🙏 The Power of Words: When God Owns the Heart

🙏 The Power of Words: When God Owns the Heart

The Power and Accountability of Words According to Scripture

• Matthew chapter 15 is used as the foundational text, in which Jesus addresses the Pharisees and his disciples regarding the true source of defilement in a person.
• Defilement, according to Jesus, does not come from what enters the mouth but from what comes out of it, as the mouth reflects the condition of the heart.
• Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies are identified as the things that proceed from the heart and defile a person.
• God is described as holding every person accountable for every word that comes out of their mouth, regardless of the emotional state in which those words were spoken.
• Proverbs 18:21 is referenced to reinforce that life and death reside in the power of the tongue, making the words people speak a matter of profound spiritual consequence.
• Justifications such as being upset or angry do not exempt a person from the consequences of their words, as those consequences will eventually be reaped.

The Heart as the True Reflection of Character

• God is presented as knowing not only a person's words but also their intentions, motives, emotions, and will, making it impossible to disguise the true condition of one's heart.
• Appearing holy outwardly while harboring a corrupt heart is identified as the central failure of the Pharisees, who honored God with their lips while their hearts remained far from Him.
• A distinction is drawn between God knowing a person's heart and God owning a person's heart, with the latter being the true mark of belonging to Him.
• When God owns the heart, a believer will not be moved by every wind of doctrine, trickery, or worldly influence, but will instead impart the kingdom of God into the world.
• People who claim to love God while their actions reflect otherwise are identified as living in a contradiction that must be resolved through genuine surrender of the heart.

Negative Speech Patterns and Their Spiritual Implications

• Recent studies are cited indicating that the average person wrestles with approximately 60,000 thoughts per day and speaks between 12,000 and 16,000 of them.
• Approximately 40% of daily speech is identified as negative, characterized by constant complaining, criticism, and dissatisfaction.
• A person filled with God and the Holy Spirit is described as being thankful and grateful in every circumstance, regardless of external conditions.
• Speaking negatively over one's own life is presented as a way of inadvertently delaying the promises of God, as words spoken in the negative become a form of self-sabotage.
• The Spanish saying that words are carried away by the wind is directly refuted, with the assertion that words do not disappear but instead become life.
• Believers are strongly urged to monitor what comes out of their mouths because those words come directly from the heart and reveal who a person truly is.

The Relationship Between Words and Actions

• Lip service is identified as a spiritual danger, where people express desire for God's blessings and change without following up with corresponding actions.
• Faith without action is illustrated through the principle that a person must position themselves to receive a blessing rather than waiting passively for it to arrive.
• Speaking something into existence is presented as requiring consistent follow-through, as undoing spoken declarations through subsequent negative behavior nullifies their effect.
• Pouring oil over a home as an act of dedication to God is described as meaningful only when the believer continues to act in alignment with that declaration afterward.
• The devil is described as watching to see how long a believer will maintain their declarations, using inconsistency as an opportunity to undermine spiritual progress.
• Words spoken over children, marriages, finances, and careers are presented as requiring active cooperation from the believer in order for those prophetic words to come to pass.

Blind Leadership and the Danger of Self-Deception

• The image of the blind leading the blind from Matthew chapter 15 is applied to the current cultural moment, where people with platforms celebrate and spread misinformation without accountability.
• Social media influencers are cited as a modern example of individuals drawing followers without a credible or godly foundation for what they teach or promote.
• The Pharisees are presented as a cautionary example of people who were so convinced of their own righteousness that they believed their own deception.
• Self-deception is identified as one of the most dangerous spiritual conditions, as it prevents a person from seeing themselves accurately and making necessary changes.
• Asking trusted people for honest feedback about one's character and behavior is presented as a necessary and humbling practice that most people avoid out of fear.
• Defensiveness in response to honest feedback is identified as a barrier to growth, as people tend to listen more to themselves than to those around them.

Holiness as Separation and the Standard of Godly Living

• Holiness is defined not as religious performance but as being separated from those who love their sins and have no desire to change.
• Believers are warned against allowing others to drag them into spiritually unproductive environments or conversations that do not edify.
• The example of Noah is invoked to illustrate that even when the entire world was corrupt, one righteous person and his family stood apart, and Jesus declared the last days would mirror the days of Noah.
• Dressing and presenting oneself appropriately is presented as a reflection of one's values, one's family, and one's witness before others.
• Associating with people who engage in sinful behavior without demonstrating any godly distinction results in being treated as a hypocrite rather than as a person of faith.
• The presence of God in a believer is described as capable of convicting those around them without a word being spoken, simply through the consistency of a holy demeanor.

Speaking Faith and Confronting the Enemy Through Declaration

• Believers are called to actively contradict negative words spoken over their children, marriages, and lives by declaring what God has spoken instead.
• Remaining silent in the face of negative declarations from others is presented as a form of passive agreement that gives those words power.
• Telling the devil directly that he has the wrong address and that one's household will serve the Lord is presented as a necessary act of spiritual resistance.
• Coming into agreement with what God has spoken over one's life is described as the mechanism by which prophetic words are manifested in the natural realm.
• Taking every thought captive into the obedience of Jesus Christ, as referenced in 2 Corinthians, is presented as the scriptural basis for controlling what ultimately comes out of the mouth.
• Walking away from situations that threaten one's peace is presented as an act of wisdom and self-control rather than weakness, preventing words spoken in anger that will later be regretted.

Next Steps

• Believers are encouraged to pursue a lifestyle in which their words are consistently matched by their actions across all areas of life including family, marriage, and personal conduct.
• A commitment to growing in the fruits of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 23 is presented as the path toward aligning speech with godly character.
• Certificates are to be presented to those who were recently baptized as part of the closing of the service.