A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (September 29, 2016)
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)
The other day I was watching an old western movie on TV. In one scene, the general store in town had just burned to the ground and the lady who owned it had lost everything she owned. She was standing in the middle of the burned-out shell of a building when one of the townspeople walked by to give her a word of encouragement.
He said, “I knew a lady in Topeka, Kansas, who had the same thing happen to her. Her store burned down and she lost everything. She never recovered. Eventually, she went to the poor house and later killed herself. She just couldn’t take it anymore. Well, we’ll be prayin’ for ya.” Needless to say, the words of the passerby did not encourage or help the lady in distress. They were, in fact, words filled with fear, doubt, and unbelief.
Even though this was just a movie, there’s a point to be made here. We as Christians need to keep our words full of faith and the promises of God. When a friend has a disaster happen in his or her life, we must speak the promises of God (encouraging words) and not keep confessing the problem.
God is a faith God and He releases His faith in words. In the beginning, God spoke and the universes were formed. In Genesis 1:3, He spoke, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And throughout the creation until now, God has spoken and whatever He spoke came to pass. Much later, Jesus spoke about the power of our own words: “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 come to pass, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). When Jesus was here on the earth, the Bible tells us that He spoke to the winds and sea and they obeyed Him (Mark 4:39). He didn’t act fearful. He didn’t panic. He simply spoke to the wind and sea and said, “Be still!” He believed what He said would come to pass. He knew His authority and He spoke in faith. And what He said – happened.
We’re told in Ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God as little children imitate their parents. Let’s make Jesus our example. We are to live as He lived. He walked in faith and we are to walk in faith. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. What does that mean anyway? Well, it’s this way. Words (our words) are containers. They can contain faith or they can contain doubt. What we say today can affect the world for years to come. Our words are important.
As Christians, we are to make our words reflect what God said in His Word instead of what we see with our natural eyes. When we see disaster, when there is a problem in our life or in the life of a friend, we should do as the Scripture says. We must speak encouraging words of faith instead of doubt and despair. In other words, see things as they should be.
Proverbs 6:2 says, “We are snared by the words of our mouth and we are taken by the words of our mouth.” So remember, as a Christian, our words must reflect the words of God, our Father. When God speaks, it is always faith. Doubt and unbelief are not in His vocabulary. They shouldn’t be in ours either.
