They Fell to the Ground - At the Power of His Words

While reading the Word this morning, I noticed as I read John 18 something I had never noticed before (something that happens more & more of late) in verse 6 "after He had said I am he -they fell backwards to the ground." I had never seen that they fell under the power of His Words before.
There is power in your words. Probably more power than you could possibly imagine. All through the Word of God words were used to create, control, and destroy.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was dead, He went to the tomb and spoke these words: “Lazarus, come forth.” When Jesus spoke these words, Lazarus came out of the grave.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus spoke to the fig tree and it dried up from the roots.

The next day Peter, remembering, said to Jesus, “ The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” Then Jesus answered and made a very dramatic statement pertaining to the words of your mouth. He said, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” How much plainer could Jesus have made it.

You must speak to the mountain, just like He spoke to the fig tree and just like He spoke to Lazarus.
In the book of John chapter 18 we have one of the most overlooked miracles in the Bible. Jesus was in a garden with His disciples. Jesus had met them in this particular garden several times. They knew it well, including Judas, who was heading toward the garden with troops and officers They had lanterns, torches and weapons. They were there to arrest Jesus.
Jesus knew exactly what was going on so He walked forward to the soldiers and said, “Whom are you seeking?” The soldiers answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Then Jesus said, “I Am He.” (Actually "I AM")
Now listen to this. When Jesus said “I Am He,” the officers of the court, the Pharisees, and the detachment of soldiers all fell backward to the ground. The power of the words of Jesus was more than their physical bodies could handle. According to the Bible, when Jesus spoke, they could not remain standing. They fell under the power of God. They had no choice.

Don’t kid yourself. There is power in the spoken word. Words, your words, can produce life and they can cause death.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” What does this mean? Well, it means this. Your words can produce life or death. Your words are the tool that you use to move your faith. When you speak positive words of faith, that moves God to perform His Word in your life. When you speak worry, doubt, and unbelief, then faith is not present and God only responds to faith.

When you have a mountain in your life that you need moved, get into the Word of God and find out what He says about your mountain. Read the Word and meditate on it. Then speak the Word to your mountain. Believe that what you have spoken will come to pass and then watch your mountain be cast into the sea.

What is an Encumbrance???

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance. (Hebrews 12:1 AMP).

What is an encumbrance? It is an unnecessary weight. If you are going to walk on the water, the last thing you need is weight. LOL
“And that sin which so readily, deftly and cleverly, clings to and entangles us.” (Heb. 12:1 AMP) Notice the Amplified says “clings to and entangles.” Not only do we have the encumbrance and the weight if we allow ourselves to get caught up in the things of the world, but also we have sin, which cleverly clings to and entangles us. It’s difficult to walk when you are entangled. Have you ever been entangled in something? Being all tied up and having extra weight is not a condition that a Christian should be in.

“And let us run with patience endurance and steadily and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.” (Heb. 12:1 AMP) Every one of us has a goal before us. We should be headed toward that goal. We must be steady and have an active persistence and patient endurance.

I know a lot of people that endure, but they don’t endure patiently. There is a difference. You can always tell somebody that is not enduring patiently, because they tell you how much they are enduring. Patience is peaceful. If you are patient, you will be at peace. If you are not at peace, you are not being patient.

“Looking away from all that will distract . . . “ (Heb. 12:2 AMP). We must keep our eyes on the finish line. We must stay focused on the goal. “. . . to Jesus who is the Leader and the Source of our faith giving the first incentive for our belief who is also its finisher bringing it to maturity and perfection. He for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him endured the cross despising and ignoring the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2 AMP)

Jesus pressed in toward His goal and He was able to do it because He did not waver from looking at the prize that was before Him. He was not distracted. Sin equals weight. Anything that hinders you on the way toward your goal is sin. If God has placed a goal before you, if He’s put a calling before you, anything that hinders you from obtaining that goal is sin because it is not of faith. The scriptures tell us anything not of faith is sin. The only way to combat the encumbrance is to fight the fight of faith.

Sometimes people get a little embarrassed about being a faith person. I’m not embarrassed to be a faith person. In spite of all the things that have happened in the name of faith that were not faith, our faith should not waiver.

The only person who loses when they are trying to press in is the one that quits pressing in. As long as you do not allow the weight to encumber you, as long as you do not allow yourself to get tangled up, as long as you don’t get into a pity party because you think you are all by yourself, as long as you keep pressing in with faith, you will win.

Don't Let Satan steal your JOY!!