|
GTJ Christian Digest Article Library |
|
|
|
Confessing the Word of God by Angeline Williams
This is what God told Joshua as he was preparing the Israelites to cross the
Jordan River into the land he had promised. God said do not let the law depart out of your mouth. Why did he say mouth instead
of heart? Could it be that it is as the word says - that we are snared with our mouth and the power of life and death is
in the tongue. We are so accustomed to speaking according to what and how we feel that most
of us never consider how effective and powerful our words are. We even repeat casually repeat words and phrases we hear
never realizing the damage we can cause in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Too many of us beg God for things He has already promised, or already declared
that He has given to us. We struggle with issues and situations that were never God’s plan for us and then we ignorantly
blame God by saying that He is teaching us or trying us never realizing that it is our own mouth that brings most problems
in our life. "His divine power HAS GIVEN
to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory
and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:3-4). A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things,
and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things'. (Mat. 12:35) "Death and life is in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat
its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21) The power of the tongue is in the power of the words we speak. All our words
have an effect on the spiritual atmosphere around us, either for good or bad. It is through words that covenants and
promises are established. It is through words that our faith or our fears are expressed. Bad words open the door for bad spirits
to work. Good words open the door for God and His angels to work. Angels heed the voice of God's Word. "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word. "(Psalms 103:20) Words are spiritual seeds. Words of life produce life. Words of faith produce
faith. Words of love produce love. Words of hope produce hope, and so on. Words of death attract spirits of death, words of
doubt attract doubt, words of fear attract spirits of fear, and so on. Therefore we must guard carefully what we say. The
Bible has plenty to say on this subject, especially in the Book of Proverbs (e.g. Proverbs 10:19, 20, 31, 32; 12:18, 22; 14:23,
33; 15:1, 4, 28). Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it
on the day of judgment. For by
your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
"(Matthew 12:36-37). That statement alone should convince you of how important your words are. God wants to give us instructed tongues to speak words of blessing on those
around us. In 1 Peter chapter 2 the
Apostle Peter spoke a blessing on the Christians in Asia Minor. Peter uses a powerful word to help them understand the
special future he was speaking into their lives. "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to
be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. When we read the entire chapter we see that there were faults and sin among
those he was speaking to yet he spoke this marvelous blessing on them. He spoke what God wanted to do in their lives. Why
did Peter do this? Peter remembered when he first met Jesus. The very first action Jesus took was to bless Simon with
a name change that spoke of his future and what he would do during his lifetime. I can imagine Jesus standing in front of
Peter, with a big smile on His face, looking at Simon saying, “You are Simon, John’s son ― but you shall
be called Peter, the rock!” (John 1:42 YLT) I am sure those very words encouraged Peter many times
to go on in the face of trouble and tribulation. Why did Jesus say (prophesy) this to Simon? The name change spoke of his future
and what he would do during his lifetime. What Jesus was saying is ‘Peter you are to be God's instrument on earth to
oversee the laying of a foundation for the church of the Living God that the gates of Hell will not be able to stand against’.
Years later when Peter spoke to the believers in Asia Minor he understood the reality of Isaiah 50:4 and passes this great blessing on to the church to which
he has been like a rock and given Godly oversight. Blessings have the power to cause us to walk in the direction of God's destiny
for our lives and to establish in our hearts the value God sees in us. All of us have the privilege of speaking these awesome
life-giving words into the lives of our family, friends and associates. Remember you really do reap what you sow. The Lord Jehovah hath given to me (you) The tongue of taught ones, To know
to aid the weary [by] a word, He waketh morning by morning, He waketh for me an ear to hear as taught ones.(Isaiah 50:4 YLT) Confession means, "to say the same thing". To confess the Word of God means to say the same thing God's Word says. When
we say what God says it produces faith in us, because in saying it we must also hear it from our own mouth, and hearing the
Word causes faith to come (Romans 10:17). The more you say God's Word, the more you will believe
it. The more you believe it, the more you will say it. "A man's belly will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the
increase of his lips will he be filled." (Proverbs 18:20, 12:14) This scripture says we feed on the words we speak. A lot of damage is done
with our words in times of passion, crisis or stress. These times are inevitably and what we say during these times comes
back to affect our own heart and our own spiritual condition. In the beginning it is difficult to speak consistently with what the Bible
says because our minds are not sufficiently renewed. There is still doubt in our soul. Our subconscious mind must reprogrammed
to accept God's principles and God's promises without doubt. (Romans 12:2) Meditation, confession of the Scripture, repeated
pondering, listening to good preaching, as well as informed study will change the way we think, the way we are, the way we
speak and the way we respond to difficulties and challenges. "Do not let this book of
the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then
you will be prosperous and successful! ". (Joshua, 1:8 - KJV) What God was saying to Joshua is "keep speaking the Word!" What God is saying
to us is no matter what situation arises speak the Word even when every circumstance seems to contradict it. Try this exercise: sit down and replay some of the words you have spoken and
compare them to your situation right now. Can you see that most of your circumstances came from the words you speak? Can you
also see that if you intend to live the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10 you have to put the Word in your mouth; your future depends on it. The words of your mouth are constantly
bringing things into being in your life and constantly determining the direction your life goes in. Let your tongue become
an instrument of righteousness. Let your tongue become a promoter of health and life. Let your mouth bring out of your
heart good things into the Earth! Following is just some of the scriptures that describe what I'm talking about: "The mouth of the
righteous is a well of life..."
(Proverbs 10:11) “ . . . the mouth of the upright will deliver them." (Proverbs 12:6) "A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth ….”(Proverbs
12:14) “ ... the tongue of the wise promotes health." (Proverbs 12:18) "He who guards his mouth preserves his life ..." (Proverbs 13:3) “... the lips of the
wise will preserve them." (Proverbs 14:3) 'The tongue of the
wise uses knowledge (The Word) rightly, but the mouth, of fools pours forth foolishness." (Proverbs 15:2) "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
" (Proverbs 15:4) "A gentle tongue [with it's healing power] is a tree of life, but willful
contrariness in it breaks down the spirit." (Proverbs 15:4) Amplified "The heart of the wise teaches (disciplines) his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. (Proverbs 16.23) You should always want your tongue to be productive and creative. For this to happen you will have to
work at getting your heart filled to abundance with God's Word. |
|
|
This is an excerpt from my new book "Put The Word In Your Mouth". Book will be available online shortly.
If you would like to know when it is available, simply join our mailing list.
|