This morning I remembered a story my wife Susan had shared with me about a tribe in Africa that takes a unique approach to tribal discipline. When a tribe member breaks one of the tribal laws or social conventions, the assumption is that the individual is essentially good but broken. Instead of punishing the behaviors, they place the offending individual in the middle of the village and for two days, the rest of the tribe surrounds them and speaks positive things and good names over them.

The story didn’t report on the tribe’s assumptions about the benefits of the ritual but I’d like to speculate on a few possibilities. If they assume an evil spirit has corrupted the person, then perhaps they sense they can fight evil by speaking good over the person and in that way drive out the evil influence. They must believe their words have power. Perhaps, they believe the person has forgotten his or her essential goodness and so two days of declarations reminds them of who they are or “reboots” them to their default settings. Perhaps, all the positive things spoken over the offender are designed to call them to a higher standard of living. I have no idea if there has been any Christian influence in the tribe but there is something very biblical and very powerful about their approach.

Now, I am speaking about our tribe of believers only. Ours is the tribe marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us. Mankind, in general, is not essentially good because mankind has a fallen nature. However, once an individual has been born again, has become a new creation, and has the Spirit of God within…he or she must be considered essentially good. God says that we are priests and kings, holy and sanctified, sons and daughters in the household of God, and partakers of the divine nature.

Within each of us is the goodness and greatness of God. This goodness and greatness is the reality that God has placed within us. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but that fruit is a potential that needs to be called out, nurtured, and activated. James says something interesting in regard to this truth. He says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ja. 4:29). What is spoken to us and over us has a powerful affect on our identity or our self-image.   We usually live up to what we believe about ourselves and what is spoken to us year after year shapes those beliefs.

There is also a prophetic aspect to the things we speak over another person. In the book of Judges, Gideon is an Israelite hiding his harvest from Midianite raiders. As far as we know, he had no military training. Yet, the angel of the Lord greets him by saying, “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior” (Judges 6:12). Gideon was not yet a mighty warrior but the purposes of God for his life had been established from his conception and the angel was prophetically activating those purposes. The Apostle Paul instructs the church at Corinth that prophetic words spoken over believers should always strengthen, encourage, and comfort (1 Cor.14: 3). Those words begin to call out God’s purposes in us and activate the goodness and abilities that God has placed in us through his Spirit.

There are numerous other passages in the N.T. that have the same flavor. Nowhere do I see passages commanding the opposite. The gospel of the flesh and of hell would certainly contain commands and passages such as: Be ye critical and rejecting of one another. Be hateful and demeaning in all that you do. Be quick to point out failure and remind one another of those failures as often as you come together. Be careful to shame one another as if that will produce righteousness. Speak the truth one to another with great disdain and condescension. We could go on…but you get the drift.

However, the Holy Spirit spends a great deal of time telling us who we are in Christ. He goes to great lengths to describe our new identity as children of the Most High God. The writers of the New Testament speak that identity over the church throughout their letters. They usually begin their letters by acknowledging who they are in Christ. For instance: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…(1 Cor.1:2). “To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph.1:1). There is purpose and intentionality in doing that. Most of these churches had flaws that needed to be corrected but the writers began by affirming their goodness in Christ.

Our identity, our holiness, our strength, our glory, and our victories have all been spoken by God and written down. His Spirit wants to put those words in our mouths. As we also declare the word of God given to us, his word once again goes forth. As it goes forth, it accomplishes its purpose. God calls us to be a tribe that surrounds those among us who are broken and declare good things over them. We are to call out who they are in Christ and the destiny he has ordained for them so that God’s word will accomplish its purpose in their lives.

As we speak honor to one another, encourage one another, and speak only words that build up, we help to establish the believer’s self-image – the internal view we hold of ourselves. We always live up to or down to that view. But more than that, we activate supernatural forces that draw those things out of us and make them realities. The words we speak that are God’s words are not only true but also prophetic in nature. As we, like Ezekiel, prophesy over the wasteland of someone’s brokenness, life will come forth. We should speak that same word of God over ourselves, as well, until we see God’s goodness and greatness fully formed in us.

James instructs us to be fountains of fresh water that constantly speak blessings rather than springs of salt water that kill living things by our negative words and evaluations. God calls us to speak life rather than death. That should begin with our spouses and children and then spread to all those we encounter. This doesn’t mean we cannot correct or point out fault but we do so with the conviction that those we are speaking to are valued by God and also have a positive destiny established by their creator. Our words can help them discover that destiny and fulfill God’s purposes in their lives. As we enter the New Year, may we all commit to speak only words that build up and impart life even when others are not as gracious.

When speaking about false prophets, Jesus said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Mt.7:15-20).

This warning about false prophets suggests than men will come into the church with hidden agendas and, typically, try to draw followers after them for financial gain or to introduce heresies into the church. Jesus suggested that the fruit they bear will indicate whether they are from God or not. These false prophets apparently are intentional about their deception. Their fruit will be a watered down gospel, division in the church, immorality, and an unbiblical view of Jesus and salvation. These men must be recognized, warned, and dealt with by church leadership in order to protect the flock.

Sometimes, however, parts of the body of Christ have been too quick to label someone with whom they disagree as a false prophet who needs to be immediately run out of town. More often, the church has experienced well-meaning people with poor theology which they came by honestly. Lets face it, most of us were introduced to our view of scripture (theology) by those who brought us to Christ and by leaders in the group that became our initial spiritual family. Because we knew very little or no Bible, we received their teaching without any critical evaluation. We also held these preachers and teachers in high esteem because those with whom we had relationships held them in high esteem. If they taught something that we questioned or that seemed to contradict something we had read in scripture, we typically ignored our objections and accepted their theology because “they knew so much more Bible than we did.” That happens in generations of Christians who trust their teachers who trusted their teachers who trusted their teachers, and so on.

What we need to understand is that poor theology can be passed on by well-meaning and good-hearted people and that we can question their theology without questioning the faith or sincerity of those who hold it. I believe that a great deal of poor or inadequate theology has been passed down from generation to generation in the church and that one of the ways we can evaluate theology, like prophets, is by its fruit.

One of the major theologies that concerns me (okay – aggravates me) today has been around for a couple of hundred years but has really gained prominence among evangelicals in the past fifty years. It is the theology that states that the signs of the end times include the worsening of the world and the inevitable weakening and ineffectiveness of the church.   Embedded in this theology is the idea that this weakening and worldwide persecution of the church is God’s plan and is, therefore, inevitable. Since it is inevitable and since we are surely in the end times, we must simply resign ourselves to the decline of the church and the increase of evil until Jesus returns. Those who accept that premise, tend to give up on redeeming nations and cultures for Christ and settle for getting a few more into the kingdom of God before the end while mostly bunkering in and protecting what we have.

The fruit of that theology has been a defeatist attitude, pessimism, and a fatalistic approach to reclaiming our own nation. Many Christians feel helpless and weak in the face of culture and “big moves” of the devil. The only news that is reported about the church is decline and apathy and so many believers are bunkering in and waiting for the end. There is a problem with that view. Just because something is being reported by anti-Christian media outlets does not make it true or the whole story. The church is flourishing worldwide. Secondly, it is not an acceptable attitude for those who are more than conquerors. I was scanning Bill Johnson’s new book, God is Good, and appreciated what he had to say about that mindset. I thought I would share it with you.

“Vision starts with identity and purpose. Through a revolution in our identity, we can think with divine purpose. Such a change begins with a revelation of Him. One of the tragedies of a weakened identity is how it affects our approach to Scripture. Many, if not most, theologians make the mistake of taking all the good stuff contained in the prophets and sweeping it under the mysterious rug called the Millennium…I want to challenge our thinking and deal with our propensity that puts off those things that require courage, faith, and action to another period of time. The mistaken idea is this: if it is good, it can’t be for now. A cornerstone of this theology is that the condition of the church will always be getting worse and worse; therefore, tragedy in the church is just another sign of these being the last days. In a perverted sense, the weakness of the Church confirms to many that they are on the right course. The worsening condition of the world and the Church becomes a sign to them that all is well. I have many problems with that kind of thinking, but only one I will mention now – it requires no faith! We are so entrenched in unbelief that anything contrary to this worldview is thought to be of the devil” (Bill Johnson, God is Good, p.54-55. DestinyImage Publishing).

Can any theology that bears the fruit of futility, hopelessness, and weakness in the Church be good or healthy theology? How can our biblical identity of being sons and daughters of a triumphant King who has all authority in heaven and on earth, walking in power, doing greater things that he did with a co-mission to go out and make disciples of all nations (not just a handful of people within a nation), fit into that defeatist view of our times?

Jesus does not cower and hide away because the world is bleak. He has overcome the world. We are more than conquerors. Proverbs says that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As the church thinketh in her heart so is she. What a coup for the enemy that he has introduced a theology into a large part of the church that accepts decline and defeat for the church as God’s perfect and irresistible plan. The kingdom of God does not retreat. The Kingdom of God does not shrink. It is not the nature of Christ to cower. Whatever happened to the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church? Much of the church seems to be like Israel who hid in their tents when Goliath would come out to challenge them. In their own eyes they were defeated before the battle even started. What we need is a church full of David’s who envisioned holding the head of the giant in his hands because his God was way bigger than any Philistine strong man.

Isaiah declared of Messiah, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end (emphasis added). He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isa.9:6-7).

I see no parenthesis in the increase of his government. I do not see this occurring only in the Millennium. If that prophecy is confined to the age to come, then Jesus is not yet on the throne of David, not yet Prince of Peace, not yet Wonderful Counselor, and so forth. We can evaluate theology by its fruit and make biblical adjustments without calling those who promote it false prophets. If they are preaching their best current understanding of scripture with sincerity, they are not false prophets. They are simply men and women who need to reconsider their theology apart from the orthodox status it has among their denominational leaders. By the way, most of the churches who hold this pessimistic view of a languishing church in the end times are also cessationist churches that believe that God no longer performs miraculous feats on behalf of his people. Powerlessness, of course, breeds despair.

If you have felt despair and hopelessness in your life and your world because of this theology, you have my permission to reconsider your understanding. Anything that works against faith, hope, optimism, and a conquering spirit but instead produces fear and doubt cannot be of God. If the fruit of that view has produced good fruit in your life and church them hang on to it. If not, do some more study with a different set of eyes.

If we know who we are in Christ – sons and daughters, priests and kings, the temple of the Holy Spirit, seated with Christ in Heavenly realms, more than conquerors, ambassadors of Christ, healers, prophets, those who trample on snakes and scorpions, and those who will do even greater things than he did – then we cannot accept a theology that negates everything we are.

From time to time we need to examine what we really believe and what beliefs or theologies are influencing us. What has the fruit been in your life? If your theology or your church’s theology has been Christ-centered, empowering, encouraging, hopeful, demon-kicking, and transformative then you are in a good place. First of all, those qualities reflect the character and Spirit of Christ and any truth from him should bear that fruit in us. If, however, you are discouraged, fearful, dreading the future, and exhausted…that is not from Christ for we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Check the fruit not only of prophets but also of theologies. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth and give you a greater understanding of who you are and who He is in these present days. After all, that us part of his job description and no matter what is happening around us, he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Our Lord has already overcome this world and we already share in that victory… so be encouraged and blessed in Him today.

On Monday morning, pastor Donnell Jones shared some essential thoughts with our staff on overcoming that moment when life and ministry seem overwhelming. I want to share the gist of his message along with some of my own thoughts but wanted to make sure that you knew Donnell was the primary source and that his thoughts were seriously worth sharing with you.

In his gospel, Matthew tells us, “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will’” (Matt.26:36-39).

As we read the gospels, we always see Jesus unafraid, in control, and the master of every situation. But the night before the cross, he confesses something that must have stunned his inner circle of Peter, James, and John. In the darkness of the Garden, he confesses that his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow or heaviness to such a degree that he needs them to watch and pray with him. They have always needed him, but now he desperately needs them. The idea of Jesus being overwhelmed is disconcerting. Yet we have to remember that Jesus faced the cross as a man, not as God.

Secondly, we need to note that his soul was overwhelmed, not his spirit. Our soul is not our spirit. Our soul is comprised of our will, our mind, and our emotions. Our spirit is the eternal part of us that the Holy Spirit quickened and renewed when he took up residence within us. It is that part of us through which the Spirit leads us, reveals God’s will to us, and through which he renews and transforms our thoughts, emotions, and will. But that is a process. The soul is a kind of middle ground or even battleground between the spirit and our fallen nature or “the flesh.”

When the enemy attacks us, he either attacks us through the flesh with infirmity or disease or attacks our soul where he fills our minds with thoughts contrary to the will of God and with thoughts that stir up the negative emotions of fear, hopelessness, shame, lust, anger, and so forth. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the enemy was attacking Jesus with fear, heaviness, and maybe even doubt that what he was about to do was even worth the suffering that lay ahead.

In his soul, Jesus was tormented and overwhelmed. When we feel overwhelmed by life, it is our soul that is overwhelmed. As Graham Cooke says, “ Our circumstances are not the problem. Our perspective of our circumstances is the problem.” When our soul looses sight of the Father, his goodness, his resources, and his vast, unconditional love for us, we can feel overwhelmed and sorrowful unto death. Those who contemplate suicide are in that position. That is where Jesus found himself that night, just minutes before his arrest and a few hours before the beatings would begin.

In that moment, Jesus asked, “Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”   At that moment, Jesus only wanted out. His soul saw no way to face what lay ahead. And yet, as he confessed his fears and sought God, his prayer changed. “He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matt.26:42). Before, Jesus prayed, “If it is possible….” Now he prays, “If it is not possible…” The word “if” can often be translated “since.” Jesus could have been saying, “Since it is not possible to take this cup away….” Something has shifted from his soul not being able to see his way through the next few hours to seeing that the Father would walk with him through the suffering he saw ahead, no matter how hard. His soul was no longer so overwhelmed because he had poured his heart out to the Father and had received strength from the Spirit. We are told by Luke that an angel came and ministered to him in that moment and strengthened his resolve. His third prayer was the same as his second.

When our souls are overwhelmed by sorrow, loss, difficulty, or even responsibility, we often look elsewhere for comfort rather than going to the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter. We go to friends, food, therapists, medications, and assorted addictions to get us through, rather than to the Spirit who is our friend, our counselor, and our guide. Friends are good. Therapists are fine. Food is essential. But only the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are enough. When Jesus went to the Father three times, he was engaging with the Spirit and heaven responded with a ministering angel. His soul began to receive hope and strength and the feeling of being overwhelmed with sorrow unto death began to lift.

We should take heart from Jesus who is our model. First of all, even those who have great faith and an intimate relationship with the Father can come to a place where his or her soul feels overwhelmed by life. That is not sin…or Jesus sinned. Jesus did not suppress those feelings but shared them with those he was close to for prayer and encouragement. But more than that he cried out to the Father and asked for strength, hope, and encouragement from the throne of heaven. He pressed in until the Spirit ministered to his spirit which then ministered to his soul. His perspective changed. Light could be seen in the darkness.

The goodness, love, and power of God became anchor points for the soul and Jesus was able to move ahead. He is our model. When life feels overwhelming we should follow in his steps. At some point, Jesus was given or given back a supernatural perspective that looked beyond the cross to all that his suffering would accomplish. The writer of Hebrews spoke of that when he said, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb.12:2).

In the midst of feeling overwhelmed, Jesus was given an eternal perspective by the Spirit that everything he was enduring was worth it…even to the point of joy. There are times when we need that perspective. That is why Paul counseled us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9). In every circumstance, God has a purpose for our good. He does not always create the circumstance but he will always use it for our benefit. Sometimes, we need a glimpse of his purpose. Like Jesus, we can ask for it and when we receive the eternal view of what we are going through, our soul will be strengthened.  And remember, it is your soul that is overwhelmed, not your spirit – so tune into what the Spirit is saying to your spirit. In that moment, even your prayers will change.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:29-30

When we think of unwholesome talk we typically think of vulgar expressions, sexual innuendo, coarse talk, and so on. The word in the original language is sapros. Greek scholars say that the word relates to anything causing decay or rot. It can be used to denote the ravaging and disgusting effects of disease on a human body. Leprosy comes to mind. It can also speak of an adverse fate or future. All in all, it connects unwholesome words to expressions that cause decay, weakness, illness or that lead to a negative future.

Instead of unwholesome words, we are to speak words that build up and benefit. The idea of building up is to strengthen or to draw out the potential in someone. The word translated as benefit carries with it the flavor of a gift given out of love or a grace given to someone as God gives to us out of his grace.

An amplified translation of Ephesians 4:29-30 might read, “Let no words come out of your mouth that impart weakness or decay that leads to death. Do not speak words that diminish another or that rob him or her of a full future. Rather speak words over others that build them up, that develop their potential, and that impart strength. Speak out of love. Let your words be life-giving gifts, given out of grace rather than because someone has earned the words or merits your encouragement.”

If you think about it, Paul’s words line up well with Proverbs 18:21, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” The implication of the Ephesians passage is that words spoken to injure or diminish someone do actually damage the recipient. That loveless action on our part grieves the Holy Spirit. Lovelessness on our part is always sin because it violates the very nature of God, who is love. We sin when we wound by our actions or our words.

We live in a world so saturated with words that we barely pay attention to what we say or even what others say. Yet, God pays attention. One of the most sobering passages in the New Testament comes from Matthew’s gospel. Jesus said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt.12:36-37).

Words have power. The words of God created a universe out of nothing. We are made in his image. At some level, our words have power to create as well – for good or for evil. We need to measure our words and govern them. I know people who say whatever comes to mind and take pride in their frankness and openness. But in many ways they are like someone firing a gun randomly into a crowd and then denying responsibility for those injured because they “didn’t mean any harm.”

As the people of God, we are to always be sources of life and blessing. The Holy Spirit should flow out of us like living waters into the world around us. We are to be constant sources of blessing – speaking wholesome worlds that build up, encourage, heal, and that draw out the potential for goodness and greatness in people. If our style is to criticize, find fault, or belittle others, we need to repent. God has placed the potential for good in every human being. Our words need to draw that out, reinforce the potential, and create in the other person an identity of goodness and greatness. Our words should always bless and never curse.

The world needs a good word. There is something in nearly every person that responds to encouragement, someone believing in us, and a call to greatness. Our words can either kindle that response or quench it. Choose to be a source of life to everyone you encounter today. See what a difference it makes for them and even for your own heart. Blessings in Him.

In his life on earth, Jesus healed only a relatively small number of people on one small patch of the globe.

• He left the rest of them to us.

In his life on earth, Jesus preached the gospel to a few thousand on the hillsides of Israel.

• He left the other seven billion to us.

In his life on earth, Jesus cast demons out hundreds of spiritually oppressed Jews.

• He left the defeat of the tens of thousands remaining servants of darkness to us.

In his life on earth, Jesus went about doing good and condemning  injustice in the world.

• There is plenty more of that work to be done by us.

In his life on earth, Jesus reached out to the poor and destitute of a very small nation.

• He left the rest of the starving and naked in the world to us.

In his life on earth, jesus forgave those who nailed him to a cross.

• He left the rest of those who need to be forgiven to us.

Jesus intends to finish his work.

• He just intends to do it through us.

How much of what he left for us did we do today?

One other thing…In his life on earth, Jesus died for every lost person who ever lived to will live.

• He left none of that for us.   That’s the good news.

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

In one sense this may be a familiar scripture but in another sense it is a startling text. As a believer, you literally participate in the divine nature – the very nature of the eternal God. How much do we participate?  Probably as much as we want…or as little as we want.

In preparing a study on the gifts of the Spirit it occurred to me that every spiritual gift we exercise is a participation in the divine nature.  If our gifts are spiritual gifts then they are not ordinary nor are they of this world.  Spiritual gifts are supernatural and are little explosions of the divine nature being released through us.

Peter also said, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (I Peter 4:10-11). As we exercise our gifts then we distribute God’s grace to others in all kinds of forms.  In other words, God releases himself through us so that his grace touches them.  We really are distributors of the divine. Your gift of healing releases God for he is Jehovah Rophe, the God who heals.  Your gift of encouragement releases God for it is his nature to encourage. Your mercy is a literal outpouring of him for he his mercy.

I speak to believers every day who doubt God’s love for them and hunger for some touch to prove that he really cares.  What they miss is that every believer who has hugged them, encouraged them, prayed for them, affirmed them, or laughed with them was God.  He was simply doing those things through his people who were participating in his divine nature.

One reason, among many, that we should want to hang out with God’s people is that God is going to express his love, his concern, his approval, etc. through his people to us.  If you want to hear from God you can do so in the quiet moments of your devotional but you can also hear from him in very concrete ways through his people who are prompted by his Spirit to dispense his grace and to leak a little of him onto you.  God is truly the fresh fragrance of life but we are the aerosol cans that release his fragrance into the environment.  It’s really a great gig if we understand that God is literally loving people through us or loving us through his people.

The more of God we store up, the more of him we have to release.  Jesus was filled with the Father so he literally left a touch of heaven everywhere he went. At times Peter was so filled with God that even his shadow imparted the nature of God to others which was healing.  The key is to realize that you are literally a partaker of the divine nature. That sets you apart from every other part of creation and gives you amazing significance.  No matter the gift or the call you are the dispenser of God’s heart and nature to the world. Wow.  You are a very, very important person.  Live like it!

Alignment with God is the key to healing, the key to freedom, and the key to ministering in power through the gifts of the Spirit.  These gifts are treasures entrusted to us by our heavenly Father to be enjoyed and used for the sake of others. Numerous teachings in the New Testament alert us to the principle that we must prove to be faithful stewards of the small things before the Master will entrust larger things to us.  Faithful stewardship implies that we manage what has been entrusted to us in the same way the Master would if he were present.  The best way to insure the alignment between the Master and the steward is for them to have the same values, vision, and goals.

Another way to speak about that alignment is to say that their hearts are aligned.  God delighted in David because he was a “man after God’s own heart.”  David loved the things God loved and hated the things God hated. The greater the Old Testament prophet, the more his heart was aligned with the Father’s.  God used prophets whose hearts were not aligned with his (Jonah for instance) but certainly not in the same ways he used Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Daniel, Moses, etc.  God accomplished earth-shaking things through these men because he was willing to entrust the power and the prophecy of heaven to them.  He did so because their hearts were aligned with his.

Jesus said a great deal about the heart. Just a few quotes are:

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.  (Matt. 5:8).

For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt. 13:15)

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ (Matt.15:19-20)

 For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  (Matt. 12:34)

This last scripture is most enlightening.  We all want to believe that our hearts are aligned with God’s heart. When we are in church and while we are hanging out with leaders in our churches we typically guard our words and say all the right things. Our words in those settings reflect the values, the perspectives, and the heart of Jesus.  But what about in other settings?

It’s amazing how often married couples come to me with detailed reports of what has been going on behind closed doors at home. These are usually long-time believers who have been serving faithfully in the church and who are well thought of.  But at home, behind closed doors when their words are not guarded, incredibly hurtful and nearly pornographic language pours out in the midst of their fights.  When it’s over they want to blame each other for making them so angry or they want to play the “I didn’t really mean it” card.  I know that we all say and do things that we regret later, but Jesus challenges us with the idea that our unguarded words reveal things that are in our hearts.  Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If our hearts are full of love, mercy, compassion, faith, etc., words come out that reflect those qualities-even in unguarded moments.  If our heart is full of pain, resentment, distrust, lust, unbelief, or lies then those qualities show up as well.

The words we speak are interesting, however, because not only do our hearts influence our words but out words influence our hearts. The words we choose to say in every circumstance can train our hearts.  Paul tells us that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus in Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead we will be saved. (See Rom.10:9). In the Hebrew mind there is often a causative connection between two things joined by the conjunction “and.”  We recognize the same principle.  For instance, we might say that we went to the beach and got sunburned.  Although those are two different things, the first contributed directly to the second.  With that in mind, confessing with our mouths can deepen the belief in our hearts. In other words, the words we speak come from the heart but words spoken consistently can also train the heart.

In his book, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, Graham Cooke said something I really liked.  The gift of prophecy under the new covenant is intended to comfort, strengthen and encourage people – always.  However, some with the gift do not always comfort or encourage.  In that context, Cooke says, “In tough situations we must ask God what the need is.  Do we need something? Does the other person need something?  Instead of speaking out the first nasty thing that comes to mind, we must settle into the Spirit of God and speak a word of edification. If we can get into a lifestyle of gracious speaking in our everyday conversations, our prophetic ability will grow in leaps and bounds. The heartbeat of God will become clearer and clearer to us” (page 17).

In other words, when God can trust us to speak comfort, encouragement, and strength to others then he will entrust us with greater gifts to steward because our hearts are aligned with his.  Our words will be evidence of that.  I’m not talking about our public words but our private words.  Those are the real indicators of what is in our hearts.

If we want to receive healing, freedom, ministry, and powerful gifts of the Spirit then we should become students of our own words.  They will point us to areas of brokenness in our hearts, areas where healing is needed, or repentance and will show us where our perspective are skewed.  Then we can submit those issues to the cross and the Spirit for correction.  We must also begin to speak as God would speak in every situation. When we misspeak we shouldn’t excuse it or blame others but learn from it. Relive the moment. Ask the Spirit how he would have had you speak in that situation.  Rehearse that in your mind and ask the Spirit to give you that response next time.  In doing so you will be training your heart while your heart is being healed.

All spiritual gifts are expressions of God’s grace that he wants us to administer to others (See 1 Pet.4:10).  As our hearts and words become more gracious, he can entrust more to us. Even anger doesn’t excuse ungracious words.  Paul told us to be angry and sin not.  Instead, we should remember, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col.4:6). This is one more key to freedom and power in the kingdom of God.  Today be blessed and be a blessing to others with your words.

In the book of Nehemiah we find one of Satan’s most subtle and effective strategies for hindering the work of God on the earth. In 586 B.C. the southern Kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon and all but a few were scattered throughout the Babylonian Empire as slaves and servants of the state. The temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed and for the most part remained a pile of rubble for seventy years. After seventy years of captivity, God allowed some of the Jews to return and to begin to rebuild.  Zerubbabel led the first return and rebuilt the temple while the city wall remained in disrepair.  Ezra was sent later by God to call the people in Judea to faithfulness and, finally, Nehemiah was allowed by the king he served to return to rebuild the city wall.  There was, of course, great opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem by their traditional enemies who lived in the area – the Samaritans, Ammonites, and Arabs.

Although God had ordained the rebuilding of the temple, the city, and the wall of Jerusalem, the enemy pushed back against the completion of God’s vision for the city.  We see the first part of Satan’s strategy in Chapter 4.  As the building began in earnest, the enemies of the Jews began with ridicule.  The first strategy was to criticize the vision that God had given Nehemiah and that he had brought to the people in Jerusalem.  In effect, they declared that Nehemiah’s vision would fail, that it was foolish, and that the Jews had neither the resources nor the skills to finish. For those with a minimum vision or minimum faith, such ridicule is debilitating. Yet, Nehemiah knew that the vision he held in his heart was from God and believed God for the materials and the skill.  The work moved ahead.

The next bit of Satan’s strategy unfolded when conflict broke out among the Jews themselves. Some felt that they were sacrificing much more than others. Discontent and comparison is always an effective strategy of the enemy because it divides God’s people. It also takes leaders away from the primary vision of the kingdom while they settle disputes.  Nehemiah settled the issue with wisdom but the detour cost them time.

Satan’s next move was to have the leaders of Israel’s enemies invite Nehemiah to a summit to discuss what was going on in the region. Nehemiah instinctively sensed that he would likely meet with “an unfortunate accident” on the way to the summit but, more than that, he knew it was another distraction from the enemy.  His response was one that we should remember. “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”  His enemies invited him to attend the summit four times and he refused each time.  Undoubtedly the national news agencies painted him as a man who did not want peace or as a polarizing man who would not compromise for the sake of the region. I’m sure he was criticized and encouraged even by some of his own people not to turn down these noble offers to speak about peace.  Yet God had not sent him to compromise with the enemy but to finish the work he had been given as soon as possible.

Next came the accusations that Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem with a plan to rebel against the king who has sent him there.  If Satan can’t pull you away from the work God has given you, he will work to discredit you and your motives. For those of us who aren’t sure of our motives or who care too much for the opinions of men, those attacks can be very distracting and discouraging.  His response to the accusations was simple. “Nothing like what you are saying is happening.”  Because Nehemiah was building a kingdom for God rather than himself and because he had acted with integrity throughout the project, he was able to dismiss the charges and move ahead.

Finally, he was told that men were coming to kill him and he should simply run away to save himself. The possibility was certainly there that assassins were on the way, but his response was revealing. “Should a man like me run away? … I will not go … He (the messenger) was hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.”

Nehemiah understood the nature of leadership.  He also understood that if God gave him a vision to complete, then no man could stop him unless unbelief or unrighteousness on the part of Nehemiah entered the picture. The text then says that the work was completed and that when all their enemies heard of its completion, they were afraid.

Each of us has a call on our life by God. He has created us for good works which he has prepared in advance for us to complete (Eph.2:10). Satan’s most frequently used strategies are not direct opposition to what we are doing but distraction and discouragement. On a national scale, those who stand up for biblical values and righteousness are often encouraged by the people closest to them to compromise with the opposition. If they will not, then their vision is ridiculed, their motives are questioned, and their careers are threatened. Sound familiar?

But what about you?  What great thing have you imagined doing for God that you have set on the back burner for months or years because of distractions – busyness doing good things but not the thing God has prompted you to do. What about discouragement – the fear that you do not have enough skill or resources to complete the vision, questions about your motives, or fear of losing something if you step out? How many great projects still sit in the garage of the kingdom of God that have not been rolled out because the enemy has used these strategies of distraction and discouragement against us?

Maybe it’s time to take the vision or the dream back out the box, dust it off, and get on with what God has called you to do. For many of us unbelief has kept us in check – either unbelief that the dream and desire was truly from God or that he will not resource us and protect us while we do his will.  Pray about it. Recommit. Recognize the strategies of the enemy and get back to building the wall. If your vision were unimportant, Satan would never have stood in the way.

Yesterday my wife Susan shared a story with me from the Internet about a tribe in Africa that takes a unique approach to tribal discipline.  When a tribe member breaks one of the tribal laws or social conventions, the assumption is that the individual is essentially good but broken. Instead of punishing the behaviors, they place the offending individual in the middle of the village and for two days, the rest of the tribe surrounds them and speaks positive things and good names over them.

The story didn’t report on the tribe’s assumptions about the benefits of the ritual so I’ll speculate on a few possibilities.  If they assume an evil spirit has corrupted the person, then perhaps they sense they can fight evil by speaking good over the person and in that way drive away the enemy.  Perhaps, they believe the person has forgotten his or her essential goodness and so two days of declarations reminds them of who they are or “reboots” them to their default settings. Perhaps, all the positive things spoken over the offender are simply designed to call them to a higher standard of living.  I have no idea if there as been any Christian influence in the tribe but there is something very biblical and very powerful about their approach.

Now, I am speaking about our tribe of believers only.  Ours is the tribe marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us. Mankind, in general, is not essentially good because mankind has a fallen nature.  However, once an individual has been born again, is a new creation in Christ, and has the Spirit of God within…he or she must be considered essentially good. God says that we are priests and kings, holy and sanctified, sons and daughters in the household of God, and partakers of the divine nature.

Within each of us is the goodness and greatness of God.  This goodness and greatness is the reality that God has placed within us but it is often a reality that needs to be called out, nurtured, and developed. James says something interesting in regard to this truth.  He says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ja. 4:29).  Paul says that prophetic words spoken over believers should always strengthen, encourage, and comfort (1 Cor.14: 3). There is something about declaring positive things and good names over one another that builds up and even heals.

There are numerous other passages in the N.T. that have the same flavor. Nowhere do I see passages commanding the opposite.  The gospel of the flesh and the demonic would certainly contain commands and passages such as,  Be ye critical one to another; Be hateful and demeaning in all that you do;  Be quick to point out failure and remind one another of it as often as you come together; Shame one another daily;  Speak the truth one to another with great disdain and condescension. We could go on…but you get the drift.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, spends a great deal of his time telling us who we are in Christ.  He goes to great lengths to describe our new identity as children of the Most High God.  The writers of the New Testament speak that identify over the church in their letters. There is purpose and intentionality in doing that.  God declares, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth.  It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).  We all know that God’s word carries creative power and that it is living and active.  It has the power to call forth something out of nothing and to shape creation to conform to God’s will.

Have you noticed that the word from God’s mouth was most often declared to creation through the lips of his prophets?  As God put his word in the mouths of prophets, they declared that word and nations rose and fell, kings were placed on thrones and removed.  Bones lying in desolate valleys rattled together and became standing armies as God’s man declared God’s word over the valley of death.

Our identity, our holiness, our strength, our glory, and our victories have all been spoken by God and written down.  His Spirit puts those words in our mouths and as we also declare the word of God given to us, his word once again goes forth.  As it goes forth, it accomplishes its purpose.  God calls us to be a tribe that surrounds those among us who are broken and declare good things over them.  We are to call out who they are in Christ and the destiny he has ordained for them so that God’s word will accomplish its purpose in their lives.

As we speak honor to one another, encourage one another, and speak only words that build up, we help to establish the believer’s self-image – the internal view we hold of ourselves. We typically conform to that view because it is who we believe we are.  But more than that, we activate supernatural forces that draw those things out of us and make them realities. The words we speak that are God’s words are prophetic in nature.  As we, like Isaiah, consistently prophesy over the wasteland of someone’s brokenness, life and holiness will come forth.  And, by the way, we should declare  that same word of God over ourselves until we see God’s goodness and greatness fully formed in us as well.