There is POWER in WORDS

So then faith [the faith of Jesus Christ] cometh by hearing, and hearing [cometh] by the word of God. -- Romans 10: 17

To simplify this verse, I am going to put it in my own literal translation for you. This verse says so much and has so much impact, it is hard to imagine. In the first place you must understand the Greek word for ’faith’. This Greek word is ‘pistis’ and it means “to believe”. Now take it slowly and look at what I have in brackets. This faith is referring to the believing of Jesus Christ. Now look at the verse and it says that this believing will only come by hearing. We should stop there. What are we to be believing? Now keep it simple. Surely we understand that to believe something we must hear it or read it first. The believing of all that Jesus Christ accomplished comes to us by reading the Word of God.

The answer seems to be almost too simple. We get to know God from His Words. Now how did you get to know me? You read my words and hopefully they gave you encouragement and a strong spiritual education. In my last teaching, I stressed the meaning of words that hurt people. I specified that these type of words come from the devil himself. Even at this introductory point of this teaching, we should be able to recognize clearly that there is power in words.

Before getting into some Scriptures pertaining to the subject, I want to ask you a simple question. Depending on who you are, how do you know your best friend? It is only accomplished by listening to and understanding that person’s words. If you have a blessed family and you get to know your brothers and sisters or your mother or father, how do you know them? Again, it is so obvious that you can only know them by their words. Hopefully again, for you, the words that you hear from them edify, encourage and help you with your confidence. I grew up in a home that was like hell on earth. In a way, I really don’t wonder why I sought out the truth in my life so diligently. Now you may have a brother or sister that says some nasty words to you. They hurt, don’t they? So you easily see by now that there is power, great power in the spoken or written word.

This Scripture in Proverbs has always been a mind blower for me. It speaks specifically on the subject of this teaching which, believe it or not, this is one of the most important teachings and positive habits that you can ever develop in this life. Let me let God speak it to you.

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. -- Proverbs 4: 24

You may look at that verse and it may not stand out to you like it does to me. There is only one reason for this and that is because I have learned and studied for many years to rightly divide the Word of God. Now we are going to do this together. First of all you need to understand completely the phrase ‘froward mouth’. A person who has this personality trait is one who is always stubbornly contrary and disobedient to what anyone has to say. God is saying to put this type of habit aside and renew your mind so that you bless people and you get along with people. But it is my note written next to this Scripture in my Bible that taught me this major principle about our subject matter. Here’s what I wrote:

Watch Your Confessions

If you learn to master those three words, you will stop making a fool out of yourself as I have done for many years until I turned to God’s Word. In this day and age, when the adversary’s time is coming to an end, you must watch everything that you say to people. Remember, there is great power in words. Speak words that the Word of God tells you to speak. I need to give you one more example of a very powerful Scripture that pertains to this teaching and to so many different parts of a person’s life. Before I get to the Scripture, I want to explain to you a very simple principle, but one that we fail to put into practice. From my research materials, I read something one time that practically took my breath away because I said hey, you’re not doing that. So you give it a try and do the very best you can for God. It was a simple statement in one sentence and it went like this:

Do not ever criticize, condemn, and complain.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. -- Philippians 4: 8

I would like to go over some biblical knowledge and research that will stay in your mind because of its unique qualities and interests. What I am referring to is Psalm 119. Many believers do not realize the uniqueness of this Psalm. Remember, you cannot go beyond what you are taught. I am going to teach you something right now which you may never have been aware of.

Psalm 19 has 176 Scriptures. Believe it or not, each Scripture mentions the Word of God. Let’s take a look and simply pick anyone of these Scriptures.

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. -- Psalm 119: 47

There you see the word of God mentioned by the phrase “in thy commandments”. Let us do another.

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. -- Psalm 119: 162

One more:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119: 105

You can easily see that God’s Word is mentioned at the beginning of the above verse. I am going to stop these examples and let you have some fun with this chapter in Psalms. It really is amazing how important God’s Word is if He would take care to mention it in 176 verses.

Why did God do this? He wants to show you that there is great power in words - whether they are written or spoken. The power that is in God’s Word is beyond any power that exists on any words on the earth itself. God uses His written Word to teach us spiritual matters as we will see in the next two verses from Colossians.

If [or since] ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right-hand of God. -- Colossians 3: 1

What exactly does God mean when He says to seek those things which are above? We receive the answer in the very next verse. Remember the three ways that the Word of God interprets itself. Most of the Word interprets itself right in the verse and this is the case here.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. -- Colossians 3: 2

This is a good lesson as to why we need to renew our minds by rightly dividing the Word of God.

The phrase ‘set your affection on things above’ is referring to your thinking. It means that we should set our thinking on spiritual matters, not on things on the earth resulting from our five senses. We have to find a balance between the world and the Word. For the time being, we must live in this world until Jesus Christ comes back. But God would prefer that you think about Him and His Word. Many times during the day and even when I wake up in the morning, I shift my thinking to different Scriptures and they helped me to get started and to get through my day. These have been a lot of examples about the Word of God and its mighty power. Let’s take a look at some different examples.

The Ministry I studied with has changed in a way that was not preferable to me or to many thousands of others. At one time I ran a home fellowship. To do this, according to the Word, you need at least three people. My wife had a friend who I had become close to. At least I thought this was the truth. It turned out to be a lie and a counterfeit and I must tell you what happened.

This person was a bit heady and high-minded. She had to be the boss. I put up with this because I thought she had some major qualities that were valuable for the true God. To make a long story short, I wanted to have a fellowship in my home once again. She seemed like the perfect person to be the third person in the fellowship. I explained everything to her and was as nice as I could be and she said she was interested. For some reason, God was working diligently in my heart to write a letter to her before our first fellowship. Because of her unusual attitude, I thought I would try to get her to be humble which means to be teachable. So I wrote her a letter trying to establish some type of respect and mutual understanding. Out of nowhere, I was completely shocked. She wrote back to me and she said in her first words “thank you, but no thank you”. She seemed offended that she was not going to run the show. You see you never let spectators run your performance. It was hard for me to read on but I did for a little more. She told me that she could not sleep at night because of her commitment to come to the fellowship! I stopped reading the letter and I told my wife what happened. The strange part about this story is that she was recently divorced from her husband who was a really nice person. We were friends and he had helped me many times with his pickup truck. Before he left to move away, he made a point to make me aware of how this woman really was. He warned me and I thought he was mistaken. But what he said to me had come true. This young woman never approached me again and never came to our home again. Here is a perfect example of the hurt that words can cause. I will admit clearly that as I read only part of her letter, her words that were written down hurt unbelievably. The whole situation bothered me and as I felt in God’s presence, that I was at fault.

Hurt can happen to such an extent that it could mess up your mind and clog up your judgment. I had wondered for a long time how I was going to get over this. Finally, God showed me that I did nothing wrong and that I was not at fault in any way. So what I am going to teach you is how you get healed and overcome the hurt that you unjustly feel. This is a very simple but extremely powerful principle in God’s Word. It refers to the phrase “Power of Attorney”. What is the power of attorney? What is it to have the power of attorney in your life or in the life of the Church? Do you know? The power of attorney is the legal right to use the name of the person who has given you the power. That power has been given to Christian believers by Jesus Christ. So we have great power to execute in that name whatever resources Jesus Christ has available. That’s a lot of resources. Let’s go to Ephesians chapter 1.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. -- Ephesians 1: 18

The last part of the verse mentions the riches of the glory of Christ’s inheritance in the saints. That means that we have the power that Jesus Christ had against the enemy. Now the words that I told you that were written to me by that young woman have no power whatsoever. You have the power to rebuke that person in the name of Jesus Christ. You may have to do this numerous times, but eventually the hurt that you felt will simply seem to disappear. This is the only solution mentioned in the Word of God and it is sufficient for our needs. I did this with this person who hurt me terribly and to my great relief, the hurt I felt just seem to go away. If you feel pressure or tribulation when carrying out God’s Word, it’s because the devil knows that you are learning something that can and will absolutely defeat him.

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. -- Ephesians 1: 19

What is the great key to operate your power of attorney? It is the same principle that is written throughout the Bible. We must believe to be able to see the greatness of the power of God.

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, -- Ephesians 1: 20

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: -- Ephesians 1: 21

Can you imagine if we would only believe and not have any doubt? We have the power that Jesus Christ had and even more when we get people born again. We are above principalities, powers, might and dominion of this world which is run by Satan. When Satan takes a cheap shot at you, you must remember and believe that you have the power of attorney that Jesus Christ left for you until he returns the second time. What in the world could hurt you to such an extent where you can’t even seem to function? You need to put into operation your power of attorney and rebuke that situation or that person or that thing that has been harassing you in your mind. The mental pressures that you have are only the result of a lack of knowledge and action on your part. You need to stand up and out loud say to the god of this world that you rebuke him and his devil spirits that are afflicting you. I guarantee you that you will come out victorious if you believe and act. You must remember that your power of attorney has only as much power as in the name of Jesus Christ. That’s a lot of power.

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. -- Ephesians 1: 22

Don’t you ever forget that the adversary has no mercy or no compassion on anyone. If you feel sorry for the person who hurt you, you will get your face melted. I do not feel sorry at all for this young lady who made accusations towards me that were completely and totally unjustified. In fact, the principle of giving equals receiving will bring back to her the hurt that she tried to cause me. That’s just the way it is people. Got only makes winners – he does not make losers. Many times we have to be strong and stand up to people who are influenced by the devil. We are never to put our tail between our legs and run. Just never!

My greatest teacher in the Word would say it time and time again. People blow hot and they both cold. This woman became subject to a great fear that was a lie coming directly from hell. Because of her confidence, the adversary knew that she could eventually become a great threat to him. She had free will. So he took her out before she even had a chance to know what was going on. Of course the enemy is so treacherous that he turned a terrible situation that he brought upon this woman and did his best to turn it on me – as if it were my fault. Sometimes when you’re a believer, you just naturally fall in love with people. And I felt a strong and pure love for this young woman and when I thought of what she wrote to me, it hurt, and it hurt really bad. Was I really angry at this woman? Not at all. I was angry as what the adversary was capable of. If you learn anything from this teaching, it is the fact that words have great power not only to bless you, but to hurt you. When this happens, you turn to the Word of God and He will comfort you and give you answers as to what really takes place, use your power of attorney. I did, and yet it no longer bothers me at all. Importantly, there is a detailed teaching on Your Power of Attorney that you should absolutely study -- it is in ‘The Promises of God’ category.

Now I have decided to share something only with the believers who are completely sold out on God’s Word. I know this is going to sound strange to you as it did to me. But here it is and you can believe it or not. You know you always have free will. When a person who has a devil spirit may say something to you that bothers you, it is not your fault. Devil spirits can travel on sound waves. Sound crazy? But think about it. I have to put up with a beeping noise from a tractor near where I live. Why should a beeping noise from a mechanical thing bother me to such an extent? Because that noise that that machine is generating puts out sound waves. A devil spirit can travel on a sound wave.

I seriously hope that this teaching has helped you in some way. Many times when a person will say something that hurts you, you must realize the source of this hurt. It is the god of this world who can only steal kill and destroy. He is incapable of anything else.

I would like to conclude with another true story in my life. For many, many years, I was baffled by what a girlfriend of mine said to me. She tried to make it sound humorous, but it wasn’t humorous at all. This was way before I got involved in the Word of God. This girlfriend of mine told me that her mother had gone to a fortuneteller and that the fortuneteller had warned her mother about me. Her mother was a strange woman who turned to the occult for answers. At the time, I had no idea about where a fortuneteller was coming from. When I got into a Bible class, I found out that it was from Satan himself. The girl herself became as evil as a person could possibly be. She said words to me one night and I almost lost my mind. They just seemed to come out of nowhere and for no reason. You can imagine the relief I felt when I learned from God’s Word where fortunetellers were coming from. From that point on, I could not possibly blame myself for what had taken place. The adversary knows a lot about your life and that is why you must stay in fellowship with God. Satan told this fortuneteller that I was a danger to him. That was because I never tried to do anything wrong to anyone. Once I learned what the Word said, I went after him with all my strength and might. My branch leader told me that I was going to turn the whole city on to God’s Word by myself. I want no glory. I just want to teach you as much as I possibly can to help you to fight this invisible enemy that tries to hurt us every day of our lives. Remember, we are more than conquerors in every single situation.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

-- Romans 8: 37

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