peripherally

OK, so allow me to pre-qualify what I am about to say.

I have no definitive ‘congregation’ or ‘denomination’, as it were. I do not call myself, for example, Charismatic, or Word of Faith, or Pentecostal, or Baptist, Assembly of God, or Four Square, or any other category, though I have friendships, affiliations, even partnerships with many ministries that are. Nor do I call myself Republican, or Democratic, or Libertarian, or Green Party, or Independent Party, or Constitution Party, or any other political party, even though, likewise, I associate with people of multiple political alignments. I call myself…Christian.

When I say Christian, what do I mean?

Specifically, I mean I have, in heart and in verbal confession, accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour, as my King, my Beloved Anointed One. I do not call this religion, but Relationship, and an ever developing one at that. I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. That’s it. That’s the requirement. Everything else that follows is post-salvation goodness.

I should probably note that I am a Christian who is NOT a ‘cessationist’ (that is, I do not believe that signs and wonders are not for today), NOT a ‘replacement theologist’ (meaning one who believes that God is done with Israel in favor of the Body of Christ–very anti-semitic, that view is) and NOT a ‘tribulationist’ (in other words, one who believes that Christians will be on Earth during the Great Tribulation and the outpouring of the full wrath of God which follows it). We’ll be discussing that here, too, I reckon.

Moreover, I am not here to condemn, fault-find, nit-pick, yell, or otherwise shove my view down your proverbial throats. I do not condemn, my sole occupation is to love.

And that is, happily, the aim of this first post. Love.

The Gospel according to John begins by describing the Word of God:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

God, The Word, created all things. Without God, Him, The Word, there was not anything made. God and His Word are One. Later, John writes that the Word, became flesh and dwelt among men. Emmanuel, indeed, means “God with us”.

So, The Word is the Most Powerful Thing in the universe. Wait, you thought God was the most powerful thing in the universe? Yeah, that’s what I said. God, The Word Himself, is the Most Powerful Thing in the universe.

Now, I could also say Love is the Most Powerful Thing in the universe. Same Someone. God is Love. I could say Light is the Most Powerful Thing in the universe. God is Light.

This post is about Words, though, specifically His Word, which is God Himself. Its time we started taking words much more seriously than we have. Scripture does not that the power of life and death is in the tongue in vain. Its true. Every idle word will be investigated in That Great Day of the Lord.

Moreover, words are the vehicles God fashioned to carry His Faith and His Creative Power. In Genesis we can map it out day unto day—God said..and it was..and God saw it. We are the only species of being created in the God-class, the Creative Class of species. Speaking spirits is the term I heard a prophetic minister use once to describe humankind. We have authority uniquely granted to us from the beginning. You may have heard some new age-y folk say something like, “whatever you think about a thing, one way or the other, you are right!”. That’s only an adaptation of a Biblical principle: you have what you say. As a man thinks so is s/he. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Agree with just any old thought that comes into your noggin’ (and you agree with it by saying so with your mouth) and guess what? That thought just came true. Why? Whatever you bind/loose on earth is bound/loosed in heaven. You have what you say. You are the prophet over your own life. You are the deciding witness.

I have a Ministry of Words, especially of His Word. As we near the end of 2008, one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to be even more vigilant over my mouth-gate. My aim is to get more disciplined in The Word, and in speaking the Word only. The outgoing President, George W. Bush, was interviewed recently admitting that he doesn’t really take the Holy Bible “literally”. I disagree. Surely there is plenty of symbolism in the Word of God, and Holy Spirit is The Guide to help us to rightly divide the Word of Truth, to comprehend, to interpret, to apply, accurately. But when God says things in His Word such as “The Blessing of the Lord, it makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”, I believe that, literally.

In fact, here is a confession (Words) of faith along those lines right now: I believe and receive and claim the full manifestation of that by Faith and Grace of God, by the Holy Spirit in the Name of Jesus Christ. So be it.

Amen,

periphery

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