THE SUPERNATURAL HABITS - PAUL & NUALA O'HIGGINS (the best e book reader .txt) 📗

to be reconciled with God. But it is with our words (and not just with our minds) that we establish and seal our acceptance of God’s free gift and plan. With our mouth we declare that Christ’s death has sufficiently paid for our sin and with it we accept the reconciliation. We seal legal transactions with our written signature. We seal spiritual transactions with our spoken words. Our verbal agreement or disagreement seals our covenant with God. That is why Christianity is called “the great confession” (see Hebrews 4:14).
“Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10) The tongue is the key to the release of our faith in God’s settled fact. Through it we establish agreement with God’s plan or reject it.
There are many today who agree with the doctrines of Christianity (believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior who died and rose for the sins of the world etc.) but who have never released their faith in these great realities with their tongues. They believe in the reality of salvation but have never fully embraced it by the commitment of their wills and their tongue. They have never embraced the assurance of their salvation because they have never confessed with their mouths Jesus as Savior and Lord. They are like couples that have never formalized their union by saying, “I do.”

Words Decide but do not Create Destiny
Our words decide destiny. They do not create our destiny, but they are the key to embracing God’s destiny for our lives. There are some who try to create their future with their words. This is a kind of psychological witchcraft, which involves the use of the mind more than the spirit. It is more metaphysical than spiritual. It harnesses the laws of quantum physics more than the power of God. The supernaturally empowered believer does not try to create his destiny with his tongue but he does use His tongue to express his agreement and assent to the word of God. With our words we establish the word of God and the plan of God in our lives. With them we can also reject recurring thoughts that could derail or steal our destiny. “The thief comes to steal kill and destroy but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

The Tongue & the Mind
Our tongues determine what will remain our consciousness. Our consciousness determines the outcome of our lives. Paul writes, “Be transformed by the renewal of your minds.” (Romans 12:2) How do we do this? By ejecting old thought forms from our consciousness and filling our minds with the thoughts of the kingdom of God, thoughts that are in line with the word of God. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9) So we have the responsibility to resist and reject thoughts from the kingdom of darkness that would derail us from the benign plan and will of God for our lives.
Let’s examine the words in our columns again.


I love you.
You’re beautiful.
Well done.
You’re a blessing.
Thank You. That’s great!
I enjoyed that.
Keep on … you’ll make it.
We’re proud of you.
I’m blessed with great health.
I hate you.
You’re ugly.
You never do anything right
It’s all your fault.
That could have been better.
Why didn’t you …?
You’ll never be good at that.
You’re a disappointment to us.


If the words in the first column are spoken over me, my agreement with them will affirm and help establish the good things in my life. The second column contains words of accusation. If I agree with them I orientate myself to that which steals my confidence, love and joy and ultimately my health. I will begin to say things about myself such as “I am no good”, “I will never be able to do this or that”, “God does not really love me”, “I hate myself", “I am a failure" etc. etc. One set of words will strengthen me emotionally and the other set will tear me down.

Our Words & God’s Word
Now if our agreement with simply human words of affirmation can have such a positive effect on us, what will happen when we agree with the word of God and the promises of God?
Agreement with positive words aligns our minds in a positive way; but agreeing with the word of God opens a channel for the release of God’s plan into our lives. Both are good; but one is temporary and the other is eternal. Agreement with the word of God releases the Hand of God to do what He cannot do without the engagement of our will and verbal assent. Our words express our free exercise of will and with them we release our consent.
The Bible contains hundreds of promises from God for those who enter covenant with Him. For example, “I am the Lord who blots out your offenses” (Isaiah 43:25), “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), “He who comes to me I will in no way cast out” (John 6:37), “All things work together for good for those who love God who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), and “I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your harm to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). In fact there are promises in the word of God that cover every area of human need. When we live in a reconciled relationship with God through the atoning work of Jesus we can ask Him to fulfill these promises for us.
As we read and study these promises, faith arises in our hearts, because “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) When we release our faith with our words God comes on the scene. He looks for people who will come into agreement with His word and promises. This releases His intervention in our lives.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12)
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” (2 Chron. 16:9)
“For I will watch over My word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:12)
As God watches over His word to perform it the believer begins to harness the supernatural power of speaking in line with this word. Words are the switch that releases the power of God into our situations.
One of the greatest examples of this is found in the announcement of God’s word to Mary, the virgin of Nazareth that she was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. God announced His plan through the angel Gabriel. She uttered her assent: “Be it done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) This response of Mary is a spectacular example of the use of words to embrace and release the plan of God.

Using Words to Resist the Devil
Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness by refusing to come into agreement with the thoughts that he sought to inject into His consciousness. Jesus recognized Satan as the source of these thoughts and refused to agree with them. He then commanded the evil spirit (Satan) that was transmitting them to leave (Luke 4:12).
Since we live in a universe inhabited by many spirits (including spirits that are in rebellion to God) we have to deal with evil spirits. Many people do not like to deal with spirits. The supernatural believer knows that he lives in a world where there are many evil spirits working in the unseen realm. These spirits generate confusion and fear.
However, the supernaturally empowered believer knows he has authority over sin and over the spirits that try to oppress him. He takes seriously the words of Jesus: “Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the authority of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
“And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they expel demons…” (Mark 16:17)
Evil spirits operate by trying to speak thoughts, fantasies and imaginations into us. Our task is to recognize the lie, refuse to agree with it, and then resist the spirit behind the lie.
“Believe not every spirit but test the spirits.” (1 John 4:1) We can test the spirits by checking if their suggestion lines up with the word of and ways of God or not. If they do not, we simply resist them.
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) The devil and the evil spirits that work under his rule have lost their authority over us. However, they try to re-establish their authority over us by tempting us to agree with their thoughts, lies and suggestions. Knowing that Jesus has defeated them we can refuse to come into agreement with the thoughts they transmit and take the authority He has given us to command them to flee.
For example, demons may transmit unclean thoughts or suicidal thoughts to believers especially if we have given ground to such thoughts through past behavior. The supernatural empowered believer can:
• recognize that such thoughts are not from God
• cancel any agreement we have made with these thoughts, and
• command the spirits that are transmitting these thoughts to leave in Jesus’ name

Training our Tongues
We can train our tongues to become effective instruments to steer our lives in the direction of God. Because our speech patterns were formed before Christ came into our hearts, we have to retrain them.
James actually says that if we learn to use our tongues properly we will be mature believers. He explains that as a ship is steered by a rudder we steer our lives by our tongues. As a horse is steered by a bit, God can only steer us through our mouths.
“If anyone does not offend in word, the same is a full-grown man, able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, so that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships being so great, and driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder, where the impulse of him steering desires.” (James 3:2-4)
Even the most casual words have an effect on our lives. Our words are seeds which determine our future. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Proverbs 18:21)
What could be more important than learning how to use our tongues properly? Children are taught how to develop and use their minds but not how to use their tongues. Our culture does not sufficiently emphasize the use of the tongue and children receive very