BIBLE STUDY WEEK 4 (9/17/13)

 Bible study:    "Changing the Seen & Shaping the Unseen" (By Charles Capps)
Chapter:         (4)
Subject:        Shut Your Mouth
 
Prayer:
Father God, we praise you and thank you for all the blessings you have blessed us with. Thank you for blessing us with this study in Jesus' name. Help us to control our mouth when speaking about our lives, situations, and circumstances. Help us to continue to learn how to speak the Word into our life. Speak those things which be not as though they were, so we can honor you in all we do. Bless everyone in their soul, spirit, and body. Help us to patient with others. Bless your Word to be our guide daily. Bless everyone member of this community and their families. Bless this little child that will have heart surgery, please guide the doctor's hand. Bless their family to trust you in this. We thank you and praise you for all that you have done already. In Jesus' name we pray amen.
 
Study:
 
Well, as you can see this chapter is short too. Look again at the subject!   Shut your mouth!
 
Sometimes if you're going to change the seen to the unseen, you have to shut your mouth. Take Zacharias, for instance. God sent the angel Gabriel to speak to him.

Gabriel said:

Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John (Luke 1:13).

Zacharias and Elisabeth had been praying for this. But when God sent the angel with the message that their prayers were going to be answered, Zacharias said, "How do I know you're telling the truth? Give me a sign." (v. 18, paraphrased.)

Gabriel probably thought, if we don't get this guy's mouth shut, it's not going to work.

Just picture Zacharias going to Elisabeth. He might have said, "A guy appeared to me who seemed to be an angel and said his name was Gabriel. But he said some strange things, and I just don't know. What if he wasn't from God?"

They would have thought about it, talked about it, got unbelief stirred up, and the birth of their son would never have come to pass.

God pressed the angel to get Zacharias' mouth shut.

Gabriel said, "All right. I'm going to give you a sign. By this sign you'll know that it'll come to pass. (Not only that, but also he was insuring that it would come to pass!) You'll be dumb and not able to speak until it happens."

Here you see the wisdom of God. God said, "I'll take the things that are not and bring to naught the things that are." Words that are not spoken are much more powerful than words that are spoken in unbelief.

　
Keep God's Secrets

Ten years ago the Spirit of God revealed to me some things that are happening to me right now; but I didn't tell everyone about it.

When God reveals some things to you, He doesn't intend for you to tell everybody. If you do, they will probably try to talk you out of it.

 

Joseph's Revelation

Genesis, beginning with chapter 37, describes what happened to Joseph, when he revealed a secret that God had told him. The devil found out about it and tried to stop it from coming to pass; but in spite of all the devil could do, Joseph wouldn't let go of God's Word.

Joseph shaped the unseen things by the Word of God within him. God showed Joseph that he would be above his people; they would be bowing to him. He would be in a position of authority.

His brothers threw him in a well, but he still retained the vision. It didn't look bright down there with the frogs and water moccasins, but he still had God's Word! His brothers sold him into Egypt where his master falsely accused him and put him in jail.

But everywhere they put Joseph; he ended up being the doer of everything that was done. Even though he'd been sold into Egypt, Pharaoh promoted him in the kingdom because he had God's favor. He was a Word man.

Somebody may say, "Yes, it was amazing how God led Joseph through all those trials, tests, and problems to get him to the position where he would be in authority."

God did not have to use the devil to get Joseph into a position of authority. His Word was capable of doing that. But Joseph told God's secret. God revealed something to him that he had no business sharing with other people.

But in spite of it all, Joseph kept God's Word first place. He changed the seen and shaped the unseen by the Word of God that was revealed to him.

 

Some Things Are Better Unspoken
 

God does not intend for us to tell everything He reveals to us.

I've seen some things in my spirit that God has shown me which I haven't even told my wife; so the devil doesn't know about it. When the devil sure would like to know what it is because he'd try to head it off. He doesn't know and I'm not going to tell him, even though I could unwittingly, through prayer. Sometimes you give the devil valuable information when you pray. Let me give you an example.

A guy walks down the street. All of a sudden, two thugs jump out, stick a gun in his ribs, and say, and "Give us your money!"

He's a man of prayer. Prayer is good for everything, right?

The man throws his hands up in the air and says, "Oh, dear God, don't let them find that hundred-dollar bill I put in my shoe!"

That's dumb! That's not the way to shape things. He's going to get things out of shape. Sometimes silence is more important than prayer.

　

Devotion Sharing:
The Power of Words
Scripture: (Mark 11:23)
". . .Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass: she shall have whatsoever he saith."
 
Year ago I heard a minister teaching on faith, and he said something that got my attention. Once as he was meditating on Mark 11:23, the Spiritof God spoke to his spirit and asked, Did you notice that in Mark 11:23, Jesus talked about saying three times as much as believing?
The minister said, "Apparently, we need to hear about saying three times more than we to hear about believing. And if we're having trouble in our faith walk, it's three times more likely to be in the saying part than in the believing part."
 
Why? Because we're a direct result of our words. Our lives today are a direct result of what we've been saying up until now. And what we say today is what we will be or have tomorrow. So as someone once said, "If you don't like what you are, quit saying what you're saying."
 
This is not "mind over matter" or "mind science"; these are Bible truths. Hebrews 11:3 says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. . ." How did God create the earth? By His words. "God said, Let there be light: and there was light," and so on. (Genesis 1:3). How did God bring this to pass? By speaking.
 
How do we operate in faith? We also believe and say-which ultimately determines our lives.
 
Confession:
The words I speak today create who I'll be and what I'll have tomorrow. I speak blessings, healing and abundance in my life and all prayer warriors.
Remember, Sometimes silence is more important than prayer.
　
Questions:
1. In Joseph's story, how did he changed the seen and shaped the unseen?
2. How do we give the devil valuable information to hinder God's plan?
3. How do we choose between death or life, blessings or cursing?
4. Control your mouth, control your life; how do you do this?
5. Explain how your mouth can get you over your circumstances and into the blessings of God.
　
Ending Prayer:
Father God, in Jesus' name we ask that You bless each prayer warrior and their families today. We speak blessings over their lives. We say that God shall supply all their needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, with peace and love. Help all Christian to come together and pray against all unrighteousness, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

 

BIBLE STUDY WEEK 3 (9/10/13)

Bible   study: "Changing the Seen & Shaping the Unseen" (By Charles Capps)

Chapter: (3)

Subject: Changing the Unseen

Prayer:
Father God, we have been studying Your Word, so that we can show ourselves approval unto You, and so we can have a life of faith in You and in Your Word. Help us to utilize Your Word every day. Please bring these studies to our remembrance so we can be what You desire in us today.  Help us to use everything we learn for Your glory, and only for Your glory as we grow in faith in You, and in Your Word. AMEN.
 
Study:

Well, so far I have enjoyed this study. I hope and pray others are enjoying it too. This study and my book reading "The Prayer of Jabez" have really blessed me. 

Our subject for this lesson is "Changing the Unseen."

Before I post our book study, I want to say this, Abraham is our father by faith, and by faith we can call those things which are not as though they were. We can call those things in to existence, and we are not lying, but believing by faith, and speaking God's truth. And, that is why we as Gentiles are called the children of God, the chosen generation by faith, the royal priesthood, an holy nation (the nation that God called to be), a peculiar people; that we should show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.  That is God's chosen people! That is deep revelation, but some don't understand and don't want to believe it either. I am the chosen people of God by my faith; Yes, the Jews are His first chosen, but when Jesus came He brought us to God, and we must confess to become the chosen people as spoke of in (I Peter 2:9-10).



Let's continue reading:

An excellent example of changing the seen and shaping the unseen is shown in the life of Abraham.  Yes, I was just talking about him.  A great one! Great example for us in this study now.
Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Romans 4:16, 17
Notice, it is God and Abraham who are calling things that are not as though they were. God said, I have made thee a father of many nations. Abraham didn't have a child at that time, but the Bible says he believed God, and it was accounted unto him for Changing the Seen and Shaping the Unseen righteousness. (v. 22.)
This is the way you begin to change the seen and shape the unseen. Abraham called things which were not manifest in the natural realm as though they were—until they were!
Abraham was the man who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken (v. 18). He was 99 years old, and his wife was 90; but he was not weak in faith (v. 19). He would not consider anything that contradicted what God had spoken.
Let's look at what God did to bring about what He had said.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Genesis 17:5, 15
God had promised Abraham something that was absolutely impossible in the natural. Abraham was too old, Sarah was too old; and God does not violate His laws.
So God changed their names! Abraham means "father of nations" and Sarah means "mother of nations." Every time Sarah stuck her head out the tent door and called Abraham! he didn't hear Abraham!—he heard Father of Nations!
The Bible says, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). God changed the seen and shaped the unseen for Abraham and Sarah by using their own voices!
When Abraham said, "My name is Abraham," he was saying, "I am the Father of Nations." Every time Abraham said Sarah, she didn't hear Sarah; she heard Mother of Nations.
Every time she said, "My name is Sarah," she was saying, "My name is Mother of Nations." She was changing the seen and shaping the unseen with her very own voice.
God's way of changing the seen and establishing the unseen is with words. Words produce images in your spirit and in your mind.
The Bible says Sarah received faith to conceive seed. She did it by hearing God's Word for her. When anyone said Abraham or Sarah, they were saying, Thus saith the Lord.
God said, "I have made thee (past tense) the father of many nations." The Word says that Abraham believed God, and he went about calling things that were not as though they were. This is the way you begin to shape the unseen.

Faith Always Sees

Abraham did not see with his physical eye that he was the father of many nations. When I talk about shaping the unseen, I'm not talking about something that is unseen in your spirit. You can see things in your spirit as well as with the natural eye. 
I totally agree with this!
Sometimes people say, "That fellow just had blind faith." But there's no such thing as blind faith. Faith always sees. Faith always knows.
You don't see these things with the natural eye, but you perceive them in your spirit by discerning the Word of God by the Spirit of God within you.
Abraham called things that were not (manifest in the natural realm) as though they were (manifest in the natural realm) until they were (manifest in the natural realm). And the Word says that God did the same thing: He called things that were not as though they were.
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken ... (v. 18).
Notice: according to that which was spoken. Abraham believed in hope when there was no hope.
Abraham could have said, "Here I am—99 years old. My hundredth birthday is not far away, and my wife is 90."
He could have begun to look at what was seen and said, "Oh, no! That could never come to pass. That'll never happen. That must not have been God talking to me. That was just my flesh." (It couldn't have been his flesh because the carnal mind doesn't think that way.) Abraham believed in hope when there was no hope.

Abraham Considered Not His Own Body

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead" ... (v. 19).
If you want to change the seen, the first thing you need to do is consider not. Don't consider what you can see to be eternal. Don't consider what you can see to be established because the Word of God says things which are seen are temporal: They are subject to change by the Word of God and your faith.
Abraham believed God: And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He cast down imaginations and brought them into obedience to the Word of God. Love that!
Sometimes you have to cast down your imagination. (2 Cor. 10:5.) The devil will use your imagination if you let him.
Several years ago my daughter Annette was out late one night. As I was lying there in bed, I began to think. Immediately, the negative began to form in my mind.
The enemy, through my carnal mind, said, "She's had a wreck. There's been a big rain. She ran off in a ditch and turned over. You've seen her alive for the last time."
As those ideas came forth, I saw a mental vision: I saw the car go off the road and turn over in a ditch of water. Then I saw the water come up over the car. That's the devil's way of coming as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14.)
I said, "No! In the name of Jesus, that doesn't agree with the Word of God. My children are taught of the Lord, and great is the peace of my children!" (Is. 54:13.)
About that time, I heard the door slam as she came in.
You must cast down imaginations and bring them into obedience to God's Word.

Renew Your Mind

To get rid of the seen, or what seems to be, you must get your mind and spirit so programmed with the Word of God that you will reject all the devil has to offer. Your spirit will scream, Reject! Reject! It doesn't agree with God's Word! 
Hallelujah!
Then you begin to shape the unseen by God's Word.
Someone said, "Why should we walk in defeat and in despair when God's Word has been spoken?"
God has already had His say on the subject. The problem is that some don't know what He has said, and that enables the devil to take advantage of them.
We see in Romans 4:20-22 that Abraham wouldn't consider anything except what God said:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he was able also to perform,
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
The word righteousness is an Old English word that means right standing. Abraham's faith was considered or imputed to him for right standing with God.
Some might say, "I don't understand it. I don't have any trouble believing God for finances, but I do have trouble believing Him for healing," or vice versa. The same problem may exist in other areas.
Let's talk about healing now; because in these days people believe the doctor more than they believe God's Word.  Every morning, I mean every morning I read a devotional that teaches me to believe God for my healing, as well as for my finance and family needs.  This book is called "365 Days of Healing" by Mark Brazee.  Great book to read! 

Let me share one of my devotions before we continue………………

Confess, Believe, And Receive:

Scripture:  (Romans 10:9)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

My devotional book encouraged me more this morning when I read it.  It teaches about confessing, believing, and receiving from God.  How awesome that is to know that you can go to the Father and receive from Him!   Listen to this, If getting saved is the biggest miracle and yet, by the way, my devotional book is "Prescription For A Miracle) by Mark Brazee:  Good book!  I have been reading it for eight years now.  I read it over and over again.  It's that good to me.  Well, if getting saved is the biggest miracle and yet the easiest thing you ever did, would a lesser miracle, such as healing, be more difficult to receive?
No, we receive salvation and healing the same way.  They are both part of God's redemption plan.  You'd be amazed at your results if you simply received healing by faith the same way you once received your salvation.  Just say, "Lord, I know in my heart that by Jesus' stripes I was healed.  I receive You as my healer now.  Thank God, it's done!"
Now, don't check to see if you feel healed.  You aren't healed because you feel better.  You're healed because the BIBLE says you're healed.  And if you hold fast to your faith, your healing will come to pass!  Remember Isaiah said in (Isaiah 53:5) "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."  Therefore, we are healed when we pray, confess, believe, then we receive.
 
My confession for today:
I confess from a believing heart that Jesus is my Savior.  I also confess from a believing heart that Jesus is my Healer. Thank God, I received my healing. Amen

My Prayer:
Father, I pray that I continue to confess, believe, and receive whatever I need from You just as I received my salvation from You too, Amen

Ok, now let's continue where we left off………………….
When you get your mind renewed to the Word of God concerning prosperity—and realize that it is God's will for you to prosper—then you can operate in that faith. But you can't believe any further than you have knowledge.
You have to get yourself in line with the Word of God in the other areas, too. If you have been taught that healing went out with the apostles and that God doesn't do miracles anymore, then you're inhibited in that area. You're not in right standing with God concerning miracles.
You may be right with God; you may make it to heaven. But in one or more areas you might not be in right standing. It's not imputed to you for right standing because you are believing wrong. You are talking wrong and thinking wrong, because you have been taught wrong. Faith comes by hearing God's Word. (Rom. 10:17.)

Shape the Unseen

Your words are shaping the unseen—daily.
That is why God told Joshua:
This book of the law (the Word of God) shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8
The word meditate is interesting. Meditate means "to mutter; to speak to one's self."
In other words, this is saying, "As you confess what God said about your situation, you will make your way prosperous and do wisely in all the affairs of life."
Who was going to make Joshua's way prosperous? Joshua.
How? By shaping the unseen with the words of his mouth.

David's Sword Was In His Mouth:
 
Wow!  It was in his mouth.  That is awesome!

The 17th chapter of 1 Samuel describes David's encounter with Goliath, the giant sent from the Philistines to defeat the men of Israel.

I love these stories!

David walked out where the battle was supposed to be; but no one was fighting. They were all afraid! He said, "Is there not a cause?"
This was not a man of war; he was a shepherd boy; but he had learned to change the seen and shape the unseen. When he saw the giant, he said, "I'll go fight him. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? Who does he think he is to defy the armies of the Living God?"
He just filled himself with God's Word until he couldn't see anything but success. To David, that giant was defeat going somewhere to happen because he was defying the armies of the Living God.
Five times before David did anything, he said what he was going to do to the giant!
What was he doing? He was shaping the unseen.
He could have said, "As big as that guy is, just one swish with that sword and I'll be in two pieces!" He could have thought about all the "what-if's." (Have you ever had a bad case of the what-if's? "What if it doesn't work?")

But David didn't get the what-if's. He only spoke what was in agreement with God's Word. He was shaping the unseen. The only sword that he had was the one in his mouth—the two-edged sword of God's Word. 

 I pray others are enjoying this study with me.  We have more questions in this study.

Questions:
1 Where do you begin changing the seen and shaping the unseen?
2 What was Abraham's attitude toward his situation?
3 How did God change their situation?
4 What is the basis of faith?
5 Is there anything you would like to call into existence in your life?
6 What is the first thing to do when you want to change the seen?
7 How do you cast down imaginations?
8 How do we receive faith?
9 Who was going to make Joshua's way prosperous, and how?
10 How do you shape the unseen?
11 Have you experienced anything during this study that you would like to share?

Ending Prayer:
Father God, thank You for the blessing to be able to study Your Word with others, and most of all, in my personal time.  Help us to utilize what we learn, so we can be a witness for Your Word and glory. We give You praise always in Jesus' name. AMEN!