Bold_Confession

Inside Cover:

What We Believe

We believe that Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh. We believe the blood He shed on the cross of Calvary is the only provision made by God for the redemption of sins for all mankind. We believe that God has called us together for the purpose of making the Gospel of Jesus Christ a practical reality for every man, woman and child.

We believe that the gospel and the teachings of God's Word are for now and for here. We believe that God's Word is the most practical book every written. It shows the way to God: tells how to avoid the pitfalls of life; how to be victorious over sin.

It is a revelation from God that shows man how to be successful in his home life; how to successfully raise his children; how to succeed financially; how to eliminate fear; and in general, how to meet every situation in life and rise above it.

We believe that any man who knows Jesus.-- has a right relationship with God and who practices God's Word -- will prosper in whatever God shows him to do (Psalms 1:3). We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit as absolute and essential to any understanding of God's Word. He is the Spirit of Truth and it is the Holy Spirit's work to reveal to us the Father, the truth from God's Word and the person of Jesus, His only begotten son.

We believe that all men should surrender to Jesus in letting themselves be baptized into the blessed Holy Spirit.

We further believe that any who help God's people attain these God-given purposes will be blessed and prospered also.

"Practice the Word"

We are pleased to send you this booklet of messages on "The Bold Confession", broadcast in the Practice the Word" series. "Practice the Word" is a radio program designed to teach living principles from the Scripture on how you can do the Word of God.

In this second series entitled "The Bold Confession", Jim Durkin explains the life-changing effects of the words we speak. The confessions of our mouths establish our behavior to a large extent and even shape our identity. In these pages you will learn of the difference between "the facts" of your circumstances and "the Truth" as revealed by God's Word. Your words, your "bold confession" based upon God's truth can eternally establish your life according to Jesus Christ.

"Practice the Word" is a series for Christians who desire to press in even closer to the things of God. Yet is is also a personal message that Jim desires to share with you. He speaks from his heart, sharing with you his successes as well as failures in learning to put the Word into practice.

Jim brings the Word of God alive, in a way to help you begin practicing the Word yourself. So, as you read, you are being confronted with the same question that Jim had to face several years. God is asking, "Will you trust me, will you DO my Word?"

WHAT IS THE BOLD CONFESSION?

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). It is evident from this Scripture portion and many others like it that what we say by means of the tongue has great power to affect the life. This Scriptures show us that it means even death or life. It is little understood how very important are the things we say and the things we confess.

We are so used to speaking idly instead of weighing our speech, that much is said by us that we are not even aware of afterwards. Even more importat to everyone is the truth that what we say even idly is affecting us and others even to life and death.

We are constantly confessing one thing of another. We are constantly confessing the things we most surely believe about God, ourselves, others, the universe and our place in it. That which we confess actually becomes that which molds the path of the usefulness and the outcome of our lives. Is it any wonder then that God's Word has so much to say about the power of the words spoken by the tongue. It is the truly inspired Word of God that says, "let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak."

Let us then venture together into an understanding of the power of confession-- both good confession and bad confession. Let us adventure together into the knowledge of one of God's way of producing in us His bounty, His blessing, and His divine nature.

THE BOLD CONFESSION CHANGES EVERYTHING

When you make the bold confession that you are a son of God, you are like a child who hears his name is John. He doesn't know what that means. He simply believes his father and mother when they say, "Your name is John." And so he says, "My name is John," because he trusts the ones that told him so.

You, too, can trust your Heavenly Father. With that in mind, you can believe the Scripture also when it says, :"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust:" (2 Peter 1:4)

The Word of God is filled with promises for you and statements made about you by God. They are personal and refer directly to you as His son. So take the Word of God and make it your personal book. It contains a special impartation of truth to you and to every individual who reads it.

When you read the Word of God and He reveals a certain truth to you, and the Holy Spirit quickens it to your heart, you should make your bold confession of it. The reason it is a bold confession is because at that point you don't understand it. However, you believe it even though you don't see any present evidence of it in your life. So you confess boldly that it is true.

Since out of the heart are the issues of life and death and the power of life and death is in the tongue, your Heavenly Father wants you to believe in your heart and to speak with your mouth those things which produce abundant life. Declare your faith in His promises and act upon them.

I've been told there are about thirty thousand promises of God, although I have never counted them. All of them contain statements which are true about you. As you search God's Word for yourself, simply believe these promises even though your intellect may violently protest, "Oh no, that couldn't be true." Don't listen to your intellect or you'll make a wrong confession.

A Three-Part Principle

Revealed through the teaching of God's Word are three basic concepts concerning what we call the bold confession. We read in Romans ten, verses nine and ten, "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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This Scripture reveals to us two parts of a three-part principle. The two parts revealed are believing and confession.

For the third part we look to James, Chapter 2, verse twenty-four, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." You should also read James Chapter two, verses fourteen to twenty-six.

Stating the principle then, we find three things that form one action; (1) You are to believe something in your heart, the deepest part of your being. This is that which God has revealed to you by his Word. (2) What you believe in your heart you are to confess wtih your mouth. (3) this is an extension of your confession -- you are to act upon it. this is how you being your practice of the Word of God stated simply as the bold confession.

Everything that comes to you from God -- even salvation -- comes by means of this truth. For example, you establish your identity as a son of God in this way. Let us consider this Scripture, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to becomes the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).

You would practice the first part of this truth, by believing something in your heart. You believe the Scripture. You have gone a little further, you believe on His name and you realize that you have received Him, therefore you have received power to become a son of God. Then it is right that you take the next step, that of confessing it.

I believe because I believed on His name and received Him that I am a son of God. Thus, you have established your identity.

It remains for you to go forward and act upon that confession. God wants us to know -- and then confess -- who we are, what we are, and what we can do in Christ, and you find this in the Word of God. For example, as to what you can do, the Scripture says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me" (Phil. 4:13).

All things concerning yourself become true at the moment that you receive the Lord.Jesus into your heart. However, it may take a while before there is a manifestation of these things in your life because you must not only receive Christ, but you must now believe those things are true which He says about you. Confess those things about yourself as your truth.

Finally, the third thing is, you must act upon them. If you receive Jesus Christ into your heart, you become a son of God. However, most people, even though they are saved, have no understanding of all the divine power that sonship confers upon them.

there are two facets of becoming a son of God. (1) That relationshisp conferred upon you immediately through faith as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (2) The Bible refers to the fact that you became a babe in Christ when you are newly born into the kingdom of God. As a babe, you need to be instructed in how to becomes a mature son of God. I think this is why Jesus said "to become sons of God." While sonship is immediately established when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you becomes a mature son only as you learn to walk in Him and thus confirm your identity.

Your Bold Confession - A Son of God with Power

God wants you to understand and to confess who you are and what you are in Christ as a son of God. He wants you to know all the powers, privileges and glory you possess as His child. Jesus tells us that all power in heaven and earth has been given to Him, and as His sons and daughters He has given this power to us.

The Bible says that as He is right now, so are we in this present world. (I John 4:17). I am not fully able to understand all that He is, but I know that all things are subdued unto Him, and and that the Father has placed everything under His feet (I Cor. 15, 27, 28). This should be your bold confession.

"...it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is"

(I John 3:2). Here we have the certainty of our identity as a son of God.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) It also tells us that with God, the Father, there is no variableness neither shadow of turning (James 1:17).

These Scriptures indicate to us that though the world may change, and circumstances may change and will change, yet God himself can never change and His truth is unchangeable forever. This is a frame of reference you know will never change. Not only in this life, but throughout all eternity it will remain the same.

We constantly confess what we believe from the world's store of knowledge. We confess what we have learned about science, about language, about dealings with life from the world's store of knowledge. And yet we know that theories are over thrown and new knowledge comes along and overthrows the old. Still we continue to confess these things as true. How much more certain we should be of confessing God's eternal Word, and God's eternal truth about us. So we should believe God's truth, confess God's truth, and act upon God''s truth. This is His plan in bringing His divine nature into our lives.

First of all you must believe in the depth of your heart what the Word of God says about you. Just as you receive information about your family and the world from your parents, you must receive this new knowledge and absolutely true knowledge from your Heavenly Father with the same blessed attitude of trust towards Him.

The first thing God will teach you is that His Word is true. So come to Him to be taught out of His Word. As you sit at the Father's feet and at the feet of our blessed Lord Jesus, the Word of God will tell you many things about yourself.

As you open your heart to the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, God's Word will become a looking glass and you will begin to see yourself as God sees you. One of the first things God will tell you is that you are His son. While you have an earthly father, your Heavenly Father is the one to whom you must primarily relate.

Therefore, confess right now out loud what the Bible says about you. Stop for a moment -- say to yourself out loud, "I am a son of God through Jesus Christ. God is my Father and Jesus is not only my Lord and Saviour, but my Brother."

As you confess this, believe it in your heart, just as you believed the information your parents and teachers gave you about your human identity. Keep confessing this until it is firmly established, and there is no thought in your mind that it is not true.

You know who you are when you believe on Jesus as your Lord. You have this assurance when you hear from your Heavenly Father through the witness of the Holy Spirit. You may know that you are a son of God by the new birth recreated after the image of Him that created Him.

This is your first bold confession. While you still don't know what you can do or why you can do it, you know for the first time who you are in Christ.

A Wrong Confession

Years ago, when I would arise in the morning, I looked outside to check the weather. Perhaps it was raining, and I would not feel so well. I became discouraged. The weather was depressing, but I had to go to work.

"Oh, another miserable day!" I'd say. "Why do things have to be like this?"

I would get up and go to work and sure enough it was a gloomy day -- exactly like my negative confession. Everything went wrong. I would get rained on. I would open the car door and step out and water would run off the roof and pour all over me.

By the time I got to work I was in a hateful mood, and it would continue throughout the day. I'd say, "The devil has been after me and he's tormented me all day. Isn't this terrible!"

When I went to bed at night I wouldn't be able to sleep because I was in such a terrible state of mind. It was then that my Heavenly Father gave me a three-part principle to follow in the bold confession of His Word.

I began to read the Bible with an open heart, and to confess to the truth of the Word. One day in my reading, I found a Scripture concerning the day. Let's read it, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoince and be glad in it" (Psalm 118: 24). What day is God talking about? I asked myself. I thought, "This is the day," might mean some special day, and I tried to find out.

Then it dawned on me. God was not talking about a specific day, but He had made every day of the week, and so we will rejoice and be glad in each one. "How can we do that," I asked, "when some days are bad ones, and on some days, I have all kinds of trouble" Lord, what can you mean by that?"

The Bold Confession Makes Every Day a Glad Day

God stopped me from asking Him what He meant by His Word, and told me I was first to simply believe it, secondly, to confess it, and third, to act upon it.

I was to confess to the truth of His Word in every circumstance of my life, and in everything that happened -- every day.

God showed me He is involved in every situation in your life and mine. He is in the middle of it somewhere, and every day is a good day bursting with opportunities to glorify the Lord. Every day there are changes to learn about Him, and to grow in Jesus Christ.

So now when I get out of bed, I do not say, "This is a miserable day and the devil is really after me." Today I look for God everywhere and I find Him everywhere.

Today I know that I am a son of God, and that my steps are directed by Him. My personaility has changed. My grumpiness has gone. The love and blessing and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is manifest instead. Everything has changed since I made this bold confession of faith in God's Word. Today I can claim all those thirty thousand promises as mine!

Will you begin now to claim them as yours? What an adventure lies ahead for you! What blessed discoveries you are now ready to make in your growing knowledge and relationship to Jesus.

Let us now look at some who practiced this principle.

ABRAHAM'S BOLD CONFESSION

God came to Abraham one day and said , "I have made thee a father of many nations" (Romans 4:17). Notice God didn't say, "some day

I will make you a father." He said, " I have made you a father of many nations."

Abraham had no son, and as far as he knew, he could not have one, naturally speaking, yet God spoke in the past tense to him as if it was already done. And in God's mind it was.

When God speaks to us through His Word, His promises and His statements are not necessarily understandable at first by our intellect. While these things are not comprehended by our human mind, they are by the spirit.

God says many wonderful things about Abraham in Romans the fourth chapter -- things that are inconceivable to our natural intellects.

For instance, Abraham was no great general, nor was he a king in the ordinary sense. At any one time he only had a very small number

of servants -- perhaps the largest number he ever had was about 300. Though this was a very large household, it certainly was not

anything like a nation. Yet God tells us he had made him the father of many nations.

God was so intimate with Abraham, He called him His friend. Because "Abraham believed and trusted God, it was accounted to him for righteousness, and his belief illustrates the principle of the bold confession of God's Word. He believed in his spirit, confessed with this mouth the things God told him, and then acted in faith upon God's promise.

He didn't try to analyze what God said. If he were like some people, he would have turned around and said, "Now, You don't mean that

You have made me a father of many nations. I believe You really meant to say that you will make me a father of many nations."

Abraham didn't try ot argue like this with God. The Bible says, that he "believed God," "Before Him whom he believed, even God, Who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."

"Quickeneth" means "bring to life the dead." And notice what follows, God calls those things which don't exist as though they did. No man can see them, feel them, or hear them -- none of his senses can detect that they are there -- yet to God they are there.

Our heavenly Father wants you and me to see things in this way through His eyes, and to trust and to believe Him even as Abraham did. When He reveals some truth to us. He wants us to be like little children and say, "Thank You, Father. I may not understand what you are telling, me, but I believe it and I know that it is true."

Strong Unstaggering Faith when Human Hope is Gone

It was not enough for Abraham to only believe God, for that was in his spirit only. But the Bible tells us, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be."

Every human hope was gone, yet Abraham believed there would be the physical manifestation of what God said was already true. He knew that he would become "the father of many nations," because God said so.

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead." Abraham paid no attention to human circumstances after he heard from God. When God said, " I have done this," Abraham could have questioned this statement.

He might have said, "Well, I don't see any child -- there's not even a possiblilty of one. My body is dead, and Sarah's womb is barren, and

it is impossible for her to have a child."

Instead the Bible tells us of Abraham's bold confession of faith. We read that he was not weak in faith, and he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Here is the confession of Abraham's mouth. He literally praised the Lord that that which God said was so, being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform.

Here was a man who believed something in his heart, confessed it with his mouth, and then acted upon it. About a year after God gave him this promise, he still had no child. If he had relied on his feelings, his emotions or his circumstances, he would have been confused. If he had listened to the testimony of his friends, or to the reasoning of his own intellect, he would never have had that strong, unstaggering faith. God's way of fulfilling His promise to Abraham differed from everyting he had been trained to believe concerning the basic facts of life.

And so one year went by, two years, and finally fifteen years passed. Even after eighteen years, seemingly nothing changed. Every now

and then Abraham would go outside of his tent, and one night God said to him, "Look at the stars in the sky, Abraham. Can you count them?"

"No, Lord, they are too many for me."

Another time God said to him, "Look at the sand in the sea, Abraham. Can you count it? So shall thy seed be."

And so in spite of the way things looked, Abraham continued to believe God and continued to be strong in faith. Abraham's faith was sustained through God's Word those eighteen to twenty years until finally God placed Isaac, the promised child, in his arms.

The Purpose of Testing

Now when his son Isaac was only a young lad, God called Abraham, and we read He tempted him. That word "tempt" means "test." Oftentimes a Christian will say, "God tested me because He wanted to know what I would do."

God already knows what you are going to do without testing you. The purpose of testing is so that you will know what you will do in that kind of situation. You do not really know what level of faith you have attained until it has been tested. Therefore God allows these pressures to come against you so you can exert your faith against them.

Abraham needed to know about himself, so this is why God came to him and said, "Abraham, take now thy son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

When I first read this passage and preached about it, I spoke of Abraham as a man bowed down with age, whose eyes were red from weeping all night. This was one of those "but we know" sermons, that I told you about before 1. Later, when I read the Bible with an open heart, I discovered that was not the way it was at all.

The Bible tells us that "Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him." As an Oriental potentate, though only a ruler over his own household, one thing he certainly would not ordinarily do would be to saddle his own animal and cut his own wood. So here was this man of great power and influence, who demonstrated his faith and acted accordingly.

1 Jim Durkin, "The Word of God," Radiance Publishing, Eureka, California

An Unchangeable Promise and a Bold Confession

Abraham knew that God had promised him that out of Isaac would come kings, priests, rulers, nations and people. He believed God and knew that God could never change, and that nothing God would tell him afterwards could alter or modify His original promise.

So Abraham remained faithful in believing God and took two of his young men and Isaac with him, and went to the place which God had designated. When Abraham saw the place afar off he said to the young men, "Abide ye here with the ass. I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you." Here was a glorious bold coonfession beforehand of that which Abraham believed deep in his spirit.

He knew God had given him this son and that God said that he would be the blessed seed, and that from Isaac would come rulers and kings and nations and people -- not from other sons, but from this son of promise.

Therefore, Abraham was sure that even if Isaac were to die that God would raise him from the dead. The Bible refers to this in Hebrews 11:19 "From whence also he received him in a figure."

Abraham was completely confident and trusted God, so he testified they would return before he saw any possibility of it. He knew that what God said could not fail.

When they reached the place God designated for the sacrifice to be given, Isaac asked, "Where is the offering?"

"God will provide us an offering, my son," was Abraham's reply.

Isaac trusted his father completely, and when he answered this way, Isaac didn't ask a lot of questions, even when Abraham bound him

to the altar.

Bold Confession Brings God's Intervention

As Abraham raised his knife above Isaac, the angel of God appeared and said, "Abraham, do your son no harm." When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in the thicket -- God had provided Himself a sacrifice just as Abraham told Isaac he would.

The same thing has happened with you and me. God, through Jesus Christ, has provided Himself a sacrifice. Make this bold confession about what the Word of God says is true for you. Read Romans 10:9, 10 again. Begin to confess your belief in it openly, then act upon it.

Apply God's Word in every one of your life situations. When you make a bold confession, this will bring God's interventoin in your life.

Confess what God says about you and state it back to Him and to the world. State it openly, even when there is no one listening. In this way your confession takes the printed Word of God from the pages of the Bible and turns it into a living experience in your life.

Use the bold confession as Abraham did. Trust in the Word of God and look for no additional proof other than that Word. Be strong in faith as Abraham was, and give glory to God. That glory was praise to God, and an open confession of belief in God's promises. His faith never wavered. He continually acted upon the truth that was in his heart, even to the point of seeming to bring to utter destruction the only son God had given him. He was ready to take that son and sacrifice him on the altar that God had shown him.

You will see this three-part principle of the Bold Confession practiced all through the Scripture: (1) believing in the heart, (2) confessing with the mouth, and (3) acting upon the bold confession of your belief. Jesus practiced this principle. David did and Paul also.

Throughout your lifetime you are to practice the entire Word of God. Your Heavenly Father wants you to believe and walk in faith as Abraham did. He wants you to have a manifestatoin of all the power and privileges contained in the term a "son of God," as you make a bold confession of God's Word in your life.

MAKE THE RIGHT CONFESSION

If I could sit down with many of you who are reading this right now, you'd say to me, "Jim, I have big problems in my life. It seems as if God is a million miles away from me. I pray, but He doesn't seem to hear my prayers. When I ask Him to lift my heavy burden, it gets heavier and heavier.

"Why does God let this happen to me?"

I can tell you out of my own experience, and the experience of many others, that God can bring blessing and victory in your life. Even when it looks utterly impossible for this to happen, it will beomce a divine reality to you if you will trust God, believe His Word, and make a bold confession of faith.

When you first start down the road of "practicing the Word of God," you many see nothing with your natural eyes in the way of blessing. It

is only what you see by faith in your heart. I remember at one time I was going through a great trial. It seemed to me that God just didn't like me. I heard of how He blessed other people, but I didn't seem to receive any blessings at all.

I actually contended with God and complained, "Lord, you do things for other people and you help them. But look at the shambles of my life. Nothing good every seems to happen to me."

It was around this time that I noticed a precious portion of God's Word in Deuteronomy 28:1-9 where the Lord promised blessing after blessing to His people -- if they would listen to Him and obey His commandments. "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if though shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 28:2.

I began to confess this portion of the Word of God and to make it my own. I believed that the blessings were down the road in back of me.

I did not look back to see if they were there, but I trusted God and I knew that they would overtake me.

Bundles of Blessings Everywhere and All the Time

I continued to confess this wonderful promise of God that covered every condition and circumstance of life. I would have blessings wherever I might be -- in city or country. There would be blessings on my children and they would grow up to be fine saints of God and workers for Him. For every circumstance of my life there would be blessings.

At first when I confessed these things, I didn't see a bit of it coming true in my life. But I continued to boldly confess the Word. I said, "Father, if You said it was true, then I know that it is true and nothing can change that."

Gradually, one by one, those blessings started to catch up to me and to overtake me just as God promised they would. Finally, a mighty avalanche of blessings rolled up and poured over me.

As you use the bold confession, God will change confusing circumstances and solve perplexing problems that surround you, too. They

will all line up to the Word of God and to what He says is true.

David understood this principle, and was not afraid to make a bold confession when he faced Goliath, a huge hulk of a man, a nine-foot giant. Goliath had mocked the armies of Israel and defied them. "Give me a man that we may fight together," he bellowed. All of Israel, and even the king, trembled with fear when they heard his challenge.

When David, the little shepherd boy, came to greet his brothers in the army and to bring them some food, the giant strode up and threatened the Israelite army again. Once more Goliath asked for a man to fight with him. No one dared to respond, but David volunteered. When the king heard this, he called or him.

Negative Confessions Come from Satan

The first thing David faced before he encountered the giant was a negative confession. If he had listened to it he would never have defeated Goliath. "You're not able to go and fight against Goliath," King Saul said. "You're only a stripling, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

Negative confessions like this will hammer against you daily and will rob you of joy and victory and blessing, if you listen to them. No matter what their source, negative confessions are satanically inspired. They may come to you through your friends, or well-meaning people, but if they are contrary to the Word of God, they are from Satan. Therefore, you should not receive them into your heart.

David refused to accept King Saul's negative confession. If he had, he would have gone away, and we might never have heard any more of him.

Instead he replied, "No sir, that is not the way it will be. God delivered me from the paw of a lion, and from the paw of a bear, and the same God that protected me then, will preserve me from this giant."

David looked at what God showed him to be true, and he refused to look at his circumstances. He knew he was a stripling, and that he faced a cruel and heavily armed giant. David knew also that he hadn't learned the principles of warfare as Goliath had, and that the circumstances facing him were not at all encouraging.

Though David knew all these disheartening facts, he also knew something better. He knew how to confess God's Word boldly and to act upon it.

David's Bold Confession

"This day," David declared, "will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth."

Talk about a bold confession of faith. Here was a young lad, with only a tiny sling in his hand and a few stones in his pouch. People looking at him from a natural viewpoint would say, "That poor fellow hasn't got a chance against that great giant of a man. Look at Goliath! He's loaded with armor. Besides that, he is known for his skill in putting men to death."

David told the spectators that they would learn a lesson -- that God's methods are not like ours. God does not depend on the one who has the most money, the biggest spear, or the most skill. "The Lord savest not with sword and spear," David said, "for the battle is the Lord's. He will give you into our hands."

In a few minutes the giant was dead and the frightened Philistines fled before the pursuing army of the Israelites. The battle was over and the Lord was glorified.

So do not be afraid of giant problems or perplexing, painful circumstances which may arise in your life. All of these things are arranged for you by the Lord, Himself. There is not a minute that goes by, whether you are awake or asleep, that Jesus does not personally work in your life. He arranges circumstances so that you come up against difficult situation after difficult situation in order that you may learn to trust Him.

Practice the Word - Confess its Truth

Do not be discouraged and do not doubt the Lord, but use the "bold confession" of God's Word as David did. Begin to "practice the Word," and to boldly confess its truth.

If conditions do not change immediately, do not lose your faith. Simply keep practicing the Word. Sooner or later, as you use the "bold confession," those circumstnaces will start to tremble, and one after another they will fall away as you see God intervene in your behalf.

Every situation of your life will realign itself to fit the truth of God's Word.

Marvelous changes have happened in the lives of people who have used this simple method of learning to "practice the Word," and to make the bold confession. Remember these three simple steps for the "bold confession." (1) Believe God's Word. (2) Confess its truth with your mouth. (3) Act upon it -- "do" what the Word says.

So -- make the right bold confession, and bundles of blessings will start rolling down the road to you, too.

CONFESS YOU ARE THE BLESSED MAN

When I was a little boy, we lived in Chicago. In the summer we would go out to what was called a forest preserve where a lazy, slow old river flowed through the woods. Weeping willow trees grew on the river banks and spread over the water.

Though it was very warm in Chicago at that time of the year, when we sat by the river under the shade of a weeping willow tree, the moisture from the river made it a cool and comfortable resting place. This place of relaxation was like one of the pictures that God gives in Psalm One.

He says that the blessed man who delights in the law of the Lord shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. As a blessed man, your branches will spread out to provide shade and rest and comfort for those who are weary and oppressed in their souls. This is your picture, as your confess that you are that blessed man.

This is the opposite of Satan's picture of you and your relationship to people and circumstances. He tries to frighten you about a fearful future -- that you will get old, you will lose your loved ones, your children may turn against you -- or your parents won't understand you.

He deludes you into thinkng the minister does not properly feed you. He gives you wrong ideas of your church and fills your life with concepts of fear. They come up in your mind again and again, and even though nothing at all happens concerning those wrong pictures of his, you start to live out some imaginary happening in relation to them. As a result of that picture, you actually becomes fearful.

Maybe your companion is perfectly well and strong, but perhaps the thought of death comes and you think "I'll lose my mate." You actually picture your mate having a heart attack and dying and being buried. You sit there trembling and say, "Oh God, don't let this ever happen. Please, please!"

But nothing happens. Satan designed those pictures to keep you fearful. God's Word declares He has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. God wants you to have a picture of the blessed man as He gives it to you here in the First Psalm.

Every believer who reads and practices God's Word, receives certain pictures about himself from the Lord. You should take in these pictures, meditate upon them and take time to think about them in the night before you go to bed, and a few moments before you actually arise in the morning.

The Blessed Man Meditates Day and Night

Can't you just see this picture of the blessed man sitting there delighting and meditating in the law of the Lord? Well, that blessed man is you.

The devil would like to come along and say, "You don't like to read the Word of God." But you must boldly confess, "No, Satan, you are a liar. This new creation of God which I am, does delight in the law of the Lord. I do delight in talking with my Heavenly Father."

The reason why many people do not like to read the Word is because they do not read it as His Word. They read it as a text book or from the sense of duty. They say, "I must perform the duty of reading the Bible and somehow read ten chapters a day. God requires this of me."

God doesn't require you to read ten chapters a day. What God wants you to do is to enter into His presence as you read it and say, "What do you mean by this, Father" You say, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way

of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."

"Father, I don't perfectly understand that. Do you mean that I should not witness to the lost? You tell me to do so, in other parts of Your Word, and yet this sounds as if we shouldn't have anyhing to do with sinners." As you ask God about that Scripture, He will quickly reveal to you that He simply means, "Don't get involved with sinners and their practices. Don't sit with them, walk with them, stand with them or become involved with what they do. But of course you are to witness to them, love them, be a friend to them, and help them."

So you see, you must not only read the Word, but you need to talk to your Heavenly Father about it, and He will reveal to you what it really means.

As you read, "The blessed man...has his delight in the law of the Lord," picture yourself and say, "I am that blessed man, Lord, because you say this about me. I am your child and you have blessed me with all spiritual blessings."

The Blessed Man is a Fruitful Tree

God says also that you will be like a tree that brings forth His fruit in his season. This is what you really are. You are not the frightened person that Satan tries to make you think you are. You are not confused and stumbling around, not knowing the will of God. You are the blessed man that God talks about, who brings forth his fruit "in his season." You and I want everything to happen all at once, but God says the fruit comes forth "in his season."

Many of the best fruits grow very slowly. An apple tree may be six or seven or eight years old even before it fully produces. In the beginning, you see just a little green sapling growing up. If you try to hurry it, you only hurt it.

Gradually, the sapling grows larger and larger, and one day the branches stretch out, the bark turns brown, and it becomes a tree. In the first years you will see only an apple or two or three. But finally, people look at it and say "See that marvelous tree with so many bushels of wonderful apples. We will enjoy its fruit."

It took a long time for that apple tree to produce fruit. And so it is with you. But even when no one else can see it, and your life seems barren, your Heavenly Father sees you as a tree that will bear fruit in his season.

When people come along and give you a negative confession about yourself, and say things contrary to the truth of God's Word, don't believe them. Make a bold confession of what God says about you.

God says the blessed man -- and that is you -- is like a tree that grows and brings forth fruit in his season. Do you wonder about this? Have you served the Lord for months or years and yet not seen any fruit as a result?

After I served the Lord for thirteen or fourteen years, my life came to a time of terrible crisis. For about three years, I was in the blackest night of the soul that you could imagine. I was confused and troubled.

But all of it was God's preparation of my heart. It was God chastening and dealing with my soul as He prepared me for the real work I had to do. If you had looked for fruit in my life then, you would have seen none. I never saw it myself until I began to read God's Word and to understand that what God says is true -- is true. Although outwardly I saw no immediate changes, I no longer saw myself in all the bad light that I seemed to see myself in before. I began to read God's marvelous Book and to meditate upon His Word day and night.

The Blessed Man has the Fruit of the Spirit

When I read the First Psalm and other Scriptures, I saw myself, so I said, "I am like that tree. I am planted by the rivers of water. My roots are going down deep, fed by the Blessed Holy spirit and by the truth of the Word. The life of Jesus lives in me. He is the Vine, and I am the branch.

As I saw myself that way, I began to confess, "Lord, it is Your life that is flowing in me. It is your direction that works in my life. I know that contained in the fruit of my life will be love, joy, peace, goodness, faith, temperance, meekness, long-suffering. It will be the fruit of the Spirit and I'm going to let You do the work.

"In the meantime, I believe what You say about me -- that I am that tree planted by the rivers of water and that I will bring forth my fruit in whatever season You have prepared. Now I will patiently wait for it."

The Bible mentions those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12) . When you and I have faith, we see the true picture of ourselves in God's Word. But it takes patience to wait until the tree manfests fruit. It may take months. It may take many years.

In Abraham's case it took twenty years. In David's case it was many years before the promise that he would be king ever came to pass. In the meantime, he went through terrible trials. At one time it became so bad, he had to act like an insane man and let his spittle run down his beard. He scrabbled on the door until they thought he was an utterly mad man and so they left him alone.

The Bible also tells us of Joseph's long waiting period. He went through horrible experiences. He was sold as a slave, falsely accused, put into prison and unjustly treated. Yet that picture of faith that God gave him in a dream never left him. He knew that God was working in his life and he was patient and waited until God manifested His purpose.

It took many years also for God's purpose to be revealed in my life, but as I began to confess God's Word, I saw myself as a blessed man. When I read Deuteronomy 28, I saw myself blessed everywhere and in everything. I also began to realize that all things did work together for my good as I read in Romans 8:28.

Jump Joyfully into Every Trial

I saw "all things" meant every crisis, every problem, every trouble, every so-called trial. I saw God was in each circumstance, and that it wasn't the devil doing something to me.

The devil could do nothing to me unless God allowed it. Therefore, if God allowed it, it was to bring to pass the "good" that God told me about in His Word. So I would say, "Father, open the eyes of my understanding that I may see You in this circumstance."

Sure enough, somewhere in the midst of that trial or test, as I began to make that bold confession, I would see God was in it. I saw all things worked together for good to them that love the Lord. And I knew I did love Him.

God would say, "Come on, son, jump right into the middle of this trial with joy." That is what the Bible tells you to do -- to rejoice when you fall into manifold temptations, because God is in them. You don't have to give into temptation because once again it says, "God is faithful and just. He won't suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it."

The Bible is literally filled with pictures of faith that will help us in every situation and every temptation and trial. In I John we have this one, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth."

A Three-fold Prosperity Picture

Look at that Scripture closely and you will see three types of prosperity, God says, "I will that you prosper." That has to do with material prosperity. God wants to put the tools of material prosperity into your hands. He doesn't do it for you to increase your living standard beyond what is reasonable, but that you might increase your giving. He wants to give you the privilege of entering into the blessed ministry of giving.

Secondly, He wants you to prosper and be in health. He wants you to prosper physically, and He wants to keep your body well.

Finally, and most important of all, God wants you to prosper spiritually, even as your soul prospers. He wants your life to be so filled with His glory and power that you can manifest that radiant Light which is Jesus Christ, in this dark world of sin. He wants His promises turned into a vital reality in your life. Then everyone can see and know that God is alive today and living in you. He wants the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly in all wisdom.

This is the three-fold prosperity picture your Heavenly Father wants to bring to pass in your life.

Once you understand what the Word of God is, and about the bold confession, you will know how to apply the word of God to your own life. Then it will become a part of your living experience as you act upon it and do what God says you can do.

One lady was listening to our previous series of broadcasts on the "Word of God," and as the truth of God's Word was declared over the airwaves a spark of faith was touched off in her inner heart. A miracle happened as she responded in faith to what she heard and made

a bold confession.

She wrote, "I was feeling badly and half asleep, when your program came on the air," she wrote. "Fortunately, I heard the few final words of your message. I am referring especially to what you said about asking the Lord how you could love people more, and He told you to simply "do it."

"That really struck me in a powerful way, so I decided to act upon that truth. I said to myself, "The Lord is my strength and my help," and I got out of bed. What a blessing, praise God!"

God knows what you can do, who you are, and what your destiny is. Believe God and act upon what He tells you in His word -- by making a bold confession today that you are the blessed man in Psalm One.

PICTURES HELP YOUR BOLD CONFESSION

Have you come to a place in your life where you are faced with seemingly insurmountable difficulty? You do not know where to turn or where to go or what to do, and you are looking for a way out.

Don't try to think your way out, because that will only get you into more complexities and difficulties. You need Jesus Christ Himself to operate in the conditions of your life and to change. them. God wants you to believe Him, to boldly confess His Word in such a situation and then act upon it.

When you do this, impossible circumstances will become "a way," so you can march right through them to victory. This happened for Joshua and the Children of Israel, when God split the waters of the Jordan, and caused them to stand up in a heap, so that the people could cross over on dry ground.

God wants to put "faith pictures" 1 like this River Jordan crossing into your heart. Such pictures can come to you only through the Word of God. God doesn't give biographies of people, but He takes certain situations like this that illustrate great truths and puts them down for you to read, so you can go and practice them.

Joshua used the great principle of the bold confession. Although he didn't have the Bible as we know it today, God revealed His truth to him in his inner being, either by means of an angel or the working of the Holy Spirit.

At one particular time God showed him that the Israelites were to go over the River Jordan. God told Joshua to have the priests and the Levites pick up the ark of God and to walk toward the brink of the water and then to stand still in the Jordan. This seemed like an impossible command to obey -- to plunge into rushing, roaring waters that were overflowing the river banks.

This seemingly impossible circumstance blocked the Children of Israel from entering the Promised Land, just as there are hindrances that obstruct you from entering into the very promies of God that our Heavenly Father wants to give to you.

But because Joshua used the bold confession, and believed the Word of the Lord, he knew that the Children of Israel could cross the River Jordan, even though it was flooding. He understood what God said to him, just as you can read something in the Bible today and know it is the complete revelation of God.

1 Jim Durkin, "The Faith Picture," Radiance Publishing, Eureka, California

Miraculous Intervention

Because of his faith, he was able to proclaim with confidence, "This day you will see what God will do for you." He then told the priests and Levites to line up and pick up the ark of God and to march towards the circumstance of the Jordan River with its overflowing banks. They were not to run away from it or try to think of a way around it or over it or anything else. They were to march straight toward it, for God was in that circumstnace and they were not to fear it.

As the Levites and priests went forward, a miracle happened. When the soles of their feet touched the brim of the water, it divided into

two parts and stood up as a heap and they went on through.

Then they walked out and stood firmly on dry ground with the ark of the God in the very middle of that terrible circumstance that once blocked their way into the promised land. As they stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, the people streamed by them on either side.

What a testimony this was, that the circumstance was only there to bring glory to God! Furthermore, it was a learning experience for them. Best of all, when they went and stood in the middle of that circumstance and conquered it, they made a way by which hundreds and thousands of other people could also cross over.

God will do the Same for You

God wants to do the same thing for you in the impossible conditions that block your way and hinder you from appropriating the promises of God. There are so many things your Heavenly Father wants to do for you.

He wants to heal your body. He wants to deliver you from every problem you face. He wants ro remove those tremendous financial difficulties that press you against the wall. He wants to change your poverty into abundance so that you may enter into the glorious ministry of giving.

Many of you have unsaved loved ones and you see them plunging more and more deeply into sin. God wants to save them. There are those of you who don't know how to handle your own emotional life. You weep and cry and call out to God with a heavy spirit. God wants to dleiver you from your bondage and every unpleasant circumstance that faces you.

You can appropriate God's Word to you, too, for every one of these impossible situations, even as Joshua did, by using the bold confession.

When God moves you into a circumstance, then He is in the middle of it and you do not need to be afraid of it any more. The devil's fear pictures will suddenly disappear as the divine realization comes to you that God is in you and with you in that circumstance. You will know that it is for God's glory and that you might learn a lesson of faith. It is there that you might see God's miracle hand working in your behalf. So -- do as the Levites and priests did -- march straight towards it.

Not a thing changed until they took that final irrevocable step and moved their feet out and shifted their balance forward so there was no point of return. This i what God wants you to do -- to step out, make the bold confession, and march towards the difficult circumstance.

See Yourself in God's Looking Glass

The Bible is a looking glass, where you can see yourself in many different situations, reflected in the faith pictures that God has placed there for you. If you have received Jesus, the Bible shows that you are a son of God. If you are a woman, you can read Proverbs, Chapter Thirty-one, and see the virtuous woman. As you read it, boldly confess, "I am that woman."

If you are a man, you can look and see the life of Joseph or Jacob and some of the others whom God converted and changed. As you look at them you can say, "I am like that man."

The devil would like to come and tell you, "You are not like that man...then he will try to give you memories of how you were. But you boldly confess to him, "That isn't so. It's how I was before, but I am dead to that life, and it is gone forever. Jesus cut it off and its power and life are gone and I am alive unto the truth of God's Word and to my Savior."

When you look at the life of the Lord you know that it is the kind of person you are. Jesus Christ is your elder Brother and your Saviour, the Lord and Guide of your life. And that same Spirit that is in me, is the same that is in you, and we are one in the Lord Jesus.

Let's go back to Romans the tenth chapter where Jesus speaks about the righteousness which is by faith. That is what the Lord Jesus purchased for you and me by His death on Calvary's cross. This passage tells us where this righteousness which is of faith can be found.

"What saith it? The Word is nigh thee." Where is it? "Even in thy mouth." The Lord is saying He is in you. "The Word is nigh thee," not just the Word of the Book, but the Lord Himself who is the Word of God. He is the living Word, and He is in you.

He wants to speak through you -- to use your vocal cords and your soul and your mind to enter in with Him to the confession that He wants to put on your lips. He wants you to bring out the bold confession of His Word. You many think no one is listening, but the whole universe is attentive when the man of God or the woman of God speaks the Word of God as a bold confession.

Let it come from the depths of your being. Speak out boldly. God's Word however, doesn't have to be super-emotional. It can be very quiet, just a calm clear declaration. "This is God's Word and this is what is true. This is what I believe." But let it come from your inner heart with faith.

Here in Romans an important principle is laid down. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus." You are to confess Him as Lord Jesus, and that He was the Word made manifest in the flesh." And shall believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Satan himself and all his army of fallen angels and demons arrayed against you cannot have one iota of effect on that promise. God says that; if you do what He says, you shall be saved. Nothing can stop that from being so, because God has spoke it and He hears

when the word of faith is in our lips.

How powerful it is to do what the Bbile says -- to hear God's Word in your heart and to believe it with that quiet certainty that comes into the spirit.

As you read certain parts of the Bbile -- God's Looking Glass -- you will find pictures forming in your miind. These are God's faith pictures for you. He wants you to take them into the deepest part of your being and begin to boldly confess them as yours. As you do this, you will find the Lord Jesus Christ working in your life to change every complex and difficult situation which confronts you.

Begin now. The Holy Spirit will help you to learn how through practice. At first it may seem strange. This is because you are doing somethiing that is completely new to you.

If you persist, you will have a similar testimony to one man who after practicing this truth received a startling answer to prayer. He then said to me, "Brother Jim, these bold confessions and faith pictures are powerful, aren't they?" Yes, praise God they are!

As you practice the Word, if you need additional help don't hesitate to write us. We will respond to you individually with guidance from God's Word. Now pray for us and our work of helping others. You can increase your service to God by passing out prayerfully these booklets to those who need them. If you have been blessed, then we encourage you to help others also. As you give, you recieve. Freely you have received, freely give.

Jim Durkin of Eureka, California

is well-known for his work with young people, particularly those at Lighthouse Ranch. His ministry has expanded from that of pastor of a small church in Eureka, to a widespread evangelistic work called Gospel Outreach. This includes, in addition to evangelistic wortk, a radio ministry, the printing of Christian literature, and teaching in a unique Tree Planter's Bible School which he recently founded.

Radiance Media Ministry, a part of Gospel Outreach, sends out thousands of cassette tapes, and has a free tape lending library.

In addition, this ministry includes two

Christian publications -- one is called The Gospel Paper, and is for the unsaved; the other, the Cornerstone magazine, is a

deeper life periodical. "Practice the Word" booklets and tracts are now printed also.

During the first twelve years of Jim Durkin's ministry, though he preached the true gospel, there were certain principles which he did not understand or preach. This lack

of understanding resulted in frustrations, deep disappointment and finally failure.

His ministry, his family relationships, his finances, and his health all crumbled. In desperation he cried out to God for an answer, God spoke to him very personally then and revealed a truth which completely revolutionized his life. Here is what God said, "After everything in My word you have added three words of your own. They are, "But we know." Henceforth I want you to practice My Word. Do it. Even though you don't understand it, do it, and in the doing of it you will come to learn what it means."

Jim resolved that day, that with God's help, he would begin to practice the Word, do what it said, and carry out its action commands. Almost immediately God responded. His home was restored, his finances were stablized, and blessed prosperity followed.

Then, under God, a new ministry began. Since then, thousands of young people,

and some older ones as well, have found Jesus as Lord. Hundreds of these young people are in constant training in Eureka, preparing for a gospel ministry. Many gospel teams have already been sent out, and new works have been established in Alaska, New York, Los Angelees, and other places.

All of these blessing have been purely a work of grace from God. They are simply the result of consistent teaching of a practical principles of spritual growth and worldwide evangelism as contained in the message God gave Jim Durkin to practice His Word.

"You, too, can have the same blessings in your life," Jim Durkin says, "Do His Word and all God's blessings will come upon you and overtake you."

The six messages in this booklet

were originally broadcast on the "Practice the Word" radio series, and have been edited for presenetation in booklet form. If you would like extra copies of this booklet, please write to us at the address below, stating how many copies you can put to good use. Cassette tapes of each radio program are also available. We welcome your letters, and pray that you might feel free to share your burdens and prayer requests with us. We would lalso appreciate your prayerful and financial support, as the "Practice the Word" radio outreach is dependent on your givin gto continue and expand. Please make donations payable to "Practice the Word.: and mail to this address:

"Practice the Word'

P.O. box "Z"

Eureka, CA 95501

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