"The Word of God - Power Containers" by Victoria Cordero Joiner

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." - PROVERBS 18:21

The power of God's Word has a profound effect on our lives. But most believers don't really understand the degree to which this is true. Most believers only know that words convey information. But they are far more powerful than that. They actually serve as containers for SPIRITUAL POWER. According to Proverbs 18:21, they have the ability to carry faith or fear, blessing or cursing, life or death.

People sometimes speak idle or empty words, but God never does. Every word He has ever spoken has been filled with FAITH, POWER and LIFE. In fact, God's Word actually contains within it the POWER TO BRING ITSELF TO PASS! For example in Isaiah 55:11. He says, "My word....shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Every word God has ever spoken is backed by His faith, and is as full of power today as it was the moment He said it. So when you believe that Word and your faith comes together with His faith, the power of that Word is released, the Holy Spirit goes into action, and the Word explodes into this natural realm and becomes a reality in your life!

That's what happened when you were born again. You heard or read God's Word "That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9). You believed that Word, spoke it in faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit was released, transforming your dead, fallen spirit into a reborn spirit, re-created in the image of JESUS Himself.

My what a miracle! You were snatched from the dominion of darkness and there was nothing the devil could do to stop it. The Words of God did the same thing for you that they did for Jesus when He was in the pit of hell. They demolished the devil's power over you and raised you up together with the Lord Jesus to sit together in heavenly places with Him!

Now think about this a minute. IF His Word can save you....it can accomplish everything else you need, healing, finances, spiritual growth, a new job, a new home, a new car, restored relationship, a better marriage....whatever it is that you need TODAY....you can speak words of life and blessing and truth in faith, and as spiritual containers, they will begin to effect a CHANGE in the Spirit realm....which will eventually manifest in the natural realm.

In other words, you have the power to effect change in your life, by SPEAKING, because your words are containers of power. So get started. Speak God's Word. Speak words of life and power and faith. Things will never be the same!

CONFESSION: Words are seeds. Whatever I speak will come back to me in the form of either positive or negative manifestations. It’s easy to become weary and give up when the pressure is on. But if I continue to speak positive, faith-filled words about my situation, I will see breakthrough. Death and life are in the power of my tongue. I determine to speak only words of life.

Like ·  · Follow Post · January 30 at 9:37pm

The Spirit World Is Real IV

      In discussing the existence of the spirit world we must recognize that there are two spiritual kingdoms.  Again, we must go back to Genesis to see what it says about this issue.  God blessed Adam and told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and God gave Adam dominion over every living thing that was on the earth (except over other men).   He put Adam in the Garden of Eden with the intent that Adam would make the rest of the earth just like Eden for all mankind to enjoy.  He gave Adam very specific instructions concerning the Tree of good and evil.  Satan came in the form of a serpent and tempted Eve and she ate of the Tree of good and evil.  Adam, not being deceived, obeyed Satan through Eve's suggestion, instead of obeying God.  By this one act, Romans 5:12 tells us, sin entered the world and death by sin and its penalty, death, spread to all men through Adam's corrupted lineage. 
     Adam was not deceived.  He chose to disobey. Adam's decision was a deliberate going astray which caused a separation from God and connection to Satan. Satan became Adam's god and ruler. The authority that God had given to Adam was now in the hands of Satan.  That which God had spoken as a blessing to Adam for the earth, became a curse in the hands of Satan, and Satan became the administrator of the curse in the earth. Through Adam’s transgression, Satan became the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), and the ruler of this world (John 12:31, 14:30).  Thus, the darkness of this whole world is because the world system is controlled by the spiritual kingdom of darkness which is under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19).  

     The other spiritual kingdom is the Kingdom of God.  Jesus gave up His divinity and came to the earth as a man to take back that which Adam gave to Satan.  God had given dominion and authority to Adam as a representative of mankind, who now had a sin-contaminated nature, was separated from God, and was under Satan's authority.  Thus, every descendant of Adam received Adam's sin- contaminated nature and there was none good; no not one to be found in all the earth (Romans 3:23).  Therefor, God sent Jesus in the form of a man to pay the sin debt for all mankind and free them from the works of darkness.   At Calvary, Jesus defeated Satan, dethroned him, divested him on all authority and delivered all mankind, who believe on Him, from the power of darkness. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ that: Jesus hung on the cross and took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, suffered, shed His blood, gave up His life and died and went to Hell, conquered Satan’s kingdom, and redeemed us from the curse of the law, and that God, the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, raised Jesus from the dead, and exalted Him as Lord over all nations.  By and through His finished work at Calvary, Jesus ushered the Kingdom of God into the earth.  All who believe and confess the gospel of Jesus Christ, ask Jesus to come into their heart, and receive Him as Lord (Master) and Savior are saved, delivered out of the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God (Col 1:13).  Any person who believes on Jesus and consecrates his or her life to live for Him, will have a personal relationship with God, and have eternal life.
     Now I am certain that your next question is “If all of this is done, why are we still subject to Satan’s attacks?  See the blogs following that discuss this issue.

The Spirit World Is Real III

Another scripture that verifies that man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body is Hebrews 4:12 which says: 

                For the word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing

 even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the

thoughts and intents of the heart.  

This scripture is saying to believers that the word of God will help them to discern whether they are living a life led by the Spirit of God, their soul (their mind and its reasoning, their will or desires), or by the dictates of their flesh.  While this explanation might be a little difficult to grasp at this time, understanding will come to those who depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding and revelation of the word of God.

The Spirit World Is Real Part 1

It is essential that we begin to understand that life in this natural world is not all that there is.  There is a spirit world and it is very real and will exist forever.  We are spirit beings so we need to understand some things about the spirit world.  When God created the body of man, He blew His own breath of Life into that body.  That breath constitutes the spirit of man within which is his soul; the mind, will and emotions. The spirit and the soul do not die. They exist forever.  Our body is that with which we have contact with the natural world.  When the body dies, there is no more life left in it because our spirit leaves the body the instant that the body dies.  There is no further use for the body and it decomposes.  It is interesting however, that although the mind, will and emotions function through man's brain while he is alive, it continues to function after his brain no longer exists because it is part of the spirit.  Take a look at Luke 16:19-31.  Although the rich man and Lazarus both died and their bodies were buried, they still had consciousness of their surroundings. Neither Lazarus nor the rich man had physical bodies, yet Lazarus laid in the bosom of Abraham. The senses of the rich man were still functioning: He could feel the torment of the heat. He was thirsty and asked for water.  He lifted his eyes and saw Lazarus and Abraham and saw the gulf between them. He had a voice for he spoke to Abraham. He could hear Abraham's response to his cry for mercy. His mind and memory still functioned because he asked Abraham to send someone to tell his brothers not to come there.  From these scriptures and numerous others it is made clear that after death there is a separation of spirit and soul from the body, and the spirit and soul continue to function much the same as it did when the man was alive.

The Spirit World is Real II

God spoke and created all things out of things that did not exist, with the exception of man.  He called all things (except man) into being from nothing and created it solely by His faith-filled words.  However, when He created man, He formed a body from the dust and then blew His breath into that lifeless form.  Adam became a living soul.  That is, the breath or life of God came into that body.  This was the spirit of man who also received a mind, will, and emotions, which is the soul. God created man with a spirit so He could fellowship with him, Spirit to spirit.  There are numerous scriptures which confirm that man is a spirit who lives in a body and has a soul.  I have cited a few but there are many more scriptures that reveal a great deal about the spirit of man upon which you are encouraged to study, meditate and seek revelation.

In Genesis 3:19 it is confirmed that man was made from dust.  This refers to his body, which, upon death, becomes dust again.  
In Ecclesiastes 12:7 as the writer speaks of death, he notes that the man will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

In his prophesy to Israel, in Zehariah 12:1, Zechariah reminds the Jews that it is the LORD Who "stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him."  
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the writer says, “I pray God your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A very compelling verification of the fact that man is a spirit, which lives in a body and leaves when death occurs is seen in Luke 8:55 wherein Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, asked Jesus to come to his house to pray for his daughter who was dying.  On the way to Jairus’ house, some men came and told him that his daughter was dead.  Jesus told him to stay in faith and continue to believe.  When they arrived at the house, Jesus commanded the girl to arise; "And her spirit came again and she arose straightway and He commanded to give her meat.”

As you read scriptures about the spirit of man, you will notice that the spirit has many of the characteristics of the natural man. (Please note that the characteristics of man's spirit differ after he has received salvation because at that time, his spirit is regenerated and the Spirit of God comes to live in him.) Did you know that there is a mind of the spirit?  The spirit sings. The spirit prays. The spirit talks and speaks a special language that is not understood by man but is given by the Spirit of God.  Our spirit produces fruit.  Our spirit knows all things about us. Our spirit has power and love. Our spirit can be strengthened, it can be edified and our spirit can be led by the Spirit of God. (When we get to that level of spiritual maturity, we are called "sons of God.")  Since Peter, James and John recognized Moses and Elijah, and the rich man recognized Lazarus, the spirit man obviously looks the same as man looks in the natural. As you read and study this area you will find that there are many other characteristics of the spirit not mentioned here. 

Work Out Your Own Soul Salvation

In Ephesians 4:26-27 we are admonished, "Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sin go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil."  In James 1:19-20 we are told to be "...slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."  Since I had a problem with anger for a  large part of my life, I often encourage others who lack temperance to be quick to let anger go because few realize how much power anger can have over their actions. Frequently, despite the good intention behind the suggestion, many who see their anger as a necessary part of their personality, respond, "God knows my heart." While I whole heartedly agree with that statement, I question whether they fully realize what they are saying.  If God has said in His word that we will give place to the devil by holding onto anger, then He is well aware that when we hold onto offense and anger, we open our minds to evil spirits to bombard our mind with thoughts of the offense all through that day and night and probably for several days after the offense has occurred. Just as God warned Able, "...sin lieth at the door." The Lord is warning us that unless we let go of the offense and anger, cohorts of Satan will gain a strong hold on our emotions and cause an escalation of our anger, which will very likely result in an explosive reaction.  It is as we roll thoughts of the offense over and over in our mind, that we give ground to the enemy to torment us with more and more angry thoughts until we become full of wrath. At  that point, the emotional state of the angry person  is anything but tempered, and his will is certainly not on pursuing peace and forgiveness because he feels fully justified in "going off". This is what God knows about the  heart of an angry person.  Such a troubled soul is full of the fruit of the flesh (wrath, strife and every evil work) and cannot produce a righteous harvest of Fruit of the Spirit (Love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance, and faithfulness).  
When we were born again, we became new creatures in Christ Jesus.  Our spirit was made new. We no longer have a sin nature.  We have the nature of God with all of His attributes and we have been enabled to produce the Fruit of the Spirit. It's in us.  It's the soul that has not been made new. The spirit is new but the soul of the believer  is the same as it was before he was saved.  The Lord will show us where we are missing the mark, but the soul of the believer can only be changed if he willingly allows the Lord to change him into the image of Christ.  God honors man's will and He will never do anything in us that is against our will. The degree to which we consecrate our selves to live for Christ, and allow Him to live through us, is the degree that we see spiritual growth and can overcome strongholds of anger, offense or other enslaving sin.
Scripture tells us that it is the "law of the Lord that converts the soul." and "the engrafted word will save your soul."  This means that change is a process that begins in the inside - in our heart, and as we fill our heart with the word of God and it becomes engrafted in our heart, the life of God which is in that word will govern our thoughts, words and actions and we will be free to make the decision that we will take peace.  This is the process by which God works in us to do His will and good pleasure. There is Spirit, power and life in the word.  It is through the power of the Spirit, that the word of God becomes "alive" in our heart and makes the word of God that we believe, become as real to us as anything that we are aware of through our senses.  When this happens, changes in our soul and in the way we respond to an offense will begin to manifest.
The angry person must first acknowledge his uncontrolled anger and wrath as sin, confess it, ask forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9, and receive God's forgiveness.  When he does this, he will come back into a right relationship with the Lord.  With the help of Holy Spirit, his teacher, he should then diligently read, study, and meditate on the word and get his heart full to overflowing with it as to what he is in Christ, who he is in Christ, who lives in Him, what he has, and what he can do (through the Greater One Who lives in him).  As he sits in the presence of God in meditation, praise, thanksgiving, worship and fellowship, the abundance of the love and life of God will fill and overflow his heart and cause his thoughts, will and gradually, his actions, to come in line with the word of God and he will  begin to see the peace and love of God replace offense and anger.

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