How often do you think about what you say?

Last week we talked about how we can have emotions, but we cannot let our emotions drive. Hopefully you’ve worked on that this week, but a clear way to see how much your emotions impact your life is through what you say.

We are emotional beings and our emotions often get the best of us. When you get angry, emotions might lead you to cuss. When you get offended, to gossip. When you get hurt, to say hurtful things back. When you get caught, to lie.

Remember from last week:
“Your heart is driven by your emotions and your emotions change with your environment.” And your heart, driven by your emotions reacting with your environment, says things.

Matthew 12:34
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

Think about this past week and what you’ve said alone: What was in your heart?

The Bible talks a lot about the tongue, about the mouth, about what comes out of them:

1 Peter 3:10
Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit

Proverbs 21:23
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 12:18
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

James 3:8
no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

The tongue and mouth get a pretty bad rap! But the issue is less about the member and more about where the poison is coming from: the heart.

One more verse here: Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

As easy as it is for your heart to be full of poison, it can be full of things that please God, too. We need our hearts to change before what we say ever will.

How do we change our hearts?

Ezekiel 11:19-20
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

This is a work of God in our lives and it begins with our surrender to him. Once we give ourselves to him, we see this heart surgery accomplished. “They shall be my people” This heart surgery has to start with your surrender to his Lordship.

Too many times we try behavioral change thinking it is the answer. And when we fall back into sin, we think it didn’t work. But that process is being done backwards.

You don’t walk in his statutes and keep his judgments prior to this heart change, it’s after. In fact, a great way to tell if your heart really belongs to the Lord is in your walking and keeping his statutes and judgments. I know that might sound harsh because I know it isn’t always easy to understand scripture, but that’s not what I am talking about.

Is every day a struggle to “live up” to what God says you need to be doing?
The problem isn’t in your actions, it is in your heart.

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Is your relationship with God really your treasure?
Or is it just a way to get what you really treasure?

Let me ask it like this:
If I took away everything from you, family, job, house, cars, health, money, and just let you have Jesus, would he be enough?

The answer proves where your treasure really is.

So what am I really asking you today?

It is the same question Jesus asked the disciples 2000 years ago.

Matthew 16:13-19
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (THAT’s the most important question ever asked) 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Look at the results of the correct answer to who Jesus is:
Peter gets a blessing, affirmation of his connection with the Father, a new name, a new calling, a guarantee that the church would prevail, keys to the kingdom and its mysteries, and the power to bind and loose simply by what he said.

Your ability to walk in his statutes and keep his judgments begins with your answer to the most important question ever asked.

John 14:15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Carts go after horses and keeping commandments goes after loving the commander.

It might be a good time right now to make Jesus Lord. I don’t mean happy little “Jesus my bridge” prayers. I mean “Jesus have all of me. I submit to your lordship. You are king of my life, Lord of my life. I believe in you. I am all in with you.”

But then you have to LIVE IT. Actions scream in spite of your words. We have to be careful our mouths aren’t saying what our actions aren’t living.

Here’s the proof of that statement:
This was a good moment for Peter, but seconds later it was a bad moment for Peter. Jesus was telling them what was going to happen and Peter rebuked Jesus.

Matthew 16:23
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

He’d just made one of the most iconic quotes of all time, up there with “Let there be light” and “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

What happened? Author Martin Collins had this to say:
“Peter's zealous, impulsive faith is not absolute, convicted faith but humanly reasoned, self-assured, and immature.”

Goodness does that not describe western Christianity. How serious are you about Jesus being Lord of your life? Everything? Or just some things?

Impulsive faith leads to offense and betrayal because it's untested faith. Absolute, convicted faith leads to courage and commitment because it’s been through some things.

Compare and contrast Peter in this moment and then on the day of Pentecost where he led thousands to Jesus in one message:
Jesus came to save you and you nailed him to the cross! Not the Romans. YOU, his own people did. REPENT and believe and be baptized.

His statement about Jesus was easy to say in terms or words alone, but you talk about courage! They were at the Temple mount! They could have easily stoned him in that moment!

Was it the Holy Spirit that made the difference?
I am sure that was a huge part of it, but there were other things, too. Things like questioning if it was Jesus on the water. Things like the betrayal where his mouth said what was really in his heart.

But something changed in Peter in John 21.
His faith was tested. His motivation was challenged. His love was questioned. But he experienced forgiveness! He stopped trying to play the part and he decided to let Jesus actually take that heart of stone and change it into a heart of flesh.

How?
Grace. That’s how. Grace is unmerited favor. It is unearned approval and support. It is God saying innocent when you are absolutely guilty. There’s nothing that can soften a hard, stony heart like God’s grace.

Until you encounter God’s grace, your heart will always be stone. And until that moment, you will always have zealous, impulsive faith, but it won’t be enough for the road you have to walk.

You might think the message today is all about your heart and how to go from a stony one to a soft one. Truth is, today is all about what you say and how to better it. But before we deal with what we say, we have to deal with where it comes from, which explains all the heart talk we’ve had until now.

However, while what you say is the proof of what is in your heart, what you say can have an impact on your heart and everything else around you.

Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Believe it or not, you have the power to loose heaven or hell in your life by what you say. Death or life. Remember, death to God is not dying, but separation from him. Life is being found completely in him.

What you say can either get you closer to God or push him away. That means EVERYTHING you say, too.

I asked before, how often do you think about what you say? Let me now ask this: Are you speaking death or life? Is what you are saying releasing God’s presence or shutting it down?

This is today’s little thing. Changing what we say. How can we do that?

Speak life
Death AND life are in the power of the tongue. Death is first because we tend to speak more death than we do life.
We talk down, we degrade, we demean, we demand, we curse, we speak death. All all of these things come from an emotionally driven heart.

In these fleshly, emotional moments, we say things that are designed to tear down.
Absolute comments like “You always or never…”
Value comments like “You’re worthless or a waste of time…”
Hurt-inducing comments like “I never should have trusted…”
Identify comments like “You always were a liar, you failure…”

You might say, “I don’t do that,” and you might be right. But maybe they’ve been said over you and in moments of emotionalism you believed them and recite them to yourself, Maybe you don’t realize that the accuser is constantly speaking death over you. But God has given you power by the Holy Spirit to change the environment around you simply by what you say. You can speak life into any situation, even horrible ones.

Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

If we’ve already determined that grace is “unmerited favor, unearned approval and support,” then we could read this verse as follows:
“Words borne out of undeserved favor are like honeycomb…”

How is it possible that something as simple as a kind word can have such an impact? Remember, life to God isn’t just the state of living. It is being in his presence, it is being in relationship with him, it is living in Christ in his light.

Luke 1:79
To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death

Darkness is where death lurks. So speaking life into a situation is not just about being positive, it is about releasing light into that arena to change the atmosphere, it is about using the power God gave you in your tongue to fill that moment with his presence.

Speaking life is not just being positive. It is inviting light and life to penetrate the darkness and death.

John 1:5
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There are more important things in life than you venting your emotions. This is how fleshly people live. All of the junk in Galatians 5 that are fruits of the flesh live in your emotional responses to the environment and what is lurking in your heart, but what God is encouraging you to do is to stop being led by your flesh, speaking death, but to be led by the Holy Spirit speaking life.

Do you speak more death or life?
Remember, whatever you say flows from your heart.

If you speak more life, praise God. Life is in you. If you speak more death, then it is time to deal with the darkness in your soul.

How?
Say right now quietly:
Jesus, you are Lord over the darkness in my soul.
Shine your light into those dark places within me
By the power of the Holy Spirit

Speak life.
Spiritual Life Hack: practice on yourself in a mirror.
Start by first speaking life over the person Jesus died to save: you.

Speak the Word
Having what you say make a difference takes more than fairy dust and happy thoughts. This ain’t Neverland. If you want to see anything in your life change, start speaking the word.

Happy thoughts can change your mood, but the Word changes your heart.

2 Corinthians 7:1
1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

The Word is what makes the difference.

There are two main reasons to speak the Word in whatever situation you are in:
- Satan has to obey it
- Your faith is built by it.

First, Satan has to obey the Word.
1 John 5:19
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out

He has some power, but it isn’t satan vs God as if they are equals.
Satan is a created being just like us. He is subject to what God says just like us. In Luke 4 he even admits that any power he has was delegated, not natural. His authority is limited by the Ultimate Authority. God’s authority, however, is absolute and whatever he says happens.

Isaiah 55:11
My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

When God speaks, it happens, no ifs, ands, or buts.

So then what is the Word?
First the Word is Jesus.
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

If you don’t know what to do, what to pray, what to say, just say Jesus.
This is the simplest way to pray the Word.

Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

EVEN satan has to bow.

Second, the Word is the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ephesians 6
Helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, loins gird about with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit.
Everything else is defensive in nature, but the sword is the only tool God gives us that is both defensive AND offensive in nature.

This is how you fight.
You pray? Definitely. You enlist bros and sisters in Christ? Yes. You worship? Absolutely. But when you put the Word of God on your situation, you are enlisting the help of the one whose words “go forth and accomplish what they were sent to do.”

First was that satan has to obey, but second, your faith is built by speaking the Word.

Spiritual Life Hack:
Read the Bible out loud. Why?
Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

What you hear has an impact on what you think, believe, and do. “I just like the music, I don’t even listen to the words.” Wrong. The words get in you.

Is your faith being tested in the season you are in right now?
Read the Word and do it out loud. Satan can hear it, but you can hear it. He has to obey it, you get faith built by it.

If you want what you say to have weight to it, speak the word of God over whatever situation you are facing. Go to www.freedomdl.com/bible on our website for tools to help you discover what the Bible says and how you can apply it.

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Happy thoughts won’t do it. They only impact your flesh. At the end of the day, speaking the word is what makes the difference.

Practicum
Afraid
2 Timothy 1:7
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Anxious
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Hurt
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Speak potential
Consider these Bible characters:
Abraham, Moses, Peter, and the Samaritan Woman.
What could they possibly have in common?

God spoke to their potential, not their current situation.

Abraham - I see you as a father, though you are fatherless.
Moses - I see you as a leader, though you are hiding in the wilderness.
Peter - I see you as stable and sound, though you like a reed right now.
Samaritan Woman - I see you as a real worshipper, though you have issues.

Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The best part about this verse to me is not that we’re his workmanship or that we were created for good things, but that those good works he created us for were prepared beforehand.

What does that mean?
It means he sees the potential in us before there ever was an us.

Psalm 139:16
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Planning indicates potential has been recognized.

When God interacts with you, it is based off your potential. Everything he does with us is based off of potential.

What about when I mess up?
Yes, God sees that. And yes, God will discipline you, but even discipline is designed to correct you so you can get back to your potential.

What about when I am facing struggles?
James 1:2-4
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Why perfect and complete and lacking nothing? So you can fulfill your potential.

God invites us to trade. He says:
“Give your past to me, put your present in my hands, and I’ll give you your potential.”

Not a single Bible character reached their potential without this trade.

My point is this:
If this is how God speaks, this is how we should speak as well.

Too many people let their words destroy potential, not build it. What would happen in your life if you started focusing on potential instead of the past? That doesn’t mean blindly ignore the past, but it does mean putting more emphasis on the potential.

How does this work?
Kids:
Don’t beat them down, call out potential. “Why can’t you figure this out? It isn’t that hard!” vs "You can do this. It’s going to click, just don’t give up. You got this.”

Or with yourself…
Instead of “You’re a failure,” try this:
I am a child of God.
I am his righteousness.
I am empowered by the Holy Spirit.
I am seated with Christ in heavenly places.
I am loved and chosen.
I’m not perfect, but I am working towards it.
I was wanted and my life planned.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, even speaking potential over myself.

The mere act of speaking potential unlocks potential. People tend to achieve the level of speech around them. Be a person who unlocks potential in people by what you say. When you do, you’ll be acting just like your dad in Heaven.

Just like speech comes from your diaphragm through your vocal cords, your speech comes from your experiences through your world view. Yet it all flows from what is in your heart. Satan wants those experiences to ruin your heart. God wants experiences with him to restore your heart.

It's time to make a little change in what you say. Speak life. Speak the Word. Speak potential.

It starts with changing your heart.

Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit

Let’s ask him to do that today: Help me change what I say by changing my heart oh Lord.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?