     When it comes to trusting the promises God has made in His word, we must remember that everything He needed to do was completed in Jesus Christ. Our part is to take what He has said and position ourselves accordingly. How do we do this? Let’s look at an example from our brother Abraham as recorded in Romans 4: 19-21. It states in the Amplified Bible “he did not weaken in faith when he considered the (utter) impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about one hundred years old, or (when he considered) the barrenness of Sarah’s (deadened) womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised.” What were some of the aspects that Abraham had to deal with to receive the promises of God; (1) He was to old to produce seed and (2) Sarah had a condition that prevented her from conceiving. (pleas note that it wasn’t Sarah who decided that she wouldn’t have children, it was just her body trying to tell her that.) How did Abraham deal with them? well one thing he did was that he grew strong and was empowered by faith. I am sure you have heard the analogy of lifting weights in relation to developing your faith, about how that the more weight you lift the stronger you become and the more of God’s word you know and understand, the stronger your faith in Him becomes;well that analogy is right on. In addition to developing his faith he gave God praise and gloryand this he continued to do until he was “fully persuaded” (long suffering/patient). In order for Abraham to overcome the facts that surrounded him concerning the promise God made, he had to renew himself by: a) renewing his mind, b) renewing his body and c) renewing his mouth. We will now look as these areas in relation to ourselves and our present situations, using Abraham as a model.
     The renewing of our minds means that we have to challenge our traditions with the word and change what we believe to align with God’s word, if the two are in disagreement. The word of God says that the traditions of men makes the power of God (His word) of none effect (ineffective on the individuals behalf). Tradition was something that Abraham had to overcome. I believe that the reason God told Abraham to leave the place of his natural birth, was so that God could deal with him[Abraham] about his traditions.  Now our traditions are formed from every area of life (i.e. generational, educational, cultural, gender, etc.) and we develop what we believe from our experiences. The problem with that is our experiences are limited to what we are involved in. Also, before we committed our lives to Christ, we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. This means that our tendencies are to do what is right, but without the restraining and enabling power of the Holy Spirit we do that which is forbidden by God. This is why the word of God says all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
     The renewing of our bodies means that we must conform our actions to what the word of God says. In the Bible Paul says he brings his body under subjection (disciplines it) that after preaching he shouldn’t become a castaway of what he has preached. It is important to know that, though my mind is renewed, I must also renew (discipline) my actions because what I do or don’t do can postpone the manifestation of the promises that God made. Remember, Jesus said that it is not the “hearers only” that are justified but the “doers” of my word.
     The renewing of our mouths means that we must actively learn what is right to speak and practice speaking that way until it becomes a habit. Did you ever wonder why God changed Abraham’s name from Abram to Abraham? I believe that it had alot to do with him [Abraham] speaking the right words in relation to God’s promise. In fact, the name Abram means “high father” and the name Abraham means “father of a multitude.”  So everytime Abraham introduced himself, he was constantly confessing ” I am Abraham or I am father of a multitude.” Proverbs 18:21 says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall it the fruit of it.” Basically what this means is that we have been given the power to speak a blessing or a curse over our lives. Many people do not understand that what we say “creates” the atmosphere we live in. If we consistently say the wrong things, then we will eventually believe it and, out of habit, adjust our lifestyles to it. Well, guess what we are doing? We are applying actions to what we “believe” and the word of God calls this FAITH! This principle also works when we say and do the right things as well, but we need to understand that we must control our mouths. James 3:2 (Amplified Bible) says “For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his nature.”
Thanks