April 26: The Power of the Tongue – Our Confession Rules Us
Proverbs 18:21 tells us:
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. (Amplified)
The tongue is very powerful, yet, because it is so small, it can be considered insignificant. However, what we say, with our mouths governs the way we think and can determine the road that we either choose, or are forced to travel, all based on the words we have spoken; or in some cases, refused to speak.
This proverb is not the only passage that we can find in the bible that demonstrates the influence and the effect that the tongue and thereby words have over our very existence.
Christianity has often been referred to as “The Great Confession.” Romans 10:8-10 demonstrates the importance of confessing, or actually, of professing the faith that has been established in your heart. With our mouths we profess our salvation.
Likewise, we profess the state that we have found ourselves in, as a result of that salvation. The very action of speaking it enables our auditory senses to be satisfied and helps to reinforce that thing that we profess deeper within our psyche, after having first been developed within our Spirits. This is the essence of the word meditate; meaning to ruminate, to mutter, to chew something over and over in the same way a Cow chews its cud; an essential part of our self-talk.
“We will Never rise above the level of Our Confession” FF. Bosworth: Christ The Healer p153.
It was Zig Ziglar who said:
“The man who says he Can and the man who says he Can’t are BOTH Right.” (See You At The Top)
You can convince yourself that you are a failure, and you can speak negatively about your life and always be complaining. As long as your mouth produces negative fruit, that’s all you’ll ever have to eat.
You can alternatively choose to speak words that paint a positive picture on your life. You should never lie to yourself. But, you can actually draw positive fruit from the well that is your heart. Your whole outlook on life can be enhanced and that, in turn, can begin to produce better outcomes and will create physical changes in your life and your sense of wellbeing and that’s even without applying any of the additional promises that God has for us as followers of Christ; In Him.
As children we were given the memory verse:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones. But Words will never hurt you.” (Origin unknown)
However, I can personally attest to the fact that this is a lie from the very pit of Hell itself. It has been allowed to fabricate a false sense of security in the minds of vulnerable children in an attempt to silence their complaints about what another person, child or adult, has said to them, in their attempt to attain superiority over this child. It devalues the destructive nature of verbal bullying that can devastate a child and has been found to have ramifications in their adult life.
The truth is, as we have discovered, over recent weeks, that words are vessels that carry power. They have the capacity to construct images, within our minds and to convey meaning. Writers use this capacity to construct images of characters and faraway places in the minds of their readers.
Or, they can use words to describe and construct processes and diagrams through the application of technical and industry specific terminology. They key to knowing what kind of writing is before you is dependent upon the cypher you have, in your possession, that gives you access and assists you to make meaning.
The Written word is referred to as the Logos in the greek language and the Spoken word is called the Rhema.The spoken word of God is imagined as:
“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” (Heb 4:12 Amplified)
When we use and speak the word of God its very life force is able to both build up and strengthen or it can also be found to be a weapon; cutting down and rending and laced with judgement. That is why we, as Christians, are charged to become skilful in its use 2Tim 2:15.
Are you a good tree, producing good fruit? Or, are you an evil tree, producing evil, unsavoury, inedible, or poisonous fruit?
It’s entirely up to you? You choose!
***************
To download this important Spirit-Filled message click on the following link and save the linked file to a directory of your choice on your computer. Otherwise your browser will open up with a player to simply listen online. All of these messages are provided free of charge.
Audio Our Confession Rules Us
Video Our Confession Rules Us