Postitive Confessions

What Does the Bible Say About Positive Confession?

A Bible Confession of the Mouth -- Betty Miller

Critical Words Destroy Marriages -- Betty Miller

By Betty Miller

As Christians, our confession should be what we term a "Bible confession" instead of just a "positive confession." We are not talking about confessing our sins here, but rather confessing or acknowledging with our mouth the truths from God's Word. Certainly the Bible tells us to confess our sins, but that is not the only confession we need to make. We are also told to confess or speak out loud the promises of God, in faith, so we can receive them.

We need to clarify the difference between the so-called "positive confession" taught by the success propagators in the world and a "Bible confession." Many times, their confessions are directed toward "self," not toward God's Word. They build their "castles in the sky," but they are not founded on the Word of God; instead they are based on what they desire for themselves. For example, you will probably never hear them confessing the following portion of God's Word, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us" (2 Timothy 2:12). We must begin confessing what the Word of God has to say about our lives and circumstances instead of what those in the world may speak about the situation.

In confessing God's Word, we must not pick out only the Scriptures we desire, but also the ones the Lord desires for us. He certainly desires to bless us, but He also desires to cleanse us. We must be as enthusiastic in our confessions to be cleansed from all that would offend the Lord as we are in confessing the physical blessings He has promised us. We must learn to set a guard on our mouths, as it is very important to control our conversation. We will ultimately receive the things that we speak. If we speak evil long enough, it will come to pass; likewise if we speak good.

"Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God" (Psalm 50:23). "A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (Proverbs 18:20-21).

We must not only claim God's Word, but also learn to speak or confess His Word. We must confess our faith in God's Word.

We must not confess lack, as the Heavenly Father has given us everything we need. We must not confess defeat, as God has made us more than conquerors. We must not confess doubt, as God has given us His faith. We are to speak the things that the Word of God declares as truth. We easily quote what men have to say on a subject, and many times we believe them despite what the Word of God has to say about it. Yet we are often hesitant to quote what God says because the devil tells us we would be lying. He causes us to look at our circumstances rather than the Word. Circumstances are subject to change, and one of the things that can cause them to do so is the confession of God's Word over a particular situation. In fact, the Word of God tells us to confess or talk about the things we are believing God to do in our lives and He will bring it to pass.

Romans 4:20-22, "He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

Romans 4:17, "(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".

For instance, if we are in need of finances, the devil will try to get us to confess such things as, "I guess we will just have to take bankruptcy since we can not pay the bills," or "I don't know what we will do when we can't make the house payment." Instead, we need to align our confession with the Word of God. "My God shall supply all your (my) need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19) "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (me)" (Matthew 6:33). (Emphasis is mine). We should confess our faith and trust in the Lord by saying,"I don't know how the Lord is going to help us meet this need, but I confess that He will because He cares for us."

We bring evil and good things forth by what we speak. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 12:34-37:

"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." As Christians we should never again confess any of the things that are against God's Word. Let me share with you "My Never Again List" taken from Don Gossett's book, What You Say Is What You Get.

"MY NEVER AGAIN LIST"

Never again will I confess "I can't" for "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

Never again will I confess lack, for "My God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

Never again will I confess fear, for "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Never again will I confess doubt and lack of faith, for "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).

Never again will I confess weakness, for "The Lord is the strength of my life" (Psalm 27:1). "The people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits" (Daniel 11:32).

Never again will I confess supremacy of Satan over my life, for "Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Never again will I confess defeat, for "God always causeth me to triumph in Christ Jesus" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Never again will I confess lack of wisdom, for "Christ Jesus is made unto me wisdom from God" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Never again will I confess sickness, for "With His stripes I am healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus "Himself took my infirmities and bare my sickness" (Matthew 8:17).

Never again will I confess worries and frustrations, for I am "Casting all my cares upon Him, who careth for me" (1 Peter 5:7). In Christ I am "care-free."

Never again will I confess bondage, for "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Never again will I confess condemnation, for "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). I am in Christ; therefore, I am free from condemnation.

Never again will I confess loneliness, Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).

Never again will I confess curses or bad luck, for "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us...that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).

Never again will I confess discontent because "I have learned, in whatsoever state (circumstances) I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11).

Never again will I confess unworthiness because "He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The confession of our mouths will eventually bring forth the things we speak.

When we are baby Christians who have not yet learned this truth, God, in His grace, does not give us the things we confess or speak wrongly because they are not in accord with His will. We have not yet learned His will. He looks on our heart, and simply because we are desiring to do the will of the Father, He cancels those things that are not His will. Our hearts are speaking louder than our mouths. "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart" (Psalm 15:1-2). If we continue to speak truth in our hearts, our mouths will soon begin to line up with our hearts. However, until that time the Lord is gracious to us when our hearts and our mouths are not agreeing.

We would like to address an area that is related to this subject of watching our confessions. We should not agree with negative things either spoken or written as this gives the enemy a doorway into our lives. An example of this is one that we have noticed since we have been ministering on the Internet. Many people have email address names that are not only very negative but some are satanic as well. We have noticed that even many Christians are using nicknames that are descriptive of evil characters, traits, or ideas. Please pray about correcting this if your nickname does not glorify the Lord, as this is a form of an evil confession about yourself.

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 18:19). This is a perfect example of two agreeing before the answer to prayer can come to pass. My mouth and heart must agree to produce the answers to my prayers.

One area that tends to get out-of-balance in the "confession" teaching is the tendency to not allow others to speak, but continually to correct their negative confessions of speech. We must remember that the highest law is the law of love, and we should not nag at others, but pray for them. Of course, we can gently help correct those who have the same knowledge we do, as they would usually be eager to overcome in this area. However, for those who have never heard, it would generally be wisdom to just pray for them until they come to the knowledge of the truth.

One other area that is often abused is claiming and confessing only material things. Many are heard claiming cars, property, houses, etc., but we seldom hear them claiming souls. We should be sure our priorities are right when claiming and confessing. The Lord's greatest desire is for us to grow in Him and to bring others to the knowledge of His love. When we are not stressing this in our confessions, we are being led astray by the devil.

Another area that gets pushed out-of-balance is to feel we must continually confess what we are believing before men. We begin telling everyone, everywhere we go, the things God has promised us. We should exercise wisdom, for many times it is not wise to do much speaking. We are not required to confess our promises to everyone for them to come to pass. In fact, the Word of God teaches prudence and wisdom in regard to our speaking. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Proverbs 25:11). "A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards'' (Proverbs 29:11). Our main confession should be unto the Lord. It also builds our own faith when we confess with our mouths the victory we have in Jesus. Prayer time should be our main time of confessing God's promises so that not only He can hear us, but also the devil will hear our words. Then, if our words are aligned with the Word of God, the devil must bow his knee to those words. We will find that our words have overcome the enemy.

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Critical Words Destroy Marriages

By Betty Miller

1 Peter 3:7-12:

7 "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

One of the things that begin to erode a marriage away is when one spouse begins to speak critically to and of the other one. The things we say to and about the other one can either be uplifting and encouraging or they can bring disharmony and hurt. Little critical words will lead to a dissatisfaction with one's mate and can escalate to bring about a divorce. No person should threaten to divorce the other just to get their way, or manipulate the other to do something they really don't want to do. When any one threatens divorce this is like speaking words of murder to your marriage. The Bible tells us to speak good words if we want to see good days and have a love for life.

Words can accumulate in the spirit and cause one to react lovingly or hateful by what is spoken. The above verses warn each spouse not to return "railing for railing" but "blessing for a railing." As kind words are returned this stops the cycle of "railing for railing."

Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

We are admonished in the Bible to seek to do good and to seek peace, not to stir up trouble because we want to air our anger and wrath. As Christians we are to give our anger to Jesus and ask Him to remove it, and replace it with His love, patience and forgiveness. We are not to take it out on someone else, especially our mates.

Some husbands can be very cruel criticizing their wives appearance. If the wife is on the thin side or over-weight, the husband should pray to help her make the necessary changes that will help her to be healthy, but never should he belittle her appearance. This can damage their relationship, where it is difficult for her to reach out and love him and receive love from him. (This, of course, applies to a woman criticizing her husband about his appearance too.)

The Lord calls us to love our mates, as we would love a sister or brother in the Lord and to be courteous. Many times, after people get married, they cease to be courteous to one another and they are rude and unmannerly. These things start with little things they quit doing to please the other and soon they grow into gross neglect. We should be kind to one another and think about saying nice things that edify and build our marriages instead of the hurtful words that tear them down. Critical speech in little things can be the root cause that later destroys a marriage. Let us guard our tongues.

Proverbs 18:21: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD."

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