For years I’ve been using Bible affirmations borrowed from Charles Capps, a well known pastor and Christian author. Back in 1976 Pastor Capps published a littler paperback book titled, “The Tongue – A Creative Force.” The book became a best seller and instant classic. In his book Pastor Capps introduced his use of Bible affirmations and he broke them down into four categories: Wisdom & Guidance, Comfort & Strength, Worry & Fear, and Material Needs. Pastor Capps stated he would recite his affirmations to God at least three times a day to receive help from God in his chosen category and also to worship and glorify God. I thought that was a great idea so I wrote Pastor Capps’s affirmations down on 4X6 inch index cards so I too could recite them every morning while drinking a pot of coffee. Pastor Capps created affirmations to fit his particular personality and needs. I’ve been studying God’s word for close to twenty years and as I’ve matured as a Christian I’ve come realize I need to create my own Bible affirmations that fit my unique personality. Basically I needed Bible affirmations more geared toward my personal ministry of reconciliation, which is to share the gospel of Christ with all nations and people (the Great Commission).
John 15:4-5 – (Jesus) – Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
When I rewrote my Bible affirmations I kept some of Pastor Capps affirmations as they were but mostly I redid everything to fit my needs by first focusing on witnessing for Christ. In the Bible there are 129 direct commands from God to man, although some of them are redundant. Anyone can take a command from God and turn it into an affirmation once you understand the concept. God wrote the Bible for all people and his commands are for everyone. As a believer you take a generic command of God for all people and then you personalize it by aligning your will with God’s will and speaking that obedience to God’s will out of your mouth in faith. You must respond to God in the spirit, in prayer, by verbally saying in a loud and clear voice that you’ll obey whatever command of God you’re talking about. When God commands “you shall” you turn that command into a positive declaration of personal obedience and agreement with God’s word by saying “I will” do it.
For example, when God commands, “You shall have no other gods before me”, you could turn that command into an affirmation by saying, “I will have no other gods before the Lord and him only will I serve.” You get the idea. You can make Bible affirmations as short or as long as you want them to be but make sure you agree with God and speak your affirmation with your lips. You need to keep repeating your Bible affirmations for as long as it takes to make the truth of God flourish in your life; maybe even the rest of your life. Your Bible affirmations should contain a lot of personal statements starting with the words “I shall” or “I will.” When you speak words of obedience in prayer before the throne of grace you are not only asking for God’s help, you are worshipping and glorifying God in the process. Your heavenly audience will include not only God and Jesus, but also the angels in heaven, and Satan and his demons here on earth.
Mark 16:15-16 – (Jesus) – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized (by the Holy Spirit) will be saved (unto eternal life in heaven); but he who does not believe will be condemned (to hell for all eternity).
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I learned a long time ago while studying for tests in school that repetition is important for the human mind to learn anything and retain it. I also picked up on that while reading the Bible because I noticed that God repeats important things in his word over and over to make sure we get it and I do the same thing in my blog posts. The twin themes of my blog are, “studying God’s word” and “witnessing for Christ” and with every blog post I make I have my twin themes in mind. Repetition helps us fix information in our brain. I know I’m like a broken record in that regard and I don’t apologize for it. It’s how we learn. So when I created my new Bible affirmations I wrote down one or more verses that are very similar commands of God. I first read the verses silently before then reading them aloud. Then I say my affirmation aloud to God immediately after reading the verses that are commands from God. That way my mind gets three bites of the apple (repetition) which helps me retain God’s truth. As a believer I’m answering God’s commands face to face to let him know I will be obedient to his word to the best of my ability. I let God know I trust him to be faithful to his word in all circumstances. I know God cannot lie.
Our minds never stop being a sponge for information so we need to control what we expose our mind to. The human mind will believe and act on whatever it hears over and over, which is why Bible affirmations work. We will become what we think about and say over and over. You know the old saying, “garbage in and garbage out.” Well, “wisdom in and wisdom out” is also true. Feed your mind on the goodness of God during prayer and the truth of his word by reading, hearing and speaking God’s word and you can’t go wrong. If we feed our mind the word of God repeatedly we’ll absorb the truth of God and become more like Jesus Christ over time, which is God’s intention. The Bible confirms this sanctification process over and over. The main thrust of my Bible affirmations is creating affirmative statements about witnessing for Christ that I can proclaim before the throne of grace during prayer. I only have two categories for my affirmations; witnessing for Christ and everything else. I think I wound up with 14 affirmations about witnessing for Christ so far and 30 plus that pertain to everything else related to serving God.
Matthew 6:19-20 – (Jesus) – Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
1 Peter 3:12 – For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
Words are the most powerful thing in the universe. God spoke the universe into existence and everything is still upheld by the spoken word of God. One day when God is through with this old world he will destroy the universe the same way he created it; with his spoken word. Spiritual words control the physical world we live in. As believers and adopted children of the Most High we have been given the authority to harness the spiritual power of God’s word, especially where it concerns witnessing for Christ in order to save lost souls for the kingdom of God. In the Bible God refers to our “work” before the Lord. That work consists of spreading the gospel seed in order to save nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven. The currency of heaven is souls saved for God so when God refers to us building up treasures in heaven he is talking about how many people we help him save for heaven.
Everyone gets to heaven through faith alone but pleasing God and building up treasures in heaven requires the believer to witness for Christ and save at least one person for heaven. Think about it. God loves every creature he has made and he wants us all in heaven with him. The Bible confirms every soul God has made is priceless in his eyes so how could God not be pleased if we save at least one person for the kingdom of God? More is better but one will do. 95% of all the saints in heaven will be there through faith alone, never having saved even one additional soul to heaven by a witness for Christ. These are the believers who will stand before the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ on the last day and have their good works burned up by the fire of God because they didn’t do the one thing closest to God’s heart, which was to witness for Christ in order to save at least one soul for heaven. Any other good work a believer may do is worthless before God if we haven’t saved at least one more person for Jesus. Don’t stand before the bema judgment of Jesus Christ empty handed. Any reward from Jesus will last forever. When believers stand before Jesus Christ on the last day here is what will happen. Jesus will ask each believer, “Have you witnessed in my name?” If you haven’t then don’t expect to hear Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” It’s as simple as that. I have told you so the rest is up to you.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
John 6:44 – (Jesus) – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
God’s word that is conceived in your heart, then formed by the tongue, and spoken out of your own mouth becomes a spiritual force releasing the ability of God within you. That’s what Bible affirmations are all about. God’s word is spiritual law so when you pray before God and speak God’s words back to him in agreement with his will those words will put you over in this world. Prayer produces after its kind so pray the answer, the victory and not the problem. By the same token, you must be careful not to pray defeat or Satan will use your words to keep you in bondage. Dozens of times in the Bible God warns us to bridle our tongues and watch what we say in all circumstances. The spirit world is controlled by the word of God. The spoken word is God’s creative power and the natural world is controlled by man speaking God’s words, so speak wisely and think before you speak. Don’t pray to Jesus because it’s unscriptural. Always pray to God the Father, in Jesus’ name. God says you can have what you say so be careful what you ask for. Prayer is the believers legal right to use faith-filled words to bring God on the scene in your behalf so that your joy may be full. God may or may not grant your prayer request but God always hears the prayers of his saints and he has our best interests in mind. Keep in mind that faith makes prayer work. Prayers won’t work without faith but faith will work without prayer.
James 5:16 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Mark 11:24 – (Jesus) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
You can speak God’s words after him and they’ll work for you if you’re a believer in fellowship with God. The trick is God’s word must be formed in your spirit to the point where it becomes a part of you and then abides in you continually. The Old Testament prophets had that kind of faith which is why they were able to perform miracles. The word of God implanted into the heart (spirit) of man causes us to become a new creation that never existed before, born again of the Spirit of the living God. The born-again man is a joint-heir with Jesus. If Jesus is the righteousness of God, then you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Keep feeding your mind the word of God by reading, saying, and listening to the word of God to build up and maintain faith inside you. That’s what Bible affirmations are all about. It’s one way, and the best way, to achieve fellowship with God and maintain our faith. We are programmed in our mind to do and become what we say repeatedly. Continually affirm what God says until it gets in your spirit and becomes a part of you. Ignore what the world is showing you and what your senses are telling you. Trust only the word of God because the word is the wisdom of God and the final authority in life. In my next blog I’ll go over my new Bible affirmations for witnessing for Christ.
Matthew 9:37-38 – (Jesus) – The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
Jeremiah 1:12 – For I (God) am ready to perform My word.