The Prison of Racism
He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes. Acts 17: 26 Weymouth New Testament
Let's continue to examine the concept of prison today. Remember, when we talk about prisons, we are not just talking about literal incarceration. For example, many people, especially blacks still live in a prison of RACISM. Now I do believe that some racism still exists in society, but in many cases, it is simply a mindset of the "victim" of racism. Now I understand that if ten people walked up to you with white hoods and torches, that is more than just mental.
MENTAL RACISM
Much racism is mental! It is a mental prison with the doors of opportunity wide open; however, many are still sitting inside complaining about racial injustice. I believe that we live in a time when we will see the dream of racial equality realized. The big challenge is; How you think or how "they" think. Racism starts with your thinking. Thoughts die unborn if not acted upon. Most racism is mental or in the mind today. It is mainly in the way people think of people of another color. Like one guy said, YOU CAN THINK WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST DON'T TOUCH ME!☺ God made every race from one man (Adam), so he really does not see race. He simply sees humanity as one big family all generated from "one blood." Red, yellow, black or white, we are family! Racism is simply a mental spectator as we spoke of yesterday.
OPRAH IS PROOF
I was honored to be a speaker on a program in Manhattan at the New York Hilton where Stedman Graham (Oprah's significant other) was the keynote speaker. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Graham and chatting with him at my products table. Mr. Graham believes that building effective relationships is the key to success in the 21st century, regardless of your race and gender. What are you doing to build relationships with people of the opposite race? Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week in America. Focus on building relationships with people that are not of your race and your life will be much richer. We tend to just "tolerate" people of the other race but not to build relationships with them because of fear. Any how, Oprah is proof that you can make it to the top regardless of race, as Stedman says. I saw Mr. Graham on Larry King Live recently, and I could not help reminiscing on his powerful presentation in New York.
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
I was a full-time pastor for 10 years in Anchorage, Alaska and many of our guest speakers would comment on how integrated (mixed) our church was. One nationally known speaker said, I believe that you have the most integrated church in America per-capita. WOW, I was not even thinking of how to build an integrated church. I was just involved with loving all people. As a spiritual leader the most important characteristic in your life is "the love walk." We have to many leaders that don't just flat out love people. The are like Hollywood celebrities. Jesus wants us to feed his sheep and not trip on popularity and TV ratings.
ACTING LIKE WHO?
When I started loving all people some of the black spiritual leaders started to take cheap shots at me, even on TV. They would say; he thinks he is white and tries to talk like white people. Has that ever happened to you? You try to use proper English and be professional and people say; you are acting like the WHITE MAN (LOL). If you let that mental spectator, get to you you are toast, you are done! You then try to act black. What a drag. You are just in another prison when you try to "act black or white." As I said in my book; What has happened to you is that negative thoughts and criticism has caused you to revert from the new, improved behavior (speaking more intelligently) back to an old behavior (speaking as you always have). Ruling the negative thoughts that are keeping you down is a must to get out of any mental prison. Self-doubt can't keep you down if you change your thinking from negative to positive. Negative people who have nothing good to say to you will try to keep you down. You can learn to break out of negativity and be happy. I'm going to show you how. You are not limited by your gender, age, race or nationality. You are only limited by negative thoughts, which lead to negative words and impotent actions. You can change your thinking and change your life! Whether you agree with his religious belief's or not, Oprah's significant other, Mr. Stedman Graham, is one terrific individual. He speaks often of how he had to overcome negativity to succeed in life and business. Now let's learn a racial and life lesson from the elephant.
THE BABY ELEPHANT
Many are like the little elephant that as a baby was chained to a stake in the ground (for our lesson, racism is the stake). The stake and chain had a two-hundred-pound capacity, which limited the elephant's freedom to roam about the zoo. The elephant was trained or limited by the environment (the stake and chain). He was "chained and limited or imprisoned" so he quit trying to break free. The problem is that after the elephant was fully grown, weighing over 1000 pounds, he still had that mental limitation of the two-hundred-pound stake and chain. He had been trained by his limitation and his perception had become his reality, when he could have easily broken the limitation with his strength. His weight alone gave him towing capacity to break his limitation.
The prison can create mental limitations that linger long after you have been emancipated! The transition starts in mental transformation. I do not believe that prison automatically makes you a psycho! So stop making excuses if you are an ex-prisoner. STOP NOW! Think
about Joseph who came out stronger than he went in. Prisons do not, in general, make people "crazy". However, for at least some people, prison can produce negative, long-lasting mental chains. Knowing how to turn a negative situation into a positive is a result of knowing how to MAKE LEMONADE. Imprisonment demands it! Racism is simply trained thinking and behavior. It takes guts to break free from racism.
Say it now:
I Feel Happy!
I Feel Healthy!
I Feel Terrific!
PS. Remember to buy the THE LEMONADE PRINCIPLE book... it could make a great gift for an ex-prisoner...
www.obernardsmallscompanies.com
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Mental Spectators +Strongholds of The Mind by Bernard Smalls
Mental Spectators - Strongholds Of The Mind
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, 5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (21st Century King James Version)
Are you a mental prisoner? If you are a prisoner to even a single mental spectator or stronghold that gives you thumbs down when you try to improve yourself, then you will give up on your quest for self-improvement. A mental spectator is like a demon or stronghold of the mind that puts you down every time you try to improve your life. A stronghold is an established way of thinking. Mental spectators stand upon the strongholds, if you would, and declare your limitations when you try to break free and be happy.
Mental Spectators
If you pay attention to mental spectators, your self-concept will remain in the gutter. For example, say that you decide to improve your
vocabulary or the way you talk.
This improvement will help you understand complicated issues and will also give you confidence to talk more professionally at work.
This increased confidence would naturally make you feel better about yourself, and also enhance your job opportunities and increase your
income. So you study a vocabulary book, and you learn new words and terms. But when you try to use one around another person, your
mental spectator stands upon the stronghold of limited thinking, laughs and tells you that you sound phony, "like ignorant trash trying
to sound smart." Or, "like a black person trying to sound white." (I've been there, done that...)
Don't Doubt Yourself!
Instead of controlling your mental spectator, you collapse in a heap at the foot of the stronghold, a vanquished gladiator. Not only
are you in prison, THE PRISON IS NOW IN YOU!!! You are bound! Your opponent-self-doubt stood on the stronghold of negative thinking made one threatening gesture and down you went. You caved in. The dream of self-improvement died. Worst of all, you added strength to your mental spectators and further established their stronghold, because they thrive on your each and every loss, and you go deeper
into bondage. The mind is the arena where this war is fought. You must knock down the stronghold of negative thinking and renew your
mind to positive, productive thoughts.
Say it now:
I Feel Happy!
I Feel Healthy!
I Feel Terrific!
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, 5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (21st Century King James Version)
Are you a mental prisoner? If you are a prisoner to even a single mental spectator or stronghold that gives you thumbs down when you try to improve yourself, then you will give up on your quest for self-improvement. A mental spectator is like a demon or stronghold of the mind that puts you down every time you try to improve your life. A stronghold is an established way of thinking. Mental spectators stand upon the strongholds, if you would, and declare your limitations when you try to break free and be happy.
Mental Spectators
If you pay attention to mental spectators, your self-concept will remain in the gutter. For example, say that you decide to improve your
vocabulary or the way you talk.
This improvement will help you understand complicated issues and will also give you confidence to talk more professionally at work.
This increased confidence would naturally make you feel better about yourself, and also enhance your job opportunities and increase your
income. So you study a vocabulary book, and you learn new words and terms. But when you try to use one around another person, your
mental spectator stands upon the stronghold of limited thinking, laughs and tells you that you sound phony, "like ignorant trash trying
to sound smart." Or, "like a black person trying to sound white." (I've been there, done that...)
Don't Doubt Yourself!
Instead of controlling your mental spectator, you collapse in a heap at the foot of the stronghold, a vanquished gladiator. Not only
are you in prison, THE PRISON IS NOW IN YOU!!! You are bound! Your opponent-self-doubt stood on the stronghold of negative thinking made one threatening gesture and down you went. You caved in. The dream of self-improvement died. Worst of all, you added strength to your mental spectators and further established their stronghold, because they thrive on your each and every loss, and you go deeper
into bondage. The mind is the arena where this war is fought. You must knock down the stronghold of negative thinking and renew your
mind to positive, productive thoughts.
Say it now:
I Feel Happy!
I Feel Healthy!
I Feel Terrific!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
What Happened to Tiger Woods? - The Lemonade Principle
What Happened To Tiger Woods?
Sex And The City!
By Bernard Smalls
10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, "Come on, sleep with me!" Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house. 13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. "Look!" she said. "My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me." Genesis 39: 10-15 (NLT)
Great men and women will always be tempted by the "3 Gs" in this life. Sexual temptation is a huge, huge lemon! The"3 Gs" are; 1) the gold, 2) the glory (pride), and 3) the girls or guys (sex). Tiger Woods, one of the greatest athletes in history is now caught up in an alleged sex scandal. There are many temptations that come with greatness. Sex is often one of them. Have you noticed the kind of women men like Tiger attracts? Man, you better be strong!Stop and think; If you could have sex with some of the most sexy, wealthy and attractive women (or men) in the world, what would you do? I know from personal experience that back in the day, the more popular I became as a professional musician, the more readily available sex was made from a variety of women. Sometimes they would just conveniently show up in the middle of the day when you are just hanging around the house (just keeping it real). Did I always do the right thing? Well, no! I did what my flesh wanted to do, so I am not throwing stones at Mr. Woods. But that was then and this is now...
Joseph did the right thing and so can you. Here is the story paraphrased from my book, The Lemonade Principle.
The Sexual Invitation
On one occasion, when some noble ladies of Egypt had come to see her, she told her maid to give them oranges and sent Joseph in to wait upon them. The women, unable to turn their eyes from Joseph, cut their fingers while peeling the oranges, and when Zelikah asked them the cause, they answered that they could not help looking at Joseph. She then said: "What would you do if, like myself, you had him every day before your eyes?" Zelikah told Joseph that she was ready to kill her husband so that he might marry her legally. Zelikah promised that if he would yield to her, she would embrace his religion and induce all the Egyptians to do the same. She next brought Joseph into her chamber in the inner part of the house and placed him on her bed, over which was the
image of her Egyptian god. Then she covered her face with a veil and invited Joseph to have sex with her.
Happiness = Doing The Right Thing
The net result is that she pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her. One day, when he came to the house to do his work, none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his coat, saying, "Sleep with me!" He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and ran outside, she called to her house servants: "Look - this Hebrew punk shows up and before you know it, he's trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me, but I yelled as loud as I could. (That's the Smalls' paraphrase version☺) Joseph would not compromise. He did the right thing, which made him happier in the long haul. We are always happier when we do the right thing in life.
Rape!!!
She went on to say, "With all my yelling and screaming; he left his coat beside me here and ran outside." She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, "The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, (notice how she made it all his fault, kind of like a poor hiring decision) came after me and tried to use me as his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside." When Joseph's master heard his wife's story, he was furious. He took Joseph and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners were locked up. But there in jail, the head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners - he ended up managing the whole operation. As the old saying goes, "you can't keep a good man down." If you have a great dream. Life will bring you great temptations - just do the right thing! Keep Tiger and his family in your prayers today! He definitely has the opportunity to make lemonade.
Sex And The City!
By Bernard Smalls
10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, "Come on, sleep with me!" Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house. 13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. "Look!" she said. "My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me." Genesis 39: 10-15 (NLT)
Great men and women will always be tempted by the "3 Gs" in this life. Sexual temptation is a huge, huge lemon! The"3 Gs" are; 1) the gold, 2) the glory (pride), and 3) the girls or guys (sex). Tiger Woods, one of the greatest athletes in history is now caught up in an alleged sex scandal. There are many temptations that come with greatness. Sex is often one of them. Have you noticed the kind of women men like Tiger attracts? Man, you better be strong!Stop and think; If you could have sex with some of the most sexy, wealthy and attractive women (or men) in the world, what would you do? I know from personal experience that back in the day, the more popular I became as a professional musician, the more readily available sex was made from a variety of women. Sometimes they would just conveniently show up in the middle of the day when you are just hanging around the house (just keeping it real). Did I always do the right thing? Well, no! I did what my flesh wanted to do, so I am not throwing stones at Mr. Woods. But that was then and this is now...
Joseph did the right thing and so can you. Here is the story paraphrased from my book, The Lemonade Principle.
The Sexual Invitation
On one occasion, when some noble ladies of Egypt had come to see her, she told her maid to give them oranges and sent Joseph in to wait upon them. The women, unable to turn their eyes from Joseph, cut their fingers while peeling the oranges, and when Zelikah asked them the cause, they answered that they could not help looking at Joseph. She then said: "What would you do if, like myself, you had him every day before your eyes?" Zelikah told Joseph that she was ready to kill her husband so that he might marry her legally. Zelikah promised that if he would yield to her, she would embrace his religion and induce all the Egyptians to do the same. She next brought Joseph into her chamber in the inner part of the house and placed him on her bed, over which was the
image of her Egyptian god. Then she covered her face with a veil and invited Joseph to have sex with her.
Happiness = Doing The Right Thing
The net result is that she pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her. One day, when he came to the house to do his work, none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his coat, saying, "Sleep with me!" He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and ran outside, she called to her house servants: "Look - this Hebrew punk shows up and before you know it, he's trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me, but I yelled as loud as I could. (That's the Smalls' paraphrase version☺) Joseph would not compromise. He did the right thing, which made him happier in the long haul. We are always happier when we do the right thing in life.
Rape!!!
She went on to say, "With all my yelling and screaming; he left his coat beside me here and ran outside." She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, "The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, (notice how she made it all his fault, kind of like a poor hiring decision) came after me and tried to use me as his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside." When Joseph's master heard his wife's story, he was furious. He took Joseph and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners were locked up. But there in jail, the head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners - he ended up managing the whole operation. As the old saying goes, "you can't keep a good man down." If you have a great dream. Life will bring you great temptations - just do the right thing! Keep Tiger and his family in your prayers today! He definitely has the opportunity to make lemonade.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Decide to Be Happy! by Bernard Smalls
Decide To Be Happy!
Say continually; "That's Good!"
One who is full despises honey, but to one who is hungry, even bitter food tastes sweet. Proverbs 27: 7 (GOD'S WORD Translation)
Happy people with real life experience understand that the bitter can be made sweeter than the sweet that has never been bitter. The more bitter the bitter, the sweeter the sweet. WOW! What a tongue twister!
Let me illustrate: What's so good about food? Being hungry! If you fast (go without food) for one day, the next morning you will eat anything that does not eat you first! Food is always awesome or better after fasting. The bitterness of hunger makes food taste even better, or should I say sweeter. But, at times, we have all eaten so much that we did not want to see food for a while no matter how good it was.
How About Sex?
How about sex? What's so good about it? Let's not even go there... Psychologists say that if a man is deprived of food and sex (two of the strongest human needs) for any extended period of time, after which both food and sex are offered, he will always eat the food first. However, after wiping his mouth, he will "quickly" ask if the other part of the deal is still on the table. You know what I'm saying; I don't have to paint any pictures.
What's Good About This?
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."
Genesis 41: 39 (NIV)
Joseph learned to get out of his pit of misery and embraced "the lemonade principle." After Joseph was promoted to one of the most powerful positions in the world, he looked back on all of the unhappy situations, realizing that it was all a means to produce much good and preserve many lives. He was only seventeen when life started to hand him some giant-sized lemons. WOW!
Just think of what Joseph must have felt like as a young man going through rejection from his brothers, purpose derailed, the pain of the pit, and the prison of limitations. Through it all, he made lemonade and so can you!
So, I encourage you to look at your unhappy situation and start asking yourself; "What's good about this pit?" Not sarcastically, but objectively. The truth is that life tends to be a bitter, then sweet, experience. Most unhappy people have not accepted that. They expect only good things to happen and make those good things the basis for their happiness. I don't want to burst your bubble, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Even though we tend to not like the tests and trials we go through, we grow through them and good often is the net result and life is better and richer, if we learn to make lemonade. Decide To Be Happy! Here is how; No matter what happens today, ask yourself; "What's good about this?" Then look for the good in the bitter situation and say; "That's good!"
Make Lemonade Recipe
This week I want you to really apply the lesson by making some real lemonade. I have included 5 Be Happy Lemonade Recipes in my book. While you drink it, close your eyes and thank God for turning your bitter into sweet! Do this! HAVE SOME FUN! Try these recipes, relax and enjoy the process.
Pink Lemonade
INGREDIENTS:
· 2 cups sugar
· 9 cups water
· 2 cups lemon juice
· 1 cup cranberry juice
PREPARATION: Mix everything in a pitcher and stir until dissolved.
Serve lemonade over ice.
LEMONADE IS GOOD!
Say: I Feel Happy! I Feel Healthy! I Feel Terrific!
Say continually; "That's Good!"
One who is full despises honey, but to one who is hungry, even bitter food tastes sweet. Proverbs 27: 7 (GOD'S WORD Translation)
Happy people with real life experience understand that the bitter can be made sweeter than the sweet that has never been bitter. The more bitter the bitter, the sweeter the sweet. WOW! What a tongue twister!
Let me illustrate: What's so good about food? Being hungry! If you fast (go without food) for one day, the next morning you will eat anything that does not eat you first! Food is always awesome or better after fasting. The bitterness of hunger makes food taste even better, or should I say sweeter. But, at times, we have all eaten so much that we did not want to see food for a while no matter how good it was.
How About Sex?
How about sex? What's so good about it? Let's not even go there... Psychologists say that if a man is deprived of food and sex (two of the strongest human needs) for any extended period of time, after which both food and sex are offered, he will always eat the food first. However, after wiping his mouth, he will "quickly" ask if the other part of the deal is still on the table. You know what I'm saying; I don't have to paint any pictures.
What's Good About This?
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."
Genesis 41: 39 (NIV)
Joseph learned to get out of his pit of misery and embraced "the lemonade principle." After Joseph was promoted to one of the most powerful positions in the world, he looked back on all of the unhappy situations, realizing that it was all a means to produce much good and preserve many lives. He was only seventeen when life started to hand him some giant-sized lemons. WOW!
Just think of what Joseph must have felt like as a young man going through rejection from his brothers, purpose derailed, the pain of the pit, and the prison of limitations. Through it all, he made lemonade and so can you!
So, I encourage you to look at your unhappy situation and start asking yourself; "What's good about this pit?" Not sarcastically, but objectively. The truth is that life tends to be a bitter, then sweet, experience. Most unhappy people have not accepted that. They expect only good things to happen and make those good things the basis for their happiness. I don't want to burst your bubble, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Even though we tend to not like the tests and trials we go through, we grow through them and good often is the net result and life is better and richer, if we learn to make lemonade. Decide To Be Happy! Here is how; No matter what happens today, ask yourself; "What's good about this?" Then look for the good in the bitter situation and say; "That's good!"
Make Lemonade Recipe
This week I want you to really apply the lesson by making some real lemonade. I have included 5 Be Happy Lemonade Recipes in my book. While you drink it, close your eyes and thank God for turning your bitter into sweet! Do this! HAVE SOME FUN! Try these recipes, relax and enjoy the process.
Pink Lemonade
INGREDIENTS:
· 2 cups sugar
· 9 cups water
· 2 cups lemon juice
· 1 cup cranberry juice
PREPARATION: Mix everything in a pitcher and stir until dissolved.
Serve lemonade over ice.
LEMONADE IS GOOD!
Say: I Feel Happy! I Feel Healthy! I Feel Terrific!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Speak & Succeed! NOW!
Today's Lesson:
Lesson 37 ABCs of FAITH
Faith "Says" the Answer
Dad Hagin says; "Real faith in the Word says that if God says it is so, then it's so." If He says that "by whose stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24), then we are healed. If He says that, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19), then He does it. If the Word says, "The Lord is the strength of my life" (Psalm 27:1), then He is.
FAITH SPEAKS THE WORD ONLY!
In other words, real faith in God simply says about one's self what the Word says. We have what the Word says we have. We are what the Word says we are. If God says we are strong, then we are. If He says we are healed, then we are. If He says He cares for me, then He does.
Hebrews 4:14
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
SAYING THE SAME THING
Because Jesus is our High Priest and sits at the right hand of God in heaven, making intercession for us, we can have the answers to our petitions right now. In looking up the Greek word that is here translated "profession," I learned that it should read, "Let us hold fast to saying the same things." Jesus is in heaven, representing us at the throne of God. He is saying, "I took their place, I died for them as their substitute." Jesus didn't die for Himself. He didn't need to redeem Himself because He wasn't lost. He died for us. He became our substitute, He took our sins, He bare our sicknesses and carried our diseases. He died for us, arose from the dead for us, and ascended on high for us. He is up there now saying, "I did that for them," and we are to hold fast to saying the same things down here.
Mark 11:23
23 Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
FAITH MUST BE RELEASED!
It isn't just a matter of faith going out of your heart toward God, without your saying anything. That won't work. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that. Faith, kept only in your heart, will never bring healing to your body or the distributing of the Holy Spirit, or an answer to prayer. But faith in your heart, released through your lips, will bring results.
Lesson 37 ABCs of FAITH
Faith "Says" the Answer
Dad Hagin says; "Real faith in the Word says that if God says it is so, then it's so." If He says that "by whose stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24), then we are healed. If He says that, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19), then He does it. If the Word says, "The Lord is the strength of my life" (Psalm 27:1), then He is.
FAITH SPEAKS THE WORD ONLY!
In other words, real faith in God simply says about one's self what the Word says. We have what the Word says we have. We are what the Word says we are. If God says we are strong, then we are. If He says we are healed, then we are. If He says He cares for me, then He does.
Hebrews 4:14
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
SAYING THE SAME THING
Because Jesus is our High Priest and sits at the right hand of God in heaven, making intercession for us, we can have the answers to our petitions right now. In looking up the Greek word that is here translated "profession," I learned that it should read, "Let us hold fast to saying the same things." Jesus is in heaven, representing us at the throne of God. He is saying, "I took their place, I died for them as their substitute." Jesus didn't die for Himself. He didn't need to redeem Himself because He wasn't lost. He died for us. He became our substitute, He took our sins, He bare our sicknesses and carried our diseases. He died for us, arose from the dead for us, and ascended on high for us. He is up there now saying, "I did that for them," and we are to hold fast to saying the same things down here.
Mark 11:23
23 Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
FAITH MUST BE RELEASED!
It isn't just a matter of faith going out of your heart toward God, without your saying anything. That won't work. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that. Faith, kept only in your heart, will never bring healing to your body or the distributing of the Holy Spirit, or an answer to prayer. But faith in your heart, released through your lips, will bring results.
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