I Declare War: Part 2
Notes
Transcript
SPEAK LIKE A WOLF
SPEAK LIKE A WOLF
I came across a funny story on the internet the other day. I don’t know who shared it, but she writes...
Yesterday I was buying a large bag of Dog Chow for Socks the wonder dog and was about to check out.
A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had, an elephant?
I'm retired now, with some spare time on my hands. So, on impulse, I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, and that I was starting the Dog Food Diet again. Although I probably shouldn't, because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially the perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Dog Chow nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try the diet again.
(I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story.)
Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me.
I told her no. I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter and a car hit us both.
I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard!
The manager won't let me shop there anymore....
Has anyone here ever eaten dog food? Don’t be afraid to raise your hand, no one is going to judge you. I’m just gonna write your name down here on my list. (just kidding). I watched my brother eat a piece of dog food once and it turned my stomach. A lot like soured milk. Have you ever opened the fridge to get the milk out and the jug looked a little swollen so you opened it and carefully took a small sniff of the milk? I promise if you ever grab a swollen jug of milk and smell of it, you will only do it once. From that moment on it will go straight to the trash or where ever you put things like that.
I don’t want to gross you out, but the worst is if you drink milk that is on the fence and then after it mixes with stomach acids you end up throwing it back up. That smell can’t be trumped and it sticks with you for hours. Who am I kidding, of course I’m trying to gross you out! As nasty as that is, according to Jesus it isn’t what we eat that defiles us...
11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
Last week we recognized that it is time to declare war. We looked at the 3 enemies we face in this war, and one of them can actually be ourselves. So for the next few weeks we are going to examine what it takes to declare war on that part of ourselves that wants to throw in the towel, turn back to what we are familiar with, give up, that part of ourselves that comes in between God and us/who He is calling us to be/the freedom in the Spirit that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. This series is based on a study by Levi Lusko where he says that when we declare war we should be like wolves. Wolves are very intelligent and vicious while also being loving pack animals. Specifically, last week we looked at “Thinking like a wolf.” Today we are going to SPEAK LIKE A WOLF.
Jim and Jamie Dutcher lived with the Sawtooth Wolf Pack for 6 years before writing a book about what they learned called “The Wisdom of Wolves: Lessons from the Sawtooth Pack”. Much like humans, wolves use multiple means of communication. They communicate with scents, body language & vocalizations. We communicate by speaking as well as using physical and visual cues. Most experts agree that speaking only comprises about 7% of our communication. The rest of our communication comes from non-verbal communication such as tones, facial expressions, gestures and so forth. This is why many communication experts don’t like things like phones, text messages or social media. Interpersonal communication suffers greatly with technology.
Wolves howl for more reasons than we will ever know. The Sawtooth Pack sometimes howled in celebration after a meal. Sometimes they howled back and forth at night to communicate to one another, as if to say, “I’m over here; I’m okay.” They howled mournfully in sadness when one of their family members died. Sometimes it seemed as if they howled because they felt like it. Although their howls carried many different moods, the one quality that always seemed to be present was a sense of togetherness.
Depending on weather conditions and terrain, a wolf’s howl can be heard up to ten miles away. Wolves purposefully avoid singing in unison. Each wolf varies its pitch to achieve a perfect dissonance. One reason they probably do this is to make the group sound more numerous. If all of the wolves are howling in the same pitch, it will just sound like one or two wolves, but in perfect dissonance you can’t tell if there are 5 or 50 wolves.
Unlike other animals, wolves have a variety of distinctive facial expressions they use to communicate and maintain pack unity. They are always interacting with each other, touching base, communicating moods and reaffirming their family bonds and roles.
The average person speaks about 5,000 words per day. Men, that means that you will say a shocking 500 words per day! And our wives try to claim we never talk! (just kidding again) Seriously though, now that it is so easy to speak to people on twitter and facebook and reply to other people’s posts, I am willing to bet that number is probably higher today. And Jesus tells us that these words are so important that we will have to answer for every idle word.
Does that make you pause for a second? Can you picture Jesus sitting down with you and opening the book of your life and narrating back to you the things you have said? How many of us want Jesus reading our facebook posts back to us?
36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
Here is the point we are getting to, and the theme of today’s study. If you are taking notes you will want to write this one down...
IF JESUS IS LORD OF YOUR LIFE THEN HE NEEDS TO BE LORD OF YOUR LIPS TOO.
Obviously, our words are important. Clearly Jesus wants us to know they are important to God. We know that communication is one of the biggest part of our daily lives. Probably only second to our thoughts! So what kind of impact do our words have. It’s apparent that they are a big part of our lives and carry a huge impact. Let’s look at 3 ways our words impact our lives...
YOUR WORDS IMPACT OTHER PEOPLE.
Wolves will howl to get members of the pack worked up and excited about going hunting. At this point they may howl in unison, a lot like a sports team that will chant in the locker rooms before coming out onto the court or the fields. Or the coaches that will rally the team with a shout. Our words have the power to motivate and inspire people or deflate and depress them.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
In other words, the choice is yours. Your words can give life or they can kill. YOU decide if you are going to share life giving fruit or poison.
In the late 1800’s, John Watson told his readers to “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Mark Twain said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 107 tells us that we should tell others about how God has saved us...
2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
Paul told the Ephesians and the Colossians that we speak good and positive things to others because it gives grace and guides our conversations.
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Grace is the best thing you could give someone. It means that you are giving them something great that they don’t even deserve. Not just better than they deserve, but the best thing you could give them that they could probably never earn from you and there are no strings attached. Its a free gift. In fact, that is how it is worded in the message translation. It says to treat each word you say as a gift. Think about what it feels like when someone gives you a gift. You see this beautifully wrapped gift and the first thing you wan to do is open it up and enjoy it. Or if you are like Amy, first you will take a dozen pictures of it and then open it up. Enjoying every little piece of it. Admiring the bow, then the paper, then the excellent craftsmanship that went into wrapping it, then the nice way the item is being displayed on the inside. That is how our words are meant to feel. Like gifts.
Our words impact others. Second...
2. YOUR WORDS IMPACT THE FUTURE.
Just like our thoughts point us in a direction, our words do the same thing. Our words create an atmosphere around us. Our words can not only affect others, but can affect who we surround ourselves with. All of this works together to take us in a specific direction. Your words can be full of faith for the future or they can be full of fear. When your words are full of faith, impossible things can be done. Jesus gives us a good example of how powerful our words can be for our futures in the book of Matthew...
You may remember when Jesus came upon a fig tree that wasn’t producing fruit in chapter 21. He cursed the tree and it withered. The disciples were amazed, “Woah, how did you do that!”
21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
You take your words, God’s will, and faith and you will see the results affect your future. Obviously, Jesus is NOT talking about turning your house into a mansion and your car into a Ferrari. Part of faith is seeking God’s will over MY will. “THY will, not MY will, be done.” Sometimes the impossible thing being done is you continuing to believe in Him in the midst of your storm. When hardship comes we can speak good into those difficult seasons of our life. Not that the hardship is good, but that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him.
Jesus used the imagery of the fig tree again in Luke 6 to say that, not only do your words impact your future, but they are a strong indication of where you are headed. Because Your words are a product of the state of your heart.
45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
Your heart is a treasury of things. Your mouth is what you use to shower people with your treasure. Based on what is flowing from your treasury, what direction is your life going? What kind of treasure do you have in your heart’s reserve?
Your words impact others, they impact your future, and...
3. YOUR WORDS IMPACT YOU.
The person you talk to the most is yourself. At least that’s what the voices keep telling me. Seriously, you can be your own critic or your own coach. If you are your worst enemy, it might be time to stop and ask the voice in your head, “Who’s side are you on?” You may need to fire your inner critic and hire your inner coach. A critic is the worst thing you can be for yourself. A critic just stands on the sidelines and points out all of the mistakes and bad things that you’ve done. Arms crossed, nose in the air.
A coach may yell at you, but helps you make changes. Helps you find ways to avoid the problems in the future. A coach will psych you up and inspire you to be the best you can be. It’s time to declare war on your words and your heart, where your words come from. Declare war, stop listening to your fear, and start putting in faith.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
Is your tongue setting your whole life on fire? Or is it spreading blessing and praises? Grace and gratitude? When I was a kid I would get teased quite a bit and me and my brother, Dusty, would fight and argue a lot. It seemed like I was sad or angry a lot and it had a big impact on my attitude. My mom would always tell me to bite my tongue and count to ten. She would tell me that I was in control of my attitude. So how do we do that? How do we get control of our attitude, our mood, our depression?
Probably the most important word that you will say all day is “Thanks”. Gratitude is of primary importance to God, so it should be to us as well.
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
It’s important for us to do more than just “be thankful”, we should speak out with gratitude. We read this verse earlier...
2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
The Pharisees wanted the crowds of people to stop praising Jesus as he came into Jerusalem and Jesus said...
40 He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
If it is that important to God, then it HAS to be life changing! Think about how gratitude affects your physical body. Today we have medication for depression. The anti-depressant Wellbutrin boosts the neurotransmitter dopamine in your body. Prozac increases your levels of serotonin. Studies have shown that gratitude does both. (I am in no way giving you medical advice! Always talk to your doctor about blah blah blah.) Researchers have found that something as simple as writing down 5 things that you are grateful for once per week can boost your happiness by up to 25%!
Saying “thank you” humbles us. It forces us to acknowledge that we have to rely on someone else for something we couldn’t do or couldn’t do on our own. Forces us to submit to someone else’s strength. Saying “thank you” is a positive gift of words for someone else to enjoy. Appreciation for their actions and efforts. Acknowledges their service unto us. Having hearts of gratitude stores up treasures for the future to freely hand out gifts of grace. When we look to the future and that is the treasure we see, it is hard not to be thankful to God in every situation. Good or bad. Between the boost in our happiness and the joy of spreading a treasure of grace, it starts getting easier and easier to go through hardships with faith and thanksgiving.
Declare war on your words and speak like wolves. With purpose, encouragement and love. Encouraging, empowering, life filled words.