LIFE AND DEATH

By Jemima Rayan

When God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible does not say God thought about them and it came into being but instead it says "God said" Gen. 1:3 says,' Then God said, "Let there be light "; and there was light. The term "God said " occurs so many times in that chapter because there is a great power in the 'spoken word'. God created you and me in His own image and therefore there is creative power in our words too. Life and Death is in the power of the tongue (Pro 18:21). You can choose to talk life or death.

God talks life:

Our God calls those things, which are not as though they were. (Rom 4:17). God does not wait for situations to get good enough before he could speak. He causes the circumstance to line up 'because' He speaks. There was this man threshing wheat in the winepress when the angel of the Lord appeared to him. This is Gideon who was so afraid because Israel was greatly impoverished by the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "you mighty man of valor" (Jud 6: 1-12). Gideon was considering himself the weakest and the least at that time (vs.15) As days went by, the same Gideon became a man of great valor.

Jesus talked life:

When Jesus raised the widow's son at Nain in Luke 7:11-16, He said,"Young man, I say to you, arise." (vs. 14) When Jesus raised Jairus', daughter in Mk 5:35-42, He took the child by the hand and said," Talitha, cumi which is translated, "little girl, I say to you, arise" (vs. 41). When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11:1-46, He said "Lazarus, come forth". When the windstorm arose, Jesus said to the sea,"Peace, be still" And the wind ceased (Mar 5:39) Why did Jesus say these words? Because words have creative power in them. It took the Lord to say in order for them to happen.

What do you talk?

Do you talk life? Remember, what you have in your life is a result of what you have been saying. In order to change what you have, you have to begin changing the words which come out of your mouth. It is a lot easier said than done. But that is what will get things done. Remember this: It is the Word that does the work, not the one holding onto it. It will work for anybody who will put it to work. It will work for you just like the way it worked for Jesus when He walked the earth. Jesus told Satan."It is written" It is the written Word which will whip the enemy in every situation.

Don't ask how it is going to work in your situation? Speak the 'Word of God' in faith anyways. That will bring 'life' into your situation. I do not have to understand my digestive system in order to make it work for me. All I have to do is take the food and eat it and it goes to work. I don't have to make it work. I don't have to feel anything. It works. In the same way, when you feed on God's Word and put it in your spirit by saying, "I believe and therefore I receive" faith is released. You don't have to make it work or feel it happening. It just happens.

Paul says in 2 Cor 4:13...I believed and therefore I spoke. Speak what you are believing for. Speak to your problem. If you have wasted your time speaking 'about your mountain', this is the time when you make a quality decision to speak 'to your mountain'. Jesus said," If you have faith... you will say to this mountain... (Matt 17:20) We need to boldly say "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear, what can man do to me?" according to Heb 13:6.

The Bible says in Heb 3:1...consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. What does it mean? An apostle means 'sent one'. A high priest is the one who is 'authorized to administer'. In other words, he is the one who executes. Jesus Christ has been sent to carry out the words that you speak. If you speak words of fear, doubt and defeat, He is never going to administer that. But if you speak things that are in line with the Word of God, He will surely execute that. That is why the Word of God says in Joel 3:10, 'Let the weak say I am strong'

Your tongue should be talking

health in sickness

prosperity in poverty,

strength in weakness and

success in failure.

Pro 15: 4 says, 'A wholesome tongue is a tree of life'. I encourage you to take an inventory of your own life. What is the condition of your tongue? Does your tongue need a healing?

My prayer is that 'our tongue will be a tree of life in Jesus' mighty name. Amen