ICS Daily Devotions
Death and Life Are in the Power of the Tongue
Numbers 13:30(NKJV) Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
Caleb wasn’t speaking out of pride but a deep conviction that God is well able to perform what He had promised. He was convinced that God was able to deliver the enemies into their hands. Caleb believed in God and the greatness of God. Therefore, he spoke out of the conviction of his heart. Faith in God will carry us through the challenges that we face during the different stages of our lives.
Psalm 107:1-2 (NKJV) Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
We usually do not have the habit of speaking forth what we believe in the midst of a crisis. At times, we are very shy of talking about God in the presence of non-believers but we can start doing it in the midst of believers. The redeemed of the Lord should speak forth and share of His faithfulness and mercy. We should proclaim how good our God is to us. We should profess His work and His promises in good and bad times. We should speak out of the conviction of our hearts despite the circumstances because faith is anchored in the Word of God. When it is the Word of God that gives substance to our faith, then we will not be moved by what we see, hear or experience. We will stand firm on our conviction and say what we believe.
Sometimes, when we are hard-pressed on every side there is a tendency for us to speak nonsense that is completely out of line as a believer. It is Jesus who will reveal to us when we speak out of the abundance of the heart. If we are not careful, some of us will speak vulgarities, profanities, curses, or vent our anger and frustration towards people and at times at God. It is counterproductive for us to speak in this manner. It doesn’t help our situation. Neither will it help us to be a good testimony to the unbelievers in our midst. We can either murmur, complain, speak with unbelief, curse the situation or we can choose to speak of God’s promises for us when we are in a difficult situation.
Our words have the authority to release God to work in our lives when we apply faith in Him. We will also allow the devil to use our words to work against us when we speak with doubt and unbelief because we have authority over our lives. So, let us not belittle what we say through our mouths because we release the authority over our lives through our lips.
Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
When we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from our sins and confessed that He is our Savior, we are saved through the profession of our faith in Him and given the imputed righteousness. We believe therefore we speak that we are sinners saved by the grace of God!
Sermon Series: I Believe Therefore I Speak
