What's In Your Mouth?

A well-known credit card issuer asks the now-familiar question, "What's in your wallet", as part of its ad campaign. A more telling question for us is, "What's in your mouth?".  I'm not talking about teeth or gums; I'm talking about your words. Why is this? What's so important about the words you say?

The Bible has much to say about the importance of our words. The Bible says this about words:

1. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.  Proverbs 18:21

2. Jesus said we'd have what we say, out of a believing heart.  Mark 11:23

3. With our tongue we either bless or curse.   James 3:8-10

These verses demonstrate the importance of speaking right words. Does this mean going around saying nothing but Bible verses? No, what I am saying is that your everyday words are important; what you say on a daily basis really matters.

Some things people say, without regard to their content:

1. "That just tickles me to death"

2. "Over my dead body"

3. Concerning "flu" season, "I'll probably be the first to get it"

No one really wants to be tickled to death. No one really wants to die over some dispute. No one really wants to get the flu, at any time. Do you?

Friend, no intelligent person would want even one of these sayings to really happen in his/her life. When we learn the value of our everyday words we won't be saying hurtful words; we'll be saying things like, "I'm free from the curse of sickness-I'll never have the flu"-and so on.

If you knew that everything you said would come to pass, what changes would you make to what you're saying? If you're used to saying negative things, what's keeping you from changing to saying positive words, starting right now?

What's in your mouth? Words of life or death? Health or sickness?  Success or failure? Prosperity or poverty? Perhaps it's time for a verbal "checkup?" on your everyday words. Learning to watch what you say will make a difference in your everyday life.

What change(s) can you make in what you're saying? Do you think it will be easy or a challenge? Either way, it will be worth the change(s).

Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?

As a young boy living in Iowa our house did not have air conditioning, not even a window unit. As a result some summer nights could be warm, to put it mildly. Living in a two-bedroom house, I shared a small bedroom with my brother. In addition to any breeze from the open bedroom window my parents placed a small fan at the foot of our beds, to help circulate the night air where we slept. Although the fan didn't change the room temperature, it did help move the air some. Without an air conditioner, every little bit helps.

An outside thermometer would show the actual temperature in that location. In the absence of home air conditioning there was, of course, no inside thermostat available to initiate any changes in temperature. I hope whoever invented air conditioning did well.

A thermometer reflects actual temperature whereas a thermostat initiates changes in air temperature of a room or house, depending on what change in temperature is selected. A thermometer tells you what is.  A thermostat offers change, usually one that makes rooms cooler in summer, warmer in the winter.

As people of God, we choose to be a reflection of society as a whole (thermometer) or a reflection of what God is doing in the earth at any given point in time, including now (thermostat). It takes no real effort to be a thermometer, to be a part of what is. Being a thermostat, on the other hard, requires being changed to make a noticeable difference  to your world, starting with those around you.

Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Are you a part of the status quo, flowing with those around you, or are you allowing God to bring change to your surroundings, to those within your sphere of influence? If a thermostat, how is God using your gifts and talents to bring help, healing, and life to a lost and dying world where you live, work, and play? If, at this moment, a thermometer, what event(s) would need to happen to influence you to want to become a thermostat?

Where's your identification?

I flew on a few business trips last year. Each time I checked in I was required to present valid identification.  As I went through security I also had to show my ticket-proof that I was a passenger that day. Had I not already had my proof of identification out, ready to be shown, a valid question to me would have been, "Where's your identification?". Without it I wouldn't have flown. Identification. It's proof of who we are. Whether it's a driver's license, passport, student ID card, or other valid form, we live in a time where much emphasis is put on who we are. Things like opening up a bank account, obtaining a passport, or buying a house-in each case proof of identification is required. Renting a car? You'll be asked to show proof of identification.

Identification is even more important where spiritual things are concerned. As Christians we've been placed into Christ-into the family of God. We've been given new identification papers, so to speak. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible says that if any (person) be in Christ he is a new creature. Literally, this means that a new species of being has been created in you. If you're a Christan, there's a new "you" in you that wasn't there before. Your identification is now with Christ, not the devil and his crowd. You're under God's dominion, not Satan's.

Spiritually speaking we've been given new identities. We have new identification papers, so to speak, within the pages of the New Testament-specifically the Epistles, letters written to Christians. Examples are the books of Ephesians and Colossians. Each book paints a vivid picture of the believer's new identification with Christ, focusing on that person's  rights and privileges, in Christ.

It was some years after I became a Christan before I learned of my real identity, as a follower of Jesus Christ. I struggles to know who I was in life, my purpose, and my destiny. Having found my true identity I know who I really am. I move about in total security, without fear of detection. When the devil tries to bring up something from my life before Christ I show him my identification papers-God's Word-proving my identity in Christ. That's my true position-in Christ. Knowing my true identity affects my thinking, believing, words, and actions, on a daily basis.

Where's your identification? Is it in the natural things of this world, or in Christ? How important is it to be secure in who you really are, where your true identity lies?

Dry Water

Over the years I've been to a lot of swimming pools, spending many summer hours enjoying doing laps, or simply cooling off.  All of those pools had something in common: in each case the water was wet. In today's post I want to use the relationship between water and wet to make a point about our relationship with Jesus Christ.

When a person receives salvation through Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9,10) that person becomes a part of God's Church, which the Bible refers to as the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18, 24). Another way to say this is we become in Christ. To be in Christ simply means that we now have in our spirits (hearts) God's very life, nature, and ability. This is good news!

Due to religious brainwashing rather than New Testament teaching, many believers have a hard time seeing themselves as being in Christ. They want Jesus without being in Christ; however you can't have one without the other. Conversely, you can't be a Christian without also being in Christ. To have one without the other is like wanting to go swimming without being in water.

There's no such thing as dry water. If something's dry, it's not water; if it's water, it's wet. Imagine someone going to a pool and asking the lifeguard, "Where's the dry end? I want to go swimming in the dry end." Silly as that may sound that's how some Christians are with the things of God-give me Jesus, without everything He is or has done for me.

In other words, give me dry water.

I know Christians who are extreme, like some swimming pools-either shallow or off in the deep-end. At the same time, too many Christians are trying to swim in proverbial wet suits. They're sincere about swimming (knowing Christ) but just aren't sure about all that wet stuff (being in Christ).

I've been there, having Christ without knowing that I'm also in Christ, in Him. It wasn't fulfilling swimming in dry water, so I started finding out about the water of who I am, in Christ, what I have, in Christ,  and what I can do through Him. What I've learned has revolutionized my life, family, and ministry. I'm enjoying swimming in life more than ever.

No more dry water.

How's your "pool"? Is your water wet or dry? Do you see yourself in Christ, as God does? If not, why not? If so, what steps are you taking-or will you take-to enjoy your "pool" even more today?

Choice activated

More and more devices are becoming voice activated. From cell phones to cars, we are being equipped with more choices of voice-activated technology.  Voice-activated choices, if you will. Life is full of choices: where we go, what we do, what we say when we don't feel like being nice. How we live our lives is based on the choices we make on a daily-even moment-to-moment basis. When we walk into a financial institution, it's our choice whether our transaction(s) will be legal or breaking the law.  In relationships involving singles, boundaries are set by choice. We work by choice.

Events are choice activated. Do we go to the game or wash the car? Do we go to the early or late service? Which season of the year will vacation be taken? As you can see, life is about choices, choices, and more choices. We could say that life itself is choice activated.  Our choices-good or bad-determine the path our lives travel on.

The Bible has much to say about choices. In Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses set life and death, blessing  and cursing before the children of Israel. He then told them to choose life, in order that they and their descendants would live. Even though they were told what to choose, the people still had a choice to make. Remember multiple-choice tests from school? The answer was right in front you; you had to pick the right answer. Like the children of Israel, God tells us the right answer to pick in life, yet we have to do the picking; it's still our choice of what to do.

Can you imagine your teacher giving you the right answer on a test? God has done just that, telling us to choose His Word (life, blessing) over what others or our own minds are telling us to do. Yet, because we have been given the freedom of choice, we are the ones who choose what to do or say in any given situation. God is a gentleman-He won't make us do anything we don't want to, including serving Him. Like Joshua  (Joshua 24:15) we even choose who we'll serve. We, then, get to enjoy the rewards of choosing life and blessing or face the consequences of death and cursing-based choices. The choice is always ours.

Can you see how your life is really choice activated? What kind of choices are you making? How has making wise choices changed your life, even the destiny God has for you?

Is Your Angel Busy or Bored?

Angels are real. Jesus Himself said that children have their own angels, which children don't lose when they grow up. Hollywood has its own theology, portraying angels as earning wings (It's A Wonderful Life), being on probation (Highway to Heaven), or being nearly human (Touched By An Angel). Our knowledge of angels should be based on God's Word. What are angels? According to Hebrews 1:14 angels are ministering spirits sent to minister for those who are Christians those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Some want to know what angels look like, or how they get from one place to another. I'm more interested in what they say and do, aren't you?

Angels bring answers to prayer. In Daniel 10:12 an angel brought answers to Daniel's prayers concerning the children of Israel's future.  Psalm 103:20 says that angels hearken to the voice of God's Word. What does this mean? It means that when God's Word is voiced angels obey what those spoken words are and bring them to pass. It doesn't matter who's doing the saying-a preacher, child, teenager, or God Himself-angels are focused on bringing what they hear to pass without regard to age, gender, education, or any other external factor. A three-year old speaking God's Word in faith concerning healing or finances, will have a busier angel than an adult doubting the promises of God.

A doubting Christan's angel would like to stay busy bringing God's Word to pass, but angels don't respond to doubt (the devil and his cohorts do). Picture someone's angel sitting around bored , with nothing to do. Why? Because that someone is either ignorant of or refuses to speak God's Word. On the other hand, a person with just a little bit of faith can keep his or her angel busy, continually obeying God's Word that's coming out that person's mouth.

Is your angel busy or bored? Is your angel continually, occasionally, or never obeying God's Word concerning you and your life? How often are you declaring what God says about you: spiritually, physically, financially, and materially? If you want to keep your angel busy, keep voicing God's Word's concerning His promises and provision to and for you, and your family.

How's your angel doing? If bored, get it-and keep it-busy. If busy keep it that way. You can't wear an angel out. If necessary angels will get reinforcements, as was done for Daniel.

Is your angel busy or bored? What answers are you expecting from God, through the ministering spirits sent by God to minister for you?

Oh, Joseph!

There's a line in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life where Clarence, George Bailey's guardian angel, is being subdued by Bert the cop. In a moment of desperation, Clarence cries out, "Oh Joseph", in a cry for help from his angelic boss. Help comes comes in the form of Clarence disappearing, thus escaping Bert's clutches.

The church world as a whole is like Clarence. At times we get into desperate situations prompting us to cry out for deliverance. In the church's case, it cries out, "Oh, Jesus". In those moments God sends His answer, often in the form of a "Joseph."

Joseph, the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons, was a dreamer whose dreams seemed preposterous at the time. Time, however, proved that there was deliverance in those dreams. Over time, Joseph was used of God to bring deliverance to Egypt from famine. The right person, at the right time.

When God responded to the prayers of many people for a move of His healing power, He sent a "Joseph" by the name of Oral Roberts who, along with others, demonstrated the healing power of God during the great Healing Revival of 1947-58. When the hearts of many hungered for the teaching of God's Word, God sent a "Joseph" in the person of Kenneth Hagin to teach faith to multiple generations around the world. Both men had visitations from God involving the world as a whole, starting where they were living.

We need more "Josephs" in the Church-those who have believed on Jesus as their Lord and Savior-to deliver us from modern-day "Berts"-forces which are at work to subdue us, to hold us back from achieving and enjoying the success God has made available to all of us.

Maybe you're one of God's "Josephs", a dreamer whom He wants to use to bring deliverance to His people-you and me. Rather than healing or teaching God's Word, God may want to use you in the area of technology, social media, or some other arena to deliver folks from the famines of mediocrity, the status quo, and refusal to change.

In the end, It's A Wonderful Life shows George Bailey becoming the richest man in town by doing things differently than Old Man Potter. One man's life changed an entire community-and Clarence got his wings.

How does God want to use you? God doesn't need another Oral Roberts or Kenneth Hagin; He has something for the one of you. What is He speaking to your heart to do to influence those around you? What kind of a dream has God put in your heart? How big is it? More importantly, what are you doing about it?

 Finally, if you can bring your dream to pass without God, it's too small. Sweet dreams.

Truth or counterfeit?

Years ago I was part of a nationally known ministry. Each summer we held an indoor campmeeting, three services a day, that drew thousands of people from around the world. One year I was assigned to help supervise this ministry's book table. Due to an influx of counterfeit bills being introduced into this country from abroad an agent, trained in identifying counterfeit bills, came to our table to educate us in how to spot the counterfeit from the real.

What the agent proceeded to tell us was simple, yet so effective. In training bank employees to spot counterfeit bills, participants saw only authentic ones throughout the course; they never saw the counterfeit. When asked why, the answer was simple. The instructor wanted those taking the course to become familiar with the true , making it pretty easy to spot the counterfeit.

The same is true in our walk with God. We have the Bible, God's Word, to guide us in life. We have God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to lead us in line with the Word, which is the Truth, according to John 17:17. The Holy Spirit will never lead us apart from His written Word. It is, therefore, very important that new believers are taught the truth from birth, spiritually speaking. From the time someone becomes a Christian it is other Christians' responsibility-not just pastors-to teach the truth to that new believer.

In teaching basic truths to Christians, I've found that the sooner I can reach new Christians with the truth of God's Word, the easier it is for them to be rooted, built up, and established in Christ. That's why it's so important to teach God's Word to children, who'll then have the privilege of growing up with the Truth, rather than counterfeits. God, our Heavenly "Instructor", wants children of all ages to be able to distinguish truth from counterfeit, in every area of life.

How, then, do I distinguish truth from counterfeit, right from wrong? In math, 2+2=4, not 3.9,  4.1, or some other close number. Pretty simple, right? In teaching the truth of God's Word, Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). This being true, anything contrary to what Jesus said is not truth; it's counterfeit.

Can you see the importance of filling our hearts, mouths, and minds with the truth of God's Word? What would happen if our focus would be on the simplicity of what God is saying in His Word, rather than opinions, theories, and experiences out of line with New Testament teaching? How can today's post help you to stay focused on the Truth, rather than counterfeits?

What are your thoughts on this subject?