John 10:10 -- Kathy presents this verse as saying the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but that is not what the verse actually says. The verse says the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. So is the thief the devil? Absolutely not. If we read the passage we find the context reveals that the thief is the false prophet and teacher! How ironic again! Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the thief only enters by climbing the fence. Where the Good Shepherd comes to bring us life the false thief brings only eternal death because he does not care for the sheep and does not bring the Gospel.
Luke 10:19 -- This passage is from the sending out of the 72 to preach the Gospel. One can argue that these powers were given to them, not meant as a hand-me-down throughout all time to all believers. We do not even need to go there however as the main point of the story, as Jesus teaches them, is not the power they were given but the fact that their names were written in heaven. Jesus did not give us authority over all things in this verse either but rather that as we bring the Gospel, we shall prevail over the enemy.
So we see that no scripture is safe from the twisting of someone who follows word faith theology. The next false teaching embodied in this opening salvo is the notion of declaring and decreeing. This teaching is that we can speak things into existence in our lives. Now, who has the ability to speak things into existence? That's right -- God does! We have no power to declare or decree anything. Our words do not contain to power of creation. This teaching is purely demonic. It makes one believe that everything negative in their life can be attributed to some sense of spiritual sloth on their part and by their mere spoken words; they can provide a prosperous and joyful future. Tell that to the underground Christian in China or the persecuted Christian in the Middle East. Any doctrine that does not work past our own shores is false by definition. DeGraw continues:
"The Bible says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21a). The Word of God further instructs us that we have authority to speak to our mountain and call things into existence. We need to be active in our faith as we enter 2019 and not sit around silently waiting for things to happen, but be bold and activate our faith to expect more and better as we enter the new year. Instead of accepting defeat, stagnancy and a victim mentality, we need to be proactive and activate the voice and authority within us that Jesus gave us and speak out and prophesy to our situation and future." -- Kathy DeGraw
How many scriptures does she intend to abuse? Proverbs 18:21 is a staple of word faith heresy and is once again built upon ignorance to context. Take a moment now and read all of Proverbs 18 and ask what is the point Solomon is trying to make? Is he teaching about speaking things into existence? Here are some examples:
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Verse 2)
A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. (Verse 6)
Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Verse 12)
If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. (Verse 13)
These and many more verses are what lead up to verse 21. When we cross reference with James' discussion on the tongue we see the point being made is that the tongue can build up or tear down, not that it possesses some power to alter reality or create. In fact, word faithers say Proverbs 18:21 means they can essentially control the tongue but what does James say about that?
