We’re promised a lot of things at the cross, but did you know those things we are promised have to do with what we believe, and what we believe actually comes out of our mouth, from within our heart?
Let’s start with the promises-
Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our grief’s (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. AMPC
Jesus did it all; there isn’t one thing that isn’t mentioned that He did for us on the cross. He bore our sickness, weaknesses, distresses; He was chastised for our peace and well being. He bore our grief; He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our guilt and took stripes for our healing— as far as I can see that covers it all!
So why don’t we have these blessings manifested in our lives? Why are we sick, weak, distressed, grieved, and without peace? If Jesus did all of mentioned here for us at the cross, then why are we still in lack, why are we struggling like the un-believers? Because we don’t believe. Like an unbeliever we believe what we see instead of believing in the unseen realm.
John 3:16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
Can you see Jesus with your eyes? No. How do you believe then? You believe the promises — you believe the Word of God with your heart. You have a check in your heart so you believe what you don’t see, but what you have witnessed in your heart.
Did you notice the condition? The condition is whoever believes. The amplified Bible tells us what believing is, trust in, clings to, and relies on. The best definition I have found in researching believe is; accept as true.
So you accepted what you can’t see as true— when you accepted Jesus in your heart.
if we accept Jesus as true, then too— we must accept His promises. We have to accept what He said while He was here, what is recorded in the Word and believe that what He did at the cross was for you and me. If we believe we will trust, cling to, and rely on what He said. He will be our authority, His Word will be what we cling to and if we cling to His Word, we wont live short of His promises. Then we will live free from sickness, weakness, distress, pain guilt and the more.
It’s true; it is as straight forward as the Word puts it. If we believe we will live the promises promised to us. Included with Jesus, believing in God’s Son, is believing His promises. Clinging to those promises — Jesus bore your sin for you, He took those stripes for your healing, He was chastised for your peace and well being, and by His strips you were healed.
No you can’t see it, just like you can’t see your salvation, but you believe it because it is all apart of the package. Jesus and His promises go together, you cannot separate them. So you see if you believe in Him, then those promises are yours.
What comes out of your mouth declares what you believe.
Matthew 15:18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him]. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasoning’s and disputing and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.
Luke 6:45 The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.
Jesus said out to the abundance of the heart, (meaning what you believe, what is in your heart) that is what will come out of your mouth when you speak. What is in your heart will come out of your mouth, and that is your confession.
Romans 10:9 Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.
What is your confession? Are you complaining about your situation, or are you confessing with your mouth your faith? If you believe like God did, like Jesus, you will speak the answer not the problem. The World, those who don’t know His promises, look at the problem and confess doubt, their confession is evil. But, we who know — have Jesus in our heart and believe in Him look at the answer. We know what we see is temporary, and what is unseen is eternal (1 Co 4:18).
We know God didn’t stand out in the dark defeated, but He said let there be light (Genesis 1:3), we know Jesus spoke to every circumstances and He changed every bad circumstance to good with the power of His Words, and we know He told us to do that same thing (Mark 11:23).
If we believe, we will rely on His way of doing, following clinging to and relying on His principles. We will hear His Word, feed on it, Romans 10:17 tells us that is how to sustain our faith to hear the Word, not just once, but hear. Hearing is ongoing. Not heard, but faith comes from hearing.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).
Just like we eat every day, we have to hear every day. If we hear the evil report over and over it will grow up in our heart and come out of our mouth and that will be our doubt confession. If we hear the good report everyday it will grow in our heart and come out of our mouth, that will be our faith confession, producing a crop, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold return.
Mark 4:24 And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. 25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away [by force], 26 And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, 27 And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases—he knows not how.
When you accept His way of doing and you start doing it, you will receive those promises and salvation in every area of your life. It may start out as a little, but as you catch on, the seed you cultivate can be a hundred fold return.
Mark 4:20 And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit—some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.
That is how we live in our promise, hear it, meditate it and then while we sleep, we don’t know how, it grows but it does— and then boom, we have a promise. And that promise fulfilled is seed-faith for the next promise we are reaching for.