Day 10 – Say the Word
“BLOG UPDATE: Apologies for missing a few days.. Been super busy here in the Prescott Conference. We hope that you have been seeing results of your 30 Day SPEAK LIFE Challenge. Regular blogs should resume once we return back to VA. Thanks for your commitment!”
“Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. ” When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”” –Luke 7:6-9
In this account from the Gospel of Luke we see a Roman Centurion’s surprising understanding of spiritual realities. As a military man, he understands the power of the command. He knows that when a command is issued from his superiors that he is compelled to obey and carry out his instructions. When Jesus heard his understanding and applied it to spiritual things, he marveled at this centurion. He then commended the man for his incredible FAITH. Jesus somehow interpreted the Centurion’s understanding of spiritual interworkings as great faith, the kind that he had not found within the ranks of his own people, the Jews.
We are not suggesting that we can order God around with our words. Such is the false teaching of the “name it & claim it” charismatics. What we see in this scripture is that the power of words can set spiritual things into motion. This is an outflowing of our faith.
Let your faith be heard today as you SPEAK LIFE into your situation, your family, your children, your marriage, your finances, and your church.
Day 6 – The Pursuit of Perfection
Why would anyone attempt to pursue perfection? Wouldn't it just be an exercise in frustration? After all, we know that we will certainly never be able to reach that goal, at least on this side of eternity. Wouldn't it just be easier to relax and accept the mediocrity of imperfection?
The command of Scripture is, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” –Leviticus 11:45 NKJV
I remember wrestling with that scripture as a young disciple. I became extremely frustrated because I was honest enough to realize how far away I was from the goal of holiness/perfection. For a long time, I told myself that that was an unrealistic expectation from God. I shrugged it off, thinking that God must have made a mistake by including that admonition in His word. What I didn't realize at the time is that God isn't necessarily expecting perfection today, but He is expecting us to try. The reason is that in the trying, we learn to trust Him, we learn to cry out to Him, and we learn to strive for perfection.
Maybe you've heard the parable of The Unmoved Rock:
Once upon a time, there was a man who was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Saviour appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man's mind such as: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.
These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough." And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
"Lord," he said, "I have laboured long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My child, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push.
And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition, you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my child, will now move the rock." –Source unknown
In today's scripture, we find a practical way to begin pushing against the rock to pursue perfection: BRIDLE YOUR TONGUE.
The ability to control the tongue is a great indicator for the ability to control the rest of you. Speak life instead!
Day 5 – Resisting Temptation with Words
“But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”” –Luke 4:4 NKJV
Have you experienced temptation? Many times the only way to effectively escape temptation is with your words of life. More specifically, the Words of God spoken from your own mouth. We often assume that our church attendance, tokens in the offering plate, or our appearance of righteousness will assist in some way when temptation arises. We are wrong.
Jesus faced the most attractive temptations of all time, offered by Satan himself, the king of this world. His response to the greatest temptor was not quiet reflection, it was powerful words of life, memorized from scripture, spoken out loud at the perfect moment.
If we are to effectively resist the strategies of hell, it will only be in the same way. Where to the words of life come from? We would do well to practice memorizing scripture that we can use in the right time in the right place. Scripture is like ammunition. Your mouth is the firearm. Don’t ever find yourself in a war with an unarmed weapon. Your challenge today is to begin memorizing scripture so that you are able to Speak Life when the time comes.
Hint: Use this awesome smartphone app for memorizing scripture
Day 4 – Speaking Life Into Dry Bones
“Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” –Ezekiel 37:4 NKJV
Gustave Doré engraving "The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones" - 1866
Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones is one of the most surprising examples of the power of life in the tongue.
Think of this, these corpses would have been rotting there, exposed to the elements for years. Their cause was long since forgotten, their families had mourned and moved on, their commanders had accepted defeat, their carcasses had been picked over by scavengers and opportunistic carnivores. Not just bones, but DRY bones. It is the ultimate picture of failure and defeat. It is not unlike many situations in our lives.
It represents the hopes and dreams that you've long since given up on, the relationships that you've abandoned, the expectations you watched fall to pieces.
What is your valley of dry bones?
Maybe you got so tired of getting your hopes up and then feeling the pain of disappointment they you've forsaken the very idea of restoration.
Ezekiel, as he looked down at this awful sight knew how it felt to struggle in faith. God tried to stir him: “And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” God might be asking you a similar question today: Can this marriage live? Can this prodigal child live? Can this buried talent live? Can this negative bank account live? Let His inquiry pierce your soul today.
Ezekiel's answer wasn't as inspiring as we might hope: “So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”” While true, God did know the answer to His own question, Ezekiel's response did not carry the power of life. God takes it to the next step and command Ezekiel to prophesy even though his heart was shaky. Valuable lesson here:
God challenges us to speak life even when we are staring at a valley of death.
Day 3 – Name Giver
Adam Names the Animals
Diversity of the Animal Kingdom
God created an incredibly diverse animal kingdom, from bats, to baboons, to beluga whales. His originality is displayed in so many different species that we continue to discover throughout the world. What is surprising, though, is God's decision to create them without naming them. Everything else that God had made up to that point in Genesis 2 had been created and then named. From the stars, to the planets, even the man himself had received their titles from the original Mind. But the naming rights for the animal kingdom were given to another, to Adam. Whatever Adam named them, that was the name that stuck, God honored it.
We have a similar ability as image-bearers of a Creator who speaks things into existence. Have you forgotten how important God said your words are? He still allows us to name the things that He brings to us. Did He bring you a difficult situation? You could name it your burden, or you could name it your opportunity to overcome. Whatever you name it, God will honor your name.
One thing that sets humanity apart from the animal kingdom is our supernatural ability of speech and communication. Your words can steer the direction of your life based on your naming ability. Your challenge today is to be a positive Name-Giver.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21
For more on this topic, please listen to the message from last night.
Day 2 – Replacing Complaints With Compliments
Give someone a compliment today.
You know how it feels to receive a compliment? It’s empowering, encouraging, and just makes your day so much better. Imagine how your life might improve if everyone around you felt empowered, encouraged and was having great days. You can speak life into the people around you by giving simple, honest compliments.
Today, give a quick compliment to everyone you possibly can and see how it improves your day.
Read this amazing article about why giving compliments actually benefits you more than you know.
Day 1 – The Speak Life Challenge
How could your life be different if you would just speak life? Leave a comment with the creative word you are going to speak to someone today!
According to Genesis 1 (in our new Bible reading plan), when God wanted to create, he didn't use a magic wand and say, "Abra-Cadabra". He didn't bring together any basic materials to form them together into a new shape. No, He literally turned nothing into something by the power of His words alone. He still does this today. What's amazing is that He has created us with a similar ability to speak things into (or out of) existence.
Speak Life Challenge – Day 1: Speak something into existence today. "Son, you're going to get good grades this semester" "Wife, our marriage is going to be stronger this year." "My faith will be solidified this year." "My prayer life will be more intimate" "My bible study will be more serious." "I am going to win 10 people to the Lord this year." "I will make a disciple this year." Alternatively, “I will quit _________ in the strength of the Holy Spirit” “Enemy, I won’t allow you to torment me or lie to me today.”
How could your life be different if you would just speak life? Leave a comment with the creative word you are going to speak to someone today!