335 - Starting the Power of God's Word with Faith#
335 - Starting the Power of God's Word with Faith
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Life of Eagles)
2 Timothy 1:1-7
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 to Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience; that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day; 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you also. 6 Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, thank you and praise you! Thank you for starting our new week of life. During this time, may the Holy Spirit personally lead each brother and sister, allowing us to receive the unfeigned faith like Timothy. You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Please restore our faith, so that we can activate the power of your word with faith and live with that power. During this time, may we all gain something. Thank you and praise you! In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen!
The topic of sharing is: Starting God's Power with Faith.
God's word is full of power. In the Bible, God said to Mary: "With God, nothing shall be impossible." If you place the Bible under your pillow, it will not have any effect, but if you activate that word with faith, taking one of its phrases, such as what is mentioned in Mark 16, "Lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." When you use this phrase, there will be power released when you lay hands on the sick, because you are activating God's power by faith. Amen!
If we only treat the Bible as knowledge to study and analyze, it will not have much power. A person's thoughts determine their actions. If a person often thinks about fearful things, due to past failures, fearing the present and the future, if their heart is often filled with fear, their behavior will be timid and chaotic. If we yield to fear and worry, our mindset becomes negative, and life will head in a negative direction.
Today we mention one thing: Faith activates God's power; in fact, fear activates some actions of the devil. Every morning when we wake up, we should expect good things to happen because God has promised us that He will bless each day. Amen! Fear activates the enemy's forces, while faith activates God's power.
We should expect to receive more in the Lord today, expecting that at the right time and place, wonderful things will happen that will make us grateful. You can choose to believe in God and expect good things to happen; or you can choose to be like the world, fearing today and preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, most people choose the latter.
Let me give you an example. Suppose you are sleeping, and at one o'clock in the morning, the phone suddenly rings. What is your first thought? What terrible thing has happened? Otherwise, why would someone call me at this hour? If it is a doctor, the profession tells you, "It's over! A patient has appeared." If it is a teacher, you might think, "Oh no! What notification is there from school?" If it is an employee of a company, you might think, "It's over, the boss has something for me to do." You are thinking of negative things because it is the middle of the night; there won't be any good news at this time.
Very few people would think, "What good thing is about to happen? I can't wait for dawn!" Many times, our thoughts lean towards the negative. For example, when an employee is called to the boss's office, what do they think on the way? Most people think, "Did I do something wrong again?" Very few think, "Good things are coming!"
Every day we live, we believe that God is a God of blessings. We also believe that today is a day set apart by God, and we believe that God's grace will surely walk with us today. However, when faced with situations, many people first believe in negative things. For instance, when we do business, many people think, "What if business is at its worst?" When customers are few, the first thought is how to maintain the business.
I want to tell you, do not expect bad things to happen. You are different from the world; you can expect good things to happen. Amen! Because the Bible clearly tells us that how you expect is how it will be fulfilled.
Let’s look at a passage of scripture: Matthew 9:27-29
27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." 28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" They said unto him, "Yea, Lord." 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it unto you."
Two blind men followed Jesus, wanting to receive His grace. They cried out behind Him, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Clearly, Jesus knew what these two blind men wanted. When they came before Jesus, He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
Today I also tell you this: If you want to ask for something, Jesus will ask you, "Do you believe that I can do this for you?" Because from a worldly perspective, it is very difficult for a blind person to be healed immediately, even with the current level of medical technology. If a person is born blind or does not even have eyeballs, it is clear that current technology cannot achieve that.
I have seen a person whose eyes were just two sockets, without eyeballs. After the pastor prayed for him, after a while, two eyeballs formed, and after a while, a slit appeared, and after praying again, the eyes opened. This is not something that can be done by humans today; this is called a miracle! Amen!
When Jesus asked these two blind men, "Do you believe that I can do this for you?" they said, "Lord, we believe." Hallelujah! So faith is the key to activating God's power. God's word is here; Jesus asks, "Do you believe?" The Bible has many words from God for you; can you believe today?
Many people in the Bible received when they sought Jesus. There was a paralyzed man who wanted to see Jesus, but there were so many people that he could not get in through the door. His four friends tore off the roof and lowered him down to Jesus. That man was healed. These people could not wait to break through all obstacles to seek Jesus, and they all received.
In fact, there are also some people in the Bible whom Jesus actively sought out, and it became relatively difficult for them to be healed. For example, the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda had been lying there for 38 years. After Jesus arrived, He asked, "Do you want to be made whole?" Isn't this similar to what is asked today, "Do you believe that I can do this for you?" Jesus always asks, "Do you want to be made whole?" How should you respond? I want to! Just like this man said, "Lord, we believe!" If someone asks you, "Do you want to be made whole?" how should you respond? "Lord, I want to be made whole!" Then the result will happen.
Jesus touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith be it unto you!" It was just a matter of two sentences, and the healing was completed. However, when you read the Bible, how did the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda respond? "Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool." He wanted to express many things: "Because I am paralyzed, I cannot get down by myself, and no one pushes me down. So every time I want to get down, I cannot, and as a result, I have been lying here for over 30 years without being healed." Did Jesus ask, "Why haven't you been healed?" No! There was no need to describe why he had not been healed; that was not important.
What is important is, "Do you want to be made whole?" If you say, "Lord, I want!" then it is over. Then Jesus said, "According to your faith be it unto you!" How I wish all brothers and sisters would believe in God's word like this! When you read this sentence, you say, "Lord, I believe your word will be fulfilled in me!" The Lord says, "Okay, it will be fulfilled for you." What a perfect thing!
Just like when the angel said to Mary, "You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." At that time, Mary said, "How can this happen to me, since I do not know a man?" The angel said to Mary, but Mary did not understand what it meant that "the power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you," and what "the Mighty One will do in you" meant... she did not understand.
It does not matter if you do not understand; when you do not understand, you can say: "Lord, let it be to me according to your word!" You know the outcome, right? You do not need to ask Jesus, "How can we be healed?" That is not important; this is God's work. You do not need to worry about how God will accomplish this; you just need to say: "Lord, I want this result." The rest is for God to do.
So Jesus touched their eyes and said: "According to your faith be it unto you!" Another translation means: "As you believe, so it will be done." The Bible mentions several blind people who were healed; were all the blind people in Israel healed? Did all the blind people who heard Jesus preach get healed? Why were some not healed? It could be said that they did not believe, or they could not believe that healing could come so quickly and easily. Many times, we also believe in our Lord; how you believe is how it will be fulfilled.
You must know that God fulfills according to our faith; God will meet our expectations at various levels. Some people, when they have a problem, their faith is: "Lord, arrange the best doctor for me," and God will arrange the best doctor for them according to their faith. Some people say: "Lord, give me the best medicine in the world," and God will give them the best medicine according to their faith. Others say: "Lord, I believe you can heal me directly," and God will fulfill that according to their faith. All three are correct; you can receive according to your faith. But no matter what, you should expect a good outcome. Amen!
Many times, we unconsciously lean towards expecting bad things to happen. You must know that fear and faith both have destructive power. Does fear have destructive power? When a person is filled with fear, they may not even dare to step out of the door because they are always afraid of making mistakes, afraid that everyone will attack them.
There is a condition in this world called "paranoia," which is seeing everyone as bad and everything as an attack against them. This condition is beyond their control; they are filled with fear and also have destructive power. They always curl up in that place, fearing everyone and everything. Conversely, when a person is filled with faith, they also have destructive power. What happens when a person is filled with faith? - They are fearless.
When the Holy Spirit filled the 120 disciples in the upper room, they were filled with God's word. After coming down, facing the fearful environment, they began to boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ had risen. Even Peter, who was very afraid, stood up and preached to 3,000 people, resulting in 3,000 and 5,000 people repenting and believing in Jesus. This was something they had not dared to do before because before the Holy Spirit came upon them, they had no faith; they locked the doors and gathered in fear. But when the Holy Spirit was upon them, they were filled with power, and at that time, faith was manifested. Amen!
Brothers and sisters, both of these have destructive power; it depends on which one you choose to live by. If we believe and expect good things to happen, we will see God's grace and blessings come upon us and our environment, because this is also God's promise. But if we are always fearful and worried about bad things happening, we will become discouraged and even see the whole world as dark.
Starting today, you need to learn to believe in God's word, do not be afraid, do not fear. "Do not be afraid" appears about 365 times in the original text of the Bible, telling you not to fear every day of the year because God knows we have many things to fear.
Today, the text tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. The expanded version of the Bible tells us, "What does a sound mind mean?" It means a balanced and rigorous mindset. In other words, if you do not learn to manage your thoughts, God's power cannot be activated. God's way to victory is particularly simple: believe in everything Jesus accomplished on the cross.
What is the content of the gospel? Why do people stop being afraid when they hear the gospel? Why does a person become strong when they are weak after hearing the gospel? Because the content of the gospel mentions "the Son of God, Jesus Christ." People fear many diseases; in fact, they are not afraid of the disease itself, but of the death that the disease brings. People fear many things; in reality, they are afraid of suffering losses that they cannot recover from. All this traces back to the source: Adam sinned and fell short of the glory of God.
The "content of the gospel" is the part you have been missing in the past, the sins you have committed, which Jesus took upon Himself. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, paid the price for your sins on the cross; He died for your sins and rose from the dead three days later. Today, your relationship with the Father is reconciled, so the Father no longer looks at your sins to punish you, but instead blesses you because of Jesus.
When we tell such good news to the world, they will no longer be afraid and will become strong; that timid heart will be replaced with strength and love. We tell you that God is always with you, even when you are asleep; He is protecting you 24 hours a day, so you have nothing to fear. When you do something, I tell you: God is your support and your blessing, so you are no longer afraid. Right?
When you go out, you do not need to worry about unexpected things happening outside because you know angels will walk with you and remove all obstacles in front of you. Because the Bible has such promises, we no longer fear. God gives us a balanced heart, a sound mind. Therefore, Jesus' way to victory is very simple: when you know that Jesus has accomplished everything for you, joy will naturally arise within you, and peace will emerge, and that strength will be activated. No matter the environment, believe this, and you will see Jesus' victory in your life.
Let’s look at a passage of scripture; this is a promise Jesus gave us, John 16:33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Here it mentions two places: the first place is, "In the world, you shall have tribulation." But where are you now? "That in me ye might have peace." Have you noticed? Before accepting Jesus, we wandered in the world outside of Christ, and when we did something, we did not know what the consequences would be, so we used all our strength to bear it, hoping for a good outcome. But the fact is that most people fail, most people become weak, and in the face of disease and death, they cannot overcome. At this time, Jesus came; He moved you from the land of death to the land of the living, from darkness to light, so you no longer fear. Please remember, this is what Jesus has done. Amen!
People have tribulation in this world, but you are now in Christ. How did you enter into Christ? By believing in Jesus. Believe that Jesus paid the price for your sins, believe that Jesus took your curses, believe that Jesus bore your weaknesses and diseases, so you have peace in Him.
Every day we may encounter negative people and negative things, which can influence us and generate negative thoughts. The devil always hopes we fall and become weak, attacking our thoughts. You cannot stop all this, but you can choose not to let these thoughts remain within you. Just like we often say, "You cannot stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from nesting in your hair." This is something you can do!
You cannot stop others from saying negative words, but you can choose not to believe those words. Many times, a careless word from someone else can trouble us for half a month, or even a year, and we cannot let it go. Even after many years, thinking back still makes us feel particularly uncomfortable. These negative seeds grow continuously within you; do you know how serious the consequences are? This will lead you to do anything without peace.
Conversely, if you always fill your heart with God's word, as God's word grows within you, your faith will also grow, becoming larger and larger, allowing you to face all environments. Just as Jesus said, "I have overcome the world; you need not worry; you can be of good cheer." Hallelujah! When the devil puts some wrong thoughts in you, spiritual warfare begins.
In the past, I preached a sermon called "Spiritual Warfare." I used to think that spiritual warfare was when the devil attacks us, we start to resist him. You are wrong; it is not like that! The battle has already ended. When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross two thousand years ago, the devil was completely defeated!
So why does spiritual warfare still occur? Because every time we face a choice, when negative thoughts and correct thoughts appear simultaneously, spiritual warfare arises. You do not know how to choose; it seems both are correct and reasonable. I suggest you choose God's word. No matter how reasonable the negative person's comments are, do not believe them, because God's word is the truth. Truth must have reason, but reason is not necessarily truth.
When spiritual warfare begins, you choose to believe God's word. When others say you are worthless, you must believe you are valuable. Why? Because in God's eyes, you are precious; this is what God has said and will not change. People can say good things one moment and bad things the next. This has already been demonstrated in Jesus' life.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, so many people cheered, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" How joyful it was! People laid their clothes on the ground for Him to walk over, and laid palm branches on the ground for Him to walk over. Not long after, this same group of people shouted, "We do not want him; crucify him!" So can you still believe in people's words? If Jesus always cared about how people evaluated Him, He would have never gone to the cross. No matter the time, Jesus' eyes were on heaven, knowing He is the beloved Son of the Father, and the Father delights in Him. Because He had such words in His heart, Jesus always had power. This is why Jesus can manifest power in any environment.
Do you know? If we believe wrongly, your power cannot be released at all. This is the spiritual warfare mentioned earlier. Once you choose the devil's words, how can God's power be released?
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
This is what truly happens in spiritual warfare. If you let negative thoughts linger in your heart for too long, they will become animated. Do you believe it? They will not be dead; a word from others enters your heart and does not just sit there; it is alive, constantly reminding you, "You are worthless!" What should you do? You must use God's word. Our weapons of warfare are not carnal.
What does it mean to fight in the flesh? It means relying on myself to win! That is fighting in the flesh; if someone insults me, I will insult them ten times back, and not repeat myself. This is fighting in the flesh. Do not forget, when you finish insulting them ten times, that bitterness is already on your side! So we do not fight in the flesh; we are mighty through God. How is God's power released? You activate God's word with faith, and human power can break down all strongholds. No matter what others say about you, if you are not angry at all, that is the highest realm; do you know?
When those people insulted Jesus, humiliated Him, and even whipped Him, why did Jesus not retaliate? "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! Then I will believe you are God." Why did He not prove He was God? Very simply, because He did not need to prove to the world that He is God; He is God. Just like you are someone's child; when others say, "Prove you are his child!" you would laugh it off, saying, "Are you kidding? I do not need to prove it; I am his child." There is no need for proof; this is a matter of faith to receive. Hallelujah!
Are you a child of God? How do you prove it? The Holy Spirit dwells in you. Can the world see the Holy Spirit? No. So this is a spiritual matter; they cannot see it. Can you see it? Do you know the Holy Spirit dwells in you? Knowing is enough. Therefore, the weapons of warfare are not carnal; they are spiritual matters.
When we believe in God's power, when God's word is within us, and we receive by faith, even if the environment is like that, even if others say that, I still believe God's word is correct, you have already won, and you can break down all the schemes and high things that hinder God and the knowledge of God. Brothers and sisters, the devil's words are contrary to God.
Yesterday someone asked me a question: Why did God create Satan and place him in the Garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve? Do not tell me, "To test him!" That would be a failure. In fact, Satan was not created by God; God never created Satan. So where did Satan come from? He was originally an archangel. God created angels, but God never made Satan because they do not understand what Satan is. The meaning of Satan is "the adversary." Adversary of whom? Adversary of God. That is correct; he was originally an angel, but later due to pride, he opposed God, so his name became "the adversary," opposing God. The same goes for how God did not create bad people; so how did bad people come about?
Did some people come out as bad people? No, they were born as humans, but their hearts became bad, thus becoming bad people. Just like what we are talking about today, when a person has some high-mindedness within them, the things they do will be contrary to God. The way to overcome these high-minded things is very simple: hold fast to God's word.
As long as you hold fast to God's word and activate God's word with faith, God's power will be released, reclaiming every thought and bringing it into obedience to Christ.
There is a brother who has been preaching for many years. He shared with me that in the past, he accepted a certain doctrine and always felt that our doctrine was perfect and flawless. After people entered the church, he would tell them what life is and then tell them how to live a new life, how to be sanctified, how to martyr for the Lord, etc. He thought our training was perfect.
But later, one day, he became ill, and he found that those doctrines could not save him. When his relatives fell ill, he realized that the doctrines he had preached for many years could not save that person. That day, he suddenly remembered a verse in the Bible that says, "Lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." In a moment of urgency, he laid hands and commanded, "In the name of the Lord Jesus, I command this disease to leave you!" As a result, that person was healed on the spot. You know, the things he thought were correct in the past could not save him; instead, it was that one phrase that allowed him to experience a miracle. From that moment on, he began to think, "It seems there is something wrong with what I preached in the past." People often start to reflect at this time... Is it that those high-minded things within him were broken down? Broken down by what? By faith.
Because when he did these things, he was not relying on his past doctrines, but on faith, doing things with God's word, and the results came out. Isn't that wonderful? Have we not experienced many such things?
So I tell everyone, we are not learning some knowledge; knowledge can make people arrogant, but today you are experiencing Jesus. Activating God's word with faith brings forth power. At that time, you will say: "Wow, God is the living God!" You will also find that as you move forward, many of those past people will be turned around, and after being turned around, they will begin to recognize God's power. It is not us who bring them into obedience to Christ, but Jesus Christ Himself. Brothers and sisters, your turning point begins when God's word takes root in you. When you activate God's word with faith, you will bring forth power. Do not let those negative things continuously activate.
Someone may ask, how do we know that negative things are continuously activating? In the past, your husband did something wrong that hurt you, and you replay it over and over again like a tape recorder, pressing, pressing, pressing, listening to it ten times a day; this activates negative things. You know, once these things are activated, your faith will become smaller and your anger will grow. These are like movies, playing all kinds of terrible scenes in your heart, affecting not only your heart but also your body. It can even affect everyone around you; everything will change because of your heart.
If sisters often get angry, they generally have diseases related to the mammary glands; if anger causes stomach pain, then gynecological issues or uterine fibroids may arise; you need to be careful. This is related to anger. Even if we often say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I heal your diseases!" if this anger is not removed, it will be a troublesome matter. Do you understand?
Traditional Chinese medicine tells us that over 60% of diseases are caused by anger; eating and the environment are a very small part. Starting today, do not let these negative images play continuously in you; keep playing God's word, and faith will arise, and power will begin to be released through you. Do not let that garbage, especially those terrible discussions and words, play continuously in you; you must activate God's power with the words of Christ.
If you keep believing and declaring: "I am strong in the Lord! I know God is protecting my children; my marriage will enter the best place," doing this activates God's power.
You can do a test yourself. In the morning, look in the mirror and say: "In the name of the Lord Jesus, I am the most handsome! Today I am blessed; everyone in the company will be blessed because of me. Wherever I go, God's grace is upon me; I am a channel of grace; I am loved by God! Hallelujah!" Then hum a song on your way to work; even if there are terrible things around you, it seems you are not affected by them.
Conversely, if you wake up in the morning thinking, "Today is a terrible day; the boss is going to criticize me because yesterday's report was not finished; my bonus is going to be deducted this month; my colleagues do not like me; I think I am a sycophant and have no ability." If you think this way, how will your day be?
Both are words; perhaps what you say is correct, but you must believe God's word, which can change your situation. Hallelujah! When you continuously declare God's word, faith arises, and God's power is released. If you say, "I am always worried about my children, afraid they will have accidents, afraid their future will not have a good outcome," this is a negative thought. When these arise, you are likely to be useless. The best way, when you are afraid, is to declare God's word, letting God's word take root within you.
If you cannot control the urge to say negative things, if you can pray in tongues, just pray in tongues. Do not let these negative things grow larger and larger within you; they will affect your thinking and your body. Today we will talk about a man named Job...
Job 1:5, "And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus did Job continually."
Why did Job always call his children together to eat? Do you know? He was afraid that one day he would lose one of them. After they finished eating, his sons and daughters went back, and he should have felt relieved, right? But he was not at ease. Job sent and sanctified them; why did he want them to be sanctified? It means, "You must not offend God; do not sin; otherwise, God might accidentally kill you, and I will not see you again." Was he worried about this? So he made them sanctify themselves every day. Just like today, I want to tell you, when you go home, sanctify yourself every day! Is it similar?
The children had already sanctified themselves and were very obedient. He rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to their number. Do you know what burnt offerings are for? When you offer burnt offerings, you acknowledge that Jesus' righteousness is your righteousness, and Jesus' holiness is your holiness. This is simply explained. After offering the burnt offerings, should he not feel at ease? He was not at ease; he offered every day, always worrying, "What if my sons have sinned?" Just think, does the burnt offering you offered yesterday only have a one-day effect? Just like a wrong teaching says, "Pray for forgiveness every day; otherwise, it will not work tomorrow." This is a terrible belief that will bring you fear.
Let’s continue to look at the Bible: "What if my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts?" How did he know that his sons would definitely sin and curse God? It was all in his mind; he was afraid his sons would commit this sin and abandon God. This was his own thought. Job did this continually, proving that he did not do it just once; he did it every day. Just think how bitter Job's heart must have been. You see, Job later wrote several chapters in bitterness. What was the reason? Constantly fearing his sons would sin; how many sins could he imagine? It is a blind thought! Isn't it scary?
In Proverbs 4:23-26,
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
What does God want to tell us here? Keep your heart with all diligence; how do you keep your heart? If you are worried about your children, how do you keep your heart? "Heavenly Father, I am a bit worried about my children, but I believe you will keep them. I commit them into your hands; I believe they will walk the path you have for them, and you will make their paths straight; they will surely establish all your ways!"
When you declare this, will you still worry in your heart? No, because you know you have placed them in God's hands, rather than saying, "Lord, will my son curse others when he goes out today? Will he get along with his colleagues today? That guy has a bad temper!" If you think like this every day, it will be troublesome. So you must put away those froward mouths. What does a froward mouth mean? Always thinking about crooked things, always saying negative words; this is a froward mouth. Do you understand?
Perverse lips always think of those whose mouths are unclean, who do not speak well. Thinking about these things will affect your heart, so you must keep your heart with all diligence. Use God's word to keep your heart. Hallelujah! Use God's words and promises to keep your heart. Often meditate on God's word; it will activate power.
For example, if you are happy, and suddenly your stomach hurts, it is nothing; it is normal to have stomach pain from eating too much in the morning! But because you have watched too many reports on TV, saying that if a certain part hurts after eating, it could be appendicitis, or if another part hurts, it could be cancer, if every morning after eating your stomach hurts, you will think, "It’s over, it’s over, it has been three days; there must be a problem." These negative things, once rooted in you, are not good.
If there is a hereditary disease in your family, such as a certain type of cancer, at this moment, the enemy will immediately tell you: "That is a precursor to a certain type of cancer; look, there is a history of cancer in your family; now it is your turn. What will you do?" Will you believe or refuse? Where is your refusal power? When you think back, "My father and grandfather both passed away at that age; they all had stomach pain after eating; isn’t this a precursor?" What will you do? If you believe the enemy's words, fear will grow within you. You know? You are waiting for the bad outcome to come; this is Job's later belief; he was already expecting the bad outcome, even though he did not want to see it.
Do you know how terrible this is? In fact, these things will block the peace within us. If you keep thinking about that lie, from now on, you will make bad plans, fearing you cannot raise your children, and you may even see your coffin prepared in your heart, ultimately sending yourself into the fire to burn.
Many times, we are involuntarily fantasizing about these things. Although someone in your family may have had such experiences in the past, once you believe in Jesus, from that day on, the curse has been broken. Because the Ten Commandments clearly state, "I will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." But what is the next sentence? "And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." If you believe that Jesus has paid the price for your sins on the cross, then today, I am a new creation in Christ; I have peace in Christ! When this situation arises, you say, "I am a person of peace! I have nothing to do with those things. Even if my stomach hurts, it is just because I got up too quickly; what is there to worry about?"
When you refuse to believe those lies and declare God's word, power will be released. Even if it is indeed that problem, it will be extinguished by the words of faith you release! Hallelujah! Do not let your heart wander; keep your heart with all diligence. The Bible says we should often meditate on His words. Meditate on the words of Christ often! Faith-filled words will activate God's power, allowing you to easily overcome those lies.
Let’s look at David, Psalm 23:4-6,
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Looking back, David's life had many hardships, many setbacks, and many dangers, more than each of you. But look at how David spoke: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil." Here, I want to mention that during David's time as a shepherd, he discovered something: flies and mosquitoes always target the middle of the sheep's head, and they cannot swat them away with their ears. So the shepherd would apply oil to that area to prevent flies and mosquitoes from biting. Flies and mosquitoes dislike oil very much. Today, the devil also dislikes oil.
But you see, the Bible often mentions oil: "Thou anointest my head with oil." The devil dislikes oil because oil symbolizes the fragrant aroma of Jesus Christ. At the end, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane, which in Greek means "an olive press." He entered the press like a new olive; the olive oil extracted from green olives is the best and carries a fragrant aroma, and it is used as anointing oil in the temple. This fragrance is disliked by all flies, mosquitoes, and filthy things. Brothers and sisters, this is God's way of victory; even if they are present, if you anoint your head with God's word, they will begin to flee from you.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." This is the God David always believed in. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me!" Why did he not say like Jacob? What did Jacob say? When Pharaoh of Egypt asked him, "Wow, old man, you are so blessed at such an old age; bless me!" How did Jacob respond? "Oh, my life has been nothing but trouble, pain, and sorrow compared to my forefathers!" Looking back at his life, it was full of hardships and sorrows!
How did David say? David's life was indeed filled with many dangers, but he did not say, "My life has been so difficult; how many times have I escaped death! It is not easy to live to this day!" No, he said, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" This word was truly fulfilled! Amen! Some people become discouraged and stop moving forward because of fear, unable to do anything well. So today, resolve the fear within you, and you will have strength in your actions.
Proverbs 24:10: "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."
Brothers and sisters, it does not matter if you have faith in times of peace, but when adversity comes, if you are fearful, your strength will be small. Conversely, if you have faith in the day of adversity, God's power will be manifested through you. Hallelujah! Look at Job; let’s see how Job believed...
Job 3:24-26,
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. 25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
Would you like to declare this? If you feel too peaceful and too comfortable, feel free to use this verse to declare continuously; I believe it will soon be fulfilled in you. Do you believe it? No one said "Amen!" Hahaha...
"I sigh before I eat." What kind of situation is this? Waking up early in the morning, sighing, "Oh—" My roarings are poured out like the waters. How many people today, when facing adversity, still declare like Job? This is such a miserable thing! The more you are in trouble, the more you should declare like David: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!"
It is already miserable enough; why declare something even worse? Do you really want to fulfill that sentence? There is no worst; there is only worse! Look at how Job said, "I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came." Was it true later? Yes, it was true, brothers and sisters.
Until one day, after Job 40, Job's faith changed, and everything was turned around. Job essentially used his faith in the wrong place. Do not declare Job's wrong faith anymore, brothers and sisters; you should declare with David's faith, with Paul's faith, with the apostles' faith, and declare with Christ's promises. At this time, power will appear.
If you declare such terrible words, you will truly have no safety, no peace, and no rest! Do not declare such words. Make a firm decision; from now on, refuse those negative thoughts from continuously surfacing within you; do not speak them out. Hold fast to Christ's words, and activate God's word with faith, and power will be released.
If you take action with faith, you will receive what God has promised you. If your actions stem from fear, failure, and pain, that is very likely to happen. What I feared will surely come upon me. You must not declare this! This is of no benefit to us; you will not even dare to do things!
Hebrews 3:12-14
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.
This passage tells us that in the last days, we will see many people around us who have lost their faith; they have an evil heart. Many people believe for a while and then stop believing; many people's situations become worse and worse, feeling that believing in the Lord does not yield good results. From now on, regardless of how the people around you believe or their testimonies, what do you want God to do for you? Do you believe "God can do this for you?" This is important.
Do not use others' experiences and testimonies to bind you; they may not necessarily work, whether good or bad. Even if they prayed and ultimately died, you cannot say, "If I pray, I will definitely die." How do you believe God's word? You believe as God says; what God promises will be fulfilled in you.
So what should we do now? Do not have that evil heart of disbelief. When you have doubts, please communicate with those who have faith, encouraging one another daily, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We see that as love grows cold in the world and problems increase, what should we do? If you have no hope or faith in Christ, you will find no faith in the world. Now you must declare God's word and activate God's word with faith, and power will be released. Hallelujah!
If we hold fast the beginning of our confidence, what does "the beginning of our confidence" mean? Many people, when they first believe in the Lord, the pastor on stage tells them, "If you believe, you will receive." That person believed because no other words entered; they believed they came to Christ as their last hope. No matter what huge disaster, debt, or disease they encountered, when they heard this word, they believed, "God will surely heal me!" They held onto this one sentence, and many people were healed.
But the problem is that many people hear the law, fear-inducing messages, and condemning messages in church, which causes their faith to become smaller and smaller. This is why some people, after believing for ten years, have no faith and do not dare to casually pray to God. Their prayers increase, but their faith decreases. What is the reason? It is right here; they have lost the beginning of their confidence. Because at the beginning, we had a decision prayer, telling them what Jesus accomplished on the cross for them. If they hold onto this faith, power will be released. Now I hope everyone holds onto this faith. If you can firmly believe for decades that Jesus accomplished everything on the cross for you, you will witness God's power appearing in your life for decades. Do not add anything else to God's word.
For example, if today I give you a cup of milk, out of kindness, you add vinegar, chili powder, pepper, and hot pot base to the milk and stir it up to drink, you have already lost the taste of the milk, and it tastes terrible, right? In fact, God's word has always been powerful. What we fear most is that people add their thoughts to God's word, then add testimonies, experiences, and "I think," resulting in no power. So from now on, what should you do? Believe exactly as God's word says, and activate God's power with faith! You will surely see it. Hallelujah!
Here, let me tell you a little story to let us know how fear in our hearts changes faith, and the results will change because of this faith. This is a very scary thing: During World War II, someone conducted an experiment where they blindfolded a person and inserted a needle into their blood vessel, then told the person, "From now on, I will torture you in the most cruel way until you die. I will drip your blood drop by drop until all the blood in your body is drained." They had a bucket, and they could hear the dripping sound, "Drip, drip, drip." After a while, this person died.
Later, people discovered that they had only inserted a needle; no blood was actually flowing out, and the dripping sound was from the water pipe in that room. How did that person die? He was scared to death. Because he could not see the truth, he was deceived, truly believing that his blood was dripping drop by drop. He heard it for a long time, and at this point, he thought he should be fainting. He began to feel weak, saying, "I feel weak; I cannot go on." Finally, he died.
In fact, this thing never happened. How many times have our eyes been blinded by the devil, thinking that is the truth, when it is not? As long as you remove that veil, you will see the beauty of Christ. You will find this is not a joke; there is no such thing; I cannot die! Today, I am lifting that veil to let you see the beauty of Christ, to let you know that in this world, you have peace, and you can activate the power of God's word with faith!
Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
When Jesus preached, He indeed faced unprecedented obstacles. His obstacles were greater than any of ours, and He also had to overcome the inner barrier, which was to say to the Father three times at the end, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." It was not that He was afraid of going to the cross; He did not want to be separated from the Father because He had to bear our sins. At the moment on the cross, the Father would leave Him, and He did not want that, but He still endured that suffering.
Why did He endure suffering? Because He despised the shame, He saw the joy set before Him, so He endured the suffering of the cross and sat down at the right hand of God.
So I hope every brother and sister sees that Jesus has already won and is seated at the right hand of God. He has also given you His authority, glory, and victory. Therefore, do not look at so many terrible environments; see Jesus' victory. His victory is in you, and He has also given you His powerful words, which we call the Bible. Use the promises God has given you in the Bible, declare them to yourself daily, and activate God's word with faith, and you will see God's great power manifested in your life. Thank you and praise the Lord!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, thank you and praise you! Thank you for helping us with such words, making us know that there is not a single word of yours that lacks power. We are willing to activate the power of God's word with faith. When I believe your word by faith, the power of that word will be manifested in me, no matter how terrible my surroundings are right now, I know you have overcome this world.
In this world, we have tribulation, but we are not only in this world; we are also in Christ. In Christ, we have peace! Because you are the Prince of Peace, the Victorious King, you have overcome this world and are seated at the right hand of the Father. You are praying for us and cheering us on. No matter where we go, you are with us and will keep every brother and sister!
As we begin this new week, I believe this will be a wonderful week. I believe the words of Christ, the authority of Christ, will be fulfilled in me through the words I speak. Thank you and praise you; all glory belongs to you. This week, I am willing to witness and glorify your name! In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray! Amen!