Dear Modele

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue...” Proverb 18: 21 (New King James Version). These words are so startling, that they can be hard to believe. However, this is a recurring theme in the scriptures, and we do believe God’s Word. The Passion Translation (TPT) is even more explicit: Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life and the talkative person will reap the consequences. The writer of the Proverbs is calling on us to see words as powerful instruments that can affect our whole lives.

In the New Testament, James the Apostle compares the tongue to a bit in a horse's mouth or the rudder of a large ship (James 3: 3-5). We should therefore see words not as merely means of expression, but also as means of creation and change. In Genesis 1:1, the Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth. The rest of the chapter describes how God created the earth. Gen 1: 3: Then God said: let there be light - or more accurately translated: “Light be!”. And light was. In Genesis, the phrase “Then God said’ is repeated in verses 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26. In the last verse of that chapter, verse 31, we see the conclusion: “then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good”. It is clear that Genesis 1 is a description of how God creates.

You may have noticed that God spent very little time describing the darkness and lack of creation. Instead, He proceeded to call forth what He wanted in the earth. We see clearly that saying preceded seeing. In the book of Romans, chapter 4 we have more revelation of God as One who “...gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). God personally taught this principle to our father of faith (Abraham), when He changed his name from Abram to Abraham (meaning father of many nations). At the time that God changed his name, Abraham had no physical children yet. However, by agreeing with God and calling himself the father of many nations, Abraham became the father of many nations. His words gave life to what he believed and wanted, according to the promise given to him by God.

Our words can also give life to what we believe, based on God's word. In 1 Peter 2:24. the Scriptures say  “ ...By His stripes we were healed”. When we put these words in our mouth and begin to speak them, the Life and power of God's Word overcomes the presence of symptoms of sickness and disease. This means that I can (and should) call my body healed even while seeking and receiving medical care. Medicine is the natural means that God uses to heal us. Words are supernatural and are the most powerful way to get and stay well. Joel 3:10: “...Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’”.

Our words have been designed by God to change our circumstances. We don't have to simply state things as they are. Instead, like God, we can call those things that do not as exist as though they did (Romans 4: 17). I admit that this is a strange concept to the world. We may even get laughed at sometimes when we say things in faith. However, we have been called to speak like our God and Father speaks - He is our example. If we want to see results like He sees results, we need to begin to speak like He does. This is the spirit and attitude of faith as outlined in 2 Cor 4: 13: “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak.”
 
Our whole existence should be consumed with believing what God said (by hearing God’s Word – Rom 10: 17) and saying what God said. If we resist saying only what we are experiencing at the moment (symptoms of lack or sickness, for example) and start saying what God has said about us (that He supplies all our needs and that we are healed), we will be enjoying life and not suffering death. Death and Life are indeed in the power of our tongues. CHOOSE LIFE!

(*All scripture references are from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted)

In Him,