If my seven year old says something negative, usually my nine year old quickly responds with, "Watch out because you have what you say!" Proverbs 18:21 tells us that both life and death are in the power of our tongue.
Jesus said in Mark 11:23:
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAITH.
Your words are important. Your words carry weight. Your words change things.
This truth applies to every area of our lives, and I have put it to work for myself concerning my walk with God, particularly lately by using Psalm 119. Meditating on the Word - thinking about it, musing over it, pondering it, picturing it coming to pass in your life - is a powerful thing. I urge you to meditate on Psalm 119 and watch as your desire for the Lord grows. It's a beautiful thing!
Below are some powerful confessions that I took from the first 40 scriptures of Psalm 119 (AMP). Confess them out of your mouth, speak them over yourself, and your faith will increase.
-I am blessed - I am happy, fortunate and to be envied - because I walk uprightly according to the Word of God.
-I seek - inquire of the Lord and crave Him - with my whole heart.
-I do not willfully wander from God's precepts; I walk in His ways.
-I observe God's statutes: I hear them, I receive them, I love them, and I obey them.
-I will not be put to shame because I have respect for all of God's commandments.
-I take heed and keep watch on myself according to God's Word, and I conform my life to it.
-I lay up God's Word in my heart so that I might not sin against Him.
-I rejoice in the way of God's testimonies as much as in all riches.
-I meditate on God's precepts, and I have respect for His ways, the paths of life marked out by His Word.
-I delight myself in God's statutes, and I do not forget His Word.
-God opens my eyes so that I can see wonderous things in His Word.
-Reproach and contempt are taken away from me because I obey God's Word.
-God's Word is my delight and my counselor.
-I am revived, stimulated and strenghtened by the Word.
-I meditate on and talk about God's wonderous works.
-I choose the way of truth and faithfulness.
-I set God's Word before me, and I cleave to it.
-I do not merely walk, but rather run, according to the way of God's Word.
-I incline my heart to God's Word and not to covetousness.
-God's Word is established and confirmed in my life.
-My life is renewed according to God's Word.
-I keep God's Word steadfastly to the end.
I encourage you to make personal confessions based on the Word for whatever you're dealing with. Keep standing because God Himself is watching over His Word to perform it in your life, and He is faithful!
Need Some Help?
I don't know about you, but I could always use a little extra help in my life. What if someone offered you a HELPER who was available to you 24 hours a day, who could take your limited understanding and broaden it, who could tell you exactly which path is the best for your life, who could give you specific directions to keep you safe and so much more? Well that's exactly what Jesus offered to us when he ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit isn't a spooky ghost or something that turns you into a crazy person. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us - sent to help us - while we are fulfilling our mission here on earth. I'm not going to include all of the ways the Holy Spirit can function in our lives (and trust me, there are more than I could say) but I would like to share with you how He wants to provide us with very practical help in our everyday lives.
Ephesians 5:18,19 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." The word "be" in this verse actually means to "be being" filled, as in something that happens more than once. If someone wants to get drunk, they will drink as much alcohol as it takes to get there, and the first step is to open up their MOUTH. But if they want to stay in that drunken state, then they must CONTINUE opening their mouth and drinking, right? The same is true with us as Christians who are filled with the Spirit. We must open up our mouths - praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done (and will do) and declaring His Word over our lives - AND we must continually yield and be obedient to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis in order to stay filled up!
Smith Wigglesworth said, "Your only safeguard from dropping back into your natural mind, in which you can receive nothing from the Lord, is to be filled and filled again with the Holy Spirit." I have found this to be infinitely true in my own life. How many times have we enjoyed anointed teaching on Sunday morning but by Wednesday, we're being short with our husband or inpatient with our kids? Because we leak, the answer is to "be being" filled: to pray without ceasing, to daily renew our minds according to the Word, to stay in close fellowship with the Father!
I have a friend who has a contagious zest for living the Spirit-filled life. I love hearing her tell stories of how the Holy Spirit leads her in the big matters of life and also in the smaller things. As she was heading out the door one day, the Holy Spirit prompted her to put a red crayon in her purse. I'm sure she thought this was an odd instruction, but she did it. (Many times we need to bypass our own reasoning, and just be obedient!) Later on, she was eating at a restaurant, and there was a kid at the table next to her screaming and throwing a fit because they didn't have a red crayon. Since she listened earlier, she was able to provide much needed, well-timed help for that kid...and for that mom! While that might seem insignificant to you, it's a fun, practical example of how God wants to lead us in our daily decisions and how He wants to use us to be a blessing to those around us.
When you're driving a car, you can't just go wherever you want, whenever you want. You must YIELD. If you pull out into oncoming traffic, you could get into a serious accident that doesn't just affect you but could cause harm to others too. In the same way, it's our job as Christians to yield to the Holy Spirit - to heed His instructions and submit. When we do, we keep ourselves safely on the perfect path God has for us. This not only brings life and blessing to us but also to those around us that we are called to minister to.
God wants the best for us, just like we want the best for our own kids. His desire is always for us to be growing and changing, going from glory to glory, and continually becoming more like Him. If we're going to do that, we must be Holy Spirit FILLED and Holy Spirit LED. Purpose in your heart to take that step of faith and obey the Holy Spirit today...it's a decision you won't regret!
The Holy Spirit isn't a spooky ghost or something that turns you into a crazy person. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us - sent to help us - while we are fulfilling our mission here on earth. I'm not going to include all of the ways the Holy Spirit can function in our lives (and trust me, there are more than I could say) but I would like to share with you how He wants to provide us with very practical help in our everyday lives.
Ephesians 5:18,19 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." The word "be" in this verse actually means to "be being" filled, as in something that happens more than once. If someone wants to get drunk, they will drink as much alcohol as it takes to get there, and the first step is to open up their MOUTH. But if they want to stay in that drunken state, then they must CONTINUE opening their mouth and drinking, right? The same is true with us as Christians who are filled with the Spirit. We must open up our mouths - praising Him for who He is, thanking Him for what He has done (and will do) and declaring His Word over our lives - AND we must continually yield and be obedient to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis in order to stay filled up!
Smith Wigglesworth said, "Your only safeguard from dropping back into your natural mind, in which you can receive nothing from the Lord, is to be filled and filled again with the Holy Spirit." I have found this to be infinitely true in my own life. How many times have we enjoyed anointed teaching on Sunday morning but by Wednesday, we're being short with our husband or inpatient with our kids? Because we leak, the answer is to "be being" filled: to pray without ceasing, to daily renew our minds according to the Word, to stay in close fellowship with the Father!
I have a friend who has a contagious zest for living the Spirit-filled life. I love hearing her tell stories of how the Holy Spirit leads her in the big matters of life and also in the smaller things. As she was heading out the door one day, the Holy Spirit prompted her to put a red crayon in her purse. I'm sure she thought this was an odd instruction, but she did it. (Many times we need to bypass our own reasoning, and just be obedient!) Later on, she was eating at a restaurant, and there was a kid at the table next to her screaming and throwing a fit because they didn't have a red crayon. Since she listened earlier, she was able to provide much needed, well-timed help for that kid...and for that mom! While that might seem insignificant to you, it's a fun, practical example of how God wants to lead us in our daily decisions and how He wants to use us to be a blessing to those around us.
When you're driving a car, you can't just go wherever you want, whenever you want. You must YIELD. If you pull out into oncoming traffic, you could get into a serious accident that doesn't just affect you but could cause harm to others too. In the same way, it's our job as Christians to yield to the Holy Spirit - to heed His instructions and submit. When we do, we keep ourselves safely on the perfect path God has for us. This not only brings life and blessing to us but also to those around us that we are called to minister to.
God wants the best for us, just like we want the best for our own kids. His desire is always for us to be growing and changing, going from glory to glory, and continually becoming more like Him. If we're going to do that, we must be Holy Spirit FILLED and Holy Spirit LED. Purpose in your heart to take that step of faith and obey the Holy Spirit today...it's a decision you won't regret!
Beware of the Drift Factor
I don't know about you, but I'm in this "serving God" thing for the long haul. Peter had it right when he said, "Lord, only you have the keys to life. Where else would I go?" When you've truly experienced the genuine freedom that comes from doing things God's way, you don't want to go back to the bondage that is created by doing things your own way. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us that God's thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than ours, and like B.B. Hankins said, "The Holy Spirit is a genius. If you'll listen to Him, He'll make you look smart!"
My goal is to literally accomplish all that God has created me for, and that's my prayer for you too! Just think: we have the opportunity to know why God created us and the ability to accomplish everything that He's planned for us to do. In order to take part in this daily adventure with the Holy Spirit, we must keep our eyes and our hearts fixed on Him because if we don't, we will most certainly end up drifting from our call.
I really enjoy the opportunities to travel and minister with my husband, and I cherish the company of believers that we get to be a part of. A few weeks ago, Pastor Stan Pody shared an awesome insight with us about how easy it is to drift off course. If you've ever played in the water and waves at the beach, then you understand how you can get in the ocean at one place but end up in a totally different place once you get out. Unless you're alert, aware and fighting against the pull when you're busy jumping in the waves and sucking down saltwater, you'll end up drifting far away from where you should be. When you get out and look around for your stuff, you might think someone took it...it's nowhere in sight. In reality, the water pulled you away from where you were suppose to be because you weren't doing what needed to be done to fight off the drift.
The same is true for us as we're serving God. Unless we do our part to keep our eyes fixed on Him and unless we're deliberately fighting the good fight of faith (that we always win in Christ by the way), we'll end up somewhere that we never planned on being...out of the will of God.
The dictionary has a few good definitions for the word drift: to wander aimlessly, to deviate from a set course, and (my favorite) to be carried along by the force of circumstances. Unfortunately, that's exactly what will happen to us if we don't focus on God and if we don't fight off the drift...our circumstances will call the shots in our life. God never intended for us to live that way. He didn't send His Son to die so that we could be pushed around by sickness or lack or fear. He sent Jesus so we could become a part of His body and share in His authority. When we're in Christ, we're not fighting for the victory - we're fighting from a place of victory!
People who are drifting have no purpose because a person with purpose does things intentionally. We must intentionally seek God. We must intentionally open our Bible and dig into the Word. We must intentionally talk to God through prayer. We must intentionally take ourselves to church. We must intentionally seek out the call of God on our lives. We must intentionally be obedient. All of these things are necessary for us in order to do and be all that God's created us for, but they aren't going to happen unless we do them on purpose. God needs our cooperation.
If the tires on a car aren't aligned correctly, it can cause that car to drift to one side or the other. If the car isn't put back on course, it won't get where it needs to be. The Bible tells us not to look to the right or to the left but to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. If we don't align ourselves with God and His perfect way of doing things, we will eventually drift off course, and sadly we won't end up at our desired destination. However, if we will listen to the Holy Spirit, He will keep us on track!
I love the lyrics from the popular worship song that say:
I will seek you in the morning,
and I will learn to walk in your ways.
And step by step you'll lead me,
and I will follow you all of my days.
As long as our focus is on Him and we are obedient to Him, the drift factor cannot derail us from fulfilling all that God has created us for!
My goal is to literally accomplish all that God has created me for, and that's my prayer for you too! Just think: we have the opportunity to know why God created us and the ability to accomplish everything that He's planned for us to do. In order to take part in this daily adventure with the Holy Spirit, we must keep our eyes and our hearts fixed on Him because if we don't, we will most certainly end up drifting from our call.
I really enjoy the opportunities to travel and minister with my husband, and I cherish the company of believers that we get to be a part of. A few weeks ago, Pastor Stan Pody shared an awesome insight with us about how easy it is to drift off course. If you've ever played in the water and waves at the beach, then you understand how you can get in the ocean at one place but end up in a totally different place once you get out. Unless you're alert, aware and fighting against the pull when you're busy jumping in the waves and sucking down saltwater, you'll end up drifting far away from where you should be. When you get out and look around for your stuff, you might think someone took it...it's nowhere in sight. In reality, the water pulled you away from where you were suppose to be because you weren't doing what needed to be done to fight off the drift.
The same is true for us as we're serving God. Unless we do our part to keep our eyes fixed on Him and unless we're deliberately fighting the good fight of faith (that we always win in Christ by the way), we'll end up somewhere that we never planned on being...out of the will of God.
The dictionary has a few good definitions for the word drift: to wander aimlessly, to deviate from a set course, and (my favorite) to be carried along by the force of circumstances. Unfortunately, that's exactly what will happen to us if we don't focus on God and if we don't fight off the drift...our circumstances will call the shots in our life. God never intended for us to live that way. He didn't send His Son to die so that we could be pushed around by sickness or lack or fear. He sent Jesus so we could become a part of His body and share in His authority. When we're in Christ, we're not fighting for the victory - we're fighting from a place of victory!
People who are drifting have no purpose because a person with purpose does things intentionally. We must intentionally seek God. We must intentionally open our Bible and dig into the Word. We must intentionally talk to God through prayer. We must intentionally take ourselves to church. We must intentionally seek out the call of God on our lives. We must intentionally be obedient. All of these things are necessary for us in order to do and be all that God's created us for, but they aren't going to happen unless we do them on purpose. God needs our cooperation.
If the tires on a car aren't aligned correctly, it can cause that car to drift to one side or the other. If the car isn't put back on course, it won't get where it needs to be. The Bible tells us not to look to the right or to the left but to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. If we don't align ourselves with God and His perfect way of doing things, we will eventually drift off course, and sadly we won't end up at our desired destination. However, if we will listen to the Holy Spirit, He will keep us on track!
I love the lyrics from the popular worship song that say:
I will seek you in the morning,
and I will learn to walk in your ways.
And step by step you'll lead me,
and I will follow you all of my days.
As long as our focus is on Him and we are obedient to Him, the drift factor cannot derail us from fulfilling all that God has created us for!
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