Happy April Fool’s Day!

As you read this, I am in Northern Ireland visiting family.    So much easier to do my walking here! No snow!

We have the second to last installment of the “Spirit of Poverty” series by Bill Axtell today. Basically it’s a continuation of last week’s post on the Words of our Mouths. Great stuff to remind ourselves about!

Faith is not a feeling. Feelings are a result of what happens to us, whereas faith is a matter of our will! We need to speak or confess that which we believe.

Also notice, in Matthew 12, that Jesus said, “Therefore I say”
Jesus spoke and lived faith! He taught what words meant and cost us. We are either justified or condemned by our words.

Matthew 15:11, 18– “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”

Jesus did not use idle words and neither should we! Jesus always spoke who he was and what he came to do. He knew who he was and what his purpose was, and so should we!

Jesus said these things about himself and His purpose:

John 4:34– “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

John 5:30– “”I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”

John 6:38–”For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

John 8:29– “”And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

He said this about Who He was:

John 6:35, 48– “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”…”I am the bread of life.”

John 11:25– “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live”

John 12:46: “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”

Everything Jesus did, He did by speaking it and what He spoke was from God:

John 3:11, 34– “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”… “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”

John 7:16-18– “Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”

John 8:26-2-9– “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him. They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

Everything Jesus did, he did by speaking it.

He healed the sick, cast out demons, quieted the storm, raised the dead and fed thousands by speaking and believing that what He said would come to pass! He was our example and we are to follow it!

Because Jesus knew who He was and what He came to do, we now know who we are and what we can do because through the completed work of the cross, we have received His fullness!
God had now given us His Word. Jesus is the surety of the New Covenant.

We must learn who we are in Christ, get it in our hearts and minds and confess it with our mouth:

Galatians 5:1– You are free.
Philippians 4:19–Your needs are met.
3 John 2: You prosper as your soul prospers.
Philippians 4:13–You can do all things.
2 Timothy 1:7–You are not fearful.
Romans 12:3–You have faith
Psalms 27:1–You have strength.

We must learn to speak life and not death.

We must agree with God’s Word about our life and not the enemy’s.

We must be an Enoch and walk with God by agreeing with His Word.
Amos 3:3– “can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”

You can never walk with God in blessing, victory and abundant supply if you disagree with His Word. Every time you speak doubt or rehash your situation, you are not walking with God, but stumbling around on the devil’s path. Which would you rather do?

We do not deny facts; we acknowledge them, move past them and stand in what God’s Word says about them. Your faith will always go to the level of your confession; if you confess the trappings of the spirit of poverty, you will always remain under that yoke.

A key to recognizing the confession of doubt and not faith is phrases like:
“I can’t  …” I don’t…” I need…” I hope…” I am claiming…”

If you are hoping and claiming then you actually haven’t received it yet! If someone gives you a wrapped gift, you don’t just hold it up and say “I can’t open it”, “I don’t know if I can open it.”, “I hope I can open it.” “I am claiming I can open it.”

NO! You just open it! You received it, took it, opened it and used it. Why? Because you knew you had it, it was right there in your hand.

It is no different with the promises of God. They are right there in your spiritual hand!
Open them and use them!

We cannot separate our mouths from our hearts. Our hearts must rule our mouths and our mouths must agree with the Word of God.

Satan attacks you through your thoughts. It is not a sin to have a doubtful thought.
It is Satan’s job to push thoughts of doubt into your mind—isn’t he is the accuser of the brethren?
But it becomes a sin to invite the bad thought in to dwell or remain within us, which will lead us to voice and act on the doubtful thought. You say it, you hear it, you say it again; pretty soon, you believe it and the downward spiral begins.

A doubtful thought unspoken will die an unborn reality.

A faith filled thought unspoken will die an unborn reality.

Which do you choose?

Proverbs 16:23–” The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.”

Let’s choose to be wise in how we choose to live out the Word of God in our lives!

Amen!! If you are finding yourself harassed by the Spirit of Poverty, next week we’ll talk about overcoming it. Don’t miss it!

Darlene

So, let me start today’s post with a bit of humour.

I’m trying so hard to not let the weather discourage me from getting out and walking. And I’m also doing this whole new training process with my “funky feet”. Yes, it’s cold and wet, but the shoes dry so quickly, and it’s absolutely wonderful to walk and feel all the bumps and texture of the road under my feet – sort of like a reflexology massage as I walk.

Anyway, I had to smile this morning – I’ve left what appear to be “barefoot” tracks in the snow where I walked. I’m sure that’s going to turn a few heads as people head out of doors this morning! I wish I could see their faces!

Ok, so now let’s move on to the Spirit of Poverty – Watch Your Mouth! By Bill Axtell:

Another area which can cause either bondage or freedom lies in the power of our words, which we call our confession.

Deuteronomy 30:10–”I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;”

Proverbs 6:2–”you are snared by the words of your own mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth.”

Words are powerful. Words have the power of life and death; they are both creative and destructive.
God used words in everything he did and does.

Hebrews 11:3– “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

God created the earth and everything in it by the power of His Word. Jesus was the Word of God personified. His words were life and death.

Let’s look very carefully at our words or confession and the power they hold over overcoming the spirit of poverty in our lives.

The definition of confession (for our purposes) is: to testify to something we believe and know to be the truth. It can be positive or negative. We have the tendency in our society to think of the word confession only in a negative context, like confession of a crime or guilt in a situation; confession of negative feelings or beliefs. But the Word of God tells us in Hebrews 4:14, to hold fast to our confession as Jesus our High Priest. Timothy 6:12 tells us that we have confessed the good confession of our salvation in the presence of many witnesses. Our confession as Believers is who Jesus is and what He has done and is doing in our lives.

Let’s look at a few examples of what God’s Word says about our confessions and our mouth.

We already saw in Proverbs 6:2, that we are snared or entangled by the words of our mouth. This was in reference in the ancient world to co-signing or guaranteeing a loan.
It is pertinent to us today, because we function under the New Covenant, of which Jesus is the surety. We have certain rights, privileges and responsibilities under this agreement and one of those is to speak life–not death over situations in our lives!

Proverbs 13:3– “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”

Proverbs 12:13-14–”The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through trouble. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him.”

Proverbs 14:3– “In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.”

The preceding verse actually is talking about the tongue.

James 3:5-6– “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”

James 3:8-10– “8But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

So we see that our mouth or tongue can easily get out of control. But, Praise God, we can control it!

Proverbs 18:20-21– “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, and from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

We must get into the Word of God, study it, know it and believe it. For us to eat of the fruit of our lips we need to be sure we are producing the right kind of fruit.

Matthew 12:34-37– “”Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

We are justified and /or condemned today by the words of our mouth. The Lord expects us to hold ourselves accountable for our words. This self-control is not only to eliminate gossip or complaining, but also applies to how we speak and apply God’s Word over our lives.

Jesus gave us very specific instruction on how we are to pray His Word.

Mark 11:23-24– “”For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Notice two components in this verse–saying and believing!

You should speak life and faith over your situation. When speak to your mountain, believe it will be removed you will have it removed. We are talking about acting out your faith, without which you cannot please God.

Romans 12:3– “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Ephesians 2:8-9– “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Our salvation is a gift of God, we believed we were saved, because God gave us the measure of faith as a free gift to take that first step and believe in Jesus. Faith is a gift from God, to believe in all the promises He has given us in His Word.

Romans 10:17–“Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” God gave us His Word, we believed in it, study it and it stimulates the gift of God to grow in our lives daily. It is the EXACT SAME faith you used for your salvation, not a different faith! We need to direct your faith and apply it daily in our lives.

Amen! Go speak some great words of God over your life today!

Darlene

Today I want to continue in our lessons on The Spirit of Poverty. Last week we looked at greed as a cause of spiritual poverty, and today we will be looking at the areas of criticism and judgmentalism. When we criticize and judge others, we are bringing that same judgment upon ourselves, which will hold us in a place of spiritual poverty. Here’s what Bill shared:

Don’t criticize; walk in love and forgiveness toward everyone.

Luke 6:36-38 (from The Message version):

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

When we are generous both with our money and with our attitude of grace towards others, we will break the hold of spiritual poverty on our lives.

My challenge for you today is to ask yourself who do you need to be gracious to? Who do you need to be generous towards? Experiment – get past your own pride and fear, act graciously and generously, and see what God does in return.

We continue with our discussion on the Spirit of Poverty. Bill Axtell tells us today about how we can get control of our lives.

“How do you get control of your life?”
1. Give! Give your tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:8-11—Do Not Rob God

“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.

“You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.

“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts;

“And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the LORD of hosts.

Ecclesiastes 11:1

“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.”

Next Wednesday we’ll look at another point that really hits home with me. Come on back, now, ya hear?

Wishing you physical, mental, and spiritual wellness, simply through walking!

Darlene

Ok, first of all, for those who missed it due to my lack of organization and crazy hectic week, here are the results of my first week of diet/exercise with the  new plan I’ve developed:

Yep, this puppy has lost a total of 2.6 pounds, and 4.25 inches!  Woohoo!  Still going strong, still having fun.  I’m half way through week two, and the weight is still coming off, so so far, so good!

Ok, on to more important things.  I’ve had the enormous privilege of participating in a house church ministry over the past few weeks, led by Pastor Kerry George of New Life Valley Ministries

It’s been a stretch for me! Rarely do I go home thinking that I already know what she’s taught – and as someone who’s been going to church regularly for 47 years, done missions work, and done extensive self-directed study, that’s saying something, because in the house church I’m attending, we’re just covering the basics for now, to get everyone on the same page. Usually I come home and have to ruminate on what was taught for quite a while before I can come to terms with things. It’s been fantastic!

Recently we had a workshop on “The Spirit of Poverty” led by Bill Axtell.   It REALLY challenged me, and as it seems to be a pervasive issue today in the church I thought I’d share some of his teaching.

Before I go on, understand that this is NOT “Prosperity Gospel” teaching. It’s just good, solid, Bible Teaching.

Let me begin with his introduction this morning:

Asking Yourself Questions

Webster’s Dictionary defines poverty as: dearth, scarcity or lack, lacking in money or possessions, inadequate.

Poverty is not limited to just financial or material things. You can be poor in any area of your life, spiritually, physically, mentally, and financially. You can be extremely rich and still be under the bondage of the spirit of poverty.

The spirit of poverty is the most insidious and powerful weapon Satan uses for holding beievers in bondage. He uses the spirit of poverty indiscriminately on believers and non-believers alike, worldwide. Today, although the entire world is under the bondage of the spirit of poverty, God wants believers to overcome it first in our own life before we take this victory to others!

If the enemy can keep you in bondage to the spirit of poverty, keep you in debt, physically and spiritually barren, then he is able to stop the flow of blessings in your life and keep you from being a blessing to others.”

Ok, that’s a little introduction to whet your whistle. Come back next Wednesday for the next installment which will talk about one of the root causes of the spirit of poverty.

Very cool stuff.

Darlene