Ditto

On February 26, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 7 – 8          GW

Ask, and you will receive . . . Everyone who asks will receive.

Yesterday I wrote about speaking the result you desire when you pray. That is a very important part of prayer. No sooner had the email gone out than did God prove his word to me and to a grandmother who relied on her profession of faith for her grandchild.

My friend, Ann, wrote that her son sent her a message that his newborn was having digestion issues. Ann says she began praying that the child’s digestive system works perfectly and commanded his digestive tract to behave properly. She didn’t stop there though. She says she closed her eyes and pictured her grandchild exhibiting healthy characteristics. She said, “I just thanked God and knew.” Her son texted her 30 minutes later with the good news. It witnessed to her son as well and is a testimony to all of us that what was in the Word of the Day yesterday works. What is funny about this is that the encounter with Ann’s son and grandson was happening at the time I was writing the Word of the Day. Do you think God knew what He was doing? Was He bringing a point home for us?

Look at these components again. Ann spoke the end result. She didn’t beg and plead. She knew God’s will that we all be healthy so she could begin to speak, with confidence, what she knew to be God’s will. She visualized. Remember how God gave Abraham visual images related to his promise? Ann saw her grandchild exhibiting all the signs of a healthy baby with a healthy digestive system. She didn’t stop there though. She also thanked God. In her mind’s eye she saw the baby healthy and whole and thanked God for that result. She spoke it and thanked God for it before it “existed” because in her mind it was a done deal. She spoke health rather than complaining of sickness. She thanked God because she believed in the end result. Thirty minutes it took for that particular miracle. Thirty minutes, and her son called her with the good news!

There is one more component here that may not be obvious but is very much present. Look at this scripture, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,” (Matthew 21: 22). Did you see it, the extra ingredient? Ann is a believer. She believes the Word of God; she believes God will do what He has promised, and she sees it fulfilled.

Get your promise from God. Just go to the Bible and pick one. Try the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy if you don’t have a verse you are focusing on. Imagine what it would look like if that promise was fulfilled. See your child healed, your finances whole, your home blessed. Picture what your life will look like when that prayer is answered. Then, open your mouth with a positive profession of faith. “I am the father of many, legs work as you were designed, etc.” Speak to that mountain and command it to obey the Word of God. Talk about the problem in the resolved state rather than in the broken state. “I am healthy and strong.” Then believe it. If you really do believe it, then gratitude to God will naturally come out of your mouth. If you don’t believe it, hibernate on that picture and God’s Word until you know that Yahweh is a god of His word.

Get the promise, get a picture, believe, speak the end result, command obedience to the Word, praise God. And, keep speaking the end result rather than the symptoms until the result you believe for is fully manifested. Don’t talk about the brokenness; speak the answer. See things fixed, not broken and let the words of your mouth reflect that picture.

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Seeker

On June 15, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 7 – 8

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you for every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.

I have a question for you today. Does or did Jesus have the capacity to tell a lie? Did Jesus ever tell one lie in his life? We need to know because he is the one who spoke these words we read today. Here is another question, is it possible that when Jesus said these words he meant them only figuratively? In other words, are the words in the quoted verses for today meant to express their literal meaning or are they some figurative, allegorical or metaphorical representation of another meaning? We need to know! Does Jesus mean what he said or was he speaking in nuanced riddles?

I looked up simile, allegory, metaphor and figurative and from the meanings I see there, none of them apply to these two verses. Still, many people excuse the literal meanings of Jesus’ words claiming that they represent some other ideas which are not actually spoken. Because Jesus sometimes taught by using parables, some people discount all of his speech as representative rather than literal. Okay, so let me ask you another question. Why would the Son of God, he who came to set us free and to lead us into truth and fullness of life, play cloak and dagger with his beloved? He came to earth to die for each and every one of us; he came to give his life a ransom so that we might be saved. Why then would he hide the ball from us? And yes, that was figurative language I just used and it was obvious and understood.

That is the point of figurative language. It is not meant to hide the truth. It is used to illustrate and make clear difficult concepts. Finally, if we intend to have a relationship with Jesus, one that is based on truth and trust, then we must believe his words have actual meaning. He spoke so that we could hear and be free. When he said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10: 10) we must assume and understand that those words mean exactly what they say. Otherwise they do not have meaning and frankly, the whole Bible is undermined. If Jesus wanted to communicate that the purpose of his coming to earth was to give us life, how else would he say it other than to use the words which have the meaning which normally and customarily mean just that? Do you see what I mean? Once a person reduces one of Jesus’ literal statements to fantasy or figurative poetry, then all meaning for all his messages is lost. Who can say which of his statements are mere figures of speech and which ones he actually meant as spoken? Honestly, it is beyond intellectual integrity for one to adopt this posture. It is the height of arrogance. People who excuse away Jesus’ words and meanings replace them with themselves and their reasoning. It is foolishness!

The point of all of this is that Jesus said that if we seek, we shall find. There is no figure of speech in that statement so really, the choice is whether or not we choose to take him at his word. Do we believe the Father of us all sent His only begotten son to earth to lead us into truth, wisdom, and freedom? Why would Yahweh, Abba Father, sacrifice His beloved on a cross for people He intended to mislead? Does that really make any sense at all? Jesus’ brother, James, said that we should ask God for wisdom promising that God would give it to us freely and without reproach (James 1: 5). Why, then, would God offer to give us all His wisdom yet cloak every word Jesus said while in the earth. It is illogical and unreasonable to believe that so, trust that Jesus came to open eyes and doors. Believe him when he says that if we ask, we shall receive. When we seek, we will always find. Knock on the door because Jesus is on the other side waiting to open it to you.

Jesus has so much for us. The Father invested everything He had to bring us into a personal relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit is hovering today with creative power in his hands. They long for us. Let our yearning reach out and take hold of the love offered. Ask, seek, knock . . . receive, find, be welcomed in.

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