My husband has family on the island of Oahu, and I’m so thankful to have been able to visit that tropical paradise several times. Whenever it was time to go home, I would sing that 80’s song (and it’s really the only line I know) Back to life…back to reality! (And all my readers who grew up in the 80’s just started singing it!) 🙂
We would even talk about moving over there – you know – like everyone who visits that island probably does. But in the end, if we did move over there, it wouldn’t have been the same. It wouldn’t have been a relaxing escape….the work and stress of every day life with 3 kids would follow us there. Our vacation time was not what the reality of living on the island would be. So…we always came back to reality and kept that as an oasis of escape.
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (2 Corinthians 2:13)
The Bible has a lot to say about words. In Genesis, we find that everything that we see was created with Words. Everything is still held together by those very same words that were spoken thousands of years ago. Life and death are in our words. Words can build up and words can tear down. Our words carry power.
There are two kinds of words that we can see here, words taught by human wisdom and words taught by the Spirit. Human wisdom is what we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands and hear and taste and smell. Human wisdom encompasses everything we can touch with our five senses.
Words taught by the Spirit (and I love what this says) explain spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The things that God has spoken in the Word…the things that He has promised and we can read in His Word….are REALITIES! We need to get a hold of that.
(If you click the picture, it gets bigger. Just sayin’….)
It is so easy to limit our reality to what we can see. It’s difficult to “see” what we can’t see with our eyes and call it reality. But in fact, those spiritual realities are more true than what we can see. God’s promise carries more weight and power than the circumstance we can see with our eyes or are feeling in our body.
And God gave us His Word to hold on to so we could have something to speak and think about and look at when what we see with our eyes is the opposite of what the Word says….when what we see is opposite of the spiritual reality.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)
I love this. I read it over and over when studying about the living water of the river of life. The Spirit and the bride say come. The Spirit and the bride say come. The Spirit and the bride say come. I love it. And what I love most is this – the Spirit and the bride say – the same thing! They say the same thing!
And I started asking myself all day long – do the Spirit (the Word) and the bride (me) say the same thing? Every time I complained about something, I asked myself, “Am I saying what the Spirit is saying?” I asked myself, “Are my words Spirit-taught? Are my words spiritual realities?” And sometimes they were……but sometimes…well 🙁
Knowing that death and life are in the power of the tongue and that my words frame my world according to the Word, I had a decision to make. Do I continue to speak life and mix it up with speaking what I can see? Or, do I start saying only what the Word says?
Well, that was a no-brainer, let me tell you. I want pure life flowing out of my mouth. Life builds up. Life heals. Life brings change. Life brings peace and joy. Life brings victory. There is power released into our situations when we speak life.
So, let me challenge you with this…what is teaching your words? Are your words spirit-taught or are they taught of human wisdom? Are the Spirit and the bride saying the same thing? Are you speaking spiritual realities?
Breakthrough comes when the Spirit and the bride agree. When we line our words up with what He said, we are just agreeing with Him. And peace comes. It’s an amazing way to live!
From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. (Proverbs 18:20)