Mixing Faith with The Word
“But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? ...So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:17, 19) “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2)
Who did He call the evil generation? Those that brought back the evil report. The evil report was that they told what they saw, what they felt, and what they heard. That is not always an evil report, only when it disagrees with what God said.
There are many today that unknowingly give evil reports. They are speaking contrary to what God reveals in His Word. Sometimes they pray for victory and get up and confess defeat. Have you ever prayed that God would meet your need, and then a day or two later you were saying that you are so worried that you don’t know what you are going to do?
They spoke their fears and their fears paralyzed them.
Sometimes we wait too long to pray about a need. The thing that God was getting on Israel’s case about was that they didn’t take heed to what He said. They knew what God said, but deliberately spoke contrary to God’s promise. They spoke their fears and their fears paralyzed them. Joshua and Caleb stood in faith for forty years until all the doubters died. That is some kind of record; they held fast to their confession for forty years.
Paul said faith comes by hearing the Word of God. God was trying to get His people to mix faith with His words and He wants you to mix faith with your words. The gospel was preached to us, as well as unto them but the Word preached didn’t profit them, because they wouldn’t mix faith with it.
The tongue is the mixer. You mix faith with the Word of God by saying what God said. If you don’t mix faith with the Word of God you will lose it. You will forget what God said. God said, “return My Word to Me and I’ll perform it.”
Someone may say, “Well, why don’t you just believe it and not say it? Just believe God. Why do you have to go around confessing what God said?” Let me give you about six reasons.
Number one – In Mark 11:23, “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.”
Number two – Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “...Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” So what’s abundant in your heart is going to get in your mouth. If you really believe it you are going to speak it. And I’ll tell you quite frankly that’s the reason you sometimes speak the bad news, because that is what you believe. People worry over all sorts of things. Why do we worry? Worry comes from believing that bad things are going to happen. Someone said, “I was so worried I just prayed all night.” Well, if they had prayed in faith they would have gone to sleep. You are not mixing faith with your prayer if you are praying and worrying. Someone may ask these questions and I believe they are valid questions, “If you are going to pray, why worry?” and “If you are going to worry, why pray?”
Number three – In 2 Corinthians 4:13, Paul says, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” Whatever you believe, you are always going to speak. If you are not speaking it you are not believing it. You may think you believe it. You might even believe that you believe it, but if you are not speaking it then you haven’t really believed. Because what you believe is going to get in your mouth.
Number four – In Romans 10:9 Paul says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Notice the word is in your mouth first and then in your heart. Then in verse 17 Paul said, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith comes by speaking and proclaiming what God said in His Word. That’s the way you make the Word personal to you. The spoken Word creates faith.
Number five – In James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Speaking God’s Word is working the work of God. When you are proclaiming what God has said to be true, this creates faith which is the divine energy of God and eventually causes the manifestation of God’s promise in your life.
Number six – Jesus said in John 6:63, “...The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Your words are the spirit and life of your faith.
That’s why Joshua and Caleb came back after seeing the giants and said, “We are well able to take the land, let us go in at once and possess it.” Notice what God said concerning those who didn’t mix faith with God’s Word: “… I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness… ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.” (Numbers 14:27-30)
The scripture tells us that not only did Caleb hold fast to his confession for forty years, but forty years later when he was 85 years old he said, “Give me the mountain with the giants on it.”
The words you speak release spirit life into your faith.
Now think about it. Caleb was 85 years old and he went in and possessed the mountain and slew the giants. How do you suppose he did that? He didn’t do it by saying what the devil said – you can count on that. He had God’s Word in his mouth. He had another spirit in him. The words that Jesus spoke were spirit and life. The words you speak release spirit life into your faith.
When we hear ourselves speaking and saying what God said it produces faith more quickly than if anyone else said it. You believe what you say more than what anyone else says. Hold fast to your confession of faith. Don’t let it go. If there wasn’t any possibility of you losing your faith, why would it be necessary to hold fast to it? You must hold fast to faith by confessing the Word of God. Sometimes the confession that comes out of your mouth after you’ve prayed will determine whether you receive or not. I am referring to confession that brings possession. Not only just through confessing the Word of God, but even through praying. Once you have prayed, get your saying in line with your praying.
Get your saying in line with your praying!
Don’t pray for healing and go around confessing that you are getting worse. It may be true that you feel and look worse. But you should hold fast to the Word of God rather than how you feel. Feelings will change, but the Word of God never does. Jesus said, “Believers will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” If you are taking medicine, take it in the name of Jesus believing that you’ll get better. My point is, don’t get in condemnation over taking medicine. Medicine won’t heal you, neither will it keep you from getting healed. But at least it will hold down the symptoms until healing comes.
You must have a confession that agrees with the prayer you pray, because confession is a way to possession. God said to Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth…” (Joshua 1:8) In our language today we would say, “Don’t stop talking about this New Covenant and it’s blessings, but think about it all the time, so you will understand how to act and what to do. Then, you will prosper and succeed.”
Notice He said meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do. Unless you meditate and continually think on the Word of God you are not going to understand how to do it. If you neglect spending time in the Word of God, then you don’t have the inspiration of the Spirit to act on the Word. You can get involved in so many other things that you lose the desire to do what the Word said to do. But as you meditate on and speak what God says about you, it causes you to be motivated.
The Scriptures reveal that faith comes by hearing. When you speak the Word you also hear the Word, and the faith of God that is resident in His Word gets inside you and empowers you to do it. Hebrews 3:1 says, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of your profession, Christ Jesus.” Notice it calls Jesus, “an apostle and high priest of our profession.” The word profession can be translated confession, so Jesus is the high priest of our confession.
COURAGE AND FEAR
God is speaking to you today through His Word. Will you mix faith with what He is saying to you? Will you obey Him?
“[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12 Amplified)
The Promised Land awaited the Israelites. God only required that they hear what He asked them to do, trust Him, and be obedient. Unbelief is refusal to believe. Disobedience is the result. Disobedience can also be a result of fear; being afraid to act on what God has said. There were Israelites in both categories. They could have asked God to help them with their fear, but God couldn’t help them when they exercised their free will right to refuse to believe and disobey.
You may tremble at the thought of stepping out in faith at God’s command, but courage like Joshua and Caleb had is a result of mixing faith with what God said and doing it in spite of any fear.
What is God telling you to do? Find three scriptures, following the leading of the Holy Spirit and step out in faith. (Take the first step and the next will follow!)
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