“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,
‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak,
knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus,
and will present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many,
may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing,
yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
People that have FAITH do NOT lose heart. People who have nothing to believe for, they lose heart very easily. He said, because of “what is written,” we believe, therefore, we speak. The release of faith ONLY comes when what you BELIEVE comes out of your MOUTH. We believe, therefore we speak.
Most people don’t speak what they believe. They speak what they feel. Now, here’s the problem with that. WORDS have eternal effect. Words have long-lasting effect. Feelings come and go. And we say long-lasting things out of short-term feelings. God made you to have feelings, and feelings are powerful, and it would be terrible never to have experienced them. However, He NEVER intended feelings to govern you. And too many people are governed by their feelings.
They govern whether or not they praise God, by whether or not they FEEL like praising God.
We believe, therefore we speak. That’s what makes faith people look crazy. There in comes the ridicule that we have. We get ridiculed because we look like we’re out of touch with reality. What you have to understand is, that Faith is GREATER than reality, because FAITH has the POWER to change reality.
And most of us speak what we’re going through, INSTEAD of speaking what we BELIEVE. And what you’re supposed to do is TAKE what you believe and speak it to CHANGE what you’re going through. That’s what makes you look crazy.
When your body is in so much pain and/or you have a high fever, and you’re walking around saying, “I know I’m healed.” Well, to a person, you look foolish and out of touch with reality, and they say “You’re sick,” but you say, “No, I’m healed!” WHY? Because I’m not speaking my pain/fever. I’m speaking what the WORD says. I believe “according to what is written… therefore, I speak.”
Your words are locking your feelings into a long-term cycle. Life goes through changes and cycles and you don’t let any of the feelings that come with those seasons govern what you say and what you do.
You live according to what you BELIEVE and the FAITH that you have (which makes you look out of touch with reality to other people).
You SPEAK your FAITH. And then when you speak it, you give LIFE to that thing you just said.
We do not lose heart. Just say, “This thing will NOT have me. This situation will not last.”
Ron Carpenter, Redemption World Outreach Church