Daily Discipline #13
by Colleen Donahue

 

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head even Christ...." Ephesians 4:15

In the last study we learned about the importance of faith in our walk with God. In this study we'll continue to learn about our speech and how we can either build up or tear down faith with it. I'd like to share with you first an introduction from a book called "The Power of the Positive Confession of God's Word" by Don Gossett and E.W. Kenyon.

"For a long time I was confused over the fact that in my own life and the lives of others there was a continual sense of defeat and failure. I prayed for the sick. I knew that the Bible was true, and I searched diligently to find the leakage. One day I saw Hebrews 4:14, that we are to hold fast to our confession (profession in the authorized version). In the third chapter of Hebrews, I discovered that Christianity is called "The Great Confession". I asked myself, "What Confession am I to hold fast? "

I am to hold fast to my confession of the absolute integrity of the Bible. I am to hold fast to the confession of the redemptive work of Christ. I am to hold fast to my confession of the New Creation, of receiving the Life and Nature of God. I am to hold fast to the confession that God is the strength of my life. I am to hold fast to the confession that "Surely He hath borne my sicknesses and carried my diseases, and that by His stripes I am healed."

I found it very difficult to hold fast to the confession of perfect healing when I had pain in my body. I made the discovery that I had been making two confessions. I had been confessing the absolute truthfulness of the Word of God, and at the same time I was making a confession that I was not healed. If you had asked, "Do you believe that by His stripes you are healed? " I would have said, "Yes, sir, I do." But in the next breath I would have said, "But the pain is still there." The second confession nullified the first. In reality I had two confessions: first, a confession of my perfect healing and Redemption in Christ, and second, that the Redemption and healing was not a fact.

Then came the great battle to gain the mastery over my confession, until I learned to have but one confession. If I confess that "My God shall supply every need of mine, " I must not nullify that confession by saying, "Yes, God supplies my needs, but I cannot pay my rent, I cannot pay the telephone bill. " Faith holds fast to the confession of the Word. Sense Knowledge holds fast to the confession of physical evidences. If I accept physical evidence against the Word of God, I nullify the Word as far as I am concerned. But I hold fast to that confession that God's Word is true, that by His stripes I am healed, that My God does supply my needs.

I hold fast to that confession in the face of apparent contradictions, and He is bound to make good. Many believers have failed when things become difficult because they lost their confession. While the sun was shining brightly, their confessions were vigorous, strong and clear. But when the storms came, the testings came, and the adversary was taking advantage of them they gave up their testimony.

Every time that you confess disease and weakness and failure, you magnify the adversary above the Father, and you destroy your own confidence in the Word. You are to hold fast to your confession in the face of apparent defeat. You are to study the Word until you know what your rights are, and then hold fast to them.

Some make confessions without any foundations. Then the adversary whips and beats them badly. You are to find out what your rights are. For instance, you know that God says, "Surely He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our diseases." Now you can make your confession. "In all these things I am more than a conqueror. For greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world." Stand by your confession through thick and thin, through good report and evil. You know that your confession is according to the Word.

DO YOUR WORDS BUILD FAITH OR DESTROY IT?

Day 1 Hebrews 4:14
Christianity is called our "confession". What does this verse command us to do?

Day 2 Revelation 12:11
By what two means is our enemy, Satan, overcome?

When we confess (or speak with certainty) what God's Word says we have, then we possess those very things. For example:

Day 3 Romans 10:9-10
When you confess Jesus as your Lord, then what do you possess?

Day 4 When you confess John 8:36, what do you possess?

Day 5 When you confess Isaiah 53:5 what do you possess?

Day 6 When you confess Hebrews 13:5-6 what do you possess?

Day 7 Luke 1:37 / Psalm 103:12/ 2 Corinthians 9:8 / Philippians 4:19
Look these verses up for other examples of what you can possess.

Day 8 Romans 10:13 / Romans 10:10
Notice that confession precedes possession.

Day 9 Ephesians 2:1-10
Christianity is NOT a confession of sin but a confession of our place in Christ and of what God has done for us in Christ.

Day 10 Acts 20:32
What is God's Word able to do to us?

Day 11 Jeremiah 1:12/ Luke 1:37 / Isaiah 55:11
Can we always depend upon God's Word as being true?

Day 12 Philemon 6
When we actively speak what we know to be true, what happens?

Day 13 John 16:24
What is the condition for receiving what we need from God?

Day 14 Philippians 4:8
Our speech reflects our real thoughts and heart. If the inside is right what will our speech concentrate on?

Day 15 Zephaniah 1:7/ Amos 5:13 / Isaiah 53:7
At times we need to be silent.

Day 16 Proverbs 17:27
Using restraint in our words displays a person of what kind of character?

Day 17 Ephesians 4:25
What do we consciously need to do when we consider speaking to or about another person?

Day 18 Colossians 4:6 / Ephesians 4:29 / Ephesians 5:19
What should our conversations with others be like?

Day 19 James 3:2
How can we keep ourselves from stumbling?

Day 20 James 3:6
Our tongues are so small compared with the great damage they can do.

Day 21 James 4:11
What results from slander?

Day 22 Proverbs 13:3 / Proverbs 21:23
What results from speaking rashly?

Day 23 James 1:26
How does the "world" view a Christian who is undisciplined in his speech?

Day 24 I Peter 3:10
What results when we guard our tongue?

Day 25 Hebrews 13:6
What can we speak with confidence?

Day 26 Proverbs 6:2
What can our words actually do to us at times?

Day 27 Philippians 4:6-7
What happens when we speak to God with our prayers and thanksgiving?

Day 28 Psalm 50:23
How do we honor and please God?

Day 29 Proverbs 21:23
How can we keep ourselves out of trouble?

Day 30 Proverbs 23:16
When we hear truth being spoken, what happens to us inside?

Suggested reading: The Power of the Positive Confession of God's Word
by Don Gossett & E.W. Kenyon
Publishers: Kenyon Gospel Publishing Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 973, Lynnwood ,Washington 98036

Daily Discipline Table of Contents