24-Hour Turnaround

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


Some of the so-called word-of-faith preachers, and the name-it-claim-it or blab-it-grab-it crowd, have unfortunately shed a lot of bad light on certain teachings regarding the power of words and faith. I myself get flack at times when I express the use of positive confessions. ---> http://www.mychurch.org/blog/164165/On-The-Tip-Of-My-Tongue

I will agree that some have taken the truth about the power of the tongue and stretched it way beyond means. However, there is a plethora of scriptural precedence which suggest that yes, we can have what we say. Of course there is a stipulation to that and I believe that stipulation is that we can have what we say as long as what we are saying was inclusive of everything that was provided in the atonement.

Correct me if I am wrong but I do not recall $450,000 Mercedes Benz or $23,000 marble toilets included in that, but that's another blog. But what I do understand is that we have been given authority and dominion over this realm and we can use our faith and our words to curse that which is evil and speak into fruition that which is life.

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

I know you have heard the following passages preached often, especially by those in the faith camp. I have heard many people try and explain away the meaning of what Jesus was relaying. Why is it so hard for some of us to take these verses literally? Personally I believe it's because while we do have faith, at the very same time we have greater levels of unbelief and the latter counteracts the former. Yes, faith and unbelief can be present and operative simultaneously. Even right here in this passage Jesus says to have faith and to believe. Does this not imply that we can have faith, yet not believe? I do believe it does.

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 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. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mark 11:22-24


I am beginning to get way off topic from what my original intention of this blog was and I really would like to keep it short enough to keep your attention long enough to absorb the very powerful truth that is to follow. So, let me back up a few verses in Mark and talk for a minute about the fig tree.


And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Mark 11:12-14

There is a lot of cool stuff in those verses but in the interest of time I am going to skip over some of them. Basically this tree was a hypocrite because it was expressing or proclaiming to possess something that it did not have. Fig trees grow their fruit and their leaves in the same season. or at the same time. So if it were not the season for figs then it was not the season for leaves, But yet still, that's not the point I am trying to make.

What I am wanting to point out is that when Jesus came upon the tree that morning, and saw that this tree was a hypocrite, and was not producing fruit, and did not promote life, He cursed the tree and commanded it to die. And His disciples heard it.

They then move on to Jerusalem and Jesus enters the Temple to condemn those who were using it as a marketplace. After that the religious folks began a plot to kill Jesus even though they were amazed at His teachings. That night, they left the city.

But here are the verses that I have been wanting to get to:

And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Mark 11:20-21

Take note that it was now the next morning, approximately 24 hours after Jesus had originally cursed the fig tree. The disciples had heard Him curse it. But only now, after this 24 hour period, did the manifestation of His words come into full manifestation.

Here's what I believe. I believe that the fig tree did in fact die instantly when Jesus originally cursed it. In fact, you can read this same instance in Matthew and there it does say, "presently the fig tree withered away". But according to Mark's depiction the death of the tree did not become apparent, at least to the natural eye, until sometime later. In other words, the roots of the tree died immediately but it took time for the whole tree to wither up and die.

And finally, I am able to get to my point. God told us to speak to our mountains. Not tell Him about the mountain, but speak to the mountain. These mountains are literally any problems or obstacles that we are facing. God says that anything that is not producing life for us we are to curse it. That includes all sickness, disease, poverty, depression, anger, bitterness, loneliness, sadness, addictions, and on and on and on. If any one of these mountains are causing death in any area of your life and are not bearing fruit, then God has given you the authority to curse that thing and it shall die!

But please, do not loose heart when you do not see an instant manifestation. When you pray believe that it has happened. Come back to these verses and recognize that while yes, the tree may still look alive at this very moment, in reality, spiritual reality, the parent reality, the root of your problem died immediately at the very moment you told it to die! It may still appear to be alive, but at the very root of the problerm, it's dead! That's powerful.

Once you have spoken such a thing. Do not, under any circumstances, allow anyone or anything to convince you that it didn't work. Do not let the bitter root of unbelief creep in. Have faith in God, believe in your heart and whatever you say, believing that you have received it, you shall have.

Will it happen in 24 hours as in the case of the fig tree? Possibly. But that's no guarantee. The amount of time will depend one, upon your own level of unbelief, and two, upon the depth of the roots. But I assure you, that God's Word does and will go directly to the root of the problem and that which was lifeless no longer lives; and that which gives life has now come alive!


Look forward to your 24-hour turnaround!

In love,
Michael

GREAT POST!!!

You have such a way with words, Michael. Truly.

Thanks so much for posting this! (And your others to be honest, I very much enjoy reading your posts! )

I echo the sentiment of PS.

Great post.

Why thank you ladies! Your comments are appreciated.

Hope you both have a wonderful day!