This past weekend we did a Pure Heart Weekend with eight terrific men from Anthem Community Church (Henderson, NV). Each of the men had their own unique stories, and God met them where they were, and He took them where they’d never been. On this particular weekend I was reminded again of the power that God has given us to speak words of life, words of power and authority, and words of destiny.
The story is told so many times of the damage a father’s negative words have over a child, who then grows up to live a difficult life. When a parent constantly speaks words of defeat and discouragement (“You’re so stupid; You’re so lazy; You can’t do anything right; You make me so angry . . . what’s wrong with you?” Sadly, I recently heard of a mother who told her child, “I wish I’d never given birth to you.” !!!), a child can grow up to repeat those words in his own heart and mind. Then, the mind gets trained to think and perform in the direction of those words, and the child “lives-out” the fulfillment of his parents’ curses.
Words are not mere noise. Words are powerful. Words create things.
When the angel Gabriel came to the virgin Mary, he canceled her wedding plans with his message. Then he concluded it was certain, “For nothing is impossible with God” (In the Greek the word nothing is literally “no word”). No word that God speaks will be impossible. In agreement, Mary replied, ” . . . be it done to me according to your word.” What was “done” to her with that word was that Mary became pregnant! The “word” of God went into Mary’s spirit, and the power of God went into Mary’s womb. That word of God brought forth the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Words from God have creative power!
All of us have disappointed God, our parents, a teacher or a coach. All of us have made mistakes and wounded our friends, or failed them in some way to let them down. We have fallen. We have failed. We have hurt ourselves and others. And worse, we have spoken over ourselves such messages that memorialize these failures and wounds. How often have we agreed with the enemy’s shameful messages that he has hurled at us?
You can change that message, and change your future.
Instead of that message having you, you can have it.
Speak a new word. Speak God’s word over you. Quit crying about your past. Open your mouth and change the direction of your life.
Do it every day. Every day. Not just once every seven months, when you think of it.
Speak God’s word over your life, over your plans for the day, over your mind and emotions.
Speak what?
Speak truth. Doctrinal truth. Like this: I am a holy, righteous child of God; I have failed, made mistakes, disappointed family and friends; I have lost things, broken things, and messed things up. And it’s probably worse than I know! But I am not the sum of my failures. I’M THE SON OF MY FATHER*, and I am led by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:14; 2 Cor 6:18: Gal 3:26). I am a child of light (God’s kingdom) and a son of the day, and I wear the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation; I am not destined for wrath, but for the glory of salvation (I Thess 5:5 – 9). I will not live under shame, or live humiliated or in disgrace, but I will forget the shame of my youth, and remember it no more. The Lord of hosts, is making it all new; He’s my Redeemer (Isa 54:4,5). No weapon formed against me will prosper, and I will stand in Christ to condemn every word that has come against me in judgment (Isa 54:17). I present myself to you, Lord Jesus, as a living sacrifice, that You might live in me and through me your perfect will today (Rom 12:1-2).
In 1 Sam 17:46 David says, “This day!” the Lord will deliver you [Goliath] into my hands. This day! Forget last year. Forget when I was a kid. Today! This day! I will rise up in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I will live in my identity in Him.
I hope this is helpful to you.
– Carter
*Remember: women are also to be the “sons” of God, for it is a reference to more than being a child of God. “Sons of God” are all believers who have learned how to fight for the souls of their fellow Christians, who have learned how to take up the sword and war against the enemy on behalf of loved-ones. Remember, too, that we men are the “Bride of Christ.” This is why you women are generally better worshipers than we men, for you love your Savior and can be intimate with Him more easily than we men can. Generally speaking. Don’t email me and pick a fight over this! LOL