Sparkling Gems from the Greek - Week of June 17
Mark 11:23 Works for the Devil Too!
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mark 11:23
The devil loves to make a playground out of people's minds and imaginations. He delights in filling their perceptions and senses with illusions that captivate them, paralyze them, and ultimately destroy them. How can believers avoid falling victim to the devil's attacks? They must make a spiritual and mental decision to take charge of every thought that enters their minds!
Taking your thoughts captive is going to require determination and energy. Once you made the decision to do it, you still have to stick with that decision. If you're not really committed to seizing every thought the devil tries to inject into your mind and emotions, he'll be back to strike you again and again. And if you don't stop the enemy's thoughts from invading your mind, it won't be long until your faith begins to empower those thoughts and they become a bona fide reality in your life!
Mark 11:23 is a powerful verse about faith and confession that believers claim and use around the world. But the principle in this verse works both in a positive and negative sense - or to put it another way, this principle works both in the realm of God and in the realm of the devil.
Mark 11:23 says, "For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." According to what Jesus taught in this verse, you can bring to pass whatsoever you say and believe in your heart.
Did you notice that Jesus said if a person confesses something "and shall not doubt in his heart" - in other words, if he believes the words he is speaking with his mouth - he will have exactly what he says. The word "doubt" is from the Greek word diakrinomai, which means to hesitate, to waver, to doubt, or to differ. In context, Jesus is saying that when a person's heart doesn't differ from what his mouth is saying, the combination of his heart and mouth in agreement will always make things happen!
I call this concept "the heart-mouth connection." For instance, if you believe in your heart that Jesus purchased your healing, and you put your heartfelt faith together with the confession of your mouth, you can literally bring that healing into manifestation in your physical body.
Creative power is released when the heart and mouth get into agreement! That is why you must be careful about what you believe in your heart and say with your mouth, because when your heart and mouth get "in sync" with each other, it literally makes things come to pass!
This heart-mouth combination works on both the positive and negative side of life. It can bring about the manifestation of healing in your body, salvation to your family, prosperity to your business, and growth to your local church. But the devil also knows how to use this principle against you!
The enemy knows if he can fill your mind and heart with lies that you believe and then coax you into confessing those lies with your mouth, you will make those evil images come to pass in your life! That is exactly why the devil wants to fill your mind with lies and accusations. That's why he paints so vividly on the "movie screen" in your mind. That's why he assaults your mind and emotions again and again. He knows he just has to get you to embrace these lies and to start believing them.
Once you do that, you'll soon start speaking those lies out of your mouth. And if you start speaking them with your mouth, it will only be a matter of time until they become your reality. Jesus said, "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). So according to Jesus, whatever is in your heart is eventually going to come out of your mouth!
Because great power is released when your heart and mouth start working together, it's extremely important that you put the right things into your heart. Mark 11:23 promises that whatever you believe in your heart and say with your mouth will come to pass. But as I said before, it doesn't just apply to Bible verses; it applies to anything you believe in your heart and say with your mouth. So if the devil can get you to believe and say wrong things, your own heart and mouth will cause those killer confessions to come to pass.
I know it's hard to control your mouth sometimes, but when you start to "run at the mouth" and say any ol' thing the devil puts in your head, you're playing with fire! It is a scientific fact that when you speak something out loud, those words are verified and empowered in your mind. That's why the devil wants you to repeat every stupid thing he puts in your mind. By repeating it out loud, you are helping him build a stronghold in the realm of your mind and imagination!
This is another reason why it's so important for you to spend time in the Word of God. As you spend time meditating in the Word, your mind becomes renewed to God's way of thinking (see Ephesians 4:23 and Colossians 3:10). God's Word brings a supernatural cleansing that washes your mind and emotions from the contamination of the world, the memories of past experiences, and the lies that the enemy has tried to sow into your brain.
When you make it a priority to fill your mind with truth from God's Word, the enemy can't penetrate your mind and he can't fill you with his lies. And if you're not filled with his lies, you won't be speaking and confessing things that are untrue! You see, when your mind is renewed to the Word of God, you become inwardly strengthened and very hard to deceive!
Satan knows that empty heads are much easier to deceive. That's why he loves it when he finds a believer who has made no effort to fill his mind with truth from God's Word. The devil knows he has found another empty head just waiting for him to come along and fill it - and he's happy to oblige!
Who or what is going to control your mind? God and His Word, or the enemy and his lies? Your mind is going to be filled with something, so you may as well choose the right thing to fill it. Your choice in this matter will determine your success or your failure in life, so make sure you choose wisely!
MY PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, I want my heart and mouth to say the right things! I know I need to spend more time filling my heart and mind with Your Word. I also know I need to be speaking positive confessions about myself, my family, my business, my future, my health, and every other area of my life. Your Word has the promises I need for every sphere of my life, so I ask You to help me fill my heart with the truth and line up my mouth with what Your Word promises for my life.
I pray this in Jesus' name!
MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY
I confess that I spend time meditating in the Word of God, and it renews my mind to God's way of thinking. God's Word brings a supernatural cleansing that washes my mind and emotions from the contamination of the world, the memories of past experiences, and the lies that the enemy has tried to sow into my brain. I make it a priority to fill my mind with truth from God's Word; therefore, I make it very difficult for the devil to penetrate my mind with his lies.
I declare this by faith in Jesus' name!
QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER
- What negative things do you say about yourself -0 about your weight, your appearance, your skills, etc. - that you know you ought not to be saying?
- Can you recall an example of how you confessed something negative for so long that your words eventually came to pass in your life?
- How much time do you spend reading your Bible and meditating on God's Word? There is no reason to be dishonest in your answer, because God knows the truth anyway. Look at your life honestly as you answer this question.
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