Last year my husband and I decided to build a new house, our oldest son was going to be starting Jr. High that fall and we knew if we didn’t move to another area he would be going to a school that had many gangs and a lot of drug problems. We found the lot in the neighborhood that I had been dreaming of moving into, we found the perfect floor plan and put down our earnest money. Once my husband returned to work (he works overseas) I was having a hard time sleeping, thinking of not being able to sell our current house, finance issues, etc. I woke up one night and sent my husband an IM and by ‘chance’ he was in his room and asked why I was awake, I explained my mind wouldn’t turn off and we began to talk, after a few minutes I realized what was really bothering me – we had never prayed and asked GOD if buying this house was HIS will, and we needed to repent (you see we had come to an agreement a few years prior, that all major purchases we would seek GOD’s will and not ours, to help keep our flesh under control). So we both prayed and like a weight lifted off me, I felt peace, I knew GOD was going to bless us with this new house, I knew that no matter what happened during this process, that we had GOD’s blessings and that we were to get this house.
I had decided that as a new stay at home Mom (I had always
worked and just ‘retired’ a few months prior) that our new house would be the home that all the kids could hang out at. I would know what my kids
were doing and who they were hanging out with. I would take the neighborhood kids to church with
us on Wednesdays and Sundays, our house was not only going to be a blessing to
us, but to those around us.
We put down almost all our savings on the house after the financing was approved, but after we put that money down we started having issues with financing the
closer we got to completion of the house, it became very nerve wracking. Everybody
we talked to said we couldn’t finance because of my husbands income was foreign
income in a war zone (lots of technicalities about the laws changed that
January). We didn’t have
a single showing on the other house either, now our other home was beautiful, we
loved it and it really was a great home, but not a single person inquired
about it from January until May. So here I have a few major issues going
against us in the buying of our new home, but I had that promise from GOD, so
even though the world was telling me NO, I remembered GOD had told me YES!
When people would ask how the showing was on the old house
or how the new house was, I just kept speaking words of faith and saying
everything was going to be perfect, this house was going to be a blessing to us and we were going to be blessing whomever bought our other house. We had already decided we were not trying to make a profit on the other
house, we listed it only for what we owed on the house and were going to be giving them all the appliances and some furniture as well.
At our final walk through of the new house, I received a
call from the loan officer and was told that they wouldn't be able to help us get the house. Well, I didn’t believe that was the final word, so
my husband and I went up and talked to him, and he went to the President of the
bank and he signed off on the loan for us!
We moved into our new home and blessings were still
abundant, we decided to rent out the other house and maybe do a lease to own
financing. It took a few months, but we found the perfect family for our other
house, but at this point my words changed. People would ask how the new house was
and I stopped blessing it and began cursing it – I would say, "well, it’s great, BUT you know we put all our savings into it and we still have the other house
and now I’m making two mortgages, two electric and water bils, it’s really
draining our finances."
At first I had the neighborhood kids coming over, I took them to
church, I did all that I had said I would…but then my words began to put me in
bondage. I was depressed over our finances, I didn’t
want kids over, I didn’t want to do all that I had told GOD I was going to do
with our blessing – because now I was speaking curses, even though I was still believing in GOD to change our circumstances, even though I was praying and serving GOD, my words were destroying all that GOD had given us.
Just this past week, I learned the power of my words, and
the power I had given those words over our situation. The situation we are in
will only improve or get worst, depending on the words we speak over it. When
we were in the process of buying the new house, I had stood firm on faith and
cast out all those negative words before they could get into my thoughts; but
once we were in the house, my words changed, I began listening and worrying, and
I would speak out negative, a foothold became a stronghold. I even knew when I spoke
those words, that they were death and cursing and not blessing and life, I felt
that check from the Holy Spirit in me, telling me that I ought not say those things,
but I did anyways. I’m a full disclosure kind of person (obviously) so I’ve
learned that sometimes, I don’t need to say everything, I don't need to say what 'is', but speak out in faith of GOD's blessings. I should have been saying, 'The house is great, GOD blessed us abundantly, we are going to be a blessing to others and GOD will continue to bless us through our new home and the selling of our old home!'
Our situation just received new life, GOD is good like that,
HE breathed new life and blessings into our finances after my husband and I
joined together in prayer over our finances, and I confessed the cursing of my
words. I honestly couldn’t believe how fast GOD blessed us with this, literally days after I confessed the cursing and prayed with my husband, GOD gave us mercy (I’ve been told before, when we confess, that the faith channel is unblocked and that mercy flows quickly and I
believe it did for us). The bondage of the last 8 months has been huge, but the
freedom from it has been life changing!
I honestly believe the breakthrough in our prayers and receiving mercy, grace and blessings from GOD concerning our prayers was due to alignment of our words with GOD's Word and our prayers without ceasing. Below is what I learned concerning the power of our words, I hope it blesses you and encourages you!
GOD created the heavens and the universe with HIS Words, HE
spoke and it became. GOD created us in HIS own image, we are in HIS likeness. Then Adam
corrupted that likeness, and our spirits were given death instead of life .
But the Lord warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of
every tree in the garden – except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NLT)
When HE sent HIS Son to die for us, and we accepted Jesus as
our Lord and Savior, we became ‘new creations’ – we no longer were born to
death that Adam brought on us, life was breathed into us again from GOD, our
Spirits were new and full of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians
5:17 NKJV)
As a believer you know, that all it took to be a new creation
in Christ was to confess with your mouth and SPEAK the words that Jesus is the Son of GOD, that HE died on the cross
for our sins and that GOD raised HIM from the dead on the 3rd day
and that HE sits at GOD’s right hand in heaven – those words spoken, that confession; made you an adopted child of GOD, gave you full rights to GOD’s Kingdom, gave
you the authority of Christ. So those WORDS breathed new life into you and gave
you the power of GOD’s Word.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all
authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the
nations (or peoples), baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have
given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)
Wow, you see, we are disciples of Christ, Jesus gave us this
authority. Why did HE give us this authority, because HE knew we would need it
to fight the enemy. Satan is the ‘god of this world’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) but
his powers are limited to this world, we have Christ’s authority to fight Satan
and defeat him!
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He
prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm
against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers
and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you
are. (1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT)
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock
down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (2
Corinthians 10:4 NLT)
Those false arguments are those whispers of the devil, the
lies and deception that the enemy tries to convince us of. The weapon that is our main defense against the
enemy is the Word of GOD, we can speak out GOD’s Word and claim the promises of
GOD and defeat the enemy with the words we speak!
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the
Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17 AMP)
We have to have salvation to be able to use the Word of GOD
to defeat the enemy, we have to be believers to speak out and win against the
devil, without salvation, we don’t have the Holy Spirit and we are not new
creations with the authority of Christ.
For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power
[making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than
any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life
(soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest
parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very
thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 AMP)
Words are the key to blessings and cursing. The Bible is
full of scripture that warns us about our words and almost every chapter of Proverbs has at least one scripture related to our words, this isn't by chance, no it's because our words are that powerful!
My father taught me, “Take my words to heart. Follow my
commands, and you will live. (Proverbs 4:4 NLT)
The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain…(Proverbs
10:11a NLT)
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise
bring healing. (Proverbs 12:18 NLT)
The tongue can bring death or life..(Proverbs 18:21a NLT)
For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart and always ready on your lips. (Proverbs 22:18 NLT)
By keeping GOD’s Word in our heart and on our lips, it is
easier to speak out the truth that comes from GOD instead of the lies of the
devil.
…For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
(Matthew 12:34b NLT)
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell
you the truth, you can SAY to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown
into the sea,’ and it will happen. (Mark
11:22-23a NLT)
I capitilaized the word ‘SAY’ because Jesus told us that we
have to have faith and then SPEAK out, it’s a two part process, believe what
you say and when you say it, it will be. I’m going to end this with James 3,
there’s a whole lesson in our words because they are so powerful, I cannot do
it all justice, but wanted to share with you a part of what I have learned. If
you want to, do a study on Words on Bible Gateway, it’s amazing all the
scripture for our words, GOD has given the power and the authority to defeat
the devil, we just need to know our weapons to be able to use them effectively!
Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become
teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we
could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves
in every other way.
We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a
small bit in its mouth. And a small
rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the
winds are strong. 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. And 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.
People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and
fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It
is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and
sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out
of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh
water and bitter water? Does a fig tree
produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water
from a salty spring. (James 3:1 – 12 NLT)
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| Since we started building our home, this scripture was impressed on me to be on our entranceway, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. " Joshua 24:15 |
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| My husband, me, my oldest son - Hunter, Max and my step-daughter Celina outside our new beautiful home |