What Are You Saying?

Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose (Proverbs 18:21, MSG).

                Much is determined by the words we speak. We often speak a bad day into existence or a positive result by the words we say. I don’t think we realize how much power we possess as Christians, much less, humans. Recently, I have taken notice of the words I speak and how they affect my well-being.  I have also realized the many scriptures in the Bible that pertain to the power of words. God is always leaving what I like to call clues and treasures in His word to help us. If we pay attention, we will begin to understand just how powerful words are in our lives.

                The Bible says in Genesis 1:1-3, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light”.  God didn’t touch anything, He spoke and so it was. We who have accepted Jesus Christ have the Spirit of God within us. If we have the Spirit of God in us, we have the same power that God has. That is to speak things into existence. With that in mind, we should be careful of what we say.

                We must also believe what we speak is true. Jesus said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22-24). If you believe you are a failure and speak those words, you are a failure. If you believe things will never work out for you and speak those words; guess what? Things won’t work out for you. I truly believe that we shall eat the fruit of our lips. In Matthew 12:34 it says, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If you sincerely listen to what people say you will hear their hearts. Furthermore, we are accountable for every word we say. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” For your own sake, watch what you say. I know it is hard to speak life to a seemingly dead situation. When all hope seems lost & there is no sign of a breakthrough it’s easy to pay attention to what we see. The fact of the matter is, “…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2Corin.4:18).

                It is imperative that we get in the habit of believing the promises of God and speaking life into our circumstances. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak (2Corin. 4:13). Speak life. Prophesy over yourself in the morning and throughout the day. It’s ok to do that. Get in agreement with God about your life and speak positivity.

                The scripture that describes Gabrielle the angel, visiting Mary about her supernatural conception came to my mind today. I thought about how she reacted when Gabrielle told her she would give birth to a son although she was a virgin. Though the promise seemed impossible she believed what God told her. She didn’t doubt and she sealed it with a word of agreement. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS (Luke 1:30-31). "I am the Lord's servant,"Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her (Luke 1:38). 

                On the contrary, if you look a few verses back the Bible talks about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth being pregnant also. Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah were old in age. The word of the Lord came to them by Gabrielle also promising them a son. The Bible says in Luke 1:13, But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Zechariah’s unbelief caused him to say to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.” But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.” (Luke 1:18-20)

                I firmly believe that God shut Zachariah’s mouth because he knew that this man’s unbelief would cause him to speak things that would hinder what God wanted to perform. God could have caused Zachariah’s vision or hearing to become impaired until the birth of his son. But He didn’t. God closed the one thing Zachariah possessed that had enough power to change the circumstance, his mouth.

                God says, “The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do” (Isaiah 55:11). The same is true of the words we speak. What are you saying?

My Life...God's Way

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9, NJKV).

                Indeed God’s ways are higher than our ways. His thinking is higher than our way of thinking. Therefore, His standards are higher than our standards. What we think is right living; God may not necessarily think is right living. The Bible says in Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs and tries the hearts (AMP). It is up to God to decide what is right or wrong, not us. If we get confused about what is right in the eyes of God, we only need to turn to His Word to find the answer. Our feelings and what we see cannot be trusted. We can go our own way but God’s way is the best way. In Proverbs 14:12 it states, “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death (AMP). This can mean death spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc. When we stray from God’s ways, we are in danger of making matters worse.

            There is a peace that comes from knowing you are in the perfect will of God. When we disobey God or go our way, we lose that peace because we know in our hearts that it is not the will of God. Obedience brings peace even in the midst of a storm. Personally, I can remember doing whatever my flesh wanted to do. I drank what I wanted, smoked what I wanted, and was in relationships that I knew God told me to cut off. I was satisfied in my flesh but my spirit was weak. There was no peace because I knew I was living in disobedience to God. It was so bad I did not even want to go to church. You know the infamous guilt feeling on Sunday mornings after you have done your own thing. Nevertheless, I thank God for His grace. His grace is definitely sufficient (2 Corin. 12:9).

            His grace will give you chance after chance. His grace will give you the strength to keep on going. His grace will give you the heart to live a life pleasing to Him. However, we have to be willing and obedient. The Bible says in Isaiah 1:19, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land…”  We also have to be honest with God and ourselves. If you do not have the desire to live in obedience, pray for the desire. If you do not have a desire to stop a particular sin, pray for the desire to stop. Ask God to show you what in your life is not pleasing in His sight. I personally know He will show you.

            Apart of being in right relationship with God is doing what pleases Him. A lot of that has to do with faith. If you don’t have faith to believe God for something you’ll end up doing anything. This is not an overnight turnaround. It’s not a switch that we can turn on and off. It takes a lot of prayer and being tired of one’s own self to get to this place. The place that says, "I’D RATHER OBEY God than continue in this behavior or settle for less than what I believe God has for me." God’s ways are for our benefit. He knows what we don’t know. He sees what we cannot see. He understands what we cannot understand. We are to Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all our heart and mind and do not rely on our own insight or understanding. In all our ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, AMP).

            My life Gods way is not just a slogan or a cute phrase to recite. It’s a lifestyle…a way of life. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” Jesus is the Way. God’s Word is the right way. Everyday my feelings and my body want to tell me what to do. I don’t always want to be meek and endure other people’s ignorance or jealousy. My body does not like the fact that I am celibate and waiting for the one God has for me...at all. I don’t want to be nice to nasty people. But God’s ways are not my ways. Everyday is an uphill battle but God is able. I am grateful that God is pulling me out of carnality, meaning living and making decision according to my flesh and not the Spirit. Trust God instead of yourself. Live life God’s way. It’s not an easy road to travel, but it’s a worthwhile one.

Reflections

 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelations 3:20, KJV).

Recently I have been thinking about where I have been in life, who I was, and how God has changed me. We often focus on the here and now but every now and then, we should look back to see how God has moved in our lives. I look at who I am now and can’t help but give God praise. I’m not a perfect human being. I mess up and I am still a work in progress. I don't have it all together. Nevertheless, God has and is changing my heart and mind drastically. My conduct is no longer the same. My mindset is an upright mindset (most of the time...it's a battle). My heart now desires to be obedient to Christ. Those changes, which are blessings, come from God alone. I can remember thinking that a new boyfriend or new friends can make life and me better. I was chasing the wrong things. After years of falling down and making the same mistakes I finally quit trying people and tried Jesus. It wasn’t easy, still isn’t easy but God is keeping me.

I look at the mindset I had years ago and the things I was doing. Some things still make me cringe. Some of the things I did, I don’t even have the courage to do again. Unless we are exposed to what the Spirit wants to reveal to us, we remain in darkness. We see what we want to see. We continue in behavior and relationships that are unhealthy. For God to reveal Himself and for us to truly hear from Him, He sometimes has to remove people from our lives.  We can’t see what God wants us to see when we are blinded by darkness. Darkness hides the real issues and detrimental thought patterns that keep us from the life God wants to give us. I used to be so angry with God for removing people from my life. However, I am realizing that God has always had a purpose for me and not everyone is included in that purpose. Apart of that purpose is healing. Healing from disappointments, hurts, bad relationships, and wrongful thinking. People often ask God for healing and deliverance. Many people were healed in the Bible. Most of those times the people had to first do something. There was an act of obedience connected to their healing. Sometimes our healing can’t take place because we continue in relationships that God has told us to cut off, or behavioral patterns that God has warned us to stop. I'm saying this to say, as I look back I realize that God couldn’t tell me certain things or bless me because of my disobedience and the people who were still hanging around.

My life is better spiritually, financially, socially, and intellectually. Not to mention the lives of my family members have been blessed because of my obedience to Christ (that’s a whole other entry). Many blessings have come but only because I gave in and allowed God to change me. I’m excited about the next five years of my life because I know who holds my life in His hands. I look forward to reflecting on more of God’s Hand on my life.

Do yourself and the people around you a favor. Seek God’s face. Seek a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Be obedient to what He is telling you to do. Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land; and feed on His faithfulness (Psalm 37:3, NKJV).