Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.
- The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!
Proverbs 18:21 MSG Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.
- Your tongue can inject poison into your life and the lives of other people.
James 3:2-11 TPT We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we’re able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed. (3) Horses have bits and bridles in their mouths so that we can control and guide their large body. (4) And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm. (5) And so the tongue is a small part of the body yet it carries great power! Just think of how a small flame can set a huge forest ablaze. (6) And the tongue is a fire! It can be compared to the sum total of wickedness and is the most dangerous part of our human body. It corrupts the entire body and is a hellish flame! It releases a fire that can burn throughout the course of human existence. (7) For every wild animal on earth including birds, creeping reptiles, and creatures of the sea and land have all been overpowered and tamed by humans, (8) but the tongue is not able to be tamed. It’s a fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison! (9) We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who was made in his very image! (10) Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sister, this should never be! (11) (11-12) Would you look for olives hanging on a fig tree or go to pick figs from a grapevine? Is it possible that fresh and bitter water can flow out of the same spring? So neither can a bitter spring produce fresh water.
- Your tongue affects your life in every way.
James 3:2a TPT We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we’re able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way…
- Your tongue determines the direction of your life.
James 3:3-4 TPT Horses have bits and bridles in their mouths so that we can control and guide their large body. (4) And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm.
- You can change the direction of your life by changing your words.
- The tongue can be tamed!
James 3:7-8 TPT For every wild animal on earth including birds, creeping reptiles, and creatures of the sea and land have all been overpowered and tamed by humans, (8) but the tongue is not able to be tamed. It’s a fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison!
- Your words are shaped by what you deposit in your heart.
Matthew 12:34-37 AMP You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things. (36) But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak. (37) For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.
Start Your Engine!
Philemon 1:6 KJV That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
“…every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
Think of it — He saved you, healed you, redeemed you, and protected you. He has given you a sound mind; He has given you the mind of Christ; He has imparted gifts and talents to you; and He has planned a future for your life that is simply glorious. You are loaded with phenomenal potential that is just waiting to be activated!
“…may become effectual…”
(Greek: energeo – energized or activated)
Paul’s words could actually be rendered, “That … your faith may become energized and activated.”
Let me give you an example to help you understand what this word energeo means in the context of this verse. An automobile may be filled with enough fuel to drive a long distance, but it won’t go anywhere until someone puts the key into the ignition and then turns the key. The moment that key is turned, the spark plugs are sparked, which fires up the engine. Once the engine has been activated, the potential in that car is ready to be unleashed.
The car always has the capability of moving, but if it is never activated, it sits silently in the driveway. No matter how much fuel is in the tank or how much horsepower that car possesses, its power and potential will never be realized until someone turns the key in the ignition.
My friend, you are like a car that is loaded with enough fuel and horsepower to get anywhere you need to go. But for that potential in you to be released, you have to hold the right key in your hand. Furthermore, it isn’t enough for you to just possess the key. You have to put that key into the “ignition” and turn it so the latent potential that resides inside you will be ignited.
When you turn the key in the ignition, suddenly the potential you possess in Jesus Christ is supernaturally ignited, activated, energized, and released inside you!
- So what is the key that sparks all the good things God has placed inside you into becoming an outward reality?
- What is the key that causes all that God declares about you to become manifested in your life?
- How do you “turn the key in the ignition” so that the great work God has done inside you is activated and released?
“…acknowledging…”
(Greek: epignosis – a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts)
Because the word epignosis depicts a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts, Paul is letting you know that it is essential for you to possess:
- A knowledge of exactly who you are in Jesus Christ.
- A knowledge of what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.
- A knowledge of every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.
A key in the ignition switch does no good unless it is turned. Likewise, the truth in your life does no good until it is spoken! The moment you open your mouth and start confessing the good things that are in you by Jesus Christ, a supernatural connection is made between your faith and all that Jesus has deposited inside you.
At that moment, the gifts and treasures God has placed inside you become supernaturally activated. The confession of your mouth — your acknowledgement of the truth — is what sparks these spiritual blessings and causes them to become operative, activated, and manifested realities
To make these truths real in your life, you have to put the key in the ignition switch.
- The key is the Word of God.
- The ignition is your mouth.
- The key is turned in the ignition when you open your mouth and start to speak God’s Word.
- The good things in you are activated the moment you start speaking the Word.
That is how you turn the key in your ignition and energize these truths until they begin to manifest in you!
So quit talking negatively about yourself and begin to bring the words of your mouth into agreement with the truths God has deposited in your life.
- God’s Word says you’re healed, so begin to say you’re healed, have the mind of Christ, favored, blessed…
You turn the key in the ignition by getting your mouth in agreement with God’s Word. And as you start speaking what God says about you, all your potential will start becoming a manifested reality!