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Okay, so what about the life and death that is in the power of the tongue? Have you given much thought about what things might need to be dead. I know I have. The process of God’s digging deeper has revealed more and more that needs to die.
Do you ever lose your temper, get impatient, argue? Are you ever selfish, prideful, complacent? Do you murmur, complain or talk about people? Did you think I was only going to hit the “bigger” issues? You know, lying, stealing, killing, sexual immorality, cheating, substance abuse, gluttony, idolatry, covetousness. Most of our issues begin in our minds, and they need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. We give the enemy way too much credit, when it is our own flesh that wars with us the most.
The flesh wars against the Spirit, and war can get ugly. Death is always involved when there is a war. So, I challenge you; if you have not already started, begin to speak death to the root of your issues. I know I have been, and I will tell you that it has been painful and glorius at the same time. God has been pressing and digging to bring things to surface that I did not realize were there, but as I said, He has been going deeper.
I wouldn’t change a moment of it. I am in awe of His faithfulness, grace, mercy and life of joy and peace that only He can give. In the pressing there comes an increase of Him, of His anointing, and He has been doing amazing things. So, go ahead, speak death to those things in your life that must be dealt with. Speak life to the Christ-like characteristics that you want to develop…..love, humility, generosity, forgiveness, patience, wisdom, discernment, kindness, faith, hope, trust, honesty. As we decrease, He will increase! Christ in us, the hope of glory!

POWER! Nations fight for it. Many measure success by attaining it while others live their lives feeling powerless. What they do not realize is that they have possessed power all along.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue….”. This should actually be very sobering. This is not power to be taken lightly. It’s a matter of life and death, and the power of our tongue determines what lives and what dies.
Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly, but what about the death part?
Do we just never speak death? Actually, Colossians 3:5 says, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” In Mark 11 we read that Jesus cursed a tree that was not bearing fruit, and it died from the roots up.
Paul said that he died daily. He was putting to death some things in his life in order that the life of Christ that came to live in him could thrive.
Do we strategically and wisely use this power as God intends?
So, how and when do we use this power to speak life and death and what should be the motivation behind what we speak? That is coming up next.

Is there ever a good time to kill?  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.  Everything?  Really?  Even to kill?  Verse 3 says, yes,  “a time to kill”.  Now I will be the first to admit, this is not a pleasant subject, but in light of what God has been revealing at this time, we need to listen.
If there has ever been a time that distractions, “busy”ness, “ME”itis, has separated a people and a nation from God it is today.  Idolatry does not have to come in the form of stone, wood or precious metals.  It is anything that we desire more than we desire seeking, trusting and following Jesus.  We have a generation that does not know their kingdom purpose in this earth and are trying to find significance, purpose, peace and excitement in almost everything but God.
The end result is so many are becoming depressed, hopeless, and confused with no real direction.   We as believers many times have not offered them much in the way of example because there are so many things that are more important than living and showing the love of Jesus and placing Him as our FIRST priority.
Well, it’s TIME TO KILL!  Matthew 3 tells us about laying the ax to the root of the tree that is not bearing fruit, but God is saying that is not enough.  In Isaiah 14:30 God says “I will kill your root with famine, and he will slay (kill) your remnant (survivors).  There are some things in our lives that must die before we can truly be effective for His kingdom.  You can cut something off at the root, but if the ground still contains nutrients and water, growth can begin again and you are no better off.  But if there is a famine, the root is not being fed.  Not only will it cease to grow, but it will die, and no offshoots will survive.
Whatever we feed will grow, and what we feed it will determine if it is healthy or not.  What you starve will surely die.  What you listen to, watch, read or hang out with will determine what lives and what dies.
Wow!  This can be scary or exciting, but, Lord, kill off at the root everything that hinders Your Spirit from working in and through me so that others may see You!  Take no prisoners; leave no survivors.  I want to lay it all down.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth  (NKJV) 2 Timothy 3:1-7
Okay, how many of us are guilty of hearing something so many times that after a while we think, “Yeah, yeah, I know”, and forget that the truth in God’s word is just that…TRUTH! If we ever lived in a time where we could be easily deceived, it is now. We are surrounded with the noise of warped views in the news media, movies, television programs, advertisements, ungodly teachers in the school system, and unfortunately, yes, sometimes ungodly preachers in the churches.
Almost anyone for a time can keep up an outward pretense, and speak the vocabulary of Christianity but do not accept the reality of true Christian faith. The power and heart of Christianity revolves around the fact that Christ is a risen Redeemer, the truth and the life of any Christian, and His Spirit indwells and overflows from believers. The end result is the transforming of our lives.
Make no mistake Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations are full of warnings of those who through smooth talk and a charismatic personality tell us what we want to hear, but we must seek God and His truth, His word. Blessing, restoration, and revival only come after refining/hardships and repentance. (True prophets are generally not popular.)
False teachers prey on the gullible and vulnerable, lurking in the shadows to pick off spiritual stragglers. (Satan is a roaring lion seeking those weak stragglers to devour…1Peter 5:8) Unconfessed sin results in a barrier in our relationship with God.(pride, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, slander, judging attitude, just to name a few). We then often find ourselves making poor decisions. If we do not break free from the bondage to sin, it is like giving the enemy a big bull’s eye across our chest because we will believe anything we are told. Also, our spiritual enemy loves to drag up our past just to keep us feeling as if we are less than and “surely can’t be used of God” when that sin has been confessed and forgiven.
Staying in bondage to past sins as well as current ones makes us more vulnerable to attack. We will more easily believe the lies of the enemy. The simple knowledge of the truth is that Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross and life redeeming power sets us free once and for all; whom the Son sets free is free indeed; now there is no condemnation; we are more than conquerors; we have not been given a spirit of fear; the enemy is the author of confusion; Jesus is the author of our salvation, the Alpha and Omega/Beginning and End, the One who perfects our faith and wants us to have life abundantly.
Apart from acknowledging Him in all our ways, maintaining a life of prayer and washing with the Word, and apart from Christ we can do nothing. We will drift away from our joy, peace, confidence, and trust if we let busy(ness), worry, fear, stresses, etc. keep us from maintaining close relationship with Jesus.
Christians are going to need more wisdom and discernment than ever, and being watchful and careful to hear God’s voice and follow through with obedience. We must stand and be counted. There can be no in between/being lukewarm. It is hot or cold time. God has drawn the line in the sand, and we must decide whose side we are on.
We must become more Christ like (put on Christ/be transformed/refined) and show love, humility, justice and grace, but we are to be bold, watchful and obedient, ready to wield the sword of his word, and speak and live the truth.
BLESSINGS!

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth  (NKJV) 2 Timothy 3:1-7
Okay, how many of us are guilty of hearing something so many times that after a while we think, “Yeah, yeah, I know”, and forget that the truth in God’s word is just that…TRUTH! If we ever lived in a time where we could be easily deceived, it is now. We are surrounded with the noise of warped views in the news media, movies, television programs, advertisements, ungodly teachers in the school system, and unfortunately, yes, sometimes ungodly preachers in the churches.
Almost anyone for a time can keep up an outward pretense, and speak the vocabulary of Christianity but do not accept the reality of true Christian faith. The power and heart of Christianity revolves around the fact that Christ is a risen Redeemer, the truth and the life of any Christian, and His Spirit indwells and overflows from believers. The end result is the transforming of our lives.
Make no mistake Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations are full of warnings of those who through smooth talk and a charismatic personality tell us what we want to hear, but we must seek God and His truth, His word. Blessing, restoration, and revival only come after refining/hardships and repentance. (True prophets are generally not popular.)
False teachers prey on the gullible and vulnerable, lurking in the shadows to pick off spiritual stragglers. (Satan is a roaring lion seeking those weak stragglers to devour…1Peter 5:8) Unconfessed sin results in a barrier in our relationship with God.(pride, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, slander, judging attitude, just to name a few). We then often find ourselves making poor decisions. If we do not break free from the bondage to sin, it is like giving the enemy a big bull’s eye across our chest because we will believe anything we are told. Also, our spiritual enemy loves to drag up our past just to keep us feeling as if we are less than and “surely can’t be used of God” when that sin has been confessed and forgiven.
Staying in bondage to past sins as well as current ones makes us more vulnerable to attack. We will more easily believe the lies of the enemy. The simple knowledge of the truth is that Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross and life redeeming power sets us free once and for all; whom the Son sets free is free indeed; now there is no condemnation; we are more than conquerors; we have not been given a spirit of fear; the enemy is the author of confusion; Jesus is the author of our salvation, the Alpha and Omega/Beginning and End, the One who perfects our faith and wants us to have life abundantly.
Apart from acknowledging Him in all our ways, maintaining a life of prayer and washing with the Word, and apart from Christ we can do nothing. We will drift away from our joy, peace, confidence, and trust if we let busy(ness), worry, fear, stresses, etc. keep us from maintaining close relationship with Jesus.
Christians are going to need more wisdom and discernment than ever, and being watchful and careful to hear God’s voice and follow through with obedience. We must stand and be counted. There can be no in between/being lukewarm. It is hot or cold time. God has drawn the line in the sand, and we must decide whose side we are on.
We must become more Christ like (put on Christ/be transformed/refined) and show love, humility, justice and grace, but we are to be bold, watchful and obedient, ready to wield the sword of his word, and speak and live the truth.
BLESSINGS!

In a world filled with “busy”ness and hectic schedules, finding the time for a Christian’s most important ministry can be difficult. Our priorities are many times out of their proper order. Our ministry should first be to God in the inner court, the Holy of Holies, His presence. This is where the relationship is the most personal. It is only from ministering to God in the inner court that other ministry (in the outer court) may bear good and lasting fruit.
Ministering in the inner court is a place of intimacy with God where we spend time in His presence glorifying, honoring, and acknowledging Him. Here is we stand before God available for whatever He desires of us and calls us to do whether it is to teach, preach, witness, sing, prophesy, serve, give, or pray, or utilize any gift He has given us for His glory. It is only in His presence that we come to a place of true repentance and cleansing. It is the anointing that breaks yokes, and we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to overflow to all those around us in order for there to be genuine life changing results.
Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing, but if we abide in Him and He in us we will bear fruit. (John 15:5-11) Jesus also remained in constant communication with His heavenly Father, and many times drew aside from the crowds to fellowship with God. He did nothing independently of God. He worked in concert with God, led by the Holy Spirit, giving all the glory to God.
So let us move forward, operating from a place of love without neglecting our time with our Father and becoming more like our Savior (gaining Christlike characteristics-Gal. 5:22).
BLESSINGS!