The Power of Words

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” Prov. 18:21

Our words are powerful! We set the course of our lives with our words. Our words have the power to bring death or life to ourselves, to an individual or to a situation. The quality of your life will be a direct result of the quality of the seed we sow into your life. (Gal.6:7)

God’s Word is a great seed. To release the power of God’s Word as seeds we need to practice ‘selective seed sowing’. We must consider carefully the nature of the seed we plant into our life. Although the seed may seem harmless, the harvest it produces can make a massive impact in our life. The Parable of the Sower in Mark 4 teaches us that the Word of God has the capacity to increase by 30, 60 or 100 fold in your life, producing a great harvest.

God's Word brings life. When the Word of God comes into our hearts and minds it is described as ‘incorruptible seed’. (1 Pet. 1:23) To release the life within God’s Word, we need to abide in His Word. The sowing of today’s seed is the answer to tomorrow’s need in your life.

God’s Word is eternal and incorruptible. Therefore it can be relied upon, trusted, hoped in and believed. FAITH is the key ingredient to make your seeds produce a great harvest in your life.

God's Word is a weapon. To use the weapon of God’s Word, we need to make his word our words. The question is not whether or not your words have power - They surely do! The real question is: What type of power your words are releasing? Words have the power to bring healing and life as well as destruction and death and we will be justified or condemned by our words. (Mat. 12:34-37) Make sure you measure your words before you speak them!

Words are containers that carry spiritual power. They can activate the power of God (through speaking the Word of God by faith); or they can activate the power of the enemy (through speaking words of fear, hate, doubt and negativity). Are your words aligned with Heaven or with Hell? When your words line up with God’s Word it creates a powerful testimony and you have the power to overcome the enemy. (Rev.12:11) The word ‘overcome’ here is the Greek word ‘nikao’ and it means ‘to conquer, overcome, prevail, and establish the victory’. When we speak the Word of God out loud and in faith (confessing it and agreeing with it) we establish victory in our lives and walk in the victorious life Jesus has come to give us!

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Ps. 19:14

Pursuing the fullness of His life for me,

Ana

Ana is a wife, mother, pastor and daughter of the King. She is passionate about introducing others to Jesus.

With Arms Wide Open...

I am often captivated at images of women standing with their arms raised high, stretched out wide in praise. I find it to be such an image of strength found in acknowledging the One who gave it all so that we might live. Further, it’s an image of release. A visual encouragement, a reminder to live that full life: with arms wide open, hope and gratitude in our hearts and an expression of contentment across our face that only comes from truth – freedom.

When’s the last time you stood up and stretched – embracing God with your arms up and out, head held high and lips speaking/singing praise? I hope it was recently – but if it wasn’t, can I encourage you to embrace this nudge to do just that. Our outward expressions reflect our inward grace. Life doesn’t have to be ideal to celebrate it. Even for those who are the most timid – your Father sees you and your heart – go on – be radical, stand up – sing – dance – rejoice in all He has granted you and what is yet to come. You matter. He wants to multiply your gifts. Will you share them? Be faithful wherever God has put you. Join me in the prayer of Jabez, and let’s see what God will do:

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request."

1 Chronicles 4:9-11

I’m believing for the request close to your heart today.

Press in and press on,

Giselle

Emmaus

A group of us have just completed a study, going through Luke’s Gospel. The last chapter includes the story of two followers of Jesus who are on their way to Emmaus, discussing the past days events as they go. Jesus joins them on their walk but they don’t recognize him – at least not until later.

Don’t you wonder why Jesus wasn’t recognized? In this story it says that they were “kept from recognizing him,” Other instances following the resurrection when Jesus is not immediately recognized say things like the people “ didn’t realize” it was Jesus. I read these things and just wonder…how could they not know?

Have you ever been away from home, maybe in a different city, and you see someone from your town but it takes a moment to register? You are seeing that person out of context in a sense. You aren’t expecting to see someone from home while you are away so you don’t immediately realize who it is. I wonder if that is part of what is going on here. Though these folks had walked with Jesus for sometime they had not really understood all of his words to them…and they had no expectation, after watching him die on the cross, of seeing him again.

In this particular story though, I see another factor. When Jesus approaches the two and asks what they are discussing, “they stood still, their faces downcast.” (Lk. 24:17)

There was deep sorrow here.

They had recognized Jesus as a prophet and had even hoped that he might be something more…”we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel…” (vs. 19-21)

At some point in each of our lives, we will have a situation, a circumstance that won’t turn out the way that we expected. We may have been trusting God for a specific outcome but discover that sometimes our plan is not what God has in mind…and then in our sorrow and disappointment, we miss seeing him in the circumstance.

The valleys that we go through…the losses that we have had…the disappointments that we have endured can leave us wondering just where Jesus is…in our deep sorrow with our faces downcast, we can fail to see that he is right beside us…wanting to walk out our journey by our side…comforting us by his word…helping us to see that there is indeed a plan.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Ps. 34:18)

“…and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20b)

Ruth

The Price Tag of Value

How does one put a price on something? Or perhaps a better question is who or what determines the value or an item (car, painting, gem stone, etc)?

Perhaps my deeper question is what gives someone the right to decide if something is valuable? I own items which only hold value to me - family pictures, notes from my kids, a special gift from someone. How can someone else make the decision if that tea cup really is worth a certain dollar figure?

And what ever happened to the value of human life? I've heard reports during the sinking of the Titanic that women and children were instructed to get into the life boats ahead of the men. As a woman I'm not complaining, but I just wonder... who makes that decision? Were individuals sayings the lives of the women and children are more valuable than the men? I hope not.

I know people have all kinds of reasons for their opinions, and in this part of the world we have freedom of thought and expression. However, I am baffled as to what happened to cause us to go to the place that life is no longer valuable? Or perhaps more accurately someone else decides what, or who, has value. Now we could walk down the road of euthanasia, abortion and even human trafficking, but my greater question lies in the place of why does someone not see life as valuable? I don't see someone's value because of what I get, but because they have life and therefore they have value.

We have travelled down a dangerous road when we think we have the right to step into the role of God and make a decision regarding someone else's value.

Hebrew 9:28 says, "So also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him."

You see Jesus took our place on the cross, took our sins upon himself, became the sacrifice for us so we could have access to our Holy God. Our lives are valuable not because of what we do or don't do, but because God created us and THAT'S where we need to find our value.

"You are precious and honoured in my sight . . . I love you." Is 43:4

Jo-Ann

HEART TO HEART

This past April, my daughter graduated from Providence University College with a Degree in Sociology. The day after graduation she moved to Calgary to work.

How could she do this to me!?!

I was hoping to enjoy having her home for awhile and spend some much needed mother-daughter time together.

After the initial shock wore off I decided to make the best of it – we would keep in touch via facebook, texting and phone calls. It wouldn’t be so bad after all.

A month after she left I started to convert her room into my scrapbooking haven (or heaven). As I started to pack her possessions into boxes, the memories of her childhood came flooding back into my heart and mind. Everything I touched of hers had meaning and significance of days gone by. The memories were too much and I started to weep. I called my daughter and we wept together. Needless to say, I didn’t get her room packed that day. In the midst of all the packing, memories and tears, the Holy Spirit started speaking to my sorrowful heart. He reminded me that my love for my daughter was a reflection of God’s love for me.

So, I started to work on this thought in my troubled mind. Can God, the Father, know a mother’s heart? I remembered a story from the Bible, which was taught to me as a child, about a hen and her chicks and how God protects us like a mother hen.

In Matthew 23:37b Jesus says, “...How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wing.....”(NLT)

God longs to protect His children, and I am His child.

In Isaiah 66:13 God says, “I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child” (NLT)

In this verse, God Himself is a comforting “mother”.

These verses reassured me that God does understand a mother’s heart towards her children. This in turn helps me better understand God’s love for me. I long to know God’s love fully and He has given me a wonderful example which my mother heart can understand. Until I meet Him face to face and fully understand God’s heart, I will continue to enjoy growing in our Heart to Heart journey together.

Kristina

Kristina's husband is a pastor, they have 3 adult children and she is very involved in their church.

Watch out!

We fondly remember our trip to Universal Studios, and roll with laughter as we recall the guide driving our tour vehicle. Oh, how many times we heard the warning to keep our hands, feet, heads, and accessories inside the vehicle at all times! Over and over the warning would go. Why? Obviously to protect us from harm and the park from liability. God provides us with these kinds of reminders over and over in His Word. He cautions us to be aware of danger. For example:

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith." Peter 5:8-9

We must be committed to being watchful, praying to stand firm when tested. Peter learned his lesson the hard way. In the garden the night Jesus was betrayed, He told Peter, James and John to stand watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. They slept instead, and all deserted Him.

I want to be ready. How about you? How will you arm yourself today to prepare for the next attack?

"See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesying. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:15-22

Press in and press on,

Giselle

Shopping Carts

Grocery shopping with small children was not an event that I gave much consideration before I actually had to perform this task. After much trial and error, it did seem that preparation was the key. I needed a plan but even more than that, the little boy making the trip with me needed to know that I had a plan. It wasn’t that I went over the grocery list item by item with my preschooler. It was more a setting of boundaries. An explanation of expectations…and yes, a promise of reward.

And then, the grocery store added a new feature that threatened the success of my carefully planned expeditions. Child sized grocery carts! Oh, they were the cutest thing…but they held such potential for grocery shopping disaster! (Not to mention the potential of injury to my ankles!) I no longer had the control of either placing my child in the seat of my cart or “encouraging” him to ride on the front of the cart.

The aisles were not wide enough to walk side by side. Allowing the boy to go ahead of me was not a safe option…clean up in aisle three!! That left only one possibility. If the little one was going to be allowed to use the little cart, he would need to follow me.

If this increased level of freedom was going to work, there would be guidelines. Listening would be involved! Listening and following. That was the plan…the plan wasn’t always followed. I know – surprising, right?!

Fruit loops, Oreos, juice boxes…what if they weren’t on mom’s list this time?!! Sometimes there was a genuine effort to help. Sometimes there was simply a desire to run… to find his own way…

When there was a straying from the plan, consequences followed. Consequences and the reminder – you need to listen…you need to follow…

Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27, 28)

We too have the option of listening and following or of turning down our own path when our plan seems better. Either choice has its consequences.

Do you ever struggle with believing that the One who leads you has a plan? Maybe that isn’t something that you would say out loud because of course we know God has a plan…and yet the challenge is to listen…to follow …to acknowledge…

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5, 6)

Ruth