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Grace that lifted you out the miry clay of sin, continues to lift you up in life to take you to the place where God wants you to be in your Christian walk, to see good days in life. The pursuit of peace is a vital part of the process and it has also been the focus of our meditation and study. He who would love life to see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; Let him turn away from evil, to do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11] The words of apostle Peter, point the way, and also empower you, in the path, and also the experience of a wholeness that is peace.
Peace that is described here in the scriptures is a wholeness in your life that comes because nothing is missing or broken in your life, and whatever that needs to be there, is there in the way it ought to be. And though at the outset, it may seem impossible, it need not remain so, when the presence and the working of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you when you are a child of God, is reckoned with, and brought into the picture. For a mind that is governed by the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, is the truth of God’s word. [Romans 8:6] A renewing of mind is what the Spirit accomplishes in you through God’s word, one that leads to an experience of peace that is beyond comprehension in you.
‘My peace, I give to you’, is the blessing of the Lord to you and I. And, He Himself is your peace; it is the wondrous truth that can set you free; and it happens as you are transformed from glory to glory, to become more and more like Him, to reflect His image and hence experience His peace . It is a transformation that begins in you when you receive the right or the authority to be called a child of God. But as many as received Him, He gave them the right to become children of God, to those who believe in HIS Name. [John 1:12] For, when you become a child of God, by believing in Christ, to be your Savior and Lord, you are no longer are a slave to fear, but have the Spirit of adoption in you, by which you can call God, ‘Abba Father’.
But, while the world operates in the system of buying and selling, with money being the medium of transaction, in the kingdom of God, it is all about giving and receiving, in love and faith, though money may be involved in the process. Thus, when you believe in Christ, it is God who gives you the right, or the authority to be called a child of God. It is not something that can be grabbed from His hand. Rather, it is one that you receive and appropriate by the confession of your mouth in faith that is genuine and true.
The centurion understood well the implications of it; of being under authority, and also having the authority to speak the word, and expect obedience to it, when it came to those who were under his authority. And therefore, on coming to the Lord, he had the faith in him to believe that the word of healing that the Lord spoke had authority. And, even as the Lord commended the faith in Him, his servant was indeed healed. [Matthew 8:5-13] It is an incident that even this day speaks, to lay down a vital truth concerning authority that you and I enjoy as God’s children; that it has to be spoken, or confessed in faith, for it to be appropriated and executed, whatever the circumstance may be. For, God’s thoughts and plans concerning you, that come to you as revelation truth from Him, have the power and the authority, when received and confessed in faith, to change your present reality that could be in no way near it.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as prophet to the nations. [Jeremiah 1:5] And, just like Jeremiah, He has known you too, even before you were formed by Him in your mother’s womb. Thus in making you His child, by grace and through faith, He has set you apart, with a calling and an appointment. It may even seem staggeringly high initially, to your eyes. And, there will inevitably be doubts that arise in you, concerning your capacity to fulfill it. Even Jeremiah, who is now considered to be one of the major prophets of the Bible, began with a sense of inadequacy.
Then said I, ‘Ah Lord God, I cannot speak, for I am a youth’. [vs 5] And from merely a human perspective it would have been a very valid statement. But God spoke to him, to show him the all important difference. And, it was not upon his head to bless him, but in a very specific and significant manner, God touched his mouth. For, it was to show that it would be the word from God that he would be speaking; words of power, as spoken by the very God Himself.
It is truth that is scriptural- For, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, by the word that He spoke. [Genesis chapter 1] And, in the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God, and the Word was God, is the truth that gospel writer John begins with, to go on and add that all things were made through Him. [John 1:1,2] Thus, in Him and through Him were all things created, and all things are sustained, by the power of His word. And, this is the God, the Living Word, who is saying to you and I today, ‘See, I have put My word in your mouth’. It is the key given in your hand, for you to unlock and use your privilege, the authority that you now command as His child. And, it is by using the key, the confession of God’s word to you in your circumstance, that you exercise your authority. It is what will bring about a change in your circumstance, in your world.
For, silence may not always be golden, though it may be what the worldly saying advocates! The truth is illustrated in what the woman spoke to the prophet Elijah, of him. Standing before king Ahab, Elijah, by his confession, executed his authority, as he declared boldly and courageously, to the king, what was from the mouth of the Lord. And, indeed the land did not see any rain for the subsequent three and a half years. [1kings 17:1] Therefore, recognizing his authority, later, the woman whose son, was revived miraculously through Elijah, said; Now I know, that you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord from your mouth, is the truth. [1kings 17:24] You need to speak out, but also with discernment, and speak what God has spoken concerning your circumstance, in order to establish your authority, and see a desired change in your circumstance, a removal of your lack or problem.
Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you, to deliver you’, says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand to touch my mouth, and said to me, ‘Behold I have put My words in your mouth’. [Jeremiah 1:8,9] His presence and the words that He gives to speak is richly sufficient, to overcome all doubts and fear, and to strengthen and reassure the person who chooses to believe in Him. And, it is true even in your life this day. For, God never sends you alone, unarmed and helpless, when there is a mighty calling upon your life, as His chosen child. It is He who has appointed you. And it is why, He desires that you see yourself as He does; for, it is His revelation that will change your reality. It is how you execute your god given authority. ‘Do not say I am a youth. For you shall go to whom I send you; and whatever I command you, you shall speak’. [Jeremiah 1:7] This was the Lord’s conversation with Jeremiah, whose reluctance was on account of his youth. And His word to Moses, at the ripe old age of eighty was the assurance of His presence too. Young or old, the Lord never gives up on His purposes for you. But, He is with you and equips you with His word.
See, I have made you as god to Pharaoh.. [Exodus 7:1] And he had to stand before the one who thought that he was god! It was the supernatural appointment of God, that was appropriated and executed by Moses in increasing levels of confidence, as he gained more and more understanding regarding the plans and purposes of the Almighty God. For, the plagues were not random attacks. Every plague was an attack on a particular Egyptian god, to prove that God was greater. And the tenth plague which was the death of the first born, found the Pharaoh on his knees, releasing the people of God, and moreover acknowledging the true living God in asking for His blessing, saying, ’And ask your God to bless me’!.
Today, you stand as Moses in your life. And whatever that may be dominating and holding you captive to trouble you, by occupying the position of a demigod, will bow down as you place His word higher and above it, in a confession of faith. It is a step by step growth, and His grace teaches you.. You are trained by saving grace, that has appeared to all men. [Titus 2:11-13] A small child’s incoherent words, that no one but the mother can understand, may depict your conversation with God in prayer to begin with. But as He speaks His promises to you in reply, much like how a baby learns to talk the word it hears it’s mother speak, your words would in time become what God speaks to you. They would be His precious and encouraging promises, that when spoken forth will rule and reign with authority to demolish your mountain like problem, and meet your need of the hour.
Grace gives you the word, and faith receives to sow or plant it in your heart, to then also act upon it. For the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, by those who make peace. [James 3:18] The act of sowing, is in itself an act of faith. It is illustrated in the parable of the talents. And the one who was given one talent chose to bury it in the soil. In both sowing and burying, the action involved is very similar, but there is a world of difference between the two. For, while burying renders any return impossible, sowing is done with the express purpose of expecting a return or increase from it.
God’s purpose for the word He puts in your heart and mouth, when you are appointed by Him, is as it was to Jeremiah on that day; it is to build and to plant – See, I have set you this day, over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to tear down, to destroy and to tear down, to build and to plant. [Jeremiah 1:10] It comes to you by grace, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you having all sufficiency in all things will abound in every good work. [2 Corinthians 9:8] You can therefore, rest in the knowledge of the sufficiency of His grace to do the good work, that is doing His will.
And may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. [2 Corinthians 9:10] It comes to you in the form of a seed, that is a word from God. And a right understanding of the word would then lead to believing the truth, that results in a confession of it, for it is out of the fullness of your heart that your mouth speaks. Understanding, believing and faith, all need to come together for the word of God that comes to you by grace, to bear fruit. Faith is a positive response to God’s revelation, and finds it’s full expression in conduct. It was why the Israelites, all but two of them, were unable to enter the land of promise, though the gospel was heard by all of them. [Hebrews 4:1,2]
On the other hand, the end result was a miraculous healing in the woman who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years. She heard about Jesus the Messiah, had the understanding in her to believe that He would heal her, and proceeded to carry out her faith in action, to touch the hem of His garment, and be healed. [Luke 8:43]
Your faith is validated by your action. A big problem does not require a large quantity of faith. In fact, faith that is the size of a mustard seed is sufficient to uproot a mountain like problem. It was the Lord’s assurance to His disciples, when they asked Him to increase their faith. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’, and it would obey you. [Luke 17:6] The Lord brings it down to very simple terms; for what can be smaller than a mustard seed, or in our Indian context, as small as a banyan seed? And yet when the seed his sown in the ground, it goes on to increase phenomenally, to germinate and become a massive banyan tree. The huge tree therefore, is in the tiny seed; and it only needs to be planted in the soil.
For your huge headache, the one tablet that the doctor prescribes is tiny. It only needs to be swallowed according to the doctor’s instructions. And your mountain like problem can disappear with just one word that comes to you from God; one that you receive with faith in your heart, to confess it with your mouth. Exercise your authority therefore, as a child of God, to apply your faith, however negligible it may seem in your own eyes; and increase will come from the Lord who causes the increase. It is by confessing the Lord’s promise to you, in your circumstance, however daunting it may be, that your faith is sown, is planted as a seed, to see multiplication come from the hand of God. But, belief comes first. What the Lord wants to happen in your life, is given to you by grace, as a seed from God, through His incorruptible word. And with faith you need to receive the word, to plant it in your heart, as you confess it. Fear, buries it, and unfaithfulness to God and His word, swallows it. But God wants you to plant it, and He wants to see it happen in your life.
Your faith may be small, like a flickering candle. And your problem could be like a mighty mountain. But, even if it is just one word from God, it is more powerful than the highest mountain, for it has come to you from the One who has created all the mountains of the world. And a dimly burning wick, He does not snuff out. A bruised reed He never breaks. But He will stretch forth His Hand, to put His word in your mouth; one that will never return void, but will always accomplish the purpose for which it was sent, to bring to provision that for which it has already been designed and empowered. Therefore, acknowledging your need of the blessed Savior through whom you can do all things, as you draw near to Him, giving thanks unto the Father, for the word that He has put in your mouth, may it come to provision in your life. And, may you be blessed and prosperous, experiencing the peace of God. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
