Weekly Wisdom

God has given us, His children, the power and authority to change things. Jesus told us in Mark 11:23 that we can have what we say. This is thrilling to know that Jesus, my Creator, has given me the right to change my circumstances and the circumstances of others. If you don’t know the events of Mark 11, let me tell you what was taking place with Jesus and His disciples during the time Jesus made this profound statement, “You can have what you say.”

Jesus and His disciples were going to the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus saw a fig tree. As He came to the tree, He saw that it had no fruit on it. He said unto it, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever" (v. 14). He and His disciples traveled on to Jerusalem to the temple and looked about on what was going on in the temple. That evening, they left Jerusalem and went back to Samaria. The next day, as they were going back to Jerusalem, they came to the place where the fig tree had been. Peter called out in amazement saying, “Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away”(v.21). Jesus made an outstanding statement then in Mark 11:22; He said, “Have faith in God.” The original Greek translation says “Have the God kind of faith.”

Jesus said in Mark 11:23,
“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Peter was amazed because Jesus spoke to the tree and it died. Jesus immediately told him that whosoever had the God kind of faith could speak to things, and the things would obey him. Jesus was letting the disciples in on the greatest mystery that man could discover…the secret of changing things. Let’s break this verse down and find out how to change things we need changed.

#1 Who can change things? Jesus said, “whosoever”, and you are a whosoever!

#2 With what can you change things? You can change things with God’s faith and believing what you say will come to pass.

You may think that you don’t have enough faith. Romans 10:17 says,
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

We can see that if we are ever going to change things with faith, we need to receive faith. Every person that is born again has received the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). The measure of faith we have received now must be developed. When a baby is born, he has a brain, ears, eyes, legs, feet, arms and hands; but he lies in a baby bed without much ability to do anything except eat, sleep and cry. That baby has to develop what he has before he will be productive. In order to develop spiritually - so that you can say to circumstances, “Change!” and they change - you have to eat the Word of God. A natural baby is only able to eat, sleep and cry because he doesn’t know how to do anything else. If you are a baby Christian, don’t get upset because it doesn’t seem like you are doing much spiritually. If you are praying, reading the Bible, listening to preaching and teaching, you are growing up! As God inspires you to do something, do it. Just as a natural baby takes his first steps before he has a lifestyle of walking, you need to take steps of faith. You may fall at times, but you need to get up and try again. Before long, you will have a lifestyle of faith. You will be speaking to circumstances all of the time and your faith (mixed with the Holy Ghost) will change those circumstances.

Keep in mind, however, that there is a difference between the natural baby and the spiritual baby. The natural baby doesn’t have a life before he was born and the spiritual baby does. We as Christians, have to remove the words satan has taught us during our former life and replace them with God’s Word.

Here are some guidelines to help you start speaking faith from your new life instead of unbelief from your old life.

#1 Never say “I can’t!” The Bible says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).

#2 Never say “I’m sick.” The Bible says that by Jesus’ stripes you are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5). You can say that the enemy is trying to put sickness on you, but always end by saying, “But God says in James 4:7 to resist the devil and he will flee.”

#3 Never say “I’m afraid.” In II Timothy 1:7, God says He hasn’t give you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

#4 Never speak words of death. You need to remove from your vocabulary statements like "I’m just dying to go"; "My feet are killing me”; or “That scared me to death.”

#5 Never speak words of failure, defeat, judgmentalism, complaints or self-degradation. Remember, the lifestyle of speaking faith words to change circumstances will not come to you overnight. However, if you will demand yourself to speak God’s Words instead of this world’s words, it will come a lot faster.

Remember, I am praying for you and I love you!

Pastor Paul Craig

In II Timothy 2:15, God tells us,

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Back in my school days when final exams took place, the kids who had studied were not very uptight; but those who spent their time goofing off where full of anxiety. Lately, I have watched the news on television just to see what the world is thinking in these last days. It is exactly what happened back in school, only with more intensity. The world is shook up because of what is going on around the planet. To the person who does not study the Bible and give their life to God, it is a terrifying world. But for true Christians who are putting the Word of God first place, it’s a time of excitement. They recognize that life on this planet, in bodies that are subject to death and pain, is almost over. We are about to take a trip into Glory to be with our Lord throughout the ages to come. Let me caution you though, we must not become so heavenly minded that we fail to realize God has a job for us. II Timothy 2:15 says to study to be approved as a workman. The word “workman” indicates that God wants to put us to work. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that this gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all nations, then the end will come. Christians must study so people can be set free. In II Timothy 2:24-26 God tells us,

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive at his will.”

In verse 15 we see why we are told to study. It is so we can teach people that have been snared by the devil, so they can be free. Satan has people bound by all kinds of habits and sins that we can actually free them from by the Word of God.

I am convinced that many Christians do not see the importance of studying the Bible, and that is why they are so unhappy. When a believer begins to know how to set people free through the Word of God, they become fulfilled in their walk with the Lord. We are made in Jesus’ image, if we are born again. Therefore, if we don’t do what He did, we will be miserable.

I also believe that the devil has told people that pastors and preachers are the ones who should study the Bible, because it is their occupation. The people who are saved should come and listen to the ‘clergy’ instead of studying for themselves. That is like saying that only the school teacher should know what the Math and English books say. The students don’t need to know, because it’s not their job.

This is why we have good Christians that have been saved for 30 years and don’t know what the Bible says. 'After all, I don’t have to know the Bible, I’m only a layman.' This idea must be driven out of the body of Christ.

You are born in the image of God, with the Spirit of God, to know what God the Father knows; so people can be set free. Today, set up a study time and get to know what God’s Word says. Utilize tapes, 91.1 FM, the Daily Confession Booklet and Christian books. Give His Word first place in your life.

Praise the Lord, you are truly blessed! We’re going to be sharing today about the communication lines between God and man. The lines have been opened up. God has reattached man back to Himself by the blood.

Colossians 1:20-22 reads, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight”.

Every believer has the right to have communion with the Creator.

Verse 23 says, “If ye continue in the faith…”.

We must always believe in what the Blood has done for us. If you have sinned after you have been saved, get it right!

I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

When we are reconciled to God, we can have communication with Him. Some Christians say God never talks to them. That is because they are not trained to hear. John 10:2-4 says that Jesus is the Shepherd, and His sheep hear Him.

“But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”

We have the ability to hear and follow God. Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”.

When we start hearing the Shepherd, He will lead us into a place that is out of this world. Get a hold of this message, and you will never be the same again. Most Christians are in trouble because they need to be trained to hear the voice of Jesus. You might ask, "How can I hear His voice?" His voice is not heard with your mind, it’s heard with your spirit. We must learn how to listen with our spirit. I Corinthians 14:2 says, “He that speaketh with an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God”.

When you speak in tongues, you are speaking spiritual secrets. Verse 14 says that a person who prays in unknown tongues is praying with his spirit. If we are going to do a lot of communicating with God, we will have to move into the spiritual realm. You might ask, “What good will it do me?” I Corinthians 14:2 says that by praying in tongues, we speak to God and not to man. We make contact with God and have intimate relationship with Him. Read the Bible on this subject until you get so hungry for it that you must have it. Watch your life turn completely around. The devil doesn’t want you to have it, so he will fight you. Resist him, and he will flee!