We have been learning about the importance of seeing properly. In Jeremiah 1 we saw how important it is to God that man sees correctly. There is correct seeing, and incorrect seeing. We learned about the importance of setting your mind. Our life follows our mindset. Last week we talked about running the race not just to run, but to win. We will be wrapping up this series with a word about the mouth. This week we will attempt to make the connection between what we see, and what we say.
"You See What You Say"
Whenever God speaks, He always speaks from His viewpoint and persuasion. A person from a different country is identified by voice. When you hear the accent, you immediately say, "This person is not from around here." The accent communicates not just information, but history, culture and upbringing. All that the individual is and knows, where he has been and what he has experienced, is covered in that voice. When God speaks it is no different. He speaks more than just communication. He speaks background culture, history, and ability, which is no small thing. He is all- knowing, all- seeing, and all- powerful. He has no beginning and no end, and the word impossible does not exist to Him. This is why His accent was often very difficult for people to understand. Conversations with God have always left people confused, often saying, "How can this be?" It is very important for our lives, however, that we learn to speak the language of God.
Last week we learned from Col.3 that we are to set our minds on higher things. Today we learn how we cannot set our minds on higher things if we don't first set our mouths on higher things. Our mouth is more powerful than most of us realize (Ps.18:21; James 3:3-7). The tongue is more than a communication agent. It is a creative agent. It literally has the power to create.
The Image of God
Scripture tells us that man was created in God's image and likeness. But it is not in our flesh that we bear the image of God. It is in our spirit, because God is spirit (John 4). Spirit is word. Gen.1 and John 1 both show how in the beginning there was God, but in the beginning there was also word. This is because both are the same. So we don't bear His image physically. We bear His image spiritually. I learn how to operate spiritually, but understanding how God operates spiritually. This is laid out in the very first chapter of the Bible.
The pattern of Genesis 1 reveals God's method of operation. It is a pattern of speaking. God spoke, and it was so, and then God saw what He said. We see this throughout the whole chapter (Gen.1:2-3; 6-7; 9-11; 11-12; 14-18; 20-22; 24-25). This is God's method, His nature- His DNA: He speaks, then it is so, then He sees what He said.
When surrounded by darkness in Gen. 1:2 God He did not say darkness. He sat in darkness, and spoke light, and there was light, and He saw that the light was good. So God never speaks the condition. He speaks the exact opposite of the condition, then it is so, and then He sees what He said. This idea is also reflected in Rom.4:17. He is described as, "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Darkness was changed to light, because though He was in darkness, He spoke light. And we are created in His image. This would mean that what is on my mouth is actually more powerful than any situation I may be facing. This is because words are things.
Words are Things
Words are more than information. They are things. Mt.12:34-37 says, "…for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him..." First it says that out of the heart the mouth speaks, then it describes how the good/ evil man brings good/ evil things out of his heart. Conclusion: words are things.
Jesus' ministry was nothing more than things created by the spoken word. Jesus did not just heal the sick. He healed the sick through the word. He did not just cast out demons. He cast out demons with the word. He did not stop the wind and the waves. He rebuked the wind and the waves with the word. His life and ministry was nothing but speaking light to darkness. He is, after all, God.
Your Mouth
How were you born again? Rom.10:9-10 describes the salvation experience as a process of believing in my heart and confessing with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. As these words were spoken, a thing was created on the inside. Salvation, the new birth, and right standing with God- all these things took place through the power of the word. Now, look at what Col. 2:6 says. "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him…" We are to continue to live in Him, in the same way we received Him? How did we receive Him? By believing in our heart, and confessing with our mouth. We are created in the image of God, and our assignment is to sit in darkness and speak light. It will be so, and we will see that it is good. This is why Mt. 12:36 says that we will have to give account for every careless word we have spoken. Why is that? Because our words are more powerful than we realize. Our mouth is a loaded weapon and must be used responsibly.
In Mk. 11:23-24 the King James says, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." Notice how many times my mouth is involved in the process of felling mountains! The mouth is the greatest force in the world. For the last 15 years of my life I have developed a habit of speaking the word of God over my life, family, ministry, over my feelings, over my offenses, over my city nation and continent, on a daily basis. I address every darkness around me with the opposite word. I am created in the image of God. I have been amazed as I look back over the years and realize how much of what I had been confessing I am no longer confessing because I am now seeing it. It has been a tremendous blessing for me. I would encourage all believers to develop a similar habit. Make it a daily ritual. Speak to every darkness, every demon, every sickness, every lack, every pain, every depression, ever obstacle, every mountain. As big as these may seem, they are not bigger than the words of your mouth which spring from your redeemed nature which is created to be like God. Every mountain MUST bow! You are a child of the Most High God.
Is.43:18"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
God is doing a new thing, and it's springing up now! It does not say, "Do you not see it?" It says, "Do you not perceive it?" This is important because if you cannot perceive it first, you will never see it. In fact, what you are perceiving will almost always be very different from what you are seeing. It is called a new "thing." "Thing," because it has not been seen before. Paul said in 1 Cor.2:9, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" This week God wants to position us to see it, and He wants to prepare us for it.
The Former and the New
Is.42:9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
The former has to come to an end to give way for the new. When you see one door closing, an opportunity fading, or a person exiting your life, it is a sign that God is about to do a new thing in your life. Some are feeling a door closing. Don't be frustrated! God is doing a new thing. Forget the former. They have to end. New beginnings don't begin with new beginnings. They begin with endings. In the Genesis account of creation, it repeatedly says, "And it was evening, and it was morning-- the first day." Every day began with an ending. When you see an end, it is the sign of a new day. If the door has closed, it is good. You have come to a beginning. Just because you come to the end of the chapter doesn't mean it's the end of the book. Don't be afraid to turn the page. Acknowledge the end and accept it, so the new can rise up. Stop trying to hold on to things that are dead. Sustaining such things suck the life out of you.
Some things that need to be let go of are not necessarily bad. They are just finished. The brook that sustained Elijah at one point dried up in a later season. At that point God said, "Go at once!" Some are dry because they have refused to move on from the place of former provision. God did use that place at one point, but it is now dry. Don't stay there and pray for rain. It is time to move on. Go at once! Stop crying over what dried up. "Go at once!" Additionally, you cannot just stay with things to appease people. You must honestly ask, "Did God call me there?" That is the question. This does not mean there are not things worth fighting for- this is not an excuse to give up on your marriage! But there are some things that you must have the courage to move on from. It may be dead, but you are not. There are many of us who hold on to things in fear because we don't think there is anything better. But it is because God has something better and we must move on.
Psalms 16:8 - "I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand,
There is nothing that can shake you as long as the Lord is before you. Another version says that "I will not be moved…" There are so many things in our lives that want to move us. There are so many things that want the steering wheel in our lives to move us away from the course that God has laid out for us to run. But David said as long as the Lord is before me nothing else but God can move me. Yet David said something that was crucial. I have set the Lord always before me. You don't just wake up with God before you. You must purposely set Him before you, "Always". If you do not set "Him" before you, something else will set itself before you. Something else will be speaking to you. Something else will be counseling you. Something else will be moving your thinking, your emotions, and your destiny. You must set "Him" before you daily. We can not afford to be casual with our relationship with God! You have to purpose in your life to set "Him" before you this day!
