Whosoever!

There was a time in my life that I didn’t know the power of the Word of God.  I didn’t know that the Bible wasn’t a dead book about an ancient people.  But when I learned that it was real and alive, that I could take God’s Word and appropriate its promises for my daily needs, that I could speak that same Word and it would be as powerful as it was when Jesus walked upon the face of the earth, my life was wondrously changed.  It had been upside down, but through the power of the Word of God, it became right-side up!

The scripture that had such a profound impact on my life was this:

“…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; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:23, 24).

Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem one morning when in the distance they saw a fig tree.  Although this fig tree had leaves on it, it bore no fruit.  Jesus saw in this an opportunity to teach His followers a lesson in releasing the power of God in their lives.  Through this barren fig tree He would illustrate one of the most important principles of faith.

Approaching the fruitless fig tree, Jesus said to it, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever” (Mark 11:14).  The verse goes on to say, “And his disciples heard it.”  They were listening to what He had to say.  And whether we are aware of it or not, people are listening to what we say.  They are listening to our words, whether they are filled with faith or unbelief, fear or confidence, trash or inspiration.

After Jesus cursed the fig tree, to all outward appearances it remained unchanged.  Nevertheless, Jesus spoke only one time.  He didn’t beg and plead with the tree; He didn’t say, “Oh, please, tree, won’t you at least let a few of your leaves fall so all these people will know who I am’?”  No, Jesus was a man of faith, and He wasn’t worried about His reputation.  He knew when He spoke, it was done.  He just walked on down the road toward Jerusalem.

The next morning when Jesus and His disciples passed that way again, the disciples were astonished to see the fig tree dried up from its roots.  Then Jesus spoke the words that changed my life: “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; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).

Now, the key word in this verse is whosoever.  The whosoever of John 3:16 can say unto the mountain, “Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea.”  You can speak to the mountain in your life, whatever it may be, just as Jesus spoke to the fig tree.  You can say, “Go on, mountain, move!  I stand on the authority of the Word of God.  And because the Word of God is true, mountain, be thou removed.”

In speaking to the mountain, it is important that the believer “shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass.”  You’ve got to believe that what you say is going to happen.  The subject of the sentence is the believer, and if he believes that whatever he says will come to pass, “he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Would you like to go on a great adventure?  Would you like to speak to mountains, and watch them be removed?  You can as you dare to trust God!  By faith you can say, “I’m going to dare to believe that I can say to the mountains in my life,’Be thou removed!’  I’m going to look into the Word of God and read it with the eye of faith.  I’m going to trust God as I’ve never trusted Him before because I’m not going to limit Him.  For He is the limitless God who rules the universe, who spoke the world into existence.  I am going to live victoriously because the Word of God says, “Whosoever…” and that means me!”