May the mumbling commence!
It’s vital how we use our words. Our words are powerful – more powerful than
we can imagine. It’s part of being made
in the image of God. The power of our
words is a faint echo of the power of the Word of the Lord. And that’s great creative power!
So be careful little tongue what you say in the Lord’s
name. Read from Jeremiah chapter
twenty-three:
"Suppose one of the people or one of
the prophets or priests asks you, 'What prophecy
has the Lord burdened you with now?' You must reply, 'You
are the burden! The Lord says he
will abandon you!' If any
prophet, priest, or anyone else says, 'I have a prophecy from the Lord,' I will punish that person along with his entire family. You should keep asking each other, 'What is the Lord's answer?' or 'What is the Lord saying?' But stop using this phrase, 'prophecy from the Lord.' For
people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning
upside down the words of our God, the
living God, the Lord Almighty.”
(Verses 33-36)
We must be extremely careful not to use the claim of speaking
of the Lord for our own purposes. That’s
a grab for authority we are not entitled to.
That’s turning the Word and Spirit of the Lord on its head. We often hear about the upside-down Kingdom
of Jesus, when, in fact, our worldview is the one that’s upside-down. We’ve been living in that way for so long it
just SEEMS right-side-up!
Along with not proclaiming our own agenda as if it were
the Lord’s, we must also be careful not to wrongly assign the work of God to
another source. Read from Matthew
chapter twelve:
But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they
said, "No wonder he can cast out demons. He
gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, "Any kingdom at
war with itself is doomed. A city or home divided against itself is doomed. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is
fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. And if
I am empowered by the prince of demons, what about your own followers? They
cast out demons, too, so they will judge you for what you have said. But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then
the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. Let me illustrate
this. You can't enter a strong man's house and rob him without first tying him
up. Only then can his house be robbed! Anyone
who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is
actually working against me.
Every sin or
blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,
which can never be forgiven. Anyone
who blasphemes against me, the Son of Man, can be forgiven, but blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or
in the world to come.
A tree is identified by its fruit. Make a tree
good, and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad, and its fruit will be
bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil
men like you speak what is good and right? For
whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good
heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an
account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then;
either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." (Verses 24-37)
Yes, let’s be careful what we say about the ministries
of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
To call the work of the Spirit the work of the devil is to blaspheme the
Spirit of God. And that’s the one
unforgivable sin. That’s scary!
Beyond that, we are to think hard and long about the
words we say. They reflect what’s going
on in our hearts, our attitudes. By our
words, we will be judged. If it’s
possible, that’s even scarier! Words are
powerful. Use them with care.
Peace Out
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