Fruit of Your Mouth
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. ~ Proverbs 18:20
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ~ Matthew 11:23
You don't get saved, healed, delivered, or get answers to prayer simply because you believe. Most people think this is the case, but it is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus doesn't end Mark 11:23 by saying that you can have whatever you believe. He ends that verse by saying that the man "will have whatever he says."
For the literary types in the crowd, W. Somerset Maugham made the same mistake in his novel, Of Human Bondage. The lead character from the book, Philip Carey, a young boy with a club foot, prays after reading this verse from Mark, eleven, that he would be healed of the ailment. When he is not healed by a certain date, he loses his faith. It would be hard to have more faith than a child, but his understanding of scripture was limited, as was Mr. Maugham's.
Faith is always expressed in words. The words that you speak--not just on Sunday or in prayer, but the words you speak everyday at home and on the job--determine what you have in life.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. ~ Proverbs 18:21
So if you are having some problems that you can't seem to "get a handle" on, perhaps you should take a look at the words that have been coming out of your mouth lately. Words can bless or words can curse. If we are not careful we can curse ourselves as well as those around us. Look at your words. See if you can turn things around.
Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. ~ Proverbs 21:23
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~ rachman
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posted by rachman | 4:49 PM
6 Comments:
That fruit looks good.
Hi Scott,
I agree and I rarely get anything like it, because it costs way too much! But summer is coming. So, maybe this year I can cut back on the liquor and smokes, save some cash, and get to the market before it's all gone. (Okay, two out of three.)
True. Words have power and need to be used as carefully as possible.
Hello Rob, Thanks for commenting and I'm sorry if it seems that I'm "beating a dead horse." Seems like I've done several posts on "words" now, but it has been ruminating in my mind and spirit for awhile. I'm not sure if I'm done yet, but we'll see.
This certainly resonates with me right now as I am reading a whole book revealing the crisis we are in due to our abuse of words. It is called Meaningless Words and Broken Covenants by Tim Coody. I have also begun to realize over the past few years how potentially powerful our words could be if understood correctly. It is somewhat confusing at times to try to figure it all out - maybe we can't, maybe we will spend eternity learning about this.
But what is becoming clear to me is that we have a very powerful effect even on ourselves when we hear our own words. They create our image of who we think we are, our perceived identity which in turn underlies further words which in turn affects our identity...
One teacher I listened to recently pointed out that the most critical time that we need to pay attention to what we say in relation to affecting our perception of our identity is right after we have messed up. If at that moment we berate ourself and express our frustration and affirm our "weaknesses", we are right then planting the seeds that will soon grow up to produce more of the same problems that we just experienced. What he emphasized was that at that most important moment we need to speak out what God sees in us instead of affirming our mistakes and problems. It seems almost hypocritical, but in fact we are speaking more truthfully than we are when we "confess" our problems and thereby reinforce them.
That is not to say we ignore our deficiencies or never confess them. But when we take hold of the words of God about the "real identity" that He created us to be and express His word about ourselves, we plant new seeds back into our minds that also will spring up and produce a new kind of fruit that looks more like the source from which we got those seeds.
I could say a lot more about this subject but I better stop before I get further carried away. I enjoy reading your thoughts.
Hello C.F.
It's kind of you to stop by and discuss this issue as it has been going through my head for a time now also.
I agree completely that the words we hear ourselves say are extremely important. I hadn't thought about the words we say after we mess up. That is a very good point. Thank you for pointing that out.
Well it's late and I must be off. Blessings on you.
~r.
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