Its Your Choice pt 2

Its Your Choice pt 2

. a couple of weeks ago we began to talk about the power of words, that the words that we speak can and will determine the course and the effectiveness of our lives.

. We have a choice every single day to choose either life or death for ourselves via the words that we choose to speak.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 NKJV

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:18–20 NKJV

I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

. And with everything that is going on in the world right now with the corona virus pandemic, these scriptures are incredibly important that we understand and put these things in place. The way that we deal with this as the church will have a big impact on those around us.

. We spoke a couple of weeks ago about living each day with our future in mind and using the power of our words to build a positive future for ourselves.

. we finished by reading proverbs 18:21, today i also want to read the previous verse.

Proverbs 18:20–21 NKJV

A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

. With the way things are going in the world right now, the fruit of our lips as believers matter greatly!

. and not just for us, but for everyone around us, for our families for our communities.

. The world is watching the church during these times, and i want to remind you that this building is not the church, you and I are the church, we are the ones who have been called by God to pass on the message of Hope.

. And so even though things will be changing for the way that we are able to meet as the church, it does not mean that we will become ineffective as a church, it is actually going to provided us with more opportunities to impact people, juts in a different way to how we normally would.

. The way that we speak regarding the future will impact this generation. as believers we stand in faith through all trouble and crisis and this is no different, but having faith does not mean acting stupid.

..Like the verse in proverbs says we will be satisfied/filled by the fruit of our lips.

.I believe that it really is so important that we don't speak negative about things that we don't understand.

. it is normal to be fearful of something that we don't understand, or when we are not quite sure how something will play out. but when we begin to speak negatively about something before it even begins just because we don't understand it. We are feeding ourselves doubt and fear rather than faith and hope and trust in God.

. but we really do need to be careful when speaking of things we don't fully understand, and about what kind of declaration we make over ourselves and our families.

check out this verse

2 Peter 2:12 NKJV

But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,

. Now this verse is speaking directly about false teachers, but here is were i find the connection for each of us and why i believe this verse is of great value to us.

. If we are declaring false things over our lives and over our situation. and over our future. you are actually teaching/training yourself in something that is false and that is actually going to bring destruction/death to your life.

. So here is the reality we don't know what will continue to happen over the coming months in our country let alone the rest of the world. but what you begin to declare and over your family will determine just how well you come out the other side.

. Things are going to be changing in how we can do church and be the church over the coming months. we will not be “cancelling church” we will just be meeting together differently!

. and how you begin to speak about the changes that will be happening will have a large part in determine how effective we as a church will be during this time.

. Our community needs us the church more than they realize, and if we can begin to truly speak life over selves and live accordingly we will be shining the light of God into peoples lives in such a way that will provided hope for those who have lost all hope.

.If your struggling to think how can i begin to speak positive over my life and my family. I have some good news God has actually already provided for us in his Word that he wants us to declare.

and its found in the book of numbers!!

Numbers 6:22–27 NKJV

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

.This is the priestly blessing that God commanded the priests to declare or to speak over the nation of Israel (his chosen people)