Jesus said, “…He Who sent Me is true and reliable. I tell the world only the things that I have heard from Him.” (John_ Jesus is our example. He imitated His Father! Now we are mandated to say what God says, do what He does and believe what He believes. Jesus showed us how, and told us the results of obeying His instructions: “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father… therefore be imitators of God—copy Him and follow His example, as well-beloved children imitate their father.” (John 14:12; Ephesians_ In conversation with a friend this week, Romans 4:17 came up: “As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. He was appointed our father in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that He has foretold and promised as if they already existed.”____ This is a statement God made about Abraham—that He had already made him the father of many nations. It’s also a statement about God: He speaks words about things to come as though they already existed, because when He said Abraham was the father of many nations, Abraham was childless! The statement my friend made about Romans 4:17 is a common one: “I hear people claiming this verse, and I think that’s prideful. It’s talking about God, not us. We can’t call things into existence.”
But what plans for a college degree, or plans to buy a house or have a family? Isn’t that calling things that don’t yet exist into existence?
The Bible is replete with information about the power of words and instructions about how to use them.
“If you return to the Almighty and submit and humble yourself before Him, you will be built up; if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents…you shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light of God’s favor shall shine upon your ways.” (Job_ “A man’s self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied, whether good or evil. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it for death or life.” (Proverbs_ Whether we like it or not; whether we believe it or not, our words carry great power and we will be held accountable for how we use them. Our words are so powerful they can even override God’s will for us! God spoke to the Israelites and promised that He would deliver them from Egypt and give them the land of Canaan. But they said, “No, You won’t! We don’t believe You! You brought us and our children out here to die.”
“How long will this evil congregation murmur against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites… Tell them, As I live, says the Lord, what you have said in My hearing I will do to you: Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness–of all who have murmured against Me. And your children shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your infidelity to your espoused God, until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.” (Numbers_ Let’s be careful to speak God’s Words! In agreement with Him, we can call into existence those things He wants to give us. In disobedience and rebellion, we call into existence things that produce death.
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