The Blessing Week 6: Fire Safety

Review

The blessing that God has made available to you and I as His creation is dependent upon us walking in submission Him.

It is also dependent upon us maintaining the authority structure that He has intended for ourselves and our families.

Last week we talked about the fact that God wants to open us us up as the windows of heaven if we will simply walk in obedience to him in the principle of the tithe.

Genesis 1:28 NKJV

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Pray

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The power of the Spoken Word

Today I don’t want to take long but I want to close this concept of the blessing and how to walk in it out by looking at one of the most powerful tools we have for good that we so often lend to the enemy for evil.

I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD.

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James 3:2 NKJV

2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

James 3:6–10 NKJV

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

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300 Illustrations for Preachers Spark Sets Golf Course Ablaze

A southern California golfer provided a good example of how a small spark can start a big blaze. The man was golfing at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine and accidentally chipped his ball into the rough beside the fairway. On his next swing, his club hit a rock, which caused a small spark. The spark landed in the dry grass and set the rough on fire. Fire officials say 150 firefighters were called to battle the fire that quickly spread through vegetation next to the course and over two dry, brushy hillsides nearby. Authorities said the man, who was not identified, would not be charged.

Words do wild work.

Many of us have found ourselves in a situation where we are living out a less than ideal reality because of words that have been spoken over us.

A parent who spoke negatively

A spouse who declared how terrible we were

A friend who said something that stings us.

We like to think that we are strong enough to move past those words…

Words turn into works…

The words that are spoken to us or spoken by us do not come out of our mouth and cease to exist…the spoken word carries with it a creative power to develop or destroy.

Verse 6 says that the tongue sets on fire the course of nature.

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Fire Safety Tips from the kitchen

I wanted to take today and address the power of our words to step into the blessing that God has for us.

But as opportunistic as this aspect of blessing is…

Of equal or greater value is the cautious approach to realize the potential for our words to set a fire in our lives that can become uncontainable.

Today I want to address this concept with some fire safety instructions.

MOST FIRE SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS HAVE NARROWED DOWN THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF HOUSE FIRES TO BE COOKING ACCIDENTS

So today I want to use fire safety instructions from the kitchen to try and neutralize the blaze of our words and the words around us.

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Fire Safety Tips for the kitchen

1: Never Leave Cooking Food Unattended

IOW: Don’t leave the contents on the inside of you unattended…pay attention to what’s cooking

There are some of us that have a pretty easy path to fixing what we are seeing in our lives.

We have been inhibited from experiencing the fullness of blessing because of words.

But it is not what others are speaking about you.

It’s what you are saying about yourself

STORY OF THE KID ON EASTON’S BASKETBALL TEAM

When there is a constant flow of negative talk coming from your own mouth…you are setting a blaze in your own life.

You don’t fix it by cleaning your vocabulary…you fix it by attending what’s on the inside.

It is the unattended content of our inner man that is overflowing into the toxic talk.

If negativity keeps leaking on the outside of you…it’s an indication that there is a deficit on the inside of you

Luke 6:45 NKJV

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Matthew 15:11 NKJV

11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

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2. Keep Flamable materials like towels and curtains from the stovetop

IOW: Identify the things that regularly ignite fires of negativity and remove yourself from those things.

Some people can’t watch the news

Some people can’t be on social media

Some people shouldn’t have the right to conversation with you!

Be careful who you let speak words into your lives.

Toxic people have toxic consequences.

There are some people who find something wrong with everyone and everything.

We are drawn to these people because they bring us in with common frustrations.

I had friends at NEW LIFE that reeled me in with a common frustration.

Toxicity doesn’t stay contained.

IF someone is always talking negative about everything…

in particular the bride of christ (the church) and God’s people…look at what scripture says about that person.

Proverbs 16:27 NKJV

27 An ungodly man digs up evil, And it is on his lips like a burning fire.

Proverbs 26:20 NKJV

20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

Some of us have continually burning fires cuz we keep letting other peoples words set the blaze.

Identify the most commonly flammable objects and remove them!

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3. Regularly clean your stove to remove grease buildup.

IOW: Things from the past are prone to cause fires in the present

Some of us have done the work to make sure there are not any voices in our lives presently that carry the weight to cause a flame in our lives.

But we don’t realize there are crumbs and buildup from long ago that is constantly a hazard to us.

Story of the teacher in Practical Living

Now when someone considers me not enough..I hear her

Now when something I try doesn’t work…I hear her

I can find myself living in an inferno based on the crumbs left by someone who played so little of a role in my life that it is laughable.

There are many people who come into churches every Sunday that are haunted by sound tracks of

You’re stupid

You should have never been born

You’re ugly

You’ll never amount to anything

SOME UNREPEATABLE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN SPOKEN OVER YOU

The buildup of your brokenness continually sets a fire in your life that is severing ties

Relationships are hard

Workplaces are temporary

Church bodies are short lived

It’s time to clean out the buildup from days, months, years, or decades ago.

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Don’t simply forget…replace

Well, that sounds nice Pastor, but it’s not that simple.

I can’t just forget about what they said

I’ve tried to forget it but it keeps showing up.

The key to deliverance is not only found in eviction of the brokenness

It is found in the replacement of brokenness with wholeness

I’m not asking you to forget the word that was spoken by you, to you, or over you…I’m telling you that we can replace it.

THAT WAS NOT THE ONLY WORD SPOKEN!

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Hebrews 12:24 NIV

24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The blood of Abel speaks to one of the most atrocious sins that was commited in the narrative of scripture.

It was ugly

It was gory

It was repulsive

That narrative involves God letting Cain know that the blood of his brother was crying out.

That blood spoke a word of Cain…but there was another version of shed blood that would come later.

That shed blood would speak a new level of life and vitality.

I understand that your Father said something terrible…but through the blood a better word is available

I understand that your boss said something hurtful…but through the blood there is a better word available.

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The difference between the Phillies and Graphite for Weston

The only difference was what the coach was telling him.