A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Chris Musgrove of Future Now)
Scripture for the Day (April 20,2018)
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach). (Romans 10:8)
I believe that many times the Word is in your mouth before it’s in your heart. That’s the power of confession. I’m not talking about confessing sin which is only one side of confession. The Bible speaks of Christians confessing their sins in I John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And again in James 5:16: Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. That’s just one side of confession.
Today, we are looking at the flip side of confession, like when someone confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. That kind of confession, mixed with believing, causes something to happen on the inside of you. We call that happening “the new birth.” Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Somebody said they didn’t believe in that confession stuff. Well, if you don’t believe in confessing something with your mouth, you can’t even be born again according to Romans 10:9-10. Hebrews 10:23 tells us: Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).
Many times I hear people confessing one thing but doing another. It’s in their mouth, but it’s not in their heart. But once it gets down in their heart, that’s another story. Matthew 12:34 says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” It’s kind of like when you were young and wanted to learn your multiplication tables by heart. You had to say them over and over again until you committed them to memory.
Job 22:28 says, “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you;….” What you say out of your mouth aren’t just words, they are thought containers. They can carry life or they can carry death. Proverbs 18:21 in the Message Bible says, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.”
Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”
Hearing the Word of God is what brings faith (Romans 10:17). That hearing doesn’t necessarily have to be from another source. It can be from your own confession. So hold fast to your confession of the Word of God until it gets in your heart. If you’ll begin to say what God says, you’ll begin to believe what He says, and do what He says to do.
