John 6:63 "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Our words are important. In Today's episode I talk about how you can change your mindset and how you think about yourself if you come up with some declarations about who you are and promises that God has made for you. I have listed several declarations taken from Scripture verses. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What Do You Declare?
John 6:63 "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
The other day in our class we talked about the power of our words. I have done a couple episodes now on how painful words can be. Today I want to talk about how saying the right words can actually change your life in a good way. When I was just starting out on my personal development journey I was introduced to a habit where you write down 5 reasons you are grateful each day and then you write your 10 big dreams you have and you write them as if they have already happened. For instance, I wrote I am an excellent mother. You do this every single day and then you will notice some time from now, you have achieved all the things you set out to achieve. The reason for this is because you have told you brain what to focus on and you told it where you are going. Even when you are not actively coming up with a plan for how to get those things, your brain is already thinking about all of them. Your subconscious mind goes to work on figuring out how to do all the things you want to do. It really is a beautiful thing.
When we were talking about declarations the other day our teacher reminded us of that old Saturday Night Live skit with Stuart Smalley. He did a skit where he would look in the mirror before his talk show and he would say, “Because I am good enough, I am smart enough and doggommit people like me.” We always laughed when he said this because it seems so silly to talk to yourself like that. However, now they are finding that saying positive things like this can actually be helpful to how you see yourself and how you feel. Saying positive things can be a great way to change your mindset as well.
This is one reason why declarations can be so powerful. We get sucked into believing a lot of negative things about ourselves and even about God sometimes. The enemy whispers lies into our ears and instead of telling Him to shut up, we buy what he is selling hook line and sinker. But God is also trying to tell us things. His voice is being drowned out by the enemy and by the voices of the world. But if we listen to what God is telling us we will learn who we are in God’s eyes. When we listen to the lies the enemy tells us, we feel terrible about ourselves. We feel unloved and we feel as though no-one knows what we are going through. These are lies from the enemy. When we listen to God we feel loved, we feel worthy, we feel like we can do anything.
In class we went over 5 Biblical reasons to make declarations in faith for yourself.
The first reason is because declarations have the power to stregthen us from weakness. In Joel 3:10 it says, “Let the weak say, I am strong.” In Philippians 4:13 it says, “I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me. These are both powerful statements to help strengthen us when we feel we need to be stronger.
The second reason is that declarations can direct the course of our lives. Look at James 3:4-5 "Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. Our tongues are the “rudder” of our life. Although they are just a small part of our body, they can have an enormous impact on our lives. Choose to use yours for good, too spread the love of God and to build people up and not tear them down.
The third reason for making declarations is that they can confirm or seal our beliefs. For instance, Romans 10:9-10 “ because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” It says right in this verse that one who believes with the heart and so is justified and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. Speaking the truth out-loud is so important.
The fourth reason is because declarations are weapons that keep us from falling into performance mentality. When Jesus was tested in Matthew 4, He didn’t feel like He had to defend Himself by explain why what the devil was saying wasn’t true. He simply and firmly stated scripture verses and the enemy left knowing he had been defeated. WE CAN DO THE SAME!! We have the power to speak scripture into our lives. We have the power to defeat the enemy with our words.
The fifth reason we were taught to develop the declarations is because they can unlock the promises of God in our lives. If we look at 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 it says, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.” For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. God has made a lot of promises and each and everyone one of them is for you and me both! We can stand on those promises. They aren’t the kind of wishy washy promises we make today. These are firm promises. It says right in this verse, but in Him it is always yes! God made the promises for us, now we just have to claim them.
There are two ways to come up with Declarations. The first way is to ask the Lord to give you some declarations for your life. This type of declaration you should take some time and discern. Discern it either by yourself or with a spiritual director or mentor. See if this is really from the Lord. The second type of declaration is one from scripture. These ones you can always count on. You know they are from the Lord because He inspired every word in the Scripture. I felt moved last week to focus on the scripture verse I had underlined and made them into declarations. I will include them in the show notes and also read them to you now.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
Because I have faith nothing will be impossible for me. (Matthew 17:20)
I will do the works Jesus did an even greater Works. (John 14:12)
Whatever I ask in Jesus's name, he will do it. (John 14:13)
My heart will not be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)
I will abide in Jesus and bear much fruit (John 15:9)
Jesus loves me as the father loves him (John 15:9)
Jesus lay down his life for me, his friend (John 15:13)
If I ask, I will receive (John 16:24)
In Jesus, I have peace. (John 16:33)
I am a child of God (Acts 17:28)
Jesus died for me while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8)
Death no longer has dominion over me (Romans 6:9–11)
Sin no longer has dominion over me (Romans 6:14)
the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me! (Roman 8:11)
I receive the spirit of Sonship. I am a child of God. (Romans 8: 15–17)
I have been saved (Romans 8:24)
the Holy Spirit helps me in my weakness; he intercedes for me when I don't know how to pray (Romans 8:26)
In everything God works for good with me (Romans 8:28)
God is for me who is against me? (Romans 8:31)
I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38 to 39)
I hope that each one of you will take some time this week and ask the Lord to show you what decorations could help you grow in your understanding about yourself and about God. I hope that if you have created some declarations that you will decide what to do with them. I am going to write 10 declarations in the mornings until I fully believe them, and then I will pick another 10. First I also need to discern what 10 I will start with. Another idea I had for someone who doesn’t have the time to write 10 declarations each morning was to write all the declarations on an index card and then place the declarations in a bowl of vase or somewhere we you can pick one out each morning and say that declaration over yourself and that day. I think if you did either of these two ideas you would notice your mind shifting. I bet you would notice you are beginning to believe things you never thought you would believe. God is so good!!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing and we are so grateful for all the promises you have made us. Help us to take time out of our day and sit with you and ask you what declarations you have for us. Help us to do something with those declarations. Show us how you want us to use those declarations for our good. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward being back with you on Monday. Have a blessed weekend