A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day – June 19, 2019
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)
The Scripture tells us in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The principle is this: What you hear goes into your mind. If you meditate and dwell on it, it goes into your heart. Then from your heart, it goes to your mouth. When you speak your heart, you hear your heart. If the Word is what is in your heart, the result is increased faith because you hear the Word. The fact that it is your mouth speaking what you hear is irrelevant. The Word produces faith regardless of the mouth speaking it.
How do you get rid of the doubt that is already lodged in your heart from years of unbelief? Doubt leaves when the Word becomes a way of life. In with the Word – out with the doubt. The only way you’re going to have depth of belief and great faith is to confess God’s Word all the time.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
If you want to be able to tell your mountains – “be removed and be cast into the sea” – then confessing the Word will have to become your lifestyle. That’s why I get up in the morning and plead the blood of Jesus over my household. I thank God that my household is delivered. I thank God that my children are going to be safe throughout the day. I thank God that His Word rules supreme in my house. I do this on a daily basis, and you can too. Don’t wait until you have a crisis to start pleading the blood and speaking the Word.
One of my favorite illustrations involves a puny little guy who meets the big, muscle-bound man in the alley at midnight. “Give me your money!” says the big bully. At this point, the puny little guy doesn’t have time to go home, join a health club, work out, build up his muscles, come back and fight the bully. The bully is not going to let him do that! Waiting to prepare until the day of the fight is foolishness and laughable.
However, many Christians live their spiritual lives that way. They wait until the devil (the bully) meets them in the ally at midnight (an unexpected time and place) and they attempt to fast, pray, read the Word, build up their faith and plead the blood in order to keep from being destroyed. The problem is, they are not doing it in faith. They are doing it in desperation as a result of fear from the attack.
A great man of God preached a sermon called “You Can’t Teach a Drowning Man to Swim.” God’s plan is for us to daily renew our minds and to daily build our faith through the Word and to daily plead the blood of Jesus for our protection. Waiting until there is a crisis is foolish.
We need to take in the Word of God on a daily basis. When the devil jumps in our path and gets nose to nose with us, we can say, “Move out of my way, Satan. There’s no place for you here. Be gone in the name of Jesus. I do not accept this disaster in my life. I don’t accept it, because God is my Deliverer.” But if you don’t have the Word of God constantly in your heart, when the devil jumps in your path, you may say, “Get out of my path,” but deep down inside you’re saying, “I know you won’t. It works for my pastor, but it’s not going to work for me.” It will work for you if you’ve been exercising in the Word on a daily basis. The time to start is now because the promises of God are for you!
