First of all...let me apologize for the lack of sermon last Sunday. There was a bit of um...miscommunication one way or another. sweatdrop
Moving on!
Proverbs 18 - NIV
20 From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled;
with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
If life and death and in the tongue, aka our words, how much more are every day things. Many times we tend to let our mouths have reign over our lives, whether directly or indirectly. We say things which we KNOW when we think about it...would not be pleasing to God's ears. And yet, we go ahead and say them. It can be simply cursing...or let's dig a little deeper. Complaining.
Can I hear the church say 'Ouch!' mrgreen Praise the Lord...
Ouch.
Anyway... I didn't say it... God did. Complaining caused an eleven day journey to last 40 years! Imagine being able to walk into your promise in 11 days and having to walk around the mountain for 40 YEARS... In fact.. if you read it... only TWO of the original millions of Israelites that had gotten freed from Egypt made it into Canaan... Everyone else died in the desert and it was the offspring of them that made it in all because of one muscle in their mouths.
At times, it's not even complaining and just pure negativity. How many bad days have you had simply because you started it out saying, "I bet today's going to be bad"?
There's a reason why this is so...
Matthew 18 - NIV
19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
Who are you allowing yourself to agree with? Know that you always have the LAST say about what happens to you. Are you agreeing with the people at school who say you're dumb? The parents who say you'll never make it?
Or worse..
Know that every time you say something negative about yourself you're agreeing with the enemy... yes... Satan.
Think about just how ewwie that sounds... Agreeing with him.
What it does is give him license to come and disrupt your life. Dominion was given to man from back in Genesis 1. Neither God nor satan have the authority to move in your life until you say it. The minute you wake up and decide and speak good things over your life - particularly the Word of God over your life... watch it unfold. His Word says that He honours His Word above His Name! (The same name that causes demons to tremble!) It also says that not one drop of His Word will return to Him void... so when you speak His promises over your life, you're reminding Him of His own Word and giving Him your faith and work to act on and do good things for you in your life.
James 3 - NIV
1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
I will give you another example of how powerful your words could be. How did you get saved?
Romans 10 - NIV
8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
First you believed and then you SPOKE. If the MOST IMPORTANT decision you could ever make in your life was done by your words, why would you think that anything less would work contrarily?
At this point... I leave the Holy Spirit and the Word with you. Meditate on them.
Psalm 34
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Proverbs 18 - The Message
21 Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.
Watch your lips.. .watch your lips...what they say... For there's a Father up above looking down in tender love. Watch your lips, watch your lips what they say.
