1169 - Speak What You Believe#
1169 - Speak What You Believe
(JP Text Group - Organized by Life Like an Eagle)
Matthew 13:19-23:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! This is the moment when the Holy Spirit is with us, and it is also the moment for us to receive Your blessings! Through Your words, grant us faith and strength. We are willing to first understand Your words, and we will surely bear fruit. We completely dedicate the time below to You, bless everyone who comes to seek You, so that we all may receive. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!
Correct belief is the most important.
Many people, after encountering problems, say, "Lord, why don't You listen to my prayers? What do I still need to correct?"
In fact, their problem is that they believe incorrectly! Even when you do something wrong, the Bible never says that He will not listen to your prayers! Under grace, God will no longer remember our sins, nor will He ignore every one of our prayers.
Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." The first thing the devil wants to steal is not your health, not your relationships, and not your finances, but the word of God. After he steals the word of God from your heart, your faith will be gone.
Today, when you leave the church, if you haven't stored God's words in your heart and thought about them often, you might forget them quickly. You might feel that what was said was really good at the time, but when you get home, you won't remember anything. Unless we listen, keep it in our hearts, meditate on it repeatedly, and are willing to use what we have received this week, we can experience God's great power.
If the devil steals the true word from people's hearts, you will be surprised to find that in life, these people often complain about God and even doubt whether God exists! If such things happen, please make sure to listen to sermon recordings more, so that our hearts are filled with God's words. The Holy Spirit will guide you to experience Him and testify to His words.
If a person's heart has not had God's words for a long time, they will be unwilling to listen to the word anymore. After the devil takes your word away, he will surely put some wrong thoughts in there, and people will feel that listening to the word is useless, that believing in the Lord makes no difference, and that going to church doesn't matter... The fundamental reason for these problems is the lack of God's words in their hearts.
The Bible tells us to hold fast to what you believe. How do you demolish the devil's stronghold?
Correct belief means you need to speak what you believe.
Share the first point: Speak what you believe, and faith will take effect.
2 Corinthians 4:13: Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.
How does faith operate? You need to speak what you believe with your mouth. When you speak what you believe, faith begins to take effect. But you cannot say the opposite; many people say, "Today is a terrible day! I'm so annoyed today; I have to go to work again." When you say this, you are expressing what you believe!
Do you want your day to be that terrible?
Some people say, "Next week will definitely be worse than this week! Work will be even harder!" What you are saying now is exactly what you believe. Brothers and sisters, if you believe that next week will be a week full of blessings, you need to speak it out. You believe and then speak it out; this is the first point that needs to change for Christians.
For many years, the church has been teaching us to have a correct life and character. We must have good behavior. As Christians, we need to learn obedience. We do not oppose these; we indeed need to do these, but the question is, where does the power come from?
If a person's heart does not have God's word, and the word is on the roadside, already taken away by the devil, people have no strength to live out the good behavior that God desires. Because there is no seed inside.
Under the Old Testament law, God's requirement was that you must do this and that to be blessed. But people have no strength to do these things!
Jesus Christ came to the world, and after He died on the cross for us, all of us can live by faith in Him. When we see what Christ has done, we are loved. We receive love and strength from Him, and thus, faith takes effect.
So every time you get up in the morning, how should you believe? As Christ is, so am I in this world. When your belief is correct, you will say, "In God's eyes, I am righteous. I believe that today I am blessed by God. I believe that I am pleasing to God."
The seed sown on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it, and later produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.
When the word is understood in people's hearts, they know what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can receive His power and continuously bear fruit.
God's grace is a gift; you can receive God's blessings not because of what you have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for you! This gives us the authority to receive blessings from the kingdom of heaven every day, which has nothing to do with our behavior, lest anyone boast. This is unrelated to our achievements or performance because it is a gift. Believe that I am righteous, and therefore I receive this blessing that comes from righteousness.
You should believe this and must speak it out. When you say it this way, faith will take effect.
In Romans 3:21-22, it mentions some things. Let’s read together from verse 20 to 24, and then we will discuss it in detail.
20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify: 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, what does "apart from the law" refer to? A person came who is called Jesus Christ. You can understand that apart from the law, the righteousness of God is revealed through the work accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross, and there are past laws and prophets as witnesses.
Today, you can receive God's righteousness because Jesus Christ has given you His righteousness, given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, Amen!
Under the Old Testament law, you had to obey the Ten Commandments to receive God's blessings. If you disobeyed, what would be the result? The latter part of Deuteronomy 28 records that curses will come upon those who are disobedient.
But today we are different; God's righteousness is revealed apart from the law, in Jesus Christ, so that today we are all justified freely through Jesus Christ, because no one can fulfill the law. Therefore, God sent His only begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and then He gave us the righteousness of Jesus as a gift. What does this mean? It means that you do not have to wait until you are completely obedient or have good behavior before God blesses you. Today, you can receive God's blessings entirely by God's grace.
Verse 23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
All people sin and do not deserve God's grace and blessings. But because of Christ's redemption, He has paid the price for our sins. God's grace has come upon us because of Jesus.
Verse 24 says: And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
If today you say, "I have sinned again, God has distanced Himself from me, and He has started to discipline me and curse me." Thinking this way means you are trying to receive God's blessings based on your behavior, and that is where the problem lies. This is like the first type of soil, where the word in the heart has already been taken away by the evil one.
How does Romans 4 begin? What does it say? What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
What is the flesh? Verse 2 says: If Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
From the context, we can understand that "flesh" here refers to self-effort; the flesh does not necessarily represent sinful desires. Sinful desires are the actions of the flesh, while the flesh symbolizes self-effort. The Old Testament records that in Exodus 19, all the Israelites gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai, and at that time they said to God, "Whatever You command us, we can do it!" This is the flesh of man, also called self-effort. Because at that time they did not know how great their abilities were, they did not know how deep their sins were. The Israelites fell into the situation of self-effort, often complaining and failing.
These external manifestations are the fruits produced by the word believed in the heart. The Israelites saw the environment and fell and became weak because the word was choked and could not endure or bear fruit.
When a person falls into the flesh, the fruits they produce will definitely be of the flesh. The Bible tells us what the fruits of the flesh are: jealousy, strife, anger, impatience, irritability, fornication, and debauchery. When the Israelites were just boasting, saying, "Whatever You command us, we can do it," what did they do afterward? They worshiped the golden calf.
Do you see? When a person does things according to the flesh, following God's words through self-effort, the fruits they produce will definitely be fruits of lust.
Many people try to control their temper, control their anger, or work hard to solve their problems. For example, a person filled with alcohol tries hard to quit drinking and smoking, but they find that the harder they try, the more they fail. The fruits produced by the fleshly desires are the same. Attacking these fruits is useless; what you need to do is remove the root and find out where the source is.
For example, when you see a tree, a normal tree, its leaves are green in this season. When you see the leaves on the tree turning yellow, if you cut off the yellow leaves, the other leaves will continue to turn yellow because the problem is not with the leaves; the problem is with the roots. Amen!
Brothers and sisters, many times when you see a person with external problems, it is not their behavior that is the problem, but the desires in their hearts that are causing trouble. What Jesus tells us is that originally the word of God inside you has been stolen. When the word of God is taken away, what remains is only the flesh. Therefore, when you rely on yourself to do things, the fruits you produce will be the fruits of lust. When a person tries very hard to change all of this, they ultimately still fall into it. The key is to solve the problem at the root; the source of lust and the flesh is self-effort.
But Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." This means that if you are carrying a heavy burden and trying hard to move forward, Jesus says, "Don't do that anymore. Don't rely on your efforts. Bring your burdens to me, and I will give you rest." At this point, you will realize that your problem is here; you need to give up your own efforts and rely on the power of Jesus Christ, and the problem will be solved.
People always try to obtain what they already have through their behavior and efforts.
How did the devil deceive Adam? He said, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil..."
Brothers and sisters, Adam was created in the image of God from the beginning. He was already in the image of God, but the devil deceived him into thinking that if he ate this, he could become like God.
Just like today, someone tells you, "Work hard, do good deeds! Only then can you be like a person." At this point, you should say, "Even if I don't work hard, even if I don't do good deeds, I am still a person!" Because you already have that identity. This is the devil's trick; he gives you a false impression, making you believe that you should give up what you originally have and then achieve it through your efforts. When you believe incorrectly, what you express will be wrong. If you believe correctly, what comes out of your mouth will be correct.
The same problem occurs when someone says, "This is really terrible!" and another says, "Thank God!" Just like before, someone conducted an experiment. In front of them was a cup with half water; when someone saw this half cup of water, they said, "Why is it only half a cup?" and began to complain. Another person saw the water and said, "There is still half a cup of water; that's great!"
It is the same problem; some complain, while others are grateful. Because what they believe is different. What they express with their mouths is exactly what they believe in their hearts. I wish for you to believe God's words, and what comes out of your mouth will be the fruits of the Holy Spirit: joy, gentleness, love. Such fruits will come out from within you. First, change our hearts, and your behavior, this fruit will naturally grow. Just like the tree that was about to die; solve the root problem, and you won't need to worry about the leaves; they will grow back normally.
You are a child of God, a co-heir with Jesus Christ; you are a new creation; the old has passed away; everything has become new. Amen! Believe that Jesus Christ has saved you from the curse of the law; the blessings of Abraham have come upon you. Amen!
We have talked many times about the blessings of Abraham. He has two blessings: one is heavenly blessings, and the other is earthly blessings. The earthly blessings we can see; the Bible says that Abraham had a lot of gold, silver, and livestock. This is what we can see. There are also heavenly blessings that you can see through your spiritual eyes; everyone who believes in Jesus Christ is a descendant of Abraham. In fact, you already have the blessings of Abraham, so you need to speak out what you have heard and believed. Amen!
Brothers and sisters, the Bible records a story. A very young Lazarus died, and at that time, Jesus went to see Lazarus with the crowd. When they arrived at the tomb, many people were crying, saying, "He died so young; what a pity! How will this family go on?"
When Jesus saw that the people were crying, He also wept. Brothers and sisters, if Jesus kept crying, could Lazarus be resurrected? Jesus made an important move and called out loudly, "Lazarus, come out!" When He spoke these words, Lazarus came out! Then Jesus said, "Unbind him and let him go!" (Because his grave clothes were still on him, Jesus said to unbind him and let him go.)
Do you see? When Jesus believed in His heart, this thing was accomplished. Brothers and sisters, this is what Jesus believed in His heart. Today, you believe many of God's words, but if you only keep them in your heart, you need to speak them out; at this moment, faith can take effect.
Let us share the second point: Start changing from your mouth, and then your behavior will change.
Romans 4:4-8
Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation; however, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from the works: "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them."
Here it mentions that just as David speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. "Apart from works" refers to the grace of Christ. In other words, it is not by your works that you are credited as righteous; such a person is blessed. Because by works, no one can receive all of God's blessings.
Verse 7: "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered."
This shows that this person has shortcomings and weaknesses, but God does not count them as sinful.
I checked the original Greek text, and it is more direct; let me read it: Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them. This means that this person has many sins, but God does not count their sins, and therefore this person is blessed.
Let’s think about it: Did God suddenly change His mind one day and lower His standard of righteousness? Although people have sinned, does God ignore people's sins? No.
At any time, God will never lower His standard of righteousness. God does not attribute sin to you not because you no longer sin, but because He has attributed all your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God is a holy God, an absolutely righteous God, a perfect God. He cannot treat the guilty as innocent, nor can He treat the innocent as guilty.
Many Christians claim they believe in God's grace, but when you tell them that today God no longer remembers your sins because your sins have all been attributed to Jesus on the cross, they say, "It's impossible; how can it all be attributed to Him? There must be some left; otherwise, how can our behavior change?" You can be saved by faith, but to change your behavior, you still have to rely on the law to achieve it.
But what was just said? "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven," meaning their "transgressions," God has already not counted as sinful; this person is blessed! Amen! Therefore, the one credited as righteous apart from works is blessed. It has nothing to do with your behavior. God sees you through Jesus. He sees you as blessed.
Some say, "If you say this, can we sin at will? Therefore, we must use the law to ensure good behavior." In fact, the reason people say this is that they do not understand what grace is.
When a person's heart has good seeds, which are God's words, and is willing to live in obedience to these words, this seed will grow and bear fruit. It will definitely bear good fruit! This is the power of grace!
Such people often say, "Isn't good behavior necessary? Haven't you read the book of James? James says that faith without works is dead, and God says that if faith has no works, you are dead."
They understand this "death" as being unsaved. These people always say, "Don't think about always receiving from God; you have to do something." We see that the verses they refer to are:
James 2:21-24:
21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
Isn't what James believes in conflict with what Paul believes? James says that not only must you believe, but you must also have good behavior. You must be justified by works!
But what did Romans 4:2 just say? If Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
Aren't these two sentences similar? Only the conclusions are completely different. The conclusion is that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. Paul tells us that Abraham's justification is entirely by God's grace and has nothing to do with his works! Is there a contradiction?
So how can there be contradictions in the Bible? In the Middle Ages, a theologian named Martin said that the book of James should not exist in the Bible because this book tells people to be justified by works. If this book were removed, there would be no controversy.
But does what James writes conflict with what Paul says? Many people do not understand; it seems that they are contradictory. Let's look at the context.
James 2:21: Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
When did Abraham offer his son on the altar? At that time, Isaac was about fifteen years old. When was Abraham justified by God?
Genesis 12:1-2: The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing."
Abraham believed God and left home. Later, in Genesis 15, one night, because he had no children, Abraham might have been a bit weak. God said, "Abraham, come out. Do you see the stars in the sky? Count the stars. If you can count them, your offspring will be as numerous as the stars!" Abraham began to count, one, two, three, four, five, six... he could not count them all. God said, "Your offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky."
The Bible in Genesis 15:6 says, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." At that time, there was no Isaac.
Abraham was about seventy-five years old when he left Haran and one hundred years old when he had Isaac; twenty-five years had already passed. Even if Isaac was about fifteen at that time, it had been nearly forty years. Forty years ago, Abraham had already been justified; forty years later, he offered Isaac.
Therefore, this issue is not difficult to understand; the earlier mention is that Abraham was justified before God! But at that time, how was Abraham's behavior? It was not very good; his faith was small.
Genesis 12:11-13:
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
Abraham lied; if we had met him at that time, we would have said, "You are still a believer; why are you lying?"
At that time, Abraham's behavior was not good, but God did not say, "Abraham, because you lied, I will no longer call you righteous." God called Abraham righteous, and from that time on, he was always considered righteous. His behavior did not change much. So what Paul talks about regarding justification by faith is justification before God. But before people, Abraham did not live out good behavior to glorify the Lord.
Forty years later, when he offered Isaac on the altar, he was justified before people. He became an example for all of us who believe in the Lord. His faith is worth learning from.
Today, you are justified by God not because of what you have done, but because you have believed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, you are called righteous. But after you become righteous, will your behavior change instantly? No. The change in behavior requires a process. This process is that as we continually recognize God's grace, we are guided and renewed by God's grace. The fruits of good behavior will slowly emerge.
James emphasizes the fruits, which means having good behavior before people.
James 2:14-17:
My brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds, can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
What this person says is entirely correct. But this person seems to have no compassion. Even so, in God's eyes, he is still a righteous person; it is just that his behavior cannot justify him before people, meaning that his behavior does not bring edification and benefit to others.
Abraham was justified before people forty years after believing in the Lord.
We who believe in Jesus Christ are new creations; we should imitate Jesus Christ. What should we imitate? Not striving to become righteous; you already are. What you need to imitate is the pattern of Christ, living out good behavior before people.
When Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar, his behavior was justified.
Genesis 22:11-12:
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
At that time, God said to Abraham, "Take your beloved only son Isaac and go to the mountain and offer him as a burnt offering to me!" What did Abraham do? He obeyed God's words. At this moment, his behavior was justified; this is the fruit of faith and patience.
James 2:21-23:
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend.
What does "made complete" mean? The original meaning is that it had an effect. When God's words are placed here, how can you truly believe His words? When your behavior aligns with God's words, at that moment, your behavior is justified.
For example, brothers and sisters who come to this gathering today, your behavior is justified because the Bible tells us not to stop gathering! Amen! If you know that the day is approaching, you should encourage one another even more!
You must not stop gathering.
So you believe that in these last days, you should not stop gathering, so you came. You are practicing God's words. You believe God's words and put them into action; this is called being justified by works. Amen!
Verse 23 says: This fulfills what the scripture says: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
What he fulfilled is not something else; he fulfilled "faith." He believed, he spoke it out, and he acted on it. You see, at that time, Abraham believed in his heart that God would let his son die and be resurrected; this has already been mentioned in Romans. Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead to life and calls things that are not as though they were. He believed that even if he offered his son on the altar, God would raise him from the dead.
He had already believed God's words and then spoke words of faith. Abraham said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." He knew he was going to offer his son, but he said, "We will go up and we will come back!"
That mountain was later called Jehovah Jireh—God will provide! Today many of us say, "God will provide, God will provide!"
First believe, then speak it out, and then act according to what you believe. You will be justified by works, and you will come into this blessing. Amen!
The Bible will absolutely not contradict itself. We see that Abraham offered Isaac, and we call this a "great act of faith." But many people misuse these verses to test brothers and sisters, which is not good and can cause people to stumble.
In the past, a pastor asked his followers, specifically targeting sisters, "If God were to ask you to offer your son now, would you do it?" The sister said, "I can't do it."
This question should never be asked; it is testing her faith because she does not have that faith, and God would not ask her to do that. Amen! Sisters, don't worry; I won't ask you that.
God knows Abraham's faith, so because of this matter, his behavior became an example for us today, but it does not mean that every person needs to offer their son to God. What we imitate is Abraham's complete faith in God.
You also need to believe that God will have abundant provisions for you this week! Hallelujah!
Proverbs 18:20-21:
From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Some say, "I am a new creation in Christ." But the next day they say, "Look at how unfortunate I am! Believing in Jesus doesn't help!"
What we say is very important. If we often speak words of praise, the effects of praise will fill our stomachs. What the mouth speaks will surely satisfy. Simply put, what a person often says will cause things to develop in that direction. They will eat the fruit produced by their own mouth.
A few days ago, a sister gave me a testimony. Now she says she works in sales, and currently, this industry in that city is not doing well. But how did she do it?
Every day when she goes out to do business, she brings her phone, listens to sermon recordings, and prays in tongues. The people in her company do not understand her and even talk about her behind her back!
A few days ago, she testified to me that the people around her do not understand her and think she is incredible, but there is one thing they all see: no one’s performance can compare to mine; God blesses me continuously every day, so I am happy, and I am willing to sing this way; I am willing to live this way!
Brothers and sisters, speak out what you believe, thank the Lord! We declare the blessings that Christ has exchanged for us on the cross. We believe that Christ loves me and gave Himself for me. We declare the blessings He has accomplished. Because that is what Jesus has given us!
Our righteousness is something we do not deserve, but Jesus gives it to us as a gift. Previously, we were in poverty, but today I declare: I am prosperous in Jesus Christ. I believe the Father will bless the work of my hands! Making me prosper in all things.
If others are unwilling to believe this, then let them be. But you should believe this way because I want you to see such blessings come upon you.
We do not misuse grace; understanding grace does not lead to indulgence. Because when a person's heart believes correctly, we believe that God's word has power and will surely bear fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold. We are merely speaking the results by faith.
When a person is filled with the words of Jesus Christ every day, they will live out the pattern of Christ. Such a person has tasted the goodness of Christ and is unwilling to sin.
You continuously receive love and blessings from God every day. You will live a life of love. Just like you do for your children at home, you prepare delicious and nutritious food for them every day; isn't that a manifestation of your love for them? How can you then say you hate them and hope they get sick? Isn't that contradictory? A spring cannot produce two kinds of water. You must believe that when your heart is filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ—the Holy Spirit—the fruits you produce will surely be the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Earlier we mentioned that many fruits of the flesh are due to the desires in the heart, so when filled with desires, the fruits produced will be lustful. The problem is not with the fruits but with the roots. When a tree's roots are rotten, the fruits produced will be bad fruits. Once you remove the root problem, it will produce good fruits.
Do you know? This root is our belief. Today, if you still believe that when your behavior is not good, God will distance Himself from you and discipline you with sickness, and various disasters will come upon you, the more you think about it, the more afraid you become. Will you still want to draw near to God? You won't.
In fact, the Bible tells us that God is love. Even when your behavior is not good, God still loves you; even when you fail, God still loves you. At this moment, when a person fails, what do they think? They think, "God still loves me," so this strength will make them willing to come before God to pray.
Believe correctly, declare correctly, and you will have correct behavior! We hope that everyone relies on God in everything. We want people to know that today, no matter what situation you are in, God loves you and does not judge you based on your behavior. You need to speak out what you believe; open your mouth and praise our Lord!
When people hear words of faith, receive them, and their behavior will change accordingly.
Once, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and asked Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. What do you say we should do?" They had stones in their hands, ready to throw them, and asked Jesus what to do.
This woman had lived under the law. Did she know the law? Yes. Why did she know the law but still do this? Did she not know the consequences? She knew, but she could not do it; she had her own weaknesses and shortcomings.
Brothers and sisters, the law cannot change your behavior! Even if you tell people the consequences of violating the law, they will still violate it. When this woman came before Jesus, how did Jesus change her behavior?
Jesus said to those who were self-righteous, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Because they all knew they were sinners.
God's law makes each of you aware of your sin. But the law cannot give people the strength to overcome sin.
After these people left, Jesus asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
What does Jesus mean? Jesus is not saying she did not sin; His meaning is simple: "In a little while, I will die for your sins."
Because Jesus' words of not condemning her showed this woman Jesus' love, so when she stood up and went back, her behavior changed! It was precisely such words of grace that caused her to change completely.
Now let each of us raise our hands and make a simple declaration. You can say it with me; you need to know that what you declare is what you believe. I wish for you to sincerely declare with me:
Heavenly Father, I thank and praise You! You sent Jesus to the cross to die for all my sins. He has suffered for all my sins, and because He has been condemned, You no longer condemn me. He took my place, and I took His place. I am justified apart from the law; because of the grace of Jesus Christ, the blessings of Abraham are upon me today. Thank You, Heavenly Father! In the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, I especially thank and praise You! You love us so much that You sent Your only Son into this world to die for my sins and pay the price for my transgressions. I have been justified by You!
I believe I am a blessed person. I believe this week will be a week full of grace. I walk in Your grace, and the doors of opportunity will be opened to me. You will bless the work of my hands, and I will also become a blessing to others.
By the stripes that Jesus bore for me, I declare that my body is healthy, and I am protected by God. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for such provision. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!
Thank and praise the Lord, Hallelujah!