Let Labor do the Sweating

So often, God shows us things that are obvious, and we are amazed. He can even amaze us by telling us things we already know. I guess that means we’re stupid, but there it is.

This country has spiritual termites. We have lots of erosive, chronic problems because we don’t honor and serve God. Our wealth is decreasing, our liberty is decreasing, and the power of our enemies is increasing. We try to fix these things by making political donations and casting votes. Some of us blog and write books. It doesn’t work very well. But we have weapons that do work, and we choose not to use them.

I have learned that I can speak defeat to individuals that plague me. You may not believe it. If you develop your faith and try it, you will see that I’m right. If you deal with bullies, abusers, trashy neighbors, bad bosses, snotty kids, or other people whom you can’t seem to beat or change, you can cut the legs out from under them by speaking defeat to them in the name of Jesus AND believing in your heart that it works. And of course, you have to speak defeat to the spirits that back them against you.

What’s the obvious thing I didn’t point out here? It’s simple. There is no real difference between your cheating husband or backstabbing coworker and the president of the United States or the Supreme Court. You can speak defeat to powerful people you don’t know. They don’t have special protection.

The Supreme Court is nine individuals. If you lived next to nine idiots who always threw their dogs’ poo into your yard, and you believed in the principle of speaking defeat to enemies, you would have no problem believing you could put them to flight by using the power of the tongue. Why, then, would you think nine people in Washington would be any different?

They’re not.

The president and the Supreme Court have been throwing poo into our yards for a very long time. We don’t have to accept it.

I know the traditional answer is to ask God to give you victory. That’s fine, but it’s not the entire arsenal. If you aren’t active in your own right, you’re not doing what we were put here to do. You are likely to fail.

People love to say, “God is in control.” Sure he is. But six million Jews were slaughtered anyway. Over fifty million unborn babies have been murdered in the US since Roe v. Wade. A tsunami hit Southest Asia and killed all sorts of innocent people. If God is in control, why did these things happen?

God didn’t let them happen. We did. He put us here to rule the earth for him, using power he provides. Very few of us are doing it, so the earth is a mess.

The Bible is confusing to people who don’t have supernatural revelation via the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It tells us wonderful things, but we don’t understand them. One of the things it tells us is that what we say and believe matters more than what we do. This is reflected in passages such as, “the righteous shall live by faith,” “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit,” and “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Here’s another one: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.”

The “Word of Faith” movement got ahold of this concept and twisted and abused it until it sounded like heresy and foolishness. But it’s true.

Look at the situation in the Middle East. That all started with a few sentences spoken by a blind old man. Isaac gave Jacob and Esau their blessings, and he foretold the struggle between their descendants, and over a billion people are bound by those words today.

Word of Faith people got in trouble for pushing a doctrine characterized as “name it and claim it.” They believed in the power of the tongue, but they weren’t getting a lot of guidance from the Spirit, so they focused on things like money, power, and fame. That made blessing and cursing look stupid. But the concept is Biblical. Jesus cursed a tree, and it dried up. He commanded the wind. Elijah cut off the rain. If you’re connected to the Holy Spirit, and you do his will and not just your own, it does work. And we are expected to do it.

The earth is like a company (or, as the Bible says, a vineyard) which belongs to an absentee owner. God sends his servants to run the place. He created us to be management, not labor. Managers use their hearts and minds more than they use their hands. When Adam lost his authority, one of the curses was hard work. He was no longer a manager; he was a slave. The baptism with the Holy Spirit reverses that curse and restores authority.

Here are some things I speak defeat to just about every day:

Some stuff I spoke defeat to today:

1. Obama and his administration. Their constant work against Israel and the body of Christ has to be stopped. Prayer isn’t enough.

2. Homosexuality. We should not be running from people who are slaves to a sexual compulsion.

3. Feminism. Many women have to work, and they should be paid fairly, but the feminist establishment is also bound up in removing men as the leaders and priests of their homes, and it supports promiscuity. It also discourages marriage and teaches men they don’t have to buy rings in order to get sex. If you’re a 40-year-old spinster, thank the feminists.

4. The Supreme Court and all our federal courts. Bad decisions make slaves of the righteous. Why do we sit back and let it happen?

5. Illegal immigration. We don’t have to have a complete loss of border control in order to have compassion and bring good people to America. Deuteronomy 28:43-44.

6. Convenience abortion. Our president says girls can’t live their dreams unless they are free to kill the babies they conceive. And the industry is geared toward destroying the black race. What dream is he talking about? The abortion mills have succeeded where the Klan has failed, and they got the victims to pay for it.

7. The IRS. Obama and his party are using it to take control of our lives and to punish believers.

8. Professional sports. Idolatry at its best. People actually stay home from church to watch strangers play children’s games.

9. The entertainment industry, including movies, TV, music, books, and even Internet porn. They have way too much power to corrupt.

10. The press. They ridicule and marginalize us constantly, and they slander Israel every day.

11. Religious leaders who teach against the Holy Spirit, tongues, and miracles. They serve the spirit of Antichrist, no matter how often they use the name of Jesus.

On some days I speak defeat to both political parties before the body of Christ. The GOP is better than the Democrats, but it’s still messed up. Gay activists and Muslims want to assume control. I speak defeat to Grover Norquist and his crowd from time to time.

Does it work? Well, I started recently. I can only speak for myself; I have no idea who else is doing it, or I would name them. Since then, Obama has racked up some surprising losses. His popularity plummeted. He also lost several pivotal cases in the Supreme Court. Can I take credit for these things? No, that goes to God. But I do believe I was part of it. I felt faith flowing through me as I spoke.

Let me suggest you try it, if you have the faith. And if you don’t have the faith, speaking in tongues is the way to get it, according to the Bible.

Perry Stone once cautioned people not to take on big spirits. He said he knew of preachers who, on their own initiative, would stand up and curse huge evils, like the spirits that ruled entire cities. He said they got in trouble. God didn’t back them, the spirits rose against them, and soon their ministries had problems. They would get caught in sex scandals or whatever. I used to think that this meant I could only use the power of the tongue on small issues. But now I realize I was wrong. The question isn’t how big the problem is. There are only two important considerations: did the Holy Spirit tell you to do it, and do you have enough faith to pull it off? If you can say “yes,” then there is nothing that can defeat you.

The problems this nation faces will not go away just because of American exceptionalism, hard work, or time-wasting squabbling. God will not let us win until we do things his way. So I’m trying hard to avoid using hopeless carnal tools.

This is how I plan to live the rest of my life. I do not want to sweat and lose any more. I do not want to rely on my own power. If it ever stops working, I’ll quit. But that hasn’t happened yet.