The Power of Life and Death!

Jesus said, “…whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (from John 4:14). Yet, so often we find ourselves parched. As if the promise of our Lord is false, but there is not a single promise in him that is empty. There must be a reason why we find ourselves dry and thirsty, seeking him to fill us afresh.

It Is Our Words.

Many times our words are the very thing that is preventing us from receiving the blessing of the Lord. As scripture has said, “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul” (Pro. 18:7). His lips are the snare of his soul! A foolish man will speak death and despair to the hurt of his own soul.

When the soul feels a certain way our words can ensnare it, creating a cage with every word we speak. That is why David told his soul to hope in God when it was downcast. Instead of speaking death: “I am depressed.” David spoke life into his soul: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11). He was encouraging his own soul.

The Bible tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Pro. 18:21). We have power in the words that we speak. It’s not just idle words that do not matter. They have the power to create or destroy. When God created mankind he created them after his own image and likeness, and he spoke everything into existence. If we are a shadow of who God is and by his word he formed all the worlds (from Heb. 11:3), why do you think that our word does not have an effect on the world around us?

Faith Speaks.

Jesus told his disciples, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say…” (from ESV, Mat. 17:20). Faith speaks. Not only does it speak, but it speaks in alignment with the truth of God’s word. As scripture has said, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken” (from 2 Cor. 4:13). But what is it that we believe? That is the real question. Are we believing the testimony of the Lord that says that we will never thirst again, or are we believing the lie that says we are incomplete and lacking something?

This is the same thing the serpent made the woman believe in the garden. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26-27). Then what does the serpent say? “For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God…” (from TLV, Gen. 3:5). Satan was trying to see if she understood who God made them to be, and also make her feel as though she was incomplete and in need of something.

What Does Scripture Tell Us About A Christian Though?

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:2-4).

It says that God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. And that he has given us great and precious promises that by them we can be partakers of his divine nature. The epitome of a believer is to be like Christ. This is our high calling.

“He that says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). The Holy Spirit says if any man abide in Christ that he should walk as Christ walked. You may be thinking, this is impossible, but let me remind you that “with God all things are possible” (from Mat. 19:26). The way we access the power to do this is our faith, but more specifically: his promises that he has spoken about us.

As the aforementioned scripture (2 Pet. 1:4) said, we are given these exceeding great and precious promises that by them we can be partakers of his divine nature. We can become like him through his promises. This is why Rom. 10:10 says, “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness…” With our heart we believe in the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate us and make us come alive to righteousness.

The Underling Issue

So why do we continue to believe that we are lacking? Because of unbelief. We do not completely believe the things that God has done for us. Like I said earlier, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken” (from 2 Cor. 4:13). What are we speaking? Are we speaking affirmations of the truth, or the same old lies?

What are the words of our mouth declaring? Are we speaking in correlation with the new creation God has made us, or are we still believing that the old man is alive? Our behavior follows our speech, and our words follow what we believe.

Philemon 1:6 tells us, “…the communication of [our] faith… become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in [us] in Christ Jesus.” Our faith takes action by acknowledging the good things that are in Christ are also in us, because he dwells in us! It is “Christ in us, the hope of glory!” (from Col. 1:26).

Never Run Dry

A person who lives in Christ does not run dry, “he is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season” (from Psalm 1:3). Who ever drinks of the water that Christ gives them shall never thirst; but the water that he gave them shall be in them a well of water springing up into everlasting (see John 4:14). Along with this Jesus has said, “He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

In Proverbs 18:4 it likens, “the words of a man’s mouth [to] deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.” If we read a little further in the same chapter it says, “A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled” (Pro. 18:20). We see here that the filling of a person is determined by the words of their mouth.

This is why the Bible tells us to be filled with the Spirit. “…be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:18-20).

Once we are born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit the expectation is for us to fill ourselves. We need to seriously evaluate what we believe. And then if our beliefs are not in alignment with scripture, we must change what we think to match scripture. Then start changing the words that we speak to line up with what we believe. Because, “I BELIEVED, AND THEREFORE HAVE I SPOKEN.”

Much love, and God bless you guys. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, and acknowledge our Creator for all the good things he has done for us through his son Jesus. Be blessed everyone!