The Words Of My Mouth
I can’t imagine how many times and how many people have cited this scripture in the last decades of my life. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits”, (Proverbs 18:21 ESV). I personally have cited this hundreds of times and to be honest with you, this scripture has haunted me too many nights lately. Why? Because even though it flowed so easily out of my mouth, I have not been obedient to it. It began to haunt me because I have been through some ugly seasons in my life and out of my pain, hurt, anger and bitterness, I said things to people who hurt me that I wish I had been more gracious about. Those I couldn’t say to in person, I made these decrees in my place of brokenness and in prayer and believe it or not, some of the prayers took immediate effect on the people. I was really ignorant and underestimated the power that backs the words that come out of my mouth.
All the times that I prayed to the Lord that “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”,(Psalm 19:14 KJV), I was really confusing the Holy Spirit. Thank Jesus that He searches my heart and knows the mind of my spirit and intercedes for me according to the will of God, (Romans 8:27, paraphrased). If this had not been the case, none of my prayers would have been answered or desires met. I was very convicted when I saw the effect of my words. It didn’t bring me joy. Some of the effects unfortunately cannot be repaired and some have cost me greatly. Some even left me in more pain and distraught. The Spirit of God did a 360 with me and caused my compassion to supersede my desire for vengeance. So much so that He made me turn around and pray and intercede for the same people I was praying against. I resisted this instruction from the Holy Spirit for a long time and struggled with it. I cried through the prayers, blessing my so-called enemies and asking Him, Jesus, to forgive them and show them mercy. I did it reluctantly at first but as I kept praying every day, my heart was completely changed. A deep sense of compassion and mercy took over me and I let out a painful cry on their behalf that God should cancel every word I have spoken over their lives. I had repented from saying them or even thinking about them and I want these people restored just as He restored me. It was then that I heard him remind me that “Vengeance is mine and I will recompense”. In other words, when He sees my heart filled with compassion, He will repay in His own way and will.
He then allowed me to go back in time and reflect on so many good things that He had done for me, even when I was not obedient to His will. His goodness was overwhelming and I felt terrible that as undeserving as I am, He chooses to love me relentlessly so why not show the same grace and mercy towards others. Our words can really give life or destroy life. Every time God was about to do something in the bible, He asked the prophets to speak it out. I pondered over this for a long time - why will God only do it when a word is spoken? The dry bones wouldn’t come to life until Ezekiel uttered the words to call them forth to life. (Ezekiel 37 paraphrased). This means that WORDS bring everything into being. Creation happened through words spoken by God. A person’s destiny can change overnight by uttering the right words or the wrong words. Nations have gone to war because of words. Words that have been declared over people's lives have caused open doors or created major delays and stagnation in their lives. Words, words, words….whew! To think that we only speak about 1% of the things we think about, yet the few words that come out can make or break a person’s life, is scary enough to make me desire to put a muzzle on it.
Yes, I made a decision to be very conscientious about what comes out of my mouth for the rest of my life. This is definitely a tough call but with a total submission to the Holy Spirit, I can prevail. My words have to build, create and nurture. My words must heal people and grow people. My words have to deliver people and break negative cycles in their lives. My words should lead me into good graces and glories. My words should resemble the words of Christ, with love and compassion. My words should not intentionally hurt or destroy anyone and all these are doable. When the heart is willing and obedient, the spirit of God will lead.
My mother always stressed that if what is coming out of your mouth is not from a place of love, just don’t say it. The mouth only speaks what the heart is full of. What if I am angry? I’m allowed to be angry at certain things or people when they offend me am I not? This is a tough one but while I think I can still be angry, I should not let the sun go down on my anger as the bible says. Most importantly, I should not utter the words at all. No one ever got into trouble for what’s in their head except what came out of their mouth. One of my favorite quotes is from King Duncan in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face.". I am bent on keeping this written on my forehead to remind myself that what’s in my mind cannot be read and I don’t need to utter them if they are not coming from a place of love but a place of anger.
As you navigate through your week, spend some time reflecting on the words you have spoken over people’s lives. Join me in this journey to change our words. To really echo the Psalmist in ensuring that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will be pleasing and holy before the Lord. I pray that the Lord will give us the grace to speak life everywhere we go. Choose to let your words be a blessing to others this week.
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Our Ultimate Father
After the “Woman To Woman” show yesterday, I called my bestie and she said the show was so good she needed 30 minutes of crying. She’s missing her father who is in glory. She’s not alone, I have a few more friends and acquaintances I know who are feeling the pain of this Father’s Day celebration. There’s a void in the heart which was created when their fathers passed on to be with the Lord. As humans, we immortalize our parents and rightly so. Almost every friend I know has such amazing memories of their fathers and I know they will give anything to be able to hear their fathers voices again especially on this special day.
Then we have the other group who are also grieving a different thing - they never had a father figure in their lives or the father was never involved in their upbringing. This group has a different kind of pain, knowing that the man whom you call father is alive somewhere but didn’t care to be in your life for whatever reasons. The feeling of abandonment, rejection, etc. is so real for them as well. There are several other categories that I can go on and on with but what I want to bring to light is our ultimate Father - Jesus Christ. Whatever the ‘Daddy Issue’ is, whether loss or abandonment, Jesus, our Abba Father, remains constant.
He has loved us unconditionally, shown us mercy and compassion even when we did not deserve it. He has been Jehovah Jireh our provider. He has protected us from the snare of the fowler and the noisome pestilence. He has been our fortress and shield. He is our rock and deliverer. He is the Father who healed us from all diseases and afflictions and we can honestly say that He has been faithful to us. Every morning He has renewed his grace and mercy for us. He is Sovereign - which means we can be confident that there is no Father like Him, none before Him nor after Him. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. From beginning to end, He is who He says He is. To Him alone do we call Abba Father!
Heaven and earth will pass away. Our earthly fathers will pass away but our ultimate Father will remain. No matter how you’re feeling this Father’s Day, look up to the one and only Father above. He remains forever and ever.
Wishing all our earthly fathers, present or in memoriam, a Happy Father’s Day!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
P.S. I just remembered that I have not shared any information about “Woman To Woman yet on this blog. It’s a weekly live broadcast streamed on Facebook and YouTube via my church’s social media platform, Ebenezer Methodist Church, Ghana. The program is about our spiritual journey as women and we have practical conversations led by the Holy Spirit. I think you should check it out for yourself. The Facebook handle is @emcmaryland and @chanel5112 on YouTube. We broadcast every Saturday at 2PM EST. I pray you will tune in sometime.
The Night Time Repair
A few weeks ago a very dear friend of mine called me - a bit distraught and in emotional pain. She went on to recount the events and incidents that I had led to her current state and it was quite disheartening. Her feelings and emotions were very valid. Even as the powerful woman in Jesus Christ that she is, she’s allowed to feel the way she did. I smiled when she said, “I had to talk to someone who won’t judge me. With all my knowledge of scripture and prayer. Someone who understands that empowering other women doesn’t mean that the ones doing the empowering do not break sometimes. I know at least you will listen and pray with me as well”.
It was truly an honor that I will forever cherish. I know what she was feeling quite too well; when everyone expects you to be unbreakable but you find yourself in situations where you're breaking at every turn. That, no matter how well-versed you are in scripture and prayer, the flesh can feel the pain it needs to. That, the people whom you love and cherish, the ones you have sacrificed so much for, will be the ones the devil will use to test your faith and what you profess to others in every shape and form. You will feel betrayed, rejected and abandoned and you even wonder if God is really with you and if He is, why will He allow all this to happen when you’re so busy working His field? The answer is “and why not?” Working God’s field does not exempt us from trials and tribulations. Matter of fact, the devil prides himself when he is able to use your own family members or close friends to test everything you stand for and are trying to accomplish in God’s Kingdom.
As I listened to her, God gave me divine wisdom to share some words with her. We prayed and during the prayers, God gave us insight into how to handle this situation the ‘God way.’ I called her the following day to check up on her. She sounded much better and she even said, “I feel really better just overnight, and to think that I have been feeling like crap all weekend before chatting with you.” I said to her that “God uses the night time to repair us”. She was so psyched about that and said, “whoa, that’s deep. A message on its own”. Honestly, I didn’t even think about what I said, I believe it’s wisdom from God.
Later on I started to think deeply about what I actually said and it is quite true. I think the words God had put in my mouth was a message for me as well. I started to look at so many instances where I went to bed broken, in tears and in pain, only to wake up the following morning renewed and wondering where all the bad feelings had flown to . There is something about the night time that is divinely mysterious. While the bible has a ton to say about night time encounters and even warns that we should be weary of the night time and its terrors, I strongly believe God uses the night time to fix His children. Science has taught us about all the repair work our body goes through when we are asleep, so much so that you will get a cut during the day, bleed a little and go to bed only to wake up and see the wound almost closed up and not burning as much as it did the day before. That is God - He put our entire anatomy together and set laws in place for healing to happen when our bodies are at rest. He also does the same with our minds and our spirits. He needs us WHOLE and as he said in 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 6:19 that our body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, (paraphrased). This means that He God, being Holy and divine cannot dwell in broken and distraught places so wherever His spirit us, the vessel which is your body has to experience freedom. (Paraphrased from 2 Corinthians 3:17). Freedom from any and everything that destroys it, which includes distress.
When you have made God your all in all, though trials and pain may come, He will not sit back and watch them drown you. I can see Him so eager, waiting for you to just stop crying and complaining and close your eyes to take a rest so He can go to work. He performs a heart surgery on you while you’re sleeping, cleans out all your veins and arteries and resets your brain. Since every feeling stems from the brain, He pumps in a new adrenaline that speaks peace and rest to your mind, body and spirit. You will wake up renewed, restored and rejuvenated. Next time you get into a bad and restless place, know that the Holy Spirit is waiting to fix you up. Yes, you’ll wake up feeling better because God uses the night time to repair us.
I pray for you this week, that the spirit of God will fix you up in every area of your life that seems to cause you pain and anguish. Count it to Him to do His work impeccably. May all graces abound for you this week. Amen!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.