Super Sayings

      

       

       Every superhero needs a slogan, a catchphrase, a call to super action. It so happens that our Super Manual - better known as the Bible - contains multiple super sayings, the declaring of which will bring the super power of God into any situation. 

       There is tremendous power in speaking the Word of God, especially those parts that apply directly to a specific situation. These are the Super Scriptures upon which this book is based.
       Words are inherently powerful, of whatever sort they may be or whatever form they may take. Spoken words take this effect to another level - be they positive words or their negative counterparts. They contain (and release) life or death, blessing or cursing (Proverbs 18:21; James 3:10). They can move mountains - both metaphorical and literal - as well as manifest into reality whatever is spoken (Mark 11:23). Now that's power!
       More than this, however, the very power of the living God Himself is activated and released when the words spoken are His own words. The flowing of the Super Scriptures from your lips causes divine power to flow with it. Think of a raging river carrying everything in it irresistibly along its path. Likewise, all the spiritual power inherent in God's Word is carried into a situation when you speak that Word out of your mouth. The devil doesn't really hear your voice when you speak, affirm, confess the Super Scriptures. To the kingdom of darkness, it might as well be God Himself doing the talking - it is, after all, His Word!
       Let's take a look at specific sayings which the Bible instructs us to verbalize. We are not simply encouraged to speak the Word. We are actually given super sayings - detailed confessions and declarations of faith. I think you will agree that, if God tells us exactly what to say, word-for-word, then it would behoove us to start saying it. The sooner the better!

''THE LORD IS MY HELPER'' 

» Hebrews 13:5-6 (emphasis mine)
5 ...he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, THE LORD IS MY HELPER, AND I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT MAN SHALL DO UNTO ME.
       What can we say when we feel lonely? Forsaken? Defeated? Afraid? "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me!" Just sixteen words, but together they form a Super Saying straight from the Word of God. This declarative sentence is full of power. What a providential God we serve! He loves us so much that He doesn't want us guessing about what to say or how to react to the challenges of earthly life.
       Actually, we can take only the first five words of this Super Saying and use it to gain victory over a host of difficulties. "The Lord is my Helper!" No matter what situation we face, it's heavenly help that we need. It's divine assistance that will save the day, leading us to the other side of the problem where victory awaits. "The Lord is my Helper!" This is true even if we apply a ''brilliant'' idea or take an effective, physical action. Where did that idea, or the energy for action, come from? It all flows from the Throne of Grace.
       After all, every breath is a blessing from the hand of our loving Creator (Genesis 2:7; Job 33:4). ''For in him we live, and move, and have our being...'' (Acts 17:28) ''...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.'' (John 3:27) ''Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights...'' (James 1:17) ''Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'' (Psalm 127:1) Even when it seems that human action is responsible, it's actually the helping hand of God that produces the result. Take away His help and our best efforts come up spectacularly short.
       The feeling of helplessness is somewhat comparable to the negative effect of kryptonite on Superman. It weakens us, discourages us and plunges us into the darkness of depression. ''God helps those who help themselves,'' so we often hear from well-intentioned dispensers of advice. The reality is that there are more than a few predicaments where an individual simply cannot help himself. Furthermore, he looks around and fails to find any source of human help. The Bible is filled with such instances, and so are our lives.
       Thank God, there is always help available. The Lord is our Helper! We can overcome the feeling of helplessness by declaring this Super Saying in the face of the most challenging circumstance.
       It's because the Lord is our Helper that we ''shall not fear what man shall do'' to us. This Super Saying is the antidote to the fear of man. Think about it. If you really believe the Lord is your Helper, what ''puny human'' (to use The Incredible Hulk's phrase) do you have to fear? Additionally, since the Lord is your Helper, what else do you need to fear? "The Lord is my Helper!" Therefore, there is nothing to fear.
       Our Super Saying is made possible by our Super Savior. We can boldly utter it because of something He has already said. It is based on His own super utterance. He has made a promise, and it's that super promise which infuses our Super Saying with power. ''...HE hath said...so that WE may boldly say...'' What did He say? ''I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.''
       These wonderful words back our Super Saying with divine power. He has promised to never leave us, forsake us or make us deal with challenges without His help. And because of this assurance, we can boldly and courageously declare that He is our Helper. What is there to fear?

''I WILL SAY OF THE LORD'' 

» Psalm 91:2
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
       There are 288 words in the ninety-first psalm, and every one of them is packed with power. It is filled with promises of divine protection, angelic assistance, deliverance, spiritual dominion, health and longevity. Consider this: it holds such significance that Satan quoted from it when tempting Christ in the wilderness (verses 11-12, to be specific). If the devil can quote this psalm, how much more should we!
       Although every line can be adopted as a Super Saying, I wish to direct your focus to the second verse. There, the psalmist actually specifies a 14-word statement that he will ''say of the LORD.'' This Super Saying has four parts:
He is my Refuge.
He is my Fortress.
He is my God.
In Him will I trust.
       When you are unsure what to say of the LORD, use this powerful Super Saying as your blueprint.

''I AM REDEEMED'' 

» Psalm 107:2
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy...
       It's one thing to be redeemed; it's another matter to say so. If you are ''the redeemed of the LORD,'' then you ought to declare such with the words of your mouth. In fact, there is great power in doing so. Let us not be silent about our redemption. And this doesn't only apply to testifying to the world. There is much to be gained from ''saying so'' even when no other human is present. It is a key to victory. After all, when our Super Savior thrice quoted the Word in the wilderness, it was only He and the villainous Tempter. The devil doesn't like to be reminded about our redemption. It provokes painful memories of his epic defeat.
       Has your life, like David's, been redeemed from destruction (Psalm 103:4)? Say so! Has Christ redeemed you from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13)? Say so! Has He redeemed you from all iniquity (Titus 2:14)? Say so! Have you been redeemed ''with the precious blood of Christ'' (1 Peter 1:18-19)? Say so! Do you know, along with Job, that your Redeemer lives (Job 19:25)? Say so! The redeemed of the LORD have something important and powerful to say.
       Contextually, the author of Psalm 107 is referring to physical redemption from the hand of a natural enemy. The entirety of the psalm lists multiple instances of God's intervention on Israel's behalf, delivering them ''out of their distresses'' (verses 6,13,19,28) and ''from their destructions'' (verse 20). Ponder this: since our redemption is eternal through the blood of Christ, how much more should we ''say so''!

"I AM STRONG"

» Joel 3:10
10 ...let the weak say, I am strong.
       How are we to respond during times of weakness? The instruction could not be clearer. We are to say something. What are we to say? "I am strong!" This is a Super Saying which will infuse us with super strength when the battles of earthly life begin to take their toll. The conflict is inevitable, but loss of strength is not. We needn't suffer from weakness - no matter how fierce the fight. We can walk in divine strength. And this particular Super Saying is the pathway.
       Weakness is a temporary condition. The truth of the Super Scriptures, in contrast, is eternal. Therefore, it's no lie to affirm strength in the face of weakness. You are simply enforcing the holy authority of God's Word upon a temporal condition.
       As humans, we tend to place a high degree of importance on facts. This is a mistake. Facts exist - yes. But facts can also change. Not so with the mighty Super Scriptures! They will never change and they will always reign supreme over any earthly challenge, including weakness. And here we have a Super Scripture which, very plainly, instructs us to speak strength over weakness.
       Don't get it twisted. Human strength alone will never be sufficient to overcome the darkness of this world. We need a source of super strength, and I'm happy to report, we've got it! Our strength comes from God. It's through Christ that we are strengthened and empowered to do all things (see Philippians 4:13). The spiritual soldier of God's army is charged to "be strong IN THE LORD, and in the power of HIS might." (Ephesians 6:10, emphasis mine) Our strength is made possible by trusting in His strength and might. And it's this supernatural reservoir of strength which the weak are instructed to confess, verbalize, affirm, to say.

''MOVE FROM HERE TO THERE''

» Matthew 17:20
20 ...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
       ''If ye have faith...ye shall say...'' These are the words of our Super Savior. Faith speaks. Faith talks. Faith says something to the mountain standing before it.
       It's noteworthy that Jesus didn't state, ''If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall pray...'' Prayer is powerful - it is our connection to the Throne of Grace. This point isn't to diminish the importance of prayer in any way. There comes a time, however, when we must shift from talking to God about the problem to actually talking to the problem itself. And it doesn't require a great deal of faith to do this. On the contrary, only mustard-seed-sized faith will be sufficient.
       Here we can see the dividing line between the human mind and the mind of God. ''Big challenges,'' reasons human thinking, ''call for big faith. The bigger the problem, the bigger my faith needs to be.'' But our Super Savior said otherwise. A mountain would certainly qualify as a big problem - especially if it is standing in your way. Imagine looking up at such a looming conglomeration of rocks and earth, feeling intimidated by this ''immovable'' monster. Take heart! All you need to defeat it is a small amount of applied spiritual power. And that power is FAITH, released through the mechanism of verbal command.

''Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.'' ~ Micah 6:1 ~ 

       

       The Master speaks of a literal, physical obstacle when He refers to ''this mountain.'' He is pointing to a natural landform when He utters those words. Yes - faith can remove an actual mountain. Dear reader, that is power! But since most of us don't have any issues with the location of literal mountains, we can apply the principle and power to our figurative mountains. (Have you ever been accused of ''making a mountain out of a molehill''?) This idea of mountain-as-metaphor is the essence of Jesus' words. If spoken faith can remove a literal mountain, then it can surely do away with any metaphorical or figurative mountain!
       The context of our spotlighted scripture reveals the purpose behind our Super Savior's lesson on faith. The disciples had failed to remove a spiritual mountain which manifested in the form of a bodily mountain. They had attempted to minister deliverance and healing to a ''sore vexed'' child whose health affliction was caused by a demonic spirit. After they came up short in this endeavor, they were stumped. Had not the Master given them power to cast out evil spirits and ''to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease'' (Matthew 10:1)? What gives, they wondered? Inquiring minds wanted to know. The Lord explained to them the reason for their ministerial failure. They were unable to ''remove'' the demonic ''mountain'' from the child's life because of unbelief. If only the faith factor had been operative, the task would not have been impossible unto them.
       So we have faith, even if only the size of a mustard seed. That's great. We can achieve the ''impossible'' with this amount. Now what? It's time to release our faith against our mountain. But how do we release it? ''...ye shall SAY unto this mountain...'' Our faith says something. Our faith is expressed and released through a certain combination of vocal sounds known as language. But what do we say to our mountain? Again we find that our Super Savior has given us precise instructions regarding what to say in order to activate super power for victory.

''Remove hence to yonder place!'' 

       

       It's unlikely that these five words are included among the average person's vocabulary today. This is unfortunate because they have the power to move mountains - provided they are backed with faith. Most other translations render the Super Saying as follows...

''Move from here to there!'' 

       

       Whatever problem you are facing - be it a financial need, a family issue, a tumor or even a headache - you want it to follow this trajectory. You want it to move from ''here'' (the present reality) to ''there'' (out of your reality). Too often we get stuck at "here" because we are neglecting to use our faith. Just because the mountain is "here" at the moment doesn't mean we must let it stay. The wonderful place called "there" is God's best and this faith-fueled Super Saying makes it possible!
       A companion Super Saying is bequeathed in Mark 11:23. Again the target is a mountain.

''Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea!'' 

       

       Literally speaking, if a mountain is cast into the sea, it is out of sight and out of mind. For all practical purposes, it doesn't exist anymore. The sea represents a state of oblivion - the final resting place for your towering trouble. Whatever you need to be removed, let your faith do the talking. Command it to be removed. Command it to be cast into the sea of nonexistence. You have the power to make it a thing of the past. The Apostle Paul would later echo Jesus' teaching, confirming that faith, though inferior to love, can nevertheless ''remove mountains'' (1 Corinthians 13:2). The verbal expression of said faith is the activation switch for this spiritual power.

''IT IS WRITTEN'' 

» Matthew 4:4,7,10
4 But [Jesus] answered and said, It is written...
7 ...It is written again...
10 ...Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written...
       Three simple words that, depending on what follows them, possess the power to beat back the nefarious forces of darkness. No one knew this more intimately than our Super Savior. In the epic encounter in the wilderness, Jesus launched this spiritual counterattack against the devil - not once, not twice, but three times. Of course He specified what was written, as we must do. It's not enough to simply declare, ''It is written,'' and leave it at that. We must finish the thought. That's where the divine dynamism lies. But if the quoted Super Scripture is the explosive, then the declaring of ''It is written'' is the fuse. It sets the ''super'' process in motion. Hence we have the makings of a Super Saying.

''AWAY FROM ME, SATAN!'' 

» Matthew 4:10 (New International Version)
10 Jesus said to [the devil], ''Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' ''
       The gates of Hell shook from the force of this command. Demons ran for cover. The devil himself was put to flight, forced to return to the proverbial drawing board for a different plan of attack. The angels of Heaven were dispatched to minister to our Super Savior there in the wilderness. All this by a simple order issued forth from the lips of Christ. "Away from Me, Satan!" I believe we may have discovered yet another Super Saying. If it worked for the Lord, might it work for us also?
       When Heaven's Hero thundered those words in the wilderness, He was refusing to ''give place to the devil'' (Ephesians 4:27). Neither should we. He was standing against the wiles of the devil, wrestling against the Prince of Darkness (Ephesians 6:11-12). We have been furnished with the armor of God to do the same. He was resisting the devil (James 4:7). So are we charged to do. He was resisting the Adversary who was seeking opportunity to devour Him through temptation (1 Peter 5:8-9). So too must we. In effect, Jesus was laying out the spiritual blueprint for overcoming the devil's attack. And this blueprint will work for any believer, for every believer, who follows it.
       A word of caution is in order at this point. Make sure your cease-and-desist orders to the devil are backed by God's Word. Take heed that the Word abides within you before making demands on the Adversary. Otherwise, you will make yourself vulnerable to defeat. After all, he knows the Scriptures better than any human. Consider that he hijacked the ''It is written'' technique when tempting Jesus in the wilderness.
''Away from me, Satan! FOR [because] it is written...'' Our Super Savior commanded Satan to get away from Him BECAUSE of what is written in the Word of God.
       There is real power in demanding, ''Away from me, Satan!'' - but that power is supplied by the Super Scriptures. The same holds true for every Super Saying. This is the source of the power!

''WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME?'' 

» Romans 8:31 (emphasis mine)
31 What shall we then SAY to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
       There are plenty of things in this world to defeat us if we are not properly equipped with the Super Scriptures. ''If it's not one thing,'' we often lament to ourselves, ''it's another.'' We ask, ''Why is it that nothing ever seems to go right?'' I'm sure that, upon reflection, you can think of many things which are coming against you.
       What shall we then say to these things? What we say matters. In answering his own question, the Apostle Paul presents us with a powerful, ten-word Super Saying. ''If God be for us, who can be against us?'' Of course you can personalize it. ''If God is for me, who (or what) can be against me?'' This should be our automatic response to any thing - be it a problem or a person - which rises against us. It is a bona fide Super Saying, based solidly on a Super Scripture, backed by the super power of God Himself.

» SUPER SUMMARY 

1.) Our Super Manual (the Bible) contains multiple super sayings, the declaring of which will bring the super power of God into any situation.
2.) There is tremendous power in speaking the Word of God, especially those parts that apply directly to a specific situation.
3.) The flowing of the Super Scriptures from your lips causes divine power to flow with it.
4.) We are not simply encouraged to speak the Word. We are actually given super sayings - detailed confessions and declarations of faith.
5.) ''THE LORD IS MY HELPER''
6.) We can overcome the feeling of helplessness by declaring this Super Saying in the face of the most challenging circumstance.
7.) ''I WILL SAY OF THE LORD''
8.) When you are unsure what to say of the LORD, use Psalm 91:2 as your blueprint.
9.) ''I AM REDEEMED''
10.) If you are ''the redeemed of the LORD,'' then you ought to declare such with the words of your mouth. In fact, there is great power in doing so.
11.) "I AM STRONG"
12.) We can walk in divine strength. And this particular Super Saying is the pathway.
13.) ''MOVE FROM HERE TO THERE''
14.) Just because the mountain is "here" at the moment doesn't mean we must let it stay. The wonderful place called "there" is God's best and this faith-fueled Super Saying makes it possible.
15.) ''IT IS WRITTEN''
16.) If the quoted Super Scripture is the explosive, then the declaring of ''It is written'' is the fuse. It sets the ''super'' process in motion.
17.) ''AWAY FROM ME, SATAN!''
18.) There is real power in demanding, ''Away from me, Satan!'' - but that power is supplied by the Super Scriptures.
19.) ''WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME?''
20.) This should be our automatic response to any thing - be it a problem or a person - which rises against us. It is a bona fide Super Saying, based solidly on a Super Scripture, backed by the super power of God Himself.

© Matt Decker

» This post is an excerpted chapter from my book  SUPER SCRIPTURES ON EARTH