WORDS. The Bible warns us in several places of the use of our words.
Reference the following Scriptures:
Matt 12:37
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Luke 9:26
26. For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his
Father's, and of the holy angels.
John 5:47
47. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
John 6:63
63. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:68
68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
John 15:7
7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Also in the Scriptures there are many warnings about what comes out of our mouths.
Reference the following Scriptures:
Matthew 4:4
4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 12:34
34. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Matthew 15:8
8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Matthew 15:11
11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Matthew 15:16-20
16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Matthew 18:16
16. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Luke 19:22
22. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
Luke 21:15
15. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Romans 10:8-10
8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
2 Corinthians 13:1
1. This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Ephesians 4:29-32
29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
James 3:10
10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
The references above are just some of the more well known verses for the search of words and mouth. If you look up speak there are many more. The point is that our words are what we are!
Luke 6:45 says:
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil:
for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
That is the point I was referring to...we are what we speak. The word Faith is just a word--like Love is just a word. You can't see them, but you know they are real. How? By the emotions they produce when they are invoked. Faith (like Love), as I said, is unseen. Christians, it seems, are supposedly known by their faith. Christ Jesus told us to live by our faith. The Buddhists see their statue Buddha. The Hindus in India, etc., see the cows they worship, the Naturalists see the trees and nature they worship. I suppose they seem to think we are not normal by any standard--believing in something we can't touch or see. But that is what it is all about.
When Christ ascended into Heaven, He said He was leaving us His power that we could do as He did and that we would have even more power as He was also sending us the Comforter (The Holy Spirit). So how are we to have the power Christ had? We invite Him into our hearts and lifes and He comes in and empowers us. By believing that He is in us and with the evidence of the changes in our minds and hearts that He is there, we then build our faith and by that faith we can step out and do the works He did. Having faith, in the fullest, can change our lives and the lives of others tremendously.
So, yes, Faith is just a word...BUT it is The WORD of God, and it is a life altering word. It is the Word that gives us the desire to go on in this evil world. It is the Word that proves what is on the inside of us.
We have to have it pounded in, grounded in, pulverized in...we cannot be double-minded as it says in James 1:1. We have to believe without doubting. Now that is hard to do. We tend to see and hear the things around us and being mere humans (as many believe)we fall prey to that trick of satan. Don't listen to him. Don't watch the videos of the mind. Satan uses our horrid past sins showing on the screen of our minds and he plays and lets you hear and watch. You need to remind him that the sins no longer exist. You have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus!
Don't even go there with the devil. Immediately turn your attention to the Father, Our God. Start worshipping Him from the heart...for out of the heart will come the praise that God desires. He inhabits our praise and worship and desires it and He is then in us as Jesus is in Him. How does this work? Well, that is for the next Point to Ponder. Pick up the Word and put your Faith to practice...and do not doubt...regardless of what satan throws at you...and see if you don't become a stronger person in Christ Jesus.
May He bless each of you...and remember, in the midst of each storm, there is the Light.
Gail Wilkins
