A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the increase of his lips shall he be fed. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof... (Prov.18:20-21 KJV)
MY GREATEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Let me begin by sharing with you the story of the greatest Christmas present I have ever been given. The gift was a cassette tape teaching by Kenneth Copeland, entitled, “The Power of the Tongue.” Can you imagine on a Christmas day, the one and only present you receive from your wife is a teaching cassette tape? Wow! Honestly, I thought she was crazy. The truth is, I was quite insulted.
However, little did I know, that this cassette tape would turn out to be the greatest Christmas gift I would ever receive from anyone; because the truth is, God used it to radically change the course of my life. I will never forget the feeling I had as I listened to the message for the first time. I could not believe what I was hearing! I thought, “My God! I have known for a long time that my mind was a mess, but Lord, I didn't realize that it was my mouth that was digging my own grave!”
Take for instance Proverbs 18:21 where Solomon teaches us, that Death and Life are in the Power of the tongue. Notice, that He does not say that Death and Life are in the devils power or even in God's power, but in the Power of your tongue, my tongue. Man, In all the years of my journey, nobody, but nobody had ever told me that!
You see, before I was saved, I had learned from eastern religions that the mind was the part of man that possessed almost infinite power. But as I began to receive insight into Scriptures such as this, I soon discovered, that there was a huge difference between thoughts and words.
For example, when God Almighty got ready to create His world, He didn't think it into existence. He spoke it into existence... (Read Genesis 1:1-3)
Again, notice he didn't stand there, with his eyes closed, and his hands stretched, straining like they do in the “Star Wars movies," trying to somehow think it into existence (using mind power). No, no, no, he used words! Let there be light and there was light.” In a flash, I received this amazing revelation.
You see, it is the mind, that's the seedbed or womb for ideas and plans to be conceived. But it is words and words alone, which possess the ability and power to create.
Amazingly enough, I also discovered, that thoughts do have presence. Oh yes they do; cause you can be in the same room with people who don't really like one another or get along with each other; and without a word ever being spoken, the tension and atmosphere can be so thick, that you can literally cut it with a knife. And the reason for this, is because thoughts, do have presence.
However, as we have already seen, it is words, that possess creative power.
No wonder God himself tells us... "I create the fruit of the lips…” (Isaiah 57:19) In other words, God will work with the material (or words) you put in his hands.
Let me ask you a question. What have you been saying with your mouth? What kind of material have you been putting in His hands? Are you pleased and happy with the results? If you're not, here's a life changing principle that I often share with people who are frustrated and dissatisfied with their journey in life. I tell them, “If you don't like your life, change it!” Without fail, they always ask me, how? Then I always challenge them, “Start with your words!”
Now this change doesn't happen overnight. But think about it, the mess you may be in today, didn't happen overnight either. Trust me, it will take time and hard work, but the good news is, it's possible! And it's definitely worth it.
Now here are the two main Scriptures God used to give me this simple revelation. (Hebrews 11:3) and (Psalm 50:19)
FRAMING YOUR WORLD
- Through faith we understand that the worlds were "FRAMED" by the Word of God. Notice that God used words to frame the world. (Hebrews 11:3)
- Then, in Psalms 50:19 David, the sweet psalmist wrote. “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue "FRAMES" deceit.” Wow! Notice he says, it is your mouth that "FRAMES" deceit.
Here I began to discover that the tongue was the instrument used by both God and man to frame evil or good, success or failure, life or death, plenty or lack. Suddenly I realized, everything that was happening in my life, didn't just happen by chance; it had somehow or another been Framed by words. Therefore, if I expected things to change, I was going to have to use my words to do something about it.
So little by little, I began framing a new world for myself. One brick… one word at a time. A little bit here and a little bit there. And before long, I saw my life go from Death to Life, from Poverty to Wealth, from Sickness to Health, and from Misery and Defeat to Joy and Victory... And so yes, I am a witness, that if you will dare work the Word, the Word will work with your World. Now here's a truth, that I strongly believe, needs to be reinforced on the inside of you. The "mind" is always the place of conception. It is the seedbed or womb for ideas and plans to be conceived, but it is always "the Tongue" that has the ability to Frame, Bring Forth and give Substance to that plan. So, I'll say it to you again: If you don't like your life, change it! Now in most cases, a new vocabulary will be required.
(Expert for The M&M's of Life by Pastor Jason Alvarez)