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Chart Your Course by the Words of Your Mouth
By Tom Brown
 Job
22:28 says in the Amplified version, "You shall also decide and DECREE a
thing, and it shall be established for you, and the light [of God's favor]
shall shine upon your ways."
God
says, "Decide and decree a thing and you'll get it." We must do more than
"decide"; we must "decree."
A decree
is a proclamation made by someone with authority. A decree is always made by
kings. A king makes a decree by declaring what is legal and illegal, and
everyone has to obey it. His words are law. His words determine the future
of his domain.
Now the
Bible says this in Romans 5:17, "For if, by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive
God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in
life through the one man, Jesus Christ."
You are
meant to reign in life through Jesus Christ. The same scripture in the
Amplified Bible says, "...those who receive [God's] overflowing grace
(unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness...reign as KINGS IN
LIFE..." You can reign as a king, because you are a king.
Revelation 1:6 says, "And [Jesus] hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father..." (KJV). What has Jesus made us? Kings and priests.
Thank
God for the Protestant Reformation, because it brought us the truth of the
"priesthood" of every believer. However, it neglected the revelation of the
"kingly authority" of every believer. Thank God that we are kings!
You
might want to pause for a moment and declare, "I am a king!" You might say,
"But I don't feel like a king." Well, what do feelings have to do with
anything? Anyway, what does a king feel like?
"Well, I
think I would feel better than this," you might say.
Let me
ask you something. Are you saved? Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus? Of
course you are!
Do you
always feel saved? Do you always feel like a new creature? Of course not,
yet you are one anyway because the Word says you are. And that settles it!
The same is true of being a king! God's Word says you are a king, so act
like one.
Someone
might say, "Yes, we are going to reign with the Lord IN HEAVEN!"
Wrong!
Romans 5:17 says that we "reign IN LIFE." Our domain of rule is here in this
life. We don't wait until we die to reign. We reign right here in this life.
Besides, why would we need to reign in heaven? The devil is not there,
sickness is not there, poverty is not there.
"Reign"
means to rule over. There is nothing in heaven to rule over. It is in this
life that we need to rule. We rule the devil, sickness and poverty in this
life. And how do we rule them? Through law! Your mouth makes the law. What
you decree is what will be established for you in this life.
Jesus
said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt
18:18). The word "bind" means to “declare unlawful.” The word "loose" means
to “declare lawful.” How do we bind and loose? Through our declarations! We
declare with our mouths!
So, how
do you predict your future? First, you must choose what you want in life and
know that God's Word promises it to you. Then, you decree it! You speak it
as though it were law!
What
thing do you need? If you're sick, you need health. If you're confused, you
need wisdom. If you're poor, you need money. If you're a sinner, you need
salvation. If you're powerless, you need the baptism in the Holy Ghost.
Decide
what you need. Be convinced that you are going to get it. Then declare with
authority that you have it!
RUDDER TO YOUR LIFE
In James
chapter 3 verse 7, it says, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and
creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man." James is
taking us back to Genesis chapter one where God said to man, "I give you
dominion, and you are to rule the animals, the birds of the air and
everything the creeps upon the earth." God told him to rule the animal
kingdom. Yet Adam's dominion extended beyond the animals. God told him to
rule everything. That included the devil and demons.
Now in
James chapter 3, he shows us how mankind's dominion has been limited. Man
can make a lion lie down, but cancer can make him lie down. He can make an
elephant stand up on one foot, but disease can make him lose his foot. Why?
Because there's one area that man can't control—and that's the tongue. "But
no man can tame the tongue..." (v. 8) Because of this, man can't rule like
God intended him to rule. This is why man can be so defeated in life.
Sickness
can destroy him. Poverty can pulverize him. Natural catastrophes can
demolish him. He can rule the animals, but he can't rule the elements in the
world. James shows that if man can get control of his tongue, he can rule
completely and thoroughly:
For
we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does
not offend in speech—never says the wrong things—he is a fully developed
character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his
entire nature. (James 3:2, Amplified)
Think
about this scripture for a moment. If you never say the wrong things you are
able to control your whole body. But if you say the wrong things, then you
are out of control. If you're out of control, then someone else is in
control.
What
wrong things do we say? Anything that is contrary to the Word of God is the
wrong thing to say. However, if you say the right thing—the Word of God—then
your whole body is lined up and under your control.
Your
body will line up with the words of your mouth. What you say with your
mouth, your body will line up to those words. Now you can understand why
certain things happen.
You say,
"Oh, I think I'm catching a cold." Then quit running after it.
You say,
"About this time of the year, I always get the flu." What happens when you
speak like this? Your body lines up to your words. What's really sad is that
you are proud that you predicted that you were going to get the flu. You
say, "You see, I told you so. I told you that I was going to get sick,
didn't I?!" Your body is simply lining up to your words.
Yet, the
Bible says that if you never say the wrong thing, then you're a perfect man
able to control your body. This is dominion. This is control, and you can
have it.
Suppose
your doctor has given you a negative report, "I'm sorry to inform you that
you are going to have this pain for the rest of your life." Let me tell you
something: Your body is not meant to be under the control of someone else's
words; it's meant to be under the control of your tongue.
You
should simply thank him for his diagnosis, then declare, "Jesus bore my
sicknesses and carried my diseases in His own body, and with His stripes I
am healed!" Don't say, "I guess I better plan to retire." No! Shout the
Word! As you begin to speak the Word, your body lines up to your words.
You
might say, "But I'm crippled. I don't have any strength to continue
working." Then start speaking the Word that says, "The Lord is the strength
of my life!"
HEALED OF ARTHRITIS
There's
a lady in my church who reached the age of forty. She began to feel a sharp
pain in her left elbow. The pain eventually traveled through out most of her
arms. She thought, "It is only natural at my age that I should get
arthritis." But after hearing the Word, she began pushing those thoughts out
of her mind. She refused to verbalize her pain.
Her
husband and children knew the pain she was going through, because one day
while she was exercising with her daughters suddenly she couldn't move her
arms. She even got to the point that she couldn't do her household chores.
Even though her family was very concern for her, she continued to keep her
tongue from speaking arthritis.
One
Sunday morning, the Lord gave me a word of knowledge: "The Lord wants to
heal a woman who has pain in her arms. This week you have had a lot of pain.
Come forward for prayer if that's you."
Immediately, she and her daughters both turned to look at each other. She
didn't hesitate one moment, she ran forward and was gloriously healed.
Learn
something: Don't verbalize your fears, instead verbalize your faith. You may
have to confess for forty years that you are strong before you see any
difference. But say it anyway. Sooner or later your body has to line up with
your words.
This is
my declaration: Every organ, every tissue of my body functions in the
perfection that God created it to function. I refuse to allow viruses,
infection or allergies in my body. Anything bad that tries to attack my body
instantly dies. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore only
good is in my body.
What am I doing? I'm predicting the future
of my body. This is what James says the tongue can do.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses
to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an
example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are
steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the
tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what
a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a
world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person,
sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by
hell. (James 3:3-6)
I asked the Lord one time, "Why is James so
negative about the power of the tongue? After all, Proverbs 18 says that
death and life are in the power of the tongue. The tongue can be used for
evil and good, but why does James seem to focus on the evil that the tongue
produces?"
The Lord
answered, "Because James is speaking to the majority of people. Most people
are negative; most people use the tongue for evil and not good. The tongue
too often is poison instead of the balm of Gilead. Most people are speaking
death instead of life, curses instead of blessings."
Let me
give you an example: Suppose you came out of a mall with your children. As
you walk to your car, you see someone kicking the tires of his car cursing,
"You no good for nothing car! I don't know why I bought you! You are a
lemon!" Does that incident surprise you? Of course not. In fact you might
think, he probably bought the car from the same dealer that you did.
Now,
let's change the situation. You come out of the same mall with your
children. You walk to your car and see a man smiling at his car, hugging it
and saying, "Oh, car, I love you. You are so good to me. You never break
down. I'm so glad I bought you." What are you thinking? You think that man
is crazy. You grab your children and walk away from him. You think something
is wrong with him because he is so positive.
This
illustration shows that we are accustomed to negativity. This is why James
appears to use the tongue in a negative way, because most people are
accustomed to negativity. Now you don't have to be negative. Your tongue can
be used for the good, however that’s up to you.
THE
RUDDER TO YOUR LIFE
Notice that James uses three analogies to
describe the tongue. He describes it as a rudder to a ship, a bit in a
horse's mouth and a small spark. They all are very small, just like the
tongue. Out of all the parts of the body, the tongue is one of the smallest
parts—yet it is the most powerful part of the body. Your tongue is the most
powerful instrument you possess.
A rudder
is used to determine the direction of a ship. The wind may be blowing from
the west, and normally the ship would be blown off course, but with a
rudder, the ship can go right into the storm and stay on course.
The same
is true of your tongue. The winds of sickness and poverty may be blowing
against you, but by the rudder of your tongue you can sail right into the
storms of life and go the opposite direction. You don't have to be carried
away by the storm. You can use your tongue as a rudder by saying, "Winds of
sickness are not going to blow me off course from the Word. I'm going right
against the storms by declaring that I'm healed by the stripes of Jesus."
Your tongue acts as a rudder and keeps you healthy despite the storms of
life.
The
winds of poverty may blow against you, trying to get you off course of God's
plan for your prosperity. But you simply maintain your course by saying,
"Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a plan for me and it is a plan to prosper
me. It is a plan to give me hope and future." You see what you are doing:
You are charting your course by the words of your mouth.
DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY
Just as a rudder determines the destiny of a
ship, so you are determining the destiny of your life by the words you
speak. Your words are predicting your future.
James
also says that your tongue is like a bit in the mouth of a horse. A horse
may want to go one way, but the bit tells the horse where to go. The rider
is in charge, because he controls the bit. You're the rider. You control the
direction of the horse. How? Not because you are bigger and stronger than
the horse, but because of a little bit. That bit makes the horse obey you.
You see,
diseases may be stronger than you, but you can control them by your words.
Your words can make cancer shrink. It can make your immune system function
right. Your words can make your life better.
Your
tongue also can destroy your life. We know this because James also describes
the tongue as a little spark that sets a forest on fire. He says that this
little spark "SETS THE WHOLE COURSE of his life on fire." Your tongue SETS
THE WHOLE COURSE of your life. Your course is the future direction of your
life. Your tongue determines the future of your life.
You may
not be aware of it, but simple little words like these can destroy your
life:
"Nothing
ever works for me."
"I'm
always getting sick."
"I'm
never going to amount to anything."
"I never
have enough money to pay the bills."
These words are like
little sparks that do not look devastating, but they can set your life on
fire from hell. You give hell permission, through your words, to bring these
things in your life.
Now
listen carefully: You can not say with your mouth that you are healed and
prosperous, and then also say that you are sick and poor. When you do that,
you have what the Indians call "a forked tongue." You say one thing, and
then you contradict yourself and say something else. You cannot use your
tongue that way and expect positive results. James rebukes this kind of
talk:
Out of the same mouth come praise and
cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt
water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or
a grapevine bear figs? NEITHER CAN A SALT SPRING PRODUCE FRESH WATER.
(James 3:10-12)
James is saying that if you have both fresh
water (that's good) and salt water (that's bad) coming from the spring, then
you get salty water. In other words, the fresh water does not overcome the
salty water. Salt water will always make fresh water salty. Isn't that
right?
The same
is true of our tongue. Your negative words will always cancel out your
positive words. The reason is simple: We live in a negative world that has
been plunged under a course. The world is like a stream—and water always
flows downward. It takes greater effort to go up the stream.
This is
why you can say MANY positive things, and then in a moment of doubt say ONE
thing that's negative, and you'll end up cancelling your positive
confessions. This is why you must guard your tongue. You must pray like
David, "Put a muzzle on my mouth, so I don't sin against You."
Don’t
get under condemnation and fear, however, because of the negative things you
have said. Ask the Lord to forgive you, and He can cancel out your negative
words.
It's
time that you chart a new course for your life. You do it by speaking words
of health, words of prosperity, words of victory, words of success—all the
time. And don't let any cursing—saying bad things—come out of your mouth.
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