What Are You Doing With Your Tongue?

Proverbs 18: 21 states, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit".  Wow!  Very powerful statement.  The power of death and the power of life both come from our tongue.  James 3: 6 says, "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell".  Incredible!  When we choose to speak death with our tongue, it ignites a fire that can defile the entire body (our own and the church).  James says the fire (upon our tongues) incinerates God's destiny for our life with fire from hell!  Is that strong stuff or what?  With that tiny little piece of flesh behind our teeth we can destroy our lives, the lives of others, and thwart God's destiny.  Man!  I've seen churches destroyed by the power of just a few tongues.  Why?  Because it is a fire that spreads rapidly from person to person.  Through deception some truly believe they are doing service to God (with their tongues) spreading the fire that in all actuality destroys.

But even more powerful than the destructive fire and death is the ability to speak overcoming, overpowering life with the same tongue!  Amazing!  When will we truly believe this?  When we can practice this...no matter what the circumstance.  I made a commitment long ago to speak life with my tongue.  Proverbs says the power of life is in the tongue.  Jesus came 2,000 years ago and defeated the power of death and darkness.  While on the earth He was tested by the enemy after he had fasted for 40 days and nights.  Matthew Chapter 4 teaches us that the enemy tempted Jesus in 3 very crucial areas.  Jesus overpowered these attempts of the enemy to thwart God's plan of salvation by saying, "It is written..."   He didn't say "In My opinion..."  Or "Well I think..."  Or "Oh God, what am I going to do?"  He simply overpowered the enemy by speaking the Word of God which is life!  Jesus finished His work of the cross and gave to you and me the responsibility of speaking life with our tongues.

To speak life means to speak against the flow of the world.  Before a person is born again they speak in line with their surroundings...the world.  But when one becomes born again by God's Spirit, they begin to speak in line with God's Word by His Spirit.  God's Word is just that...God's Word.  When I speak what He said, I am speaking what He said!  Just saying!  So let me ask you...what are you doing with your tongue?  Are you speaking death or life?  Are you spreading strife in your work place because you have talked yourself into a pit? Or...are you changing a naturally bad situation with the life in your tongue?  Just asking.  I always make it a point to speak to my co-workers and ask them how they are doing.  Nine times out of ten I get the  response, "I'm here."  I didn't ask if you were here.  I asked how are you doing!  I usually respond by saying..."Well I'm glad you are here.  Wouldn't be the same without you!"  That usually gets either a weird look or a smile from the person!

As long as we live on planet earth death and life will be in the power of our tongue.  The choice is yours, speak death or life.  What will you do?

The Power of a Grateful Heart

It's almost unbelievable how quickly 2010 is running its course.  Here we are past October and heading toward Thanksgiving in America.  I thought I'd pen a few words about Thanksgiving.  I like to call it a grateful heart or simply...gratefulness. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? It didn't start as a national holiday back when the first settlers started the concept. Actually after that first brutal winter and growing season, it was a celebration of life and harvest. The first settlers (the ones who were still breathing) gathered to commemorate God's protection and sustenance. The gratefulness was genuine. I mean think about it. Many of your family and friends died throughout that first year. Through the difficulty, death, and destitution...a group had survived and now wanted to give God all the thanks. Making it through hard times and difficulty produces a truly grateful heart.

Understand that a grateful heart is very powerful. It is a force that motivates a person to endure the most difficult of circumstances. A grateful heart can recall God's past faithfulness and envision His future faithfulness. The result is a steadfastness in the present that has a supernatural origin. No one looks forward to tough times. But it's the tough times that toughen us up! Connie and I understand tough times and I'm sure you do too. Tough times come in different shapes and sizes for different people but the result (should we choose it) is the same...a grateful heart. I'll admit, tough times can also produce numerous opportunities to complain and maybe even murmur (I'm sure you don't though.) But a truly grateful heart acknowledges that God is fully in control. We don't always understand the circumstances...but we can understand God does and has all the answers. This simply means that we can thank Him in the hard times as well as the easy times.

A grateful heart makes one sensitive to the needs of others. I don't mean this to sound bad, but there is always someone whose situation is worse than ours! What a great time to thank God for His faithfulness to us, and offer ourselves to Him to be an instrument to help others. A grateful heart. It's very powerful. A grateful heart endures circumstances because its eyes are not on the circumstances but on God.

Finally, I'm reminded of how Judah was completely surround by its enemies in II Chronicles Chapter 20. Jehoshaphat was a godly king and gathered the whole nation for prayer. If God doesn't intervene...the whole nation will be wiped out. In this prayer meeting Jehoshaphat leads the prayer and begins to thank God for all He has done and all He has promised for Israel. Then He says, "We are powerless against this great multitude, nor do we know what to do. Nevertheless...our eyes are on You." God moved in behalf of the nation of Judah and routed its enemies. It took three days for Judah's people to collect the spoils of the battle. A grateful heart is powerful. I encourage you in these hard times...remember His faithfulness, thank Him for His future faithfulness, and thank Him for all you have today. It will change things. It's the power of a grateful heart.