How’s it flowing?
Written: September 21, 2018
Matthew 12:36-37 says, “I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgement for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Have you ever heard this passage of scripture given out of context?? I have been told that we shouldn’t tell jokes, we shouldn’t have casual conversation unless it’s about the Word, or we shouldn’t say this or that, because when Jesus comes back, we will be judged for every idle word we speak.
We will be judged, alright, but I promise you it will be before that “great” day!
I have been blogging, talking, and teaching a lot about the kingdom of God over the last several years, because our mandate is to bring Heaven to earth!
I once heard it said, “Jesus didn’t come to populate heaven, He came to bring heaven to earth!” Jesus Christ IS the kingdom of God; He carried it in Him as He walked this earth in the flesh. He said it over and over again, “For behold, the Kingdom of God is here!” What did He carry in Him? The character of His Father! His identity was solid!
One of the other things we heard Jesus say numerous times was “I do what I see My Father do and I say what I hear My Father say.” Jesus was so in tune with His Father that He only spoke as His Father spoke! WOW!!
How victorious would we be if we modeled that example? Here’s the deal: we are supposed to be modeling His example in EVERY area of our lives. That’s why He came and walked this earth… to show us how to live… to DISCIPLE us!
1 John 2:5-6 “If anyone obeys His Word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.”
Think about that for a minute!
Jesus was cautious of what came out of His mouth. If you’ve ever read the crucifixion story in John, you will see that even when the accusations were flying out of the mouths of the people, Jesus either kept silent or He spoke only as His Father told Him.
When Jesus spoke, people were amazed because His words had authority. They were in awe because they carried such power that demons had to bow down and run! (Luke 4:32, 36)
Jesus said in Luke 6:47, “As for anyone who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like!”
OOOOHHHH!!!! Church, we’ve got to stop with all the barren, lazy, useless, empty, idle, careless talk and start putting the words of Jesus Christ into practice… I WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE POWER IN HIS WORDS!!! The cool thing is that we already have the authority to speak them, so why aren’t we?
Let’s look at these verses again with the Greek breakdown…
Matthew 12:36-37 says “I tell you that everyone will have to give account (logos – reasoning or motive, word/voice) on the day (natural day, between sunrise and sunset) of judgement (krisis- accusation, trial, condemnation) for every empty (leisure, lazy, useless, barren, idle) word (rhema – utterance, command, a declaration, to flow (root word), they have spoken. For by your words (logos) you will be acquitted (freed, justified), and by your words you will be condemned (guilty).”
Please don’t think I’m saying you can’t have normal, fun, crazy conversations. But what I am saying is that we have to get back to the place where our declarations match the Fathers! We’ve got to get back to a place where we stop speaking barren words over each other, our churches, our leaders, and start speaking LIFE!! We live in a world that is lost and hurting; we have to change our declarations!!! If we plan to walk as Jesus walked, we’ve got to talk as Jesus talked!
One other thing I want to point out in the scripture… We will face crisis (judgment) for every useless, barren, idle utterance (word). The root word of Rhema there is rheo – FLOW, pouring forth!
What we speak, be it positive or negative, FLOWS into our daily life. Every utterance that flows from our mouths flows into the daily lives of others. WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THAT!!
It goes on to say that we will face a judgment day for what we speak! The word day there is actually a natural day, sunrise to sunset, it’s NOW people!! The words we speak will come back to bite us, or we will see amazing fruit flow from them in our own lives and in the lives of others! There are consequences to every word we speak, and we are daily judged by them.
What do I mean by “come back and bite us”? Well, that’s the judgment or in Greek “Krisis” – trial, accusations, condemnation, that will come back to you. It’s a rotten fruit! Have you ever spoken negatively about someone and they found out and came back and “judged” you for it? You felt guilty (condemned) and horrible? But you were able to repent, and through that repentance, godly flow was restored… For by your words you will be acquitted – freed, justified.
Why is it so important that we watch our words? Because Jesus watched His words and we are His disciples! We are always in a process of becoming more and more like Him. We are always growing, maturing, and learning what it means to be “Christ-like”! Our words are weight, they create, or they destroy, they must be watched!! The flow of our voice should always be life!
I challenge you today, put yourself on a 40-day fast from negative talk, and with every negative thought you have, replace it with the positive of His Word! It’s not going to be easy, believe me… I started 50 days ago and have had to reset myself plenty! But… I desire deeply to walk as Jesus walked, to be kingdom-minded and carry His character (love, joy, righteousness, peace, patience, power, authority, miracles, signs and wonders, etc) everywhere I go. So, if that means correction, redirection, and repentance, then so be it!
Father, first and foremost, I repent for ALL words I have spoken that were not guided by Holy Spirit utterance. I repent for negative, empty, idle, barren declarations that have come from my mouth. Give me the wisdom to notice when things start to surface, and Holy Spirit GUARD MY MOUTH when wrong words try to escape! I declare LIFE over each person I have found myself speaking barren, empty words over. Father, continue to break me, shake my foundations, create in me a clean heart, and make me more like You! In Jesus name. Amen.