PART 1
Many of us use words very loosely. One of our favourite past times is bitching, and in the course of it, hurtful words can come out of our mouths. I am definitely guilty of this, much more so during my “pre-renewed days by the Spirit”. As a human in the flesh, I still fall in this area, but by the grace of God, I am constantly being renewed by the Holy Spirit daily.
Words that proceed from our mouths carry a great deal of power. In the English language, word can mean either “spoken word” or “written word”. In the much more expressive Greek language, “Rhema” means “spoken word”, and “Logos” means “written word”. Keeping these two Greek terms in mind, let us examine what the Bible has to say about words.
Proverbs 18: 20 – 21 says, “A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” A person who speaks life with his words will enjoy the fruits that his words carry, but a person who speaks death with his words will live in consequences of what he confesses. To speak life is to confess God’s perspective into our situation, no matter how tough or difficult they are. After all, what trials in our lives can be greater than our Lord? To speak death means to admit defeat and to declare life’s negatives. It is easy for us to grumble and complain when things do not go well. When we are sick, how many of us will immediately confess God’s Words that say in 1 Peter 2:24: “By His stripes, we were healed!”? On contrary, many of us will whine about how sick we are, and some, how poor thing they are to be ill, hoping to gain some sympathy votes. While it seems to be natural for us complain about unfavourable events in our lives, we often fail to realize that complaining about life’s negative aspects add more negativity into the situation.
I used to grumble a lot whenever I look into my wallet or my bank account and realized that I don’t have much to get me by for the week. I will complain and whine about how poor and needy I am, without realizing what I am actually doing – putting more negativity into the situation I am in! The Holy Spirit has since taught me to confess life into my situation. The Bible says that Jehovah is our Jireh, our Provider. And whenever I face a difficult financial situation, I confess Him to be my Jireh, my Provider! While it is true that I have some financial difficulties in the natural realm, I am not to acknowledge the natural. Not acknowledging does not mean that the problem isn’t real, but it means to submit to a higher truth – the spiritual or supernatural truth! The spiritual or supernatural truth is far more superior to the natural truth. The supernatural or spiritual truth is what the word of God says we have inherited through Christ’s obedience, not what we have in the natural. We, the righteousness of Christ, are in the world but not of the world. We submit not to the natural truth of the world, but to the supernatural truth of His words and of His kingdom.
Think about this – when God created the earth, His Spirit was hovering over the water and there was complete darkness. Did God complain and whine, “Wah!! Very dark! Cannot see anything!! No light!! HOW???” No! God spoke what He wanted to come into existence! “Let there be light! And there was light!” It is time for us to pause and learn from our Father. Call into existence the things we have not seen in the natural world. Be it healing, financial break through or salvation for a family member, it is our responsibility to use the tongue God had given us to speak life, to speak into existence what we have not yet seen, to call forth what we have based on the promises given to us through Jesus!
Incidentally, the English word, “confess” means “homologeous” in Greek. Homologeous means to say the same words. Homo means same, logeous means words. To confess the word of God means to homologeous the word of God – to say the same thing what God has promised us in His words! When you sick, confess what the bible says about your healing! When you need a financial breakthrough, confess Jesus as your Provider! When you want your family to be saved, confess what God promised us in Acts 16:31 – “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household!” When you feel condemned and sinful, confess that Jesus is our righteousness! Start to homologeous the word of God and quit complaining and whining! When you homologeous the word of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life, will be ushered into that situation you face, into that trial in your life, and when the Spirit of God is present, you can be very sure that He will carry you all the way through to the end!
PART 2
In Part 1, I shared about the root word for Word in Greek – Logos and Rhema. Logos refers to the written word of God, as found in the Scriptures; Rhema refers to the spoken word of God based on the Logos word, and the Rhema word of God speaks to us in the situations or trials we face. This is when the Logos word transforms itself as a Rhema word for us in times of need. Let us examine how the Logos word of God can be used as the Rhema word for us.
I shared that God created the world by speaking. If you would examine Genesis Chapter 1, the verse “God said” appeared ten times. This is how God created something out of nothingness – by speaking words. In John 1:1, “In the beginning was the word (Logos), and the word (Logos) was with God, and the word (Logos) was God.” God’s spirit is alive and present in his Logos word. The Scriptures (Logos) reveal the heart of God, His intents and His characteristics, along side with all the promises given to us through the complete works of Jesus on the cross.
Knowing the Logos word (the Scriptures) is the first step to applying them as the Rhema word in our trials. In Matthew 4:4, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, Jesus over came him by the speaking of the Rhema word. “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (Rhema) that comes from the mouth of God’.” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and used it to overcome the devil. Obviously, Jesus knows the Logos word before He could apply it as a Rhema word in His situation. I believe Jesus didn’t have to go through all the trouble in quoting the Logos word to defeat the devil. Jesus, in all His glory and power, could have easily called upon fire and lightning to burn and strike the devil dead, or summon legions of angels to battle the evil one. Yet, Jesus did not make use of His divine powers to overcome the devil. Jesus made use of the weapon which is available to us this day – the Logos word of God. Jesus transformed the Logos word into the Rhema word to assist Him in his situation with the devil. This is exactly what Jesus is trying to teach us to do when we face tough trials or situations in our lives. Ephesians 6:17 speaks of the “Sword of the Spirit, which is the word (Rhema) of God.” The “word” here refers to the Rhema (spoken word that applies in our situations), not the Logos (written Scriptures as a whole). The sword of the Spirit which is available to us today is exactly what Jesus wielded when He was tempted. Many of us look upon the Sword of the Spirit as the entire Bible or Scriptures. This is not an entirely accurate way of understanding the sword. The sword here refers to the Rhema word of God, which we wield when facing a tough situation. Say for example, you are sick in your body. The Logos word states in 1 Peter 2:24 “By His stripes you were healed.” Now that you know the Logos word, you claim it and apply it as the Rhema word in your situation! Speak to your body, “Hey body! It is written, ‘By His stripes, you were healed!’ So now I command you to be healed by the authority of the word of God in the name of Jesus!” Folks, this is how we apply the Logos written word in the Scripture as the Rhema word in our situation! When you confess the Logos word into your tough situation, the Logos word becomes the Rhema word, and the Spirit of God who dwells in His Logos word is released into that particular situation! And you can be darn sure that when the Spirit of God is in that situation, you will see a breakthrough, just like how Jesus overcame the devil!
In Matthew 8:8, the Roman centurion demonstrated his understanding and revelation of the power of words. His servant was sick, and Jesus offered to go to his place to heal the servant. However, the Roman centurion told Jesus, “Only speak the word (Logos) and my servant will be healed.” The Roman centurion had numerous soldiers and servants who would do his bidding the moment he spoke his commands, and he certainly understood there is authority in spoken words. He understood that when Jesus speaks the Logos word, it will become a Rhema word for his situation, and the power of Jesus will flow into his situation through the spoken word (Rhema), and his servant will be well!
Revelations 12:11 says “We overcome the adversary by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word (Logos) of our testimony.” I used to think that the “word of our testimony” means the testimonies we share in church or our cell group to encourage one another. However, the word of our testimony here is much more than that. It refers to our victory in Christ through His finished works on the cross, based on the written Word (Logos) of God. The authority of God’s words is where our victory ground is. The devil loves to remind us of our past sins and to cripple us with guilt, but he is overcome when we declare our faith and righteousness based on the accomplished works of Christ on the cross and standing firm on the word (Logos) of God. Remember, the devil used to live in heaven, and he certainly knows the power and authority in the word (Logos) of God. When we stand firm on the Logos word of God, the devil is crippled and he is overcome.
You may ask me, “Doesn’t it take a lot of faith to apply the Logos word and transform it into a Rhema word into our situation? I don’t really have that much faith!” Now, let us look at what Jesus has to say about faith.
Matthew 17:20 says “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, ‘Remove hence to yonder place’; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” A lot of people read it as “As long as my faith is as tiny as a mustard seed, miracles can happen.” I don’t think this is what Jesus is teaching, as this implies that we should be satisfied with being small in our faith. The essence here is comparing our faith with a mustard seed, which when planted, will grow bigger and bigger. When we plant the seed of faith, God waters it and causes it to develop and grow. The seed will no longer remain as a seed, but it becomes a plant, and eventually a tree. And from this tree, God manifests His mighty mountain-moving powers! So how do you plant this seed of faith? By hearing, and hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17 says “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God.” The Rhema word here is the word that speaks to our situation, be it healing, financial freedom, salvation for a family member, etc. When you hear the Rhema word of God, your seed of faith starts to grow, and your faith rises, and then you activate this new found faith by speaking! Jesus taught, “You shall SAY unto this mountain.” When you speak the word of God by faith, the power of God surges through that mountain in your life and move it away. And as Jesus sums it up, “And nothing shall be impossible unto you.
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