From the desk of Steve Shultz:
This word by Tiffany Ann Lewis is not only a teaching but a great word of encouragement. I like the title: And God said, "Only believe." Yes, we are to only believe and take Him at His word...it's such a test of faith sometimes—especially when the circumstances look the exact opposite. Yet that is how we GROW. Believe me, I know a thing or two about this believing stuff!
Be encouraged to believe what God has spoken over you. Let's learn to take HIM at HIS WORD!
Here are also a couple of resources that will help you to hear Him better (by yours truly) and worship Him in adoration.
Tiffany Ann Lewis:
And God Said, "Only Believe"
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.—Psalm 27:13
Are your hopes sinking fast in the world we are living in today? Have you lost heart? "God said it...just believe it." This is easier said than done when your house is falling down, your health is failing, and your finances are dwindling. Sometimes in situations like these something inside may begin to shake. We may even wonder, "What did God say?" Or even worse we may wonder, "Did He really mean it, is it really so?"
In Genesis 1, we have the first record of God speaking. At the head of all things, God's Spirit was hovering over the face of confusion, the waters of chaos, circling over the darkness, brooding over it. Then suddenly God spoke the intentions of His heart and, as you know, what He said came to pass, bringing order out of chaos.
Everything God said and says, past, present and future, will come to pass and has the power to bring order out of chaos. Yet, since the beginning, the slippery serpent has been messing with the minds of God's kids, attempting to pluck the seed—"His words"—right out of our hearts with one simple question, "Did God really say? Did God really 'amar'?" Or in Hebrew, "Aph ki amar Eloheim?" (Genesis 3:1)
However, the very word that the serpent uses to stumble us with, "Did God really say/amar?" is literally the chief cornerstone to our house of faith. Let me show you what I mean.
The Living Voice, The Lamb of God
The Hebrew word for say/said is amar (Strong's #559). It's a root word that is found nearly 5,000 times in the Bible, but three of them, hidden in the book of Ezra, have brought order and peace to my own moments of darkness, chaos and confusion.
Now, Ezra didn't use this word to explain something God said, no it's way better than that. Ezra uses this word to define the lambs that were brought to the restored Temple for sacrifice. This isn't just a type and shadow, this is a truth that is inscribed in the Word of God forever, in His own Holy language! (Ezra 6:9, 6:17 and 7:17). The word Ezra used is emar (Strong's #563). Emar is an Aramaic word that scholars believe is connected to the root word amar in the sense of bringing forth.
Beloved, the Word of God stands up for itself and it cannot deny itself. It supports and confirms itself. It's all hidden right within His Word. This is the mortar that will hold our house of hope together when the devil is trying to get us to doubt the fullness of God's intentions, to doubt what God said.
"Did God really say (amar) that to you? Are you sure?" YES! I am sure, because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is literally what God utters into the darkness, void, chaos and confusion, bringing forth order and perfection everywhere the Holy Spirit hovers. The Holy Spirit is still hovering today bringing forth and reminding us of all that Jesus said (see John 14). "Vayi 'omer/ and He said (fill in the blank)."
Why did Ezra choose to use this word? Only the Spirit of God knows, but it is significant to mention that Ezra was the scribe that restored the language to the children of God. They were in Babylonian bondage, and most could not speak their native tongue (see Nehemiah 13:23-24). They didn't even know what God had said...can you imagine?
Ezra changed all that. Under his leadership, the classical Hebrew script that is used to this day in a Torah scroll was established. Even his name is a prophetic sign. Ezra's name means "help" or "aid," and what he left us in this Holy text is an outstanding help to the weary one backed into the corner by the serpent's hissing tongue, aiding us to lift up our shield of faith.
The words spoken by the Living Voice have been sealed in the Blood of the sacrificed Lamb/the Emar of God. What God has said was, is, and will be all at once, and it still has the power to create, to cause things that are not, to be as though they are. Hebrews 1:1-3 teaches us that the worlds were made through Jesus, the heir and express image of God, and that He is upholding all things by the word of His power.
Beloved, His Words will hold you together, too.
Don't Let the Serpent Steal that Word of God
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."—Jeremiah 29:11
Regarding this word Amar, as a noun (a person, place, or thing) it means: utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, or command. As a verb (a word of action) it means: to say, to speak, to think, and to intend.
God has thoughts that He speaks—they become the words of God. However, as we know, we have an enemy roaming around trying to snatch the seed, His words, that He spoke, right from our hearts before they have a chance to grow.
We learned the enemy's tactics in the Garden. You see, the devil can't mess with what is written, but he can mess with our minds, with our "knowing that we know." He can try to cause us to doubt the personal application, indeed the personal hovering of God's Spirit, as we are experiencing the dark night of the soul.
The mind is the battlefield, for we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. "...He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6b). Don't let the serpent steal that seed, the word of God. Hang on to what God said. The Lamb of God, the "Amar" of God, is the Captain of our salvation, an Anchor of hope for our weary soul that is tossed about in the storms of life. Vayi omer le—and He said to me...
"Don't Be Afraid, Only Believe"
Consider Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue in Luke 8. He came to Jesus and fell down at His feet, begging the Lord to come to his house because his twelve-year-old daughter was dying. Yet, while they walked (presumably towards Jairus' house) a woman who had been plagued for twelve years with an issue of blood reached out, as her last hope, to touch the hem of His garment. She was instantly healed; unfortunately, while Jesus was detained speaking to this older Daughter, Jairus' young daughter died.
While Jesus was speaking encouraging words to the woman, Jairus heard the most discouraging words a parent could hear. But check this out: it was Jairus' servant who spoke, yet Jesus answered Jairus. Could it be that Jesus even answered Jairus' thoughts, the cries of his heart? Vayi omer (and He said), "do not be afraid; only believe..." (Luke 8:50).
The Word doesn't change along the way. God is the same yesterday, today and forever; and His Blood—the very Blood of the Lamb, still speaks. Don't let the words of this world be what you believe.
She's dead – NO – God said!
It's hopeless – NO – God said!
It's impossible – NO – God said!
The Lamb of God saved the day, His words never fail, vayi omer...and He said...
Jesus said to Jairus, "Only believe." Beloved, guard your tongue, guard your thoughts; line them up with what God said and only believe. Even if you don't feel it, don't let the devil steal it. Hang on to Hope because "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21a).
Use God's Words and Speak Them Out into the Atmosphere
It's interesting to note that the sages liken the original sin not as disobeying God but rather the serpent and its evil tongue (lashon hara). For with that tongue, the speaking serpent slandered God, thus deceiving Eve.
Guard your tongue, stop giving this power over. Instead of using lashon hara, the evil tongue or language, use lashon hakodesh, the Holy tongue or holy language; the same language that was restored to us in writing by Ezra the scribe and in the flesh by Jesus the Christ, the Lamb/Emar of all that God says. Use only God's words and speak them out into the atmosphere.
I am convinced we haven't even begun to tap into the fullness of the power of our words. I know I haven't. Jesus "said" that we would speak to the mountains and they would move. He "said" the same works that He did we would do too...and greater! He said it! We don't have to understand it all; Jesus just asked that we believe Him and take Him at His word. O Lord, help us to grab a hold of this a little more today.
Now, maybe you are someone who spoke to that mountain and said, "Talitha, cumi," (Luke 8) and your little girl didn't arise. I too understand what that feels like, nevertheless, we can still hang on to Hope because, in life or death, God's got it covered.
For the joy of living eternally with you and your loved one again, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation, walked it out in the flesh and endured the Cross. Nothing...no-thing can ever separate us from that love that has been manifested in and through Christ Jesus and the finished work of the Cross. May His grace be sufficient today, tomorrow, and all the days to come having the power to comfort you and heal your broken heart.
Selah...
"Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul? Put Your Hope in God"
When God speaks, it brings order, wholeness and perfection. There is a similar power when God speaks through us. I believe that King David understood this, for we see him speaking to his own soul in Psalm 42. "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God..." (Verse 11).
David's soul was disquieted. It was literally murmuring, growling, roaring and crying aloud. It was troubled; it was in a tumult, an upheaval, a turbulent commotion. Sounds a lot like the condition that existed in the beginning when the Spirit was hovering right before God spoke, doesn't it? David spoke to his soul and quieted the inner storm by hoping in God.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.—John 16:33
It might not be well with the world, but looking to the Master of the storms, the Calmer of chaos, the One who calls things that are not as though they are, we can say it is well with our soul.
Beloved, Jesus said He would never leave nor forsake you, the Holy Spirit is still hovering, and God is still speaking. Let the water of the Word, the Living voice of God, wash over you today. Let His words be the words you believe, and know that you know that you know that everywhere and in all things, whether hungry or full, whether rich or poor, whether in sickness or health and even in life or death...He's got it covered. Nothing can separate us from His love in Christ Jesus—the Amar of God.
Amen and Amen.
Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing with the Flame of the Lord Ministries
Email: tiffanyann@tiffanyannlewis.com
