Jim Martin Ministries/Grace Ministries International
4184 East Patterson Dayton, OHIO 45430
© 2001 - All Rights Reserved
www.jmmgrace.com

Dear Friends,

In all my years of being raised in church, I do not recall ever hearing anyone teach on the power of confession. In fact, I have no doubt that many of the people in our church would have been somewhat leery of ministers referred to as “faith and confession” preachers.

It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties when I began attending a “Full Gospel” church that I began to hear sermons about how confession impacts our lives as Christians. Those messages were tremendously exciting and I felt as though I had discovered a buried treasure of incredible wealth. It was like I had walked into another dimension of salvation that would take me closer to the Lord.

The term “faith and confession” almost became like a mantra to many of us in Full Gospel circles. We immersed ourselves in the teachings of our “word of faith” heroes and tried to form our lives according to what we heard.

Sadly, many people took the truth of the faith and confession message and turned it into a foolish extreme: naming and claming people as their spouse, even if that other person was already married to someone else; confessing for incredible wealth, yet being too lazy to look for a job; believing God for healing in their bodies, yet refusing to stop the behavior that led to the problem in the first place. Adding to the confusion is the number of preachers delivering terribly imbalanced sermons on faith.

Because of the unscriptural and irrational teachings and actions of so many misguided ministers and Believers, a great number of Christians have been thoroughly put off by anything identified with the faith and confession message. The problem with this is that we can never get away from what Jesus said in Mark 11:23,

For verily I say unto you, That 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.   

The error has come in because so many people have failed to realize that the confession Jesus was speaking of has to line up with God’s word and His will for a person’s life. God will never stand in agreement with a confession that is outside His word and His will for our lives.

The principle of confessing God’s will to see results has been forever established in Genesis chapter one. Every time God “said,” there was a literal manifestation of what He said. He then bestowed this principle upon man when, in Genesis 1:26, He said, “…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

In short, God declared, “I will make a non-deified replication of myself and give to him abilities similar to those I possess.” Thus, God gave man the capacity to change his life and circumstances by virtue of what he speaks. Think about it: the Creator of the universe has given us the power to bring about divine change through our words!

I am fully aware that many Christians would chafe at this idea and consider me to be a wild-eyed Charismaniac. But if Genesis 1:26 is true, then the only reason I would not believe in my “confession potential” is because I am looking at this through the eyes of religion. The Bible says we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). This means we need to change our thought patterns from the ways of religious error, and the way we do that is to study God’s word to show ourselves approved unto Him (2 Timothy 2:15).

Interestingly, God has given us much scripture to prove that confessing His will can bring about great change. Pay close attention to these verses:

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.  (Romans 4:17)

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.  (1 John 4:17)

God only speaks His will. Since we are as God is, and since He speaks of the things of His will that aren’t as though they were, then He has an expectation that we will do the same.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.  (Luke 6:45)

For verily I say unto you, That 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.  (Mark 11:23)

Everything God speaks originates in His heart from the very essence of who He is. He only speaks out of the purity of His heart, and all that is in His heart is pure. If we have filled our heart with His word, then we will speak out of the abundance of that treasure. Thus, since His word will not return void, we can have confidence that speaking His word will bring His desired results in our life.

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.  (Proverbs 11:11)

The word “blessing” in this verse comes from the word berakhah. It means “benediction; invocation of that which is good;” it is the speaking forth of those things which are for the good and benefit of others. The “upright” in this verse means “those who are righteous.” God confirms in His word that we were made righteous the moment we accepted Jesus as Savior (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, what we see in this verse is a stunning revelation: as Christians, we have the ability to change the course of a city (and even a nation) by continually speaking God’s will for our land.

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.  (Ecclesiastes 12:11)

This is an extremely unique verse. It is a very prophetic type and shadow for the Church today. Goads were sharp pointed sticks men used to prod cattle toward a specific direction. Here is one way to paraphrase the verse as it relates to Believers:

There is only one Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) and His name is Jesus. He has given us words of undefiled wisdom. If we are wise, we will use those words to our advantage, for they will prod our circumstances in the direction of change to line up with God’s will; and like the nails of a master craftsman that firmly assemble his work according to his original plan, those words will fasten our lives to God’s master plan.

Not only has God repeatedly emphasized the unfathomable value of Christians confessing His words, He also has given us warnings about confessing that which opposes His word.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.    (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.    (Proverbs 4:23-24)

Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.    (Proverbs 6:2)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.    (Proverbs 18:21)

The Bible reveals it is God’s will for His children to live in righteousness, experience His peace rather than despair, be strengthened by His joy instead of defeated by fear and experience the healing for our bodies that the stripes on Jesus back purchased for us. God wants our homes filled with His presence. He wants us living with our needs met, not struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

But in spite of everything God has said about the need to confess His word over our lives, I never cease to be amazed at what I hear coming out of Christians mouths: “We’re never going to make it; we’re going to have to file bankruptcy,” “I’m getting sick. I just know it. I can feel it in my body,” “I just can’t take anymore; the pressure is getting to me,” “those kids of mine never listen, they just keep messing up,” and on it goes. What they don’t realize is that they are confessing death and destruction into their lives; that they are actually setting a snare, or a trap, for themselves with their words. Then, when they eat the fruit of their confessions, far too many of them want to blame God for not being faithful to His promises!

Since God has said that His word will not return void, then why in the world would I not want to confess what He has said? Why do so many Christians refuse to believe that confessing God’s word will not work? What is so foolish and extreme about simply aligning my words with the words of my Heavenly Father? Said a little differently, how in the world can I possibly go wrong by confessing what God has said?

Even Jesus confirmed this truth when He said,

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matthew 12:37).

If I am supposed to be conforming to the image of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18), then my speech must reflect the words of God. Another way to look at it is: If my confession is contrary to the word of God, then it will be impossible for me to fully conform to the image of Christ. Why do I assert such a thing? Because of what Jesus said.

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

(John 12:49)

The confession of Jesus lined up with the Father’s will and words. He is our example. This doesn’t mean that we walk around all day quoting scripture. What it means is that the foundation of what we speak over our families, health, jobs, church, finances, etc, lines up with what God has already said and His promises for our lives.

Take a moment and think about the things you confess. Are the words of your mouth acceptable in God’s sight (Psalm 19:14)? Do they line up with what is religiously acceptable; or are they the words God would speak over you from His throne?

I encourage you to pray and ask God to help you be more sensitive to how you are structuring your life with your words. Ask Him to help you become extremely sensitive to what you say. His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). Sow His words of life into your life and harvest His will each day!

May God’s peace fill your life!

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

After years of praying and seeking God for direction, my first book is almost finished! The title is The True Path to Prosperity. At over 600 pages, it will be one of the most line-upon-line, in-depth books you have ever read on the subject. I address in exhaustive detail the issues of tithing, sowing and reaping, grace and prosperity, the true foundation for wealth, the role God’s wisdom plays in our increase, and much, much more.

As you can imagine this is quite an expensive project, costing thousands of dollars for an initial printing of 3,000 books. We are hoping (emphasize “hoping”) to have the books delivered and ready for distribution sometime before the end of the year.

The printing company has been so helpful, walking me through this entire process step by step. Based on their experience in the industry, the chart they supplied indicated a retail price of up to $29.99 for a 600-page book. However, after praying about this, the books will be made available for a suggested donation of $15.00 per book. Proceeds would be used, in part, to begin work on the next book (ultimately the goal is to have most, or all, of my teaching series turned into books).

Jim

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