From the beginning of life, God started with naming
us. Names are an identity and they build
a relationship in the knowing of one’s
name. The importance and power of a name
is in Acts 2:21 “And anyone who calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved.”
The angel appeared
and told Mary and Joseph before He was born, that they were to call Him
Jesus. Jesus, in Hebrew is Yeshua which
means YHVH saves/delivers.
We often don’t see ourselves as God sees us. He knows us and calls us by name. Sometimes our view of ourselves has been ruined by Satan’s lies and influence or we just don’t believe the way God sees us.
We often don’t see ourselves as God sees us. He knows us and calls us by name. Sometimes our view of ourselves has been ruined by Satan’s lies and influence or we just don’t believe the way God sees us.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham in Genesis 17 as He
told Abraham he was blessed and would be the father of many nations. In that encounter Abraham fell down. Sometimes an encounter that is so strong with
the LORD and His Spirit can make us fall down, or you stop where you are and
have to worship like Jacob did when God told him he was now blessed and would
no longer be Jacob, but Israel in Genesis 35. God saw them differently than
they saw themselves; so much so that He changed their names to help them fit
how He was seeing them and blessing them.
Gideon had been threshing and was in the bottom of a
winepress hiding grain because the Midianites had been taking all that belonged
to the Israelites. In Judges 6, an angel
of the LORD came and appeared to Gideon and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is
with you!” Gideon wasn’t seeing himself
at all like a mighty hero. But, God
did. The LORD told him that he would
rescue Israel. Gideon tried to argue
this by saying he was from the weakest clan of his entire tribe and that he was
the weakest one in his entire family! In
Gideon’s disbelief he asked for some specific miracles to happen before he
could believe what the LORD was saying about him was true. Gideon struggled
with the words and the way the LORD looked at him. The LORD called him a mighty hero!
God continued on with Gideon to help him to believe in
who he was in God. Gideon asked for
proof of the things God was telling him.
He asked God to make wet a fleece of sheepskin. He laid it down and in the morning it was wet
and everything around it was dry. This
helped Gideon, but he still wasn’t convinced so he asked God to keep the fleece
dry and make everything else around it wet.
Again, God did it.
As the Spirit of God came on Gideon, Gideon got up in the
night and broke the idols of his father’s.
This was a wild and rebellious act, but it built him up in the way of
courage in front of the people that had heard about what he had done.
Later, God whittled down the army of people that were to
fight with Gideon to a ridiculously low and dangerous number. Being armed with few would prove God’s
strength. Gideon was nervous about
attacking so God said if Gideon needed more confidence he should go and sneak into
the camp of the enemy before the attack and learn for himself.
As Gideon and another man that went with him went in,
they heard a conversation in the tent of their enemy. They were discussing a dream that one had as
the other one interpreted it. It was
about the army of Gideon defeating them.
Here God provided prophecy and interpretation out of the lips of his
enemy proving that God was going to do this great thing.
God then had Gideon and his small army carry jars with
them and hide their torches inside of them as they approached the camp of the
enemy. At God’s command, they were to
throw down their clay jars breaking them to the ground and blow their horns.
This was a large step of faith on their part, but God had
provided His proof. They were obedient
and God defeated the Midianites as they fled and turned on themselves. We see God’s grace to Gideon to help him to
see who he was and how God saw him to the point where God was able to use him
in great ways.
Sometimes it is us that doesn’t see others the way that
God sees them. In 1Samuel 16, the Lord tells Samuel to go and find Jesse and
anoint one of his sons with oil to be His new king. Samuel goes and asks Jesse to bring out his
sons. As Jesse does so he brings out the
first one that he thought would be the one God wanted as King. Even Samuel took one look at him he thought,
“Surely this is the LORD’s anointed.”
But, it wasn’t. They went through
the seven sons that were there and not one of them was the one God said to
anoint. So Samuel asked if that was all
the sons that Jesse has. There is still
the youngest, Jesse tells him, but that he’s out watching the sheep. Samuel tells him to get him and little David
comes in and Samuel sees him as ruddy, handsome and with pleasant eyes. The LORD tells Samuel that this is the one: “anoint
him.” So, little David stood there among
all of his big brothers and was anointed.
The Spirit of the LORD came on him from that day forward.
During the time of assuming a different son would be the
one to be anointed, the LORD spoke to Samuel. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by
his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The
Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do!
People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s
thoughts and intentions.”
Even Mary was not seeing herself as God saw her. When the
angel appeared to Mary the angel called her “favored woman.” Luke 1:28 “Greetings,
favored woman! The Lord is with you!” 29
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30
“Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless
you!” Mary was confused and
disturbed and couldn’t figure out what the angel could mean. She was probably
wondering how she was favored, what could there possibly be about her that made
her favored? Maybe she didn’t feel that
the Lord was with her and wondered how He was, but she knew who God was and she
believed and asked the angel how it would happen.
We know a lot about ourselves. We often see our weaknesses or our faults and
let those define us. We put ourselves
down and often feel unworthy or unable to be used by God or loved by God or
even able to approach God. These are the
things that Satan likes to use to keep us from God, but this isn’t the way God
sees us.
Satan is known as the accuser. The negative thoughts you may have about yourself
are the accusations of the enemy. Romans
8:1 says, “So now there is no
condemnation for those who belong to
Christ Jesus.” The Lord isn’t
condemning as an accuser does, but He sees you in love and the good He has
given you through Jesus. He created you
to be able to be with Him and He made an always open way through Jesus’ own
sacrifice.
Ephesians 3:12 “In
him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Think of the freedom given to the live dove
after the one dove was sacrificed. Look
at the word confidence. Confidence is
not present when we look at our faults and our weakness. Confidence comes in seeing ourselves the way
God sees us through the perfection of Jesus; knowing that He loves us so much
that He sent His only son to be the way to perfect us. Our confidence is in Him and Him in us. He desires our presence and our relationship
with Him and wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us so that we can come
to Him in confidence.
Mary’s confidence was in God.
As God spoke positive things for these examples of people
in the Bible of the way He saw them, they began to walk and live in it and
their lives changed. Some of us have had
harsh things said about us or to us. If
you have negative words in your mind about yourself, write down the opposite of
that word. The bad is not of God,
because God is good. The opposite word,
which is good, would be of God. Start
seeing yourself in the way God sees you and be confident that He loves you and
wants you to come to Him freely and confidently.
We have seen by the examples of these people and the
words spoken over and to them, that there is great power in words. Proverbs
18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it
will eat its fruit. This is
sobering. Good things said can give life
and the harsh and cruel things can cause death.
I know when I
speak well to someone there is an improvement in them. Also, they in turn begin to speak well in
return. Likewise, if I am negative or
harsh or aggressive with my words, the other person often reacts back to me in
the same way. We do eat the fruit of
what we put out.
I saw this in the physical recently. My father-in-law was nearing death. He was from England
and for the last nine years he was living in America England
One after the other his brothers, sister and children
called. I knelt at his bedside holding
the phone to his ear. As the calls came
he began to move slightly to nod his head and eventually even smile at some of
the words being said to him. He had some
relationships that had been distant and one of his family members hadn’t spoken
with him in 17 years. He got a phone
call from her and heard her voice. His eyes had been closed, but he opened them
and I could see the light in his eyes.
He was tired after all of it, but so peaceful and content.
I went to see him the following morning. I was unsure how much further he would have
deteriorated as the nurses had called us to try and connect with him one last
time.
I came in the next
morning and he was awake. Not only was
he awake, but he was sitting in a chair! He was talking and wanting food and I
was stunned!
There was a note left from the hospice nurse that said my
father in law was up with her and she had given him breakfast, that he was
watching the re-run of the Royal Wedding and that he said The Lord’s Prayer
with them when they said it on the television.
This was such powerful evidence of the power of words! They brought life! He wasn’t able to see these people, but he
listened to them over the phone as they told him that they loved him. This event added over another month to his
life. The doctors and hospice had
previously said he would be gone in 48 hours.
When we speak well of people and encourage them, it is a
good fruit for them. Likewise, it makes
it easy for the other person to respond back in a kind manner. After my father-in-law’s come-back he started
to tell all of us that he loved us and that we were never to forget it. He said that he loved all of the people that
weren’t able to be there, too. He had
never outwardly spoken like that to us before.
This left us with so much to hold onto now that he’s
gone. It was a kind of fruit that does
not go away. By what he received, he had
to give to others. The power of the
words came from the people he had relationships with that were intimate. The nurses’ kind words hadn’t done it. It was of greatest value and life-giving from
those he had deep relationships with.
When we are mean or say hurtful things, the response is
often the same types of things back to us.
It cuts and hurts and handicaps a person from growing into the good way
God created them and both walk away wounded and hurt.
Even the tones and the way we say things can hurt and
harm people.
I used to be a master of using sarcasm. It was a way to say what I wanted that was
mean without really saying the exact words.
I saw this phrase and it says it so well, “Sarcasm… because beating the
crap out of people is illegal.” Sarcasm
is like that! Those words and attitude
beat a person down. The power of our words
that come from our breath are so powerful in nature as God breathed life in us. We need to truly comprehend the way God made
us and that His plan for us was to be life-giving and a help! The purpose for us in this is huge!
The spewed, negative words, the division that occurs over
attitudes, disdain, and unforgiveness without considering another and the death
spoken in perversion, self-centered and self-seeking ways is destroying homes,
hearts of children, and people all over.
Hearing the words, “I’m sorry” is like a medicine on a wound. “I forgive
you” is the restoration to the relationship.
Saying, “I love you” gives so
much value and strengthens relationships.
Saying for the first time, “I love you,” is often the
beginning of a new life between a man and woman. Hearing it from a parent is as foundationally
comforting as having been held safely and close on their lap.
These words reach us deep.
There is reason for it and it is all part of the way you
are created. Your purpose at this time
on earth is great. There is only one you
and only you know the people that you know, go to the places that you go and
can give life from your lips as you speak well into and to others. No one else has your voice. Your voice comes on the breath of the life
within you.
One of our perfect examples of living in love is shown in
Psalm 145:8 The LORD is merciful and
compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
If we are living in love then our words are and they are
life-giving. Words of mercy, compassion,
patience and unfailing love. We need to
wrap our words in these.
Love, in the form when expressed in the intimate,
physical way between a man and woman is the very place of where a physical life
is created. Think about that! God shows us examples in the physical and
spiritual ways of His true heart; love and life and intimacy and the power of
that. He has said that our words can be
life or death. Our words are personal
and intimate and reach us in spiritual and emotional ways that can help or hurt, give life or death.
Think of the way you talk to people in your life. What are your words doing? Are they out of love? A good check-up can be found in 1 Corinthians
13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor
others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
How do you talk to yourself? Are you running yourself down? There have been some motivational speakers
that teach positive affirmations which is telling yourself good things about
yourself. We know that these words do things for us and help us to do
better. When you understand the way you
are created, the power of breath and spirit from God Himself and that you are
the very essence of Him and heaven, you can see why there is so much power to
it. And why you should see yourself the way God sees you. “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth!” 1 Corinthians 13:6
The power of God’s words are living and active and
precise. God does not exaggerate or
underestimate. His words are so powerful
that it transforms lives. It creates a
new life and spirit inside. Hebrews
4:12 For
the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Revelation 1:16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and
out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun
shining in all its brilliance.
As Satan is called a liar and father of all lies; it is
of words. There is no truth in him. No good word.
Someone once said that in a way… negative words are the worship language
of hell. They destroy and kill and there
is no good fruit. As Jesus cursed the
fig tree for having no fruit He stopped the life as it shriveled and dried up. The tree had not been fulfilling its life’s
purpose. This is not meant to be a
place of condemnation for you, but a place of becoming aware and
persevering. It is a light on the
darkness of the Enemy.
Pray against the
words of the Enemy and pray in the power of God’s truth of love, purpose and
His vision of you and those you know. This week, notice any thoughts that come
against you in your impression of yourself that are negative in that moment,
write the opposite of that thought which is the positive! The negative is condemnation, insecurity and
inferiority driven thoughts. Jesus wants
you to know His love, His power and Him in you to be what He has made you to be
through Him. Keep your list of positives
and praise Him for seeing you in those ways and giving you those things. The positives are pluses and a plus is an
addition and that addition is the provision and giving of God to you. Receive what He is giving you.
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