James 3:5-6 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, ant it is set on fire by hell.
James 3:8-9 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Goad and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same Mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethern these things ought not to be so.
The power of words spoken is important. The words that others speak over you are important. However, you have the power and authority as a Christian to reverse those negative words.
You need to say that you rebuke those negative things that people say against you and replace them with the truth.
I don't know you. But I do know what God says about you, as a follower of Christ. Listen and repeat what He says when you get the blues.
You are a new creation in Christ, old things have passed away, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
You are Christ's brother, mother or sister. Read Matthew 12:48-50.
You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Read Matthew 5:13-14
I said you are gods John 10:34
So let's recap, you are a new creation, a family member of God, you are the light and you are gods. You also now, through Jesus, you have direct access to God through prayer. Do you realize that makes you somebody special regardless of what your parents, friends or neighbors have been saying? By the way, if you haven't accepted Christ, you can there are no prerequisites. We are all welcome, God is not a respecter of person.
Being a follower of Christ, makes you special regardless of whether your father is in jail, or your mother is on crack. They don't decide who you will become. You can do all things through Christ.
Your journey, no matter how bumpy, makes you who you are today. The things that you have experienced can help somebody else. We have all made mistakes, but on the devil wants you to define yourself by your mistakes.
Renounce with your mouth every bad thing said about you or your future. Now speak who you are in Christ, speak what your goals are and what you want.
It may not seem important, but you need to speak, and think positive things over your life. God has given us authority over this earth and our mouth is an instrument to use to further God's will and kingdom.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Power of the Tongue
Your tongue is powerful. What you say impacts the world. I know that when we read in Psalms 34, 52, Proverbs 15:4, and James 3:5-6 about the tongue we are thinking in a worldly manner. We are thinking what we say can lift somebody up or hurt them etc.
However, I am talking about the power of the tongue. We have the power to change things on this earth with our words.
The word of God is spirit. The words of the Bible have power to transform the world; the words have the power to transform matter.
The power in the tongue should be used for good and not evil.
We will have to transform the way that we speak and the way that we do thing. Meaning that we must speak truth and good things, and act on what we speak. We speak life and we act on what we say in spirit and truth. It is not enough to speak it. We have to believe what we are saying as we transform this world.
I am convinced that we can speak life into things that are dead. We can call those things that are not and make them so.
With that said, we need to speak strength and truth and love.
I love God. I love Jesus. I serve the Lord. I am His writer. I do the will of my Father in heaven. I open the door and walk through between this world and the supernatural world of God. I open the door. I recognize that I am not bound our subject the elements of this world.
My freedom is empowering. I am powerful under the authority that God gave me. I am strong, healthy, and without physical flaw. I have perfect vision without the need for glasses or contacts. I am able to see in this world and the world of God.T
However, I am talking about the power of the tongue. We have the power to change things on this earth with our words.
The word of God is spirit. The words of the Bible have power to transform the world; the words have the power to transform matter.
The power in the tongue should be used for good and not evil.
We will have to transform the way that we speak and the way that we do thing. Meaning that we must speak truth and good things, and act on what we speak. We speak life and we act on what we say in spirit and truth. It is not enough to speak it. We have to believe what we are saying as we transform this world.
I am convinced that we can speak life into things that are dead. We can call those things that are not and make them so.
With that said, we need to speak strength and truth and love.
I love God. I love Jesus. I serve the Lord. I am His writer. I do the will of my Father in heaven. I open the door and walk through between this world and the supernatural world of God. I open the door. I recognize that I am not bound our subject the elements of this world.
My freedom is empowering. I am powerful under the authority that God gave me. I am strong, healthy, and without physical flaw. I have perfect vision without the need for glasses or contacts. I am able to see in this world and the world of God.T
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
It Isn't Over Until Jesus Says It Is Over--Right, Martha?
I heard a preacher/teacher bring a new perspective to the story of Lazarus of Bethany, or one I hadn't heard before. Read John 11:1-57. I am not stealing this man's message; I am spreading the revelation from the word of God and putting my spin on it. If a portion of the word encouraged me, I am not going to bury it. I am going to share it because the word of God is spirit. Anyway, the scripture tells us that Martha and Mary, friends of Jesus, sent for him because their brother was sick. The text tells us that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Now, Jesus gets the message and says that the sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
Now, I would have thought Jesus would have stopped everything He was doing and came and healed his friend Lazarus. However, Jesus stayed two more days where He was. So He isn't stressing Lazarus' sickness and He knows that He is going to take care of it when He gets back to town. So Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus is sleeping but He will go and wake him. The disciples don't get it so Jesus has to spell it out clearly. Lazarus is dead.
By the time that Jesus and his disciples get there, Lazarus has been dead in the tomb 4 days. Now Martha has faith and says to Jesus that if you had been here Lazarus wouldn't have died. Mary when she saw him basically said the same thing. It says Jesus wept. Mary was crying and sad. Jesus tells them to roll back the stone from the tomb. Martha is like, it is going to stink, my brother has been dead for 4 days.
Jesus then repeats what He has told them. Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Then Jesus proceeds to talk to His Father for the sake of those around him. He then says, Lazarus, come forth!
To cut to the great part--Lazarus was raised from the dead. IT IS A MIRACLE, A SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE!!!
Now to my point. Think for a minute about Martha and Mary. They sent for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. It is like when we pray for something. They were both in the waiting room so to speak, hoping that Jesus would come and heal Lazarus. We often find ourselves waiting. Once Lazarus died they came out of the waiting room, so to speak. Do we give up too soon, thinking only in natural human terms?
Jesus didn't get to Lazarus in time, so they thought. They thought that they did not get what they had asked.
They had faith in Jesus. I mean Martha came up to Jesus when he got there and said if you had been here everything would have been fine. Jesus tells her Your brother will rise again. Martha is still faithful and says I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Don't get it twisted, that is faith, but Jesus had to really let them know who He was. Jesus tells her, I am the resurrection and the life. You don't have to wait any longer and I am talking about resurrecting him in THIS life. So we have faith, but may not realize the truth of who Jesus is and His full power and authority.
How many times do we say, God, hasn't done anything so I guess it is over? We only see one or two ways that God can approach the situation or we only see how God can do things naturally. We leave out the supernatural nature of God.
They thought that once Lazarus was dead, it was over. However, they didn't realize that God was going to work it out. I suspect that they felt like Jesus had come too late. However, He came to fulfill His purpose and will, and He answered their prayers. So even when they thought it was over, it wasn't over!!! He did what needed to be done to give God the glory.
The faithful must remain patient. I am waiting for some things to come to pass, and I realize that Jesus gets the message and will do what He said that He would do (Matthew 7:7-11). Anything that I thought was lost, is not lost. What looks hopeless in the natural, is possible in the supernatural power of God through Jesus Christ the Lord.
Now, I would have thought Jesus would have stopped everything He was doing and came and healed his friend Lazarus. However, Jesus stayed two more days where He was. So He isn't stressing Lazarus' sickness and He knows that He is going to take care of it when He gets back to town. So Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus is sleeping but He will go and wake him. The disciples don't get it so Jesus has to spell it out clearly. Lazarus is dead.
By the time that Jesus and his disciples get there, Lazarus has been dead in the tomb 4 days. Now Martha has faith and says to Jesus that if you had been here Lazarus wouldn't have died. Mary when she saw him basically said the same thing. It says Jesus wept. Mary was crying and sad. Jesus tells them to roll back the stone from the tomb. Martha is like, it is going to stink, my brother has been dead for 4 days.
Jesus then repeats what He has told them. Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Then Jesus proceeds to talk to His Father for the sake of those around him. He then says, Lazarus, come forth!
To cut to the great part--Lazarus was raised from the dead. IT IS A MIRACLE, A SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE!!!
Now to my point. Think for a minute about Martha and Mary. They sent for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. It is like when we pray for something. They were both in the waiting room so to speak, hoping that Jesus would come and heal Lazarus. We often find ourselves waiting. Once Lazarus died they came out of the waiting room, so to speak. Do we give up too soon, thinking only in natural human terms?
Jesus didn't get to Lazarus in time, so they thought. They thought that they did not get what they had asked.
They had faith in Jesus. I mean Martha came up to Jesus when he got there and said if you had been here everything would have been fine. Jesus tells her Your brother will rise again. Martha is still faithful and says I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Don't get it twisted, that is faith, but Jesus had to really let them know who He was. Jesus tells her, I am the resurrection and the life. You don't have to wait any longer and I am talking about resurrecting him in THIS life. So we have faith, but may not realize the truth of who Jesus is and His full power and authority.
How many times do we say, God, hasn't done anything so I guess it is over? We only see one or two ways that God can approach the situation or we only see how God can do things naturally. We leave out the supernatural nature of God.
They thought that once Lazarus was dead, it was over. However, they didn't realize that God was going to work it out. I suspect that they felt like Jesus had come too late. However, He came to fulfill His purpose and will, and He answered their prayers. So even when they thought it was over, it wasn't over!!! He did what needed to be done to give God the glory.
The faithful must remain patient. I am waiting for some things to come to pass, and I realize that Jesus gets the message and will do what He said that He would do (Matthew 7:7-11). Anything that I thought was lost, is not lost. What looks hopeless in the natural, is possible in the supernatural power of God through Jesus Christ the Lord.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Your (Eternal) Life is Precious-Don't Do An Esau!!!
Greetings Saints and all of the children of God,
I start out letting you know that I am not of this world, but I do live in this world and am not oblivious to what is going on around me. I was watching an episode of "The Wire." It is a show about wars in Baltimore. Yes, wars not just gang wars, but soul wars. People just doing dirty deeds from the top of the Socio economic stratosphere, to the very bottom. Any who, there were two characters in a car. One was a female that had transformed herself into a male like killing machine. The other a child in his teens that has had life beat him down to the ground. So much so that he turns to crime and aligns himself with a dark Marshall of the streets. He is about to be killed by the female. He turns the table on her. She knows he is about to kill her and she asks how her hair looks. He tells her in a nonchalant manner that it looks good and he proceeds to kill her.
This struck a nerve with me. The fact that a child is dealing with a situation too rough for an adult to deal with let alone a child was heartbreaking. The second thing that struck me was that they both had no value for life. She took it matter of fact that she was about to be killed. She had taken many lives that she didn't value, and she didn't value her own. Her tough image and pride was more important than her very life. Then the young man killed her in cold blood. He had only spoken with her minutes earlier. He of course was scared and on the run, but he didn't value her life. They didn't take a second to discuss options. The law of kill or be killed was dominant. However, the value of life was zero.
This was a fictional story, however, the story reflects what is happening on the streets everyday. Let's just say that I have had friends from all walks of life. I have seen the violence second hand. No, I wasn't there, but I went to the funeral. I laughed and lived life among some troubled young people. I only saw the jovial fun side of their life. I did not see the pain and the heart ache that these young men endured.
Then I thought about Esau in the book of Genesis (Genesis 25:21-35). Esau was WEARY so he sold his birthright. Now in those days your birthright was very important to yourself and your future generations. It determined your inheritance. Yes, biblical scholars, inheritance brings to mind Jesus and salvation.
Let's bring this to modern day life. I see us trading in our birthright for money, power, and prestige. Our birthright is what Jesus secured for us in the afterlife. Our birthright is also abundance and prosperity in our natural bodies here on earth. Okay, there it is. Think about what our birthright is once we are BORN AGAIN. Oh, yes, when we are born again we have accepted our birthright. Yes, yes, yes, we have a birthright through the blood of Jesus.
However, we are feeding our flesh by denying this birthright and chasing the mighty dollar, we are chasing fame, we are chasing everything and thus trading our birthright for a bowl of stew when it boils down to eternity.
We are giving our very lives as a bowl of stew. If we are selling drugs, if we are swinging from a pole, if we are going for our own wealth with regards to no one else, then we are selling our birthright for a bowl of stew. The good news, is that we can say you know what I don't want the stew, I want the inheritance. I want Jesus. I want Jesus to be my Saviour. I want Jesus I don't want a measly bowl of stew. This life's ill gotten gains are not worth more than a bowl of stew when it gets down to eternity and the beginning of the good life. The good life begins when we accept Jesus. Yes, there will be troubles and problems in the good life. But with Jesus, we get through them and we use those situations to bring MORE glory to God. Because Saints, we should be giving glory to God in all that we do and all that we say.
We need to value our lives first. Then we have a mission fellow Saints. Our mission is to teach sinners about the love of Jesus. Your job isn't to judge that drug dealer, or that pole dancer. Your job is to show that person about the Love of Jesus. Tell them and show them how very valuable that they actually are.
Hold up! Were you like I was early on and you didn't even realize how valuable YOU are to Jesus? We are so valuable to Him. We are all so dear, that he could not bear to spend eternity without us. If we know that we are so valuable to Him and our neighbors are valuable to Him, then we are tasked with letting those He loves know that He loves and values them. They are JUST as precious to Jesus as John the Baptist. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
Don't you look at Esau and say wow, how could you trade your birthright for a bowl of stew? I guess, we should have that same feeling when we see someone missing the birthright of salvation. Let's not miss it ourselves, but let's not let anyone else miss it either.
To God be the glory and the honor, and the praise.
Your sister in Christ,
Monique
I start out letting you know that I am not of this world, but I do live in this world and am not oblivious to what is going on around me. I was watching an episode of "The Wire." It is a show about wars in Baltimore. Yes, wars not just gang wars, but soul wars. People just doing dirty deeds from the top of the Socio economic stratosphere, to the very bottom. Any who, there were two characters in a car. One was a female that had transformed herself into a male like killing machine. The other a child in his teens that has had life beat him down to the ground. So much so that he turns to crime and aligns himself with a dark Marshall of the streets. He is about to be killed by the female. He turns the table on her. She knows he is about to kill her and she asks how her hair looks. He tells her in a nonchalant manner that it looks good and he proceeds to kill her.
This struck a nerve with me. The fact that a child is dealing with a situation too rough for an adult to deal with let alone a child was heartbreaking. The second thing that struck me was that they both had no value for life. She took it matter of fact that she was about to be killed. She had taken many lives that she didn't value, and she didn't value her own. Her tough image and pride was more important than her very life. Then the young man killed her in cold blood. He had only spoken with her minutes earlier. He of course was scared and on the run, but he didn't value her life. They didn't take a second to discuss options. The law of kill or be killed was dominant. However, the value of life was zero.
This was a fictional story, however, the story reflects what is happening on the streets everyday. Let's just say that I have had friends from all walks of life. I have seen the violence second hand. No, I wasn't there, but I went to the funeral. I laughed and lived life among some troubled young people. I only saw the jovial fun side of their life. I did not see the pain and the heart ache that these young men endured.
Then I thought about Esau in the book of Genesis (Genesis 25:21-35). Esau was WEARY so he sold his birthright. Now in those days your birthright was very important to yourself and your future generations. It determined your inheritance. Yes, biblical scholars, inheritance brings to mind Jesus and salvation.
Let's bring this to modern day life. I see us trading in our birthright for money, power, and prestige. Our birthright is what Jesus secured for us in the afterlife. Our birthright is also abundance and prosperity in our natural bodies here on earth. Okay, there it is. Think about what our birthright is once we are BORN AGAIN. Oh, yes, when we are born again we have accepted our birthright. Yes, yes, yes, we have a birthright through the blood of Jesus.
However, we are feeding our flesh by denying this birthright and chasing the mighty dollar, we are chasing fame, we are chasing everything and thus trading our birthright for a bowl of stew when it boils down to eternity.
We are giving our very lives as a bowl of stew. If we are selling drugs, if we are swinging from a pole, if we are going for our own wealth with regards to no one else, then we are selling our birthright for a bowl of stew. The good news, is that we can say you know what I don't want the stew, I want the inheritance. I want Jesus. I want Jesus to be my Saviour. I want Jesus I don't want a measly bowl of stew. This life's ill gotten gains are not worth more than a bowl of stew when it gets down to eternity and the beginning of the good life. The good life begins when we accept Jesus. Yes, there will be troubles and problems in the good life. But with Jesus, we get through them and we use those situations to bring MORE glory to God. Because Saints, we should be giving glory to God in all that we do and all that we say.
We need to value our lives first. Then we have a mission fellow Saints. Our mission is to teach sinners about the love of Jesus. Your job isn't to judge that drug dealer, or that pole dancer. Your job is to show that person about the Love of Jesus. Tell them and show them how very valuable that they actually are.
Hold up! Were you like I was early on and you didn't even realize how valuable YOU are to Jesus? We are so valuable to Him. We are all so dear, that he could not bear to spend eternity without us. If we know that we are so valuable to Him and our neighbors are valuable to Him, then we are tasked with letting those He loves know that He loves and values them. They are JUST as precious to Jesus as John the Baptist. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
Don't you look at Esau and say wow, how could you trade your birthright for a bowl of stew? I guess, we should have that same feeling when we see someone missing the birthright of salvation. Let's not miss it ourselves, but let's not let anyone else miss it either.
To God be the glory and the honor, and the praise.
Your sister in Christ,
Monique
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