If you looked up “boldness” in either the Hebrew or the Greek, they both say almost the same thing: confidence or assurance. I like what the W.E. Vines Expository Dictionary says: “to dare to be or to dare to do.” “To dare” means that adversity or threat is in front of you, but you take the dare anyway.
You ought to dare the Devil sometime. “I dare you, Devil, to pull that one again because I’m going to use it to magnify Christ in my life.”
“Pastor, that’s getting a little wild. I don’t know if I want to dare the Devil.” Well, that’s what boldness means; to look him in the eye and say, “I dare you to pull another stunt like that because I’ll use it to magnify God. I’ll use it to become more like Jesus. I’ll become more of a lion that I’ve ever been. I dare you, Devil.”
This is what boldness does. It doesn’t get intimidated. It dares to do.
Dare the Devil
When I think about “daring the Devil,” I’m reminded of a story Brother Hagin told many times. A friend of his did a meeting for the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona. He was sharing about an experience on his drive to that meeting through west Texas. He stopped to get some gas and a fellow was filling his truck at the pumps who had a tattoo on his arm that said: “Born to raise hell.” He thought to himself: Yeah, that’s totally counter to what I’m born to do.
The Lord spoke up on the inside of him. “No, you were born to raze hell.” (Raze means to level or destroy.) He said the Holy Ghost has written on every believer’s chest—“born to raze hell.”
When you realize you’ve been born to raze hell, you can look the Devil in the eye and say, “I double dog dare you to do that again. It’ll be even worse for you.”
Flee vs. Face
So how do we become bold? Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
I believe that boldness is a state of heart that comes after you’ve become righteous and have begun living your life on the principles of God’s Word: a learning process that is a lifetime affair.
What is righteousness? A simple definition is “morally right.” Conversely, the word “wicked” refers to “morally wrong.” Morality describes a standard of living that is described by the principles of God’s Word. Morally right would be choices, decisions, or a lifestyle predicated on God’s Word. Conversely, morally wrong would be choices, decisions, or a lifestyle not predicated on the principle of God’s Word.
People whose lives are not grounded in the principle of God’s Word may be courageous for a time when faced with hardship, but as a whole, they will do what they can to flee difficulty. People who ground their lives on God’s Word, as a whole, will better be able to deal with the adversity and ultimately overcome it.
When the Bible is the basis for the decisions you make in your life, you are building a foundation upon which you can boldly build a life that overcomes.
Shame vs. Boldness
How else can we describe boldness? In Philippians 1:20, Paul says by the Holy Ghost:
According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.
Again, we see two extremes: a life of shame versus a life that magnifies Christ, even in physical death.
Shame is a product of actions or mistakes of which you’re not proud. Perhaps you’ve failed at something, quit, or have been rejected by another person. Maybe you feel ashamed because you’ve stood for your healing for years and nothing has happened. Shame can come in a variety of ways.
As Christians, shame doesn’t need to be a part of our life experience. Of course, being shameless doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes anymore or suddenly become perfect. The blood of Jesus is what removes sin from us once we confess it so we aren’t ashamed, but can live boldly.
Labeled vs. Free
I want to show you one more description of what it means to be bold. First John 4:17 says:
Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in this world.
In a larger context of understanding, the term “day of judgment” normally references the day that believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, not for the meting out of penalty—that’s already been done—but for the meting out of reward. He says we need to have boldness for that day.
This verse took on another layer of meaning when I realized that word judgment can stand on its own. If you looked it up in the concordance, judgment simply means “accusation or condemnation.” In the day that accusation and condemnation comes our way, if we want to be as Jesus is now in this world, then we’re going to have be bold.
How is Jesus right now? He’s at the right hand of the Father far above all principality and power and dominion with all things under His feet. That’s how we can be in this world as well!
The enemy accuses you by the circumstance he brings against your life. If you abused your body too much when you were young, he’ll label you as never able to be healed. He’ll label you as not smart enough, too lazy, not educated enough, not the right color. On and on, the enemy will use circumstance to label you.
It is through these accusations that the enemy wants to bring you into captivity through a sense of unworthiness, condemnation, and failure—Well, you gave it your best shot and you still didn’t make it. … The Word isn’t going to work for you. … You really ticked God off.
What should you do in the day that accusation and condemnation comes? Be bold. Boldness enables you to be as Jesus is now in this world. Without boldness, you will be defined by the accusation and the condemnation that has come against you instead of being in this world as Jesus is at the right hand of the Father.
Boldness Speaks
How do you know if boldness is a fact in your life? It involves something I talked about last month: your words. Check and see what your words look like when hard times come. Boldness always shows up first in your mouth.
You will never dare to do something you haven’t been bold to speak about. Throughout the Word, we see that boldness always shows up in utterance before God involves Himself and supernatural manifestation occurs. (Read Acts 4:29–30, Acts 14:2–3, and Acts 19:8, 10–12 for examples.)
Boldness, regardless of circumstance, proclaims the truth of God’s Word.
Be bold to say, “I am more than an overcomer in a Christ Jesus.” “My God has supplied all my needs according to His riches in glory.” “I can do all things through Christ who has strengthened me.”
If you get an unexpected bill in the mail, what are the first words out of your mouth? Do you affirm the potential for that negative circumstance to alter your life or do you affirm that God has met your need according to His riches in glory?
Boldness stirs you up in your faith and gets you excited about the future. Boldness dares to believe that the Word of God is truth and will become a reality for you. That’s why I want to encourage you to become bold! Take your faith to the next level by proclaiming what God has done for you. As you patiently take steps to make bold speaking and bold living a part of your life, you’ll see God’s manifestation begin to become reality.
Lynne and I are thankful for your connection with this ministry. We pray that God will help you continually cultivate supernatural boldness within you.
by Mac Hammond