteous standing in heaven, we should still be committed to living righteously. Our own righteous behavior is a safeguard to our hearts because it keeps us aligned with the Father and prevents the enemy from gaining any kind of foothold in our lives. Paradoxically, part of being righteous is consistently acknowledging our own unrighteousness before the Father rather than pretending a self-righteousness. John reminds us, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn.1:7-9). Satan would have us think that sin after salvation separates us from God and the greater the sin or the greater our awareness of sin the greater the separation.

But John is clear that to claim to be sinless on the basis of personal righteousness is a delusion at best and most probably a lie. However, confession of sin keeps us in the purifying stream of Christ’s blood and is intended to take away the shame and stain of sins we may commit. The spiritual discipline of confession slams the door on Satan and allows our standing as righteous and our desire to be righteous to continue to guard our hearts against the attacks of the accuser. Righteousness, then, is the breastplate of the believer. God has given it to you so wear it with confidence.

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matt. 12:33-37)

The last verse in this section of scripture is very sobering. The thought that I might have to give an accounting on Judgment Day for every careless word I have ever spoken should get my attention. Even if I have not given much thought to my words, apparently heaven has. The context of these words is a rebuke by Jesus toward the Pharisees who have just attributed his authority to cast out demons to some alliance with Beelzebub. Jesus then equates their assertions to blasphemy of the Spirit which, I believe, is synonymous with unbelief in the face of a clear work of God.

Jesus goes on to the reveal the significance of these words spoken by the Pharisees which were obviously not well thought out. In this context, Jesus gives us one very significant reason that our words matter so much. Our words, especially our careless words, reveal what is truly in our hearts. We often deny that truth by blurting out something or making some sarcastic or cutting remark and then declaring that we didn’t really mean what we said. I hear that frequently from couples whose marriages are crumbling under the weight of anger and mistrust in the relationship. They often share with me the brutal remarks with which they wounded one another in the heat of their fighting and then say that they were just angry and didn’t really mean what they had said. The one who received the wound, however, is not so quick to dismiss the words that were spoken. The truth is that their words reveal something that is in their heart about their spouse and until that something is changed, the marriage will not truly heal.

In our hearts reside out deepest beliefs. We have a set of beliefs that rest neatly in our mind and in our intellect but those are often our “acceptable” or our “aspirational” beliefs. Those are the beliefs or attitudes we would like to have or believe we should have. Those are the beliefs or attitudes that we show to others and acknowledge as our own. Our actual beliefs are hidden in our hearts. Those show up when we are tempted, angry, afraid, or offended. They show up in our actions that have not been calculated and our careless words that pop out of our mouths in stressful moments or in moments of temptation.

Sometimes, even we wonder where those words or thoughts came from and are surprised by what we just said. David was aware that deep within our hearts we sometimes harbor thoughts or beliefs that are contrary to the mind and heart of God and reflect a part of us that we don’t want to recognize. He prayed, “Search me O God and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps.139:23-24, ESV).

Our words matter because they can reveal the truest thoughts and attitudes of our hearts – even the ones we carefully hide from others who would disapprove or that we deny when confronted about them. My words will acquit us or condemn me because they reveal my heart which then reveals the “true me”. The good news for every believer is that even our hearts are covered by the grace of God and the blood of Christ. That grace reaches even the hidden sin in our hearts and we can take comfort in that.

However, the wisest path is to pay attention to our careless words, our impetuous words, and our angry words because they do reveal the unattractive reality of our fallen nature. We should pay attention and take responsibility for those words and the part of us that is not yet fully submitted to Jesus. We can then acknowledge that part of us, repent of the attitudes or beliefs our words reflect, and submit them to the cross so that the Holy Spirit can then begin to change our heart at the deepest level.

Our careless words, then, can be our allies in discovering what still needs to be aligned with the heart and mind of Christ. They can be our allies in discovering footholds or even strongholds of the enemy. Denying that spontaneous words or actions reflect who we “really are” leaves an unlocked door through which the enemy can enter when we least expect it. The wise man and the spiritual man will acknowledge that some parts of his heart are not yet submitted to Jesus and as he discovers each part, he will gladly lay them at the foot of the cross. That is a key to real transformation in the kingdom of God.

In one sense, God judges his people every day. He judges us not in the sense of condemnation but in the sense of evaluation and then goes to work changing those things that are not aligned with the mind and heart of Jesus. The transforming work of God is much easier and effective when we cooperate. It is easier when we willingly bend to his will rather than resisting. When we resist or deny that we need to change, more pressure must be applied even to the point of breaking. From personal experience I would say it is better to bend that to be broken. Carless words can alert us t the need to bend or can alert God to the need for more pressure. Our choice!  More about “words” on Wednesday.