If you want to check a heart, check the mouth. Look what Jesus said in Luke 6:45 “out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Words are very powerful. The whole of creation was made by the word of God! Destinies of men, women, families, nations and whole world has been determined by words.
Every major change or revolution has taken place as a result of men & women who used the power of their words.
Positively you have Martin Luther King Jr declaring, ‘I have a dream…’
OR – Adolf Hitler writes of Mein Kampf and his struggle ends up embroiling the whole world.
It’s said of Winston Churchhill’s words : He mobilised the English language and sent it into battle! “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
In 1 Kings 17:1ff Elijah walked into the palace and said to King Ahab “there will be no rain in this land except at my word.” That’s a man who knows the power of his word. (Do you?)
In Numbers 22 we read of how Balaam was employed to curse the Israelites. Why? Because his words were known to be powerful.
The Patriarchs blessed or cursed their children – and generations after them and their words were released, they came to pass. Look at Genesis 48:14-16
Jesus spoke innumerable Blessings in the Sermon on the mount, and he also spoke to the fig tree which withered and died in Mark 11:12ff
Heb 11:3 (Amplified) By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.
Notice it said… FRAMED! The universe, Framed by words. your world is framed by your words.
“Words will Frame your life”. The words you listen to, the words you speak over yourself will frame or pattern your life!
Words are the construction tools for your life. More than that, words are also the building materials for your life. For better or worse – your conversation is your advertisement. Every time you open your mouth, you let other people into your mind and heart. Words carry self-fulfilling power. Your words reveal who you are!
As the book that has been challenging me so much recently wraps up (and with it this short series of blog posts) A Tale of Three Kings briefly touches on King David’s son… Absalom – who after King Saul had died and David became the king he was anointed to be long, long, before – Absalom rose up in rebellion against his own father to set up a monument in his own honour and proclaim HIMSELF the King instead.
And if you read the story of Absalom you’ll see that he was a young man who was very gifted, very privileged. Handsome, talented – he had it all. Lovely hair, too! One of his Dad’s favourites, and spoilt rotten as a result.
It’s a long story wherein David’s sin with Bathesheba ended up bringing along (eventually) all kinds of consequences. The story got more and more messy, violent and tragic than a Christmas episode of Eastenders. Absalom killed his own brother, (some would say the circumstances were understandable) and then he went off into exile and sulked,then connived to get himself back near the palace – without repentance.
Instead, Absalom let the perceived injustice and the punishment he’d received fester away in his heart. He started to let that become hatred for his father, David. The poison filled his heart more and more.
But you’d never see that on the surface. He was very clever in the way he subtly undermined the authority over the nation.
1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
His words stole people’s hearts away, from legitimate, God-given authority – to himself. He woildn’t go alone, he had to gain a following. That’s’ the spirit of Absalom. Revolt took place eventually, but as Gene Edwards says, ”Rebellion was in his heart for years.”
We have to watch for it in the church. Sure I’ve seen Sauls throwing spears in churches and hurting people. I’m not excusing that and don’t wish to emulate it though I know it’s a pressure in messed up leaders to mess up others that way.
But I’ve seen even more heartache in churches rent asunder by Absaloms than Sauls. We have to watch it in our attitudes, in our hearts, in our words.
