The Diversity of Our Gifts

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19 NIV)

In Genesis 2:19, God sets newly minted Adam to naming the animals. What is especially interesting to me about this is that God did not tell Adam what to name the animals. He simply observed to see what Adam would name them. God left it up to Adam what they would be called.

Adam was created in the image of God and to be like God. Then God puffed His breath into Adam’s nostrils and Adam became a “living being” (Genesis 2:7). The Targum Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, understands this verse as saying that man became a “speaking spirit.” God Himself spoke — and thereby spoke all things into existence — then He created Adam with the ability to speak, too.

Then God gave Adam the assignment of naming the animals. So now Adam spoke, and whatever he called each animal, that became its name. Adam’s words not only identified, they defined. They were creative.

God has given each one of us creative gifts. Whatever those are, they will look different on each one of us. If you or I had been in Adam’s place, we might each have named the animals differently, and then that is what they would have been called.

God created us to be creative, and in that God-given capacity, there is a rich diversity. The Spirit of God has gifted and called each of us into the ministry of Christ, and we each manifest those gifts and callings in a diversity of ways. It is tempting to think that, because you and I are called to certain ministries and have learned to exercise them in particular ways, others are also called to those same ministries and those same methods. But we each wear our gifts and callings differently. So we cannot expect that I must wear it the same as you, or that you must wear it the same as me.

Some of that is because of how differently God has made each of us. Some of it is because of the circumstances God has placed us in. Some of it is because of the season we each find ourselves in. Some of it is because of how, and by whom, we have been trained and taught in the Christian life. Some of it is because we are still in the process of being discipled in this or that area of our faith and life as Christians. And some of it might be because God has given each of us His breath and His heartbeat, and He is standing by to see what we will do with it — what we will create and how we will call things — just as He watched Adam’s creativity at work in naming the animals.

Each of us has not only been given a gift for the sake of the Church and the world, but each one of us is a gift that God has given to the Church and to the world. We are divine gifts meant for each other. The diversity and creativity of the gifts we have been given, and the gifts we are, help us understand more of the many-sided, multi-colored wisdom of God.

It may seem like the diversity we have represented among us is not always complementary. And perhaps it isn’t. It can be an uncomfortable thing at times, but perhaps that is not necessarily a bad thing — merely a thing. The ultimate thing is the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace that we have in Jesus Christ, which transcends the diversity of our gifts, our callings, our varied understandings of the faith and experiences in Christ, bringing them all together into one.

The Door of My Lips

LORD, I cry out to You;
Make haste to me!
Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.

(Psalm 141:1-3)

This is a psalm of David. He cries out to Yahweh; he needs God’s help and he needs it in a hurry. He has no incense to burn, no sacrifice to offer, but he asks that his prayer be heard and answered just as if he did.

His urgent need? There are wicked people coming against him, setting traps and snares for him (v. 9). Even now, the bones of his own people lay scattered at the grave (v. 7). But notice his prayer: “Set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

What is striking about this is that he does not first ask, “Set a guard over me,” or, “Keep watch over the door of my heart.” No, his primary request and the thing that concerns him most is his mouth and his lips — his words! He realizes that it is these, above all else, that needs God’s attention.

Words are very powerful and vitally important. The author of Hebrews says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). In the beginning, when God saw that darkness was over the face of the deep, He spoke into existence what was needed: “Light, be!” Words are the basis of reality.

When God formed man from the dust of the ground, He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and man became a “living being.” Targum Onkelos, an ancient translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into its cousin language, Aramaic, says that man became a “speaking spirit.” Man, made in the image of God and created to be like Him, has the ability to speak words just as God does. Indeed, we were created to speak in agreement with the words of God.

Proverbs teaches us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Our words can be live-giving or death-dealing, so if we want to live and enjoy life we must choose our words with great wisdom and care. This is especially true when we are in difficult situations and the pressure is on us to “do something” (anything is something, so the pressure is to “do anything”). We are tempted to speak in haste (see Don’t Be Hasty), and that can end up causing much harm to ourselves and others. So David’s primary request in the midst of his troubles is, “Set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

This does not mean, however, that he has nothing to say about the wicked and their deeds, but he says them to God: “For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked” (v. 5). Indeed, his prayer is not so much against the wicked themselves as it is against what they are doing. In fact, he recognizes that these are people being led into opposition by treacherous leaders. When such leaders are thrown over — sometimes quite literally, and sometimes by the people themselves — there will be a vacuum. Let that vacuum be filled with wise words, life-giving words, words that agree with the words of God. That is what David wants to bring, instead of words spoken in anger and haste. “Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff, and they hear my words, for they are sweet” (v. 6).

Perhaps that will bring his enemies to their senses and lead to reconciliation. However, a positive result will not come about by a mouth that is volatile or lips that are indiscreet. Set a guard and keep watch over them, O LORD.

A Storehouse of Faith

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” Jesus said (Matthew 12:34). Then He talked about the storehouse of the heart. If we store up good things in our hearts, that is what will come out; if we store up evil things then evil will come out (v. 35; see What’s In Your Storehouse?). Now, let me show you one reason why this is so important. Consider the words of Jesus in Mark 11:22-25.

Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

See the dynamic of the heart and the mouth, how they word together? If you have faith in God and do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will be done, you words become very powerful, even to the moving of mountains. But notice what must be in your heart in abundance — not just in your heart, but in your heart in abundance? Faith! Yes, it starts like a mustard seed, but like a mustard seed, when you plant it, it grows (see Faith is a Seed). When faith is in your heart in abundance, and your mouth speaks out of the abundance of your heart, that is a powerful combination.

So where does faith come from, and how to you get it into your heart in abundance? Paul said that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). When God speaks, things happen, and God always keeps His Word. When we give our attention to the Word of God, to meditate on it, and when we let it instruct our hearts and change our thinking, the Spirit of God works through that. Faith in God begins to rise up within us. As we continue meditating the Word, faith begins to fill our hearts in abundance. Then, when we speak, and our words are in alignment with the Word of God, they come forth with the force of faith. Things we thought improbable, or even impossible, begin to happen.

But there is also something else that must fill our heart, and that is forgiveness. We must be willing to forgive everyone we have anything against. It is no coincidence that Jesus speaks of forgiveness immediately after He talks about faith-filled words and prayer. No, it is integral to the operation of faith.

When Jesus told Peter and the disciples that they must forgive “seventy times seven,” they said, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:4-5). They realized that real forgiveness requires the power of faith. However, Jesus teaches us that the opposite is also true: powerful faith requires a heart of forgiveness. They must go together. If we do not have the faith to forgive then we do not have the faith to move mountains. Paul tells us that even if we did have faith to move mountains, but do not have love, then we are nothing and our accomplishments are in vain (1 Corinthians 13:2).

This brings us, then, to a third thing we must have in our hearts in abundance: Love. In a religious dispute that was taking place in the first-century Church over a ritual issue, Paul concluded, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).

There it is. Faith works through love. That is, faith is activated, energized, made effective, through love. If faith worked without love, we would soon destroy the world. Imagine the debris that would litter the highways as people charged their road rage with the power of faith. No, there must be love if we are to have mountain-moving faith. Indeed, love is the most important. “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three,” Paul said, “But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Out of the storehouse of the heart the mouth speaks. When faith, forgiveness and love fill your heart in abundance, your words will become very powerful. Mountains will move.

What's in your storehouse?

(See also Faith Comes by Hearing and How to Forgive by Faith)

What’s in Your Storehouse?

The tagline of the current Capital One(TM) campaign asks, “What’s in your wallet?” Let me tweak that a little bit and ask, “What’s in your storehouse?” Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35).

The Greek word for “treasure” is thesaurus. The Septuagint, which is a very early Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses thesaurus to translate the Hebrew word for “storehouse.” My translation of Matthew 12:35 is, “The good man out of the good storehouse of the heart brings out good things, and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings out evil things.”

What is a storehouse? It is a place where things are deposited, collected, laid up, stored away for future use. Each one of us has a storehouse in our heart and we are continually making deposits into it. These deposits are the words, thoughts, deeds and desires we focus on and give place to in our lives.

For example, in Luke 2, when the shepherds came and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby Jesus lying in a manger, they told of the angelic visitation and all the things that were told them about Jesus. Then we read, “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). That is, she gathered them all up and gave place to them in her heart, where she could consider them, meditate on them, and let them shape her thoughts, her decisions, her emotions, words, her deeds — her life! She made a deposit of good things into her storehouse, and they were there for her to draw upon every moment of her life.

Another example is found in Acts 5, where Ananias and Sapphira pretended to bring all the proceeds of a piece of land they sold to lay at the apostles’ feet. Peter saw through their deceit and said, “Why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? … Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?” (Acts 5:3-4). The Greek word for “conceived” means to set, place or put forth. Ananias and Sapphira made a place for satanic deception and treasured it in their storehouse. It filled their hearts with evil, and when opportunity arose, evil is what they brought out.

We must be very careful what we allow in our storehouses and deposit in our hearts, because that is what will come out in our lives. “Keep your heart with all diligence,” Proverbs says, “for out of it spring the issues of life” (4:23). We are always making deposits and we are always drawing on our storehouse account. If we collect up and ponder good things — the promises of God, the fruit of the Spirit, the things Jesus taught — that is what will come forth from us. Paul said, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Now, you can tell what someone has been storing up in their heart by paying attention to what they say. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” Jesus said (Matthew 12:34). What is in their heart in abundance, whether good or bad, is what they have been depositing in it over time. When they open up their mouths to speak, what they have stored up is what comes out; this is especially true when they are under pressure.

This is very important because, as Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” That is why we will have to give account before God for the things we say. Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Words that are in line with the love of the Father, the faith of King Jesus the Messiah, the fruit of the Spirit and the promises of God, are words that will bring forth good things. Every word that is out of alignment with the Word of God will bring forth evil things. It all begins with the deposits you make in your heart.

What’s in your storehouse?

Faith and the Sovereignty of God

It has been said that prayer is not about overcoming God's reluctance, but about laying hold of His willingness. It is the same way with faith. Faith is believing the Word of God. Indeed, faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So faith that is divorced from the Word of God is not the biblical kind of faith. Apart from the Word, it can be very dangerous and is, at best, presumptuous.

But whenever God has spoken, we can believe to the fullest extent whatever He has said. To expect God to honor His Word and keep His promises does no violence whatsoever to God's sovereignty. Rather, it honors God in His sovereignty, for God has exalted His Word even above His name (Psalm 138:2). Whenever He promises something, it is because He fully intends to do it.

Now, notice how Jesus begins His discourse on mountain-moving faith and prayer that gets results:

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:22-24)

“Have faith in God.” Mountain-moving faith has everything to do with God. It is not contrary to God but in alignment with Him.

Jesus then explains how to engage that faith: “Whoever says to this mountain ... and does not doubt those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Here is faith at work in the heart, and here is confession made with the mouth. That is how faith works, and it gets results without violating the sovereignty of God.

Next, Jesus relates it to prayer: “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” The NASB has “believe that you have received them.” This must be in line with the sovereignty of God because Jesus said it, and He never did anything that was contrary to the will of God.

Faith is all about believing the Word of God and therefore honors His sovereignty.

Your Mouth is the Thermostat of Your Life

Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:22-23)

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. (Luke 6:45)

Get the connection: What is in your heart in abundance is what will come out of your mouth; what you believe in your heart and declare with your mouth is what will come to pass in your life.

Your mouth is the “thermostat” of your life. A thermostat is a little device that calls for a certain temperature to be set. For example, you can set the thermostat on your air conditioner to cool off your house or car to a certain temperature. Or you can set the thermostat on your oven to heat it up to a certain level. In a similar way, you mouth is like a thermostat that calls for certain conditions to be established in your life.

Some people use their mouths like thermometers. A thermometer simply tells you what the current temperature is. Thermometer people boast, “Well, I’m just telling it like it is.” And to a certain extent, that is true. They see a problem and then they identify it, and there is nothing wrong in that. But then they keep looking at the problem, thinking about the problem, and soon their heart overflows with the problem. They believe the problem in their heart, and do not have any doubts about the problem. So they talk about the problem, and keep on talking about the problem, and the result is that they are stuck with the problem. It is one thing to identify the problem, e.g., “I am sick,” “I am in debt,” “I have no job.” It is quite another to fixate on the problem. Some people even embrace the problem so that it becomes a personal possession: “my cancer” or “my bad heart.”

People with a thermometer mentality simply report what they see: “There’s a mountain in my way.” They do not realize that we were created to be thermostats. We were meant to not only recognize present conditions, but to establish the proper conditions. That is why God created us in His likeness (i.e., to be like Him) and authorized us to “fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion” (Genesis 1:26-28). To subdue means to set in order. That requires recognizing the present condition (thermometer) and bringing it into line with the way it ought to be (thermostat).

God is a thermostat God. We see this from the very first verse of the Bible when He created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). He spoke it into existence, framing it with words (Hebrews 11:3). When darkness was on the face of the deep (v. 2), God did not fixate on the darkness. He recognized the problem, but then having done that, He simply spoke the solution, “Light, be!” (v. 3).

Jesus taught us to do the same thing. First, we are to have faith in God. Faith is the gift of God, and comes by hearing the Word of God. This is important to know because the Word of God has something to say about every problem. When we let the Word of God fill our hearts to overflowing with faith, we are then ready to address the mountain that stands in our way.

Second, we are to speak to the problem, not focusing on the problem itself, but focusing on the solution. In the example Jesus gave us, we would say to the mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea.” When we keep talking about the problem, we are using the thermostat function to maintain the present condition, and the problem will persist. But when we start speaking the solution, we are using the thermostat function to change and improve the present condition. So we recognize the mountain, but then we tell it to move.

Notice that Jesus did not tell us to tell God all about the problem. God already knows it and has provided us with the faith to handle it. Rather, Jesus teaches us to address the problem with words that overflow from a heart filled with faith. As some have put it, we move from talking to God about the problem to speaking to the problem about God — and that is a very important shift! When we do that, the mountain will move.

Your mouth is the thermostat that establishes the conditions of your life. Your heart is what sets the thermostat of your mouth. Let the Word of God fill your heart to overflowing with faith so that, when problems arise, you will be able to speak the solution and remove the mountain.

Just As You Have Spoken, So I Will Do

Say to them, “As I live,” says the LORD, “just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you. (Numbers 14:28)

This was the conclusion to the matter of the twelve spies Moses sent to check out Canaan, the land God had promised to His people. Ten came back with a faithless and fearful report: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we... There we saw the giants … and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:31, 33).

Joshua and Caleb returned with a fearless and faithful report. Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30). Joshua said,

If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them. (Numbers 14:8-9).

The congregation of Israel, believing the report of the ten, cried out in despair, “If only we had died in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:2).

In the end, everyone got what they believed, and everyone received what they had spoken. The ten spies never went up in victory against the inhabitants of the Promised Land, but died of a plague (Numbers 14:37). To the rest of the congregation, who said, “Better we should die in the wilderness,” God said issued this judgment:

The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in the wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. (Numbers 14:29-30)

Because of their unbelief, they never entered into the Promised Land, but perished in the wasteland (Hebrews 3:16-19).

Joshua and Caleb likewise received what they said. After the rest of their generation died in the wilderness, they crossed the river into the land of promise. The book of Joshua records how, under his leadership, the next generation of Israel conquered and inhabited the “land of milk and honey.” And Caleb, who boldly challenged the people, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it,” still in full strength, even at the age of 85, invaded and conquered the region of Kadesh Barnea (Joshua 14:6-15).

This is how it always is. As it was for them, so it is for us: We each receive what we believe in our hearts and speak with our lips. As Jesus said, it is out of the overflow of our hearts that our mouths speak (Luke 6:45). He brought home the importance of this when He said to His disciples:

Whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23)

The apostle Paul also saw the significance of this truth, especially in regard to salvation and relationship with God: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

What is it that you believe in your heart? And what is it that you are saying with your lips? Are you believing and speaking in agreement with the promises of God, as Joshua and Caleb did? For what you believe and what you say is indeed what you will receive.

(See also, When It’s All About God.)

What Are You Naming Things?

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19-20)

The world was created by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3) and will always responds to faith-filled words, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). God created Adam to speak faith-filled words when He puffed His breath into the man-shaped clay He had formed, and it became a “living being” (Genesis 2:7). Ancient Jewish commentary understood by this that man became a “speaking spirit.”

So God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would call them. He did not tell Adam what to call them, but simply observed what Adam would do with this creative opportunity, and how he would shape the identity and destiny of these animals with the words of his mouth and the breath of God that permeated his being. “And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”

God has created us in such a way that our words have great power. They create identity and call forth destiny. That is why Jesus said that we will each have to give account to God for every idle word we speak (Matthew 12:36). That is why He taught the disciples that what we speak with out mouths and believe in our hearts can move mountains (Mark 11:22-23).

Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name! God didn’t change a thing, but let stand whatever Adam said. Why? Because He created man to subdue the earth — that is, bring it into divine order — and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:26-28). God knows how to delegate authority and honor the arrangements He has established in the earth.

When Adam fell, sinning against God, he disconnected himself (and all the human race in him) from the life of God. Since then, the words of man have often been very wicked, and whatever man called things, those were their names. Words of fear came in and anger, hate and pride dominated. Words of anxiety, and even of despair, became self-fulfilling prophecies. These are faithless words, the outworking of a heart in rebellion toward God. For as Jesus said, it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).

Thankfully, when mankind fell in the sin of Adam, God had a plan of redemption and restoration. That is why Jesus came, to remove the sinful barrier and restore us to fellowship with God our Father and Creator, and that the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts might bring forth the manifestation of God’s will and ways on earth. That is why He taught us to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!” (Matthew 6:10).

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, God has created in you a new heart and given you new words to speak in faith. Some men look at the desperate circumstances of their lives and call them “Impossible.” They shake their heads at the world and pronounce it “Hopeless.” They cringe in terror at sickness and disease and whisper, “Terminal.” They see broken and dysfunctional families and say, “Irreconcilable.” And whatever they call it, that is its name.

But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, who came that all things might be gathered together in Him (Ephesians 1:10), God has created in you a new heart, and given you faith to speak new words that call forth healing, restoration, forgiveness, peace, life, joy, hope.

For every problem and difficulty in the world, God has a word by which it may be redeemed. Speak it, in Jesus’ name. Say about it what God says about it. And whatever you call it, that will be its name.

Framing Your World: Faith-Filled Words

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:36-37)

The Greek word for “idle” refers to that which is non-working, inoperative, inactive, ineffective, useless, lazy, barren. An idle word is one that is spoken carelessly and without faith. They are non-productive; they do not bring about any good in your life. In fact, they may be bring about great harm, for we will all have to give account to God about every word we speak, or perhaps especially, the careless ones.

“Oh, but I didn’t really mean what I said.” Perhaps not the first few times, but if you keep saying it, you will eventually start believing it. The apostle Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The first half of that verse sets the general principle, “faith comes by hearing.” That is, if you hear something long enough, you will begin to believe it. That’s why Paul adds the very important qualifier, “and hearing by the Word of God.” Because what you give ear to affects your faith, be sure to give ear to the Word of God, and not lesser things. For the idle words that come from your own mouth might cause you believe what you are carelessly saying.

While idle words have the potential for calamity, faith-filled words based on the character and promises of God are powerful for moving mountains, calming storms, and bringing all creation into line with the kingdom of God.

Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:22-23)

Let your heart be filled to overflowing with the Word of God, and the faith that comes by hearing that Word, then release faith-filled words that release the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven.

Framing Your World: Your Heart

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 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. (Matthew 12:34-35)

The worlds were framed by words — the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3). Jesus said that it will respond even to the words of your mouth, if you have faith in God and believe in your heart the words you speak with your lips (Mark 11:23). In other words, if your faith is in God, you have the ability to frame your world (the realm of your existence and the sphere of your influence).

Now, there is an important connection between your mouth and your heart. The effectiveness of your words is dynamically related to what is going on in your heart. As Jesus said, it is out of the abundance, or the overflow, of the heart that the mouth speaks. If you want to know what is going on in a person’s heart, listen to his mouth for a while.

Proverbs says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). The context is of a man who is pretending one thing with his words, but his real character and purpose are determined by his heart. And what is in his heart in abundance will soon give him away by his words as well as his deeds.

But here’s what I want you to notice: “As he thinks in his heart, so he is.” The Hebrew word for “think” means to reason out or calculate, but it comes from a root that means “to act as a gatekeeper.” Each of us acts as a gatekeeper, deciding what we will let into our heart and what we will keep out. Whatever you let into your heart in abundance will determine the kind of person you really are.

For some little biblical direction about what to fill your heart with, regular meditation in the book of Proverbs will bring you into much wisdom. Consider also Psalm 1:1-3; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:1-2.

Jesus said, “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.” Your are the one who determines what kind of treasure will fill your heart. Out of the overflow of your heart, your mouth will speak, and so shall you frame your world.

Framing Your World: Your Mouth

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

(Proverbs 18:21)

The worlds — the heavens and the earth — are framed by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3). Your world — the realm of your existence and the sphere of your influence — is framed by your words. God created you with that capacity. He created you and me in His likeness, that is, to be like Him. He breathed His breath into us and made us “speaking spirits.”

Just as God ordered the worlds by His words, you also have the authority to bring the world into the order of God by your words. You also have the ability to bring things into disorder by your words.

The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. That is, your words can be death-dealing or life-giving. They are both under the direction of whatever you say.

“Those who love it will eat its fruit.” Every word you speak is a seed that will bring forth fruit and come back to you, and you will have to eat that fruit. The verse previous to this says, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled” (Proverbs 18:20). As someone else wisely counseled, “Be careful of the words you speak today, for you will have to eat them tomorrow.”

Do you like to babble? You will eat the worthless fruit of idle chatter. Do you indulge in gossip? Destructive rumors will come back on you, and leave a bitter taste in your mouth. If your words are filled with fear and darkness, that is what will follow you wherever you go. Some people go around damning this and damning that, and then wonder why things are not going well for them. Go figure.

On the other hand, if you respect the power of your words enough to carefully guard what you say, you will enjoy of pleasant harvest. For as you speak, so shall you eat. If you speak faith-filled words, you will bring forth a faith-filled harvest. Sow words that offer life and light and blessing to the world around you, then stand back and watch as life and light and blessing comes multiplied back to you in rich harvest.

Think back. What were the words you spoke yesterday? What is the harvest you are reaping today? Now think forward. What is the harvest you want for tomorrow? So what are the words you will speak today?

The Heart/Mouth Connection

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

(Psalm 17:3)

There is a very important spiritual connection between your heart and your mouth. Jesus said that it is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Whatever is in your heart in abundance, that is what is going to come out of your mouth, especially when the heat is on.

Jesus also taught His disciples, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). Here, we see the heart represented by what we believe, and the mouth by what we say.

The apostle Paul recognized the importance of the heart/mouth connection. Quoting from Deuteronomy 30:14, he says this:

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10)

The reason the heart/mouth connection is so important is because that is how faith works, and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). With the heart, we believe; with the mouth, we confess — and that greatly pleases God.

So David says to the Lord, “You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” Here is how other versions render it:

The Hebrew word for “tried” literally means to fuse, as a metal, and refers to a refining process, such as that of a goldsmith. When God visits you and examines your hearts, is not in order to condemn you, but to refine you. It is not just about what He finds in you, but also about He removes from you, and what He fuses into you.

This is a 24/7 process. Much of it takes place in the night, while we are on our beds, and our hearts are more receptive. Of the righteous man, it is said, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). David said, “I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night season” (Psalms 16:7). That is why Clement of Alexandria could say, “For the saints, even their slumber is prayer.” The counsel of the Lord speaks to our hearts, even at night, and our hearts instruct us. God visits and refines us.

“I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” When we let the Lord do His refining work in us, our hearts become filled with His purpose, and His purpose becomes our purpose. When that purpose fills our heart in abundance, it will overflow from our lips and our mouths will speak the purposes of God.

When your heart is lined up with the heart of the Father, the words of your mouth will have a powerful, life-giving quality that floods you with light. When the words of your mouth line up with the Word of God in your heart, they will bring forth an explosion of faith that changes the world. What have your purposed in your heart?

(See also, My Mouth Shall Not Transgress and His Words, Your Mouth)

My Mouth Shall Not Transgress

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Concerning the works of men,
By the Word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

(Psalm 17:3-4)

Here again is the heart/mouth connection. David set his heart before the Lord and purposed that his mouth would not transgress. It is important that we establish our heart upon the right things, but it is just as important that we align our words with the right things.

David made a determination that he would not overstep the boundaries by the words of his mouth, but that he would line his mouth up with the Word of God, for it was by the Words of God’s lips that David was able to avoid the path of the destroyer. Not only did the Word keep David from walking that path himself, it also kept him from crossing that path — and so he was kept from destruction.

David purposed, therefore, that he would not speak anything contrary to the Word of God. If you want to walk a successful and prosperous path, you must determine that you will not transgress with your lips, but that you will speak in agreement with the Words of God’s lips.

Set your heart on the Word of God, then when your mouth speaks out of the overflow of your heart, it will keep you from destruction and bring forth the creative power of God into your life. For the Word of God not only reveals things, it also causes things to be.

His Words, Your Mouth

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

(Psalm 17:3-4)

There are a few dynamics going on in this passage. First, there is the heart/mouth connection. “You have tested my heart ... I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” The heart is the place of purposing, the mouth is the place of speaking what the heart has purposed. Out of the abundance, or overflow, of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).

Then there is the matter of purpose, or intent regarding the words of our mouths. Most people don’t purpose anything at all about what their mouths will or will not say. Very often, they speak foolish, negative and hurtful things. At best, these are idle words, and we will have to give account to God for every one of them (Matthew 12:36).

In purposing that his mouth will refrain from transgressing, David, the psalm writer, means more than, “I will not use profanity,” or “I will not plot murder or violence,” or things like that. Rather, he is determining that he will not let anything come out of his mouth that would not come out of God’s. That is why he declares, “By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.” This is the third dynamic.

There are plenty of people — good Christian people — who fill their mouths with things that would never come from God. They speak negative, fear-filled, evil things — evil in the sense that they lack the good.

• “Well, you know me, I’m always messing up somewhere.”
• “Every winter, I can count on having one or two really bad colds.”
• “Why does everything I do always have to go wrong?”
• “My daughter Susie is the pretty one and Mary is the smart one.”
• “The price of gas just keeps going up, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
• “Granddaddy had cancer. So did Poppa. I guess I’ll probably get it, too.”

People repeat these kinds of things all the time. They say them over and over, until they finally believe them. But the problem is that such words leave no room for the promises of God. They have a lot of fear in them, but nothing of faith — at least not the Biblical kind of faith.

How much better it is to put the word of God on our lips, to let His promises fill our mouths:

• “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)
• “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
• “By His stripes I have been healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
• “I walk in the favor and blessing of the Lord” (Psalm 5:12).
• “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Let these kinds of things be in your heart and on your lips. The Hebrew word for “meditate” literally means “to murmur.” In the Old Testament, to meditate on the word of God meant to put it on the lips and talk about it to yourself. You could tell when someone was meditating because you would see their lips moving. Then you could tell what they were meditating on by listening to the words the that came out of their mouths, particularly in pressure situations.

No matter what your circumstance, God always has a promise for you. Start searching it out in His Word. You might even use one of the many little booklets available at your local Christian bookstore which list out the many promises of God and even categorizes them for your convenience. Start meditating on the Scriptures and let them fill your heart in abundance. Then when you address a negative circumstance, let it be the Word of the Lord that fills your mouth. It is okay to identify the problems, but then purpose in your heart and begin putting the promises of God in your mouth.

(See also, God's Word in Your Mouth)

The Door of Your Mouth, The Gate of Your Heart

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.

(Psalm 141:3-4)

Consider the power of the mouth, or more precisely, our words. Words called the world into existence (Hebrews 11:3). God created us to exercise dominion over His Creation by our words. For example, Adam called forth the character and destiny of the animals by naming them (see Having Dominion). The Hebrew word for “speak,” dabar, means to arrange or subdue. Be careful, your mouth is a loaded weapon.

Yes, we need a guard to stand watch over our mouths. But David, the psalm writer, takes us to the heart of the problem, which is the … heart!

Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.

You see, there is a strong, inviolable connection between the mouth and the heart. Jesus said that it is out of the abundance, or overflow, of the heart that the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). If you want to know what is in somebody’s heart in abundance, just listen to their mouth for a little while and you will soon find out. This is particularly true in pressure situations.

Paul also noted this powerful heart/mouth connection. “With the hear one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

So as much as David desired God to set a guard over his mouth, he realized even more than something had to be done about the state of his heart, for that was the real problem.

Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works with men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

(Psalm 141:4)

Proverbs reinforces this point:

Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.

(Proverbs 23:6-7)

Now, here is an example of the mouth speaking something different from the heart. And the mouth can certainly disguise the heart for a time — some people know how to tell a lie. But the truth eventually comes out, for the mouth with slip up and give away the heart.

Our hearts can be deceived very easily by evil if we allow ourselves to be lulled by delicacies. A delicacy is something your put in your mouth. Think “words.” What are the words you put in your mouth. The devil, your adversary, wants you to put his words in your mouth. But if you do, you will begin to think his thoughts and walk in his ways.

We were created to think higher thoughts and walk in higher ways, those of God. The words of the devil may sound sweet and beguiling, but you will not like where they take you — Adam and Eve certainly didn’t.

That is all the more reason why we must keep our own hearts. The Hebrew word for “think,” in Proverbs 23:7, literally means to act as a gatekeeper. The careless words we allow in our mouth eventually settle in our heart. Then when they are in our heart in abundance, they come forth with great destructive power.

How much better it is to fill your heart and your mouth with the Word of God. When you do, Jesus said you can move mountains.

Guard both your heart and your mouth with the promises and purposes of God. Speak them to your inner being, with great intent and focus, until your mouth begins to overflow with words of light and life. Then you will know that you are walking in faith.