Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7
Your Words can:
- Bring long life:Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything Proverbs 13:3.
- Set your life on fire- ruin your life Proverbs 13:3 James 3:6
- Warn of danger “Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee” Gen 27
- Cause jealousy and hatred “And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words Genesis 37:8
- Cause captivity Gen 39- The wife of the Egyptian ruler lied about Joseph
- Move people “And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do”. Exodus 4:15
- Crush a Spirit Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit Proverbs 15:4
- Break a person to pieces-How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? Job 19:2
- Bring Curses – Don’t use God’s name in vain – honor your parents
- Bring Blessings – Issac and Jacob, Abraham, Eli and Hannah, Joseph’s Sons, Jacob over his sons…..
- Be twisted for a bribe– A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth. Ex 23
- cause anger 2 Samuel 3:8
- Save Nations “Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Esther 9:26
- Annoy others “How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? Job 8:2
- Distort the truth Job 38:2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
- deceive and hide iniquity and sin :iniquity and deceit lie in the words of some psalm 36:3
- Devour with lying tongue Psalm 52:4
- Be as powerful as a weapon Psalm 64:3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
- Encompass around with hatred Ps 109:3
- Deceive through flattery proverbs 2
- Speak wisdom Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 17:27
- Turn wrath away Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger
- Bring health Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
- Be a Spring of Wisdom Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook
- Hurt others Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly
- Hasty, leading to foolish nonsense Proverbs 29:20 Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him
- Cause deep grieving Genesis 27 – Essau cried when he heard his blessing had been taken from him “he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.”
- Powerful :Soft Words can be more powerful than the loud cry of a king Ecclesiastes 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools
- Full of nonsense A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? Ecclesiastes 10:14
- Help others or Discipline and lead you :The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep
- Cause Fear And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;Jeremiah 26:21
- Bring Salvation Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved
- Move Mountains. Mark 11:22-24 Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
What have your words done today? Have they brought life? Hurt? Wisdom?Anger? Death? Destruction? Praise? Encouragement? Help? Foolishness? Gossip? Deception? Faith? Hope? Healing?
I was surfing through you tube and I found a video of a high school reunion from my school. Each person was talking into the camera having fun with each of their friends. The camera went from person to person as everyone said hello. One person mentioned that she thought it was funny that everyone at the reunion “knew me, but none of them ever said a word to me in high school”, then another man with sad eyes just looked in the camera without a word. You could tell he was holding back tears and he only held up his name card so the people watching the video would know who he was. I’m still sad thinking about it. Knowing some of the people I grew up with – and I’m no better- I can easily see people ignored or made fun off today – even after all these years. I mentioned to a friend that I ran into an old classmate and before I could continue, she remarked “wasn’t she a nerd”. I was silent, are we grown up and still doing this garbage? Do people really need to have lifetime tags on them? Growing up in a Christian school, you would think we would treat all people as Jesus did, but we were far from it. To be Jesus like, we need to step outside that “old man” box and show the “new man”. Use words of kindness and encouragement. Say hello to others, don’t just think about yourself – but stop to consider others. Ask the Lord for a great love for other people – you’ll be surprised.
I believe God’s word is true and powerful. I have seen answered prayer. I’ve prayed with others and seen miraculous healing. I’ve seen scripture spoken over a person about to die – only to recover with a supernatural healing. It is here for us –for life, blessings, salvation. I was reading through the Parable of the talents and stopped to consider the talents, money, gifts given by the Master. I asked the Lord – what are the gifts? And I heard in my heart; ”What gifts have I given you?” I thought for a moment, and said- I believe the greatest gift you have given me is the gift of prayer– through your Son Jesus, I now have a place before your throne, second gift I have is Your Word. I know there is another side to this – use your talents – but I think it must be taught to :
1- Devote yourself to prayer: We should be just as persistent in our prayer life as we are in our outward “service”: God has given us His Son – the greatest gift- and now we can go before the throne of God in prayer. So I ask you- are you using this gift? Have you put it to the side? Have you taken full advantage of this priceless gift of prayer? The Lord God waits for you, He has prepared a place before the throne for you- Use this gift!
2- Open up the Bible and apply it! Study and Follow God’s Ways in His Word. God has given us His Word- are you using this gift? Have you gotten lazy? Don’t you know that all Gods promises are written there for you? It leads you along the path to Salvation. It warns you if you happen to step off the path, it is a lamp to your feet and light for your way. What have you done with this gift?
When you think about it, what good is all our service if we aren’t walking with the Lord? What good are all our books, blogs, studies, teaching, videos, sermons, events – if we are far from the Lord and walking with the World and not the Word? What good are our talents if we are using them according to our own ways – because we haven’t stopped long enough to hear God’s leading? What good is all our teaching if our heart is far from God? What good is all your hospitality if you are not walking along God’s path because you don’t know His path? You may be saying – well they had an investment-and to that I say- aren’t prayers equally investing, if not more than anything else? Don’t they reap reward? Surely they heal the sick and bring people to Christ, protect workers from evil and strengthen the weak. Doesn’t the word say- that those who put much study and time into the scriptures, get much out – and in Ezra, the Lord blessed Him because of His study of the scriptures. Doesn’t the book of Isaiah tell us that God’s word always accomplishes everything it is sent out to do and it always succeeds!!! Show me an investment like that.
Then I said, Lord, why did you give the third man so little? and the Lord told me that He gave him little because He knew he wouldn’t do much work. He knew He wasn’t going to do much with it so He gave him little to do- but He still expected it to be done. Unfortunately the lazy fearful man did nothing with what He had- it reminds me of the Parable of the Great feast. One man showed up without his wedding clothes – he didn’t even bother to get dressed- how disrepectful, not only that, but when asked why, he didn’t even bother to answer. It’s a picture of pure laziness and disrespect. In other words, there was no fear of God. Sure, the man said he feared him, but if true, would he have so boldly spoken out to him on what a ruthless inconsiderate man his master was? The master called him wicked and lazy. Talk about lazy… that’s what this generation is creating with all the electronics. Parents are wasting their kids talents away on video games, computers, and television shows. Turn it off!
Check out these investments and payoffs – rewards:
- Saving Souls!!! 1 Thess. 2:19-20 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! Yes, you are our pride and joy.
- Helping the Prophets and the Righteous- “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:40
- Helping the least of His followers – you will surely be rewarded!!! Help others.
- Care for the traveling teachers, even if they are strangers to you: Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.7 For they are traveling for the Lord,[c]and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.[d] 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth. 3 John
And we do all this – not to seek a reward, although that is wonderful, but we do all this to please our King and our Lord- helping the sick, visiting those in prison, helping the lost find their way, taking care of the orphans, the widows, the homeless, the downcast, the hungry, and the thirsty.
I’ve rambled on and now I’m off topic, so maybe, if I find it interesting enough, Ill post the rest of this power of words study on another post. It’s much to long to post here.
Peace! And may the God of peace SOON crush that annoying serpent under your feet as you step out in Victory for Jesus Christ, the Savior of the Whole World .May the Grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
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