Good morning! I hope this post finds you well and rested after the weekend.
Today, we will be referencing Matthew 7:13-23 during our time together. I know it is kind of a longer chunk of scripture, but bear with me. Read it all the way through before moving forward so you have the Word in your mind as we bounce around.
This can be unpacked in a few different ways. That is one thing that I love about the Word of God. I believe this scripture does not only express that what is internal becomes external, but also what intention behind the external things can do for the internal self.
Jesus referenced good and bad trees here to illustrate his point (V 17-20). Good (living) trees provide oxygen and clean air. Meaning, they provide life. Bad (dead) trees do not. Dead trees actually consume oxygen, or consume life, instead of giving it.
Speak life friends. When you speak over yourself, your life will be tempered with Christ’s love and grace, or not. We get to choose. Our choice is what separates us from the rest of creation; it is the feature that makes us in His image. We were created and gifted will. There is so much more power in that gift than we realize on a day to day basis. God reigns as King, but He has blessed us with power in our tongue to speak life or death. We can build and destroy with words. Do you see the power there? (See Proverbs 12:18, and 18:21).
You can do all of the “Christian” things you can imagine, but if you are not speaking life into yourself and the fallen world around you, you cannot know the peace Jesus provides. The life you speak is what will come to fruition.
Now jumping back up to verses 7:13 and 14, it is not always easy to speak life. We don’t always feel it. Some of us have a hard time for reasons outside of our control.
I want to speak to a specific group of readers here that may share a persistent illness called depression with me. When you read the second sentence of the paragraph above, I am sure you laughed to yourself in agreement and thought something like, “Chick, you have no idea.” I am airing my business out here today to tell you, I do. I understand; I may not know exactly what you are feeling, but I know what it is for the positive life giving thought part of your brain to literally just not work right. Not because of a decision you made, but because of a physical disability that can reek havoc on your mental health. I pray right now divine healing over your mind. I believe God is capable. God has been mending me daily for a long time. I do not know why divine, one time, Jesus-healed-the-leper healing is not the way He chose to do it. It may be so I can speak into you today. Friend, even in the pit, speak life. You do not feel it, I know. Speak it. Speak it through the tears and the frustrated tantrums. Speak life through the pain. Speak life in the numbness. If you can say nothing else, look in the mirror every morning and say, “Clothed with strength, crowned with dignity. Loved by Christ.” Speak it and I promise you, you’ll begin to believe it. I profess it because I have to live it out every day to stay sane. There is strength and power in your tongue and you, even when broken and bruised, are a warrior.
God did not create us to live in turmoil. That was introduced with sin. Remember Eden? God created us to walk and talk with Him. Adam and Eve, pre-fall, lived in complete peace; not even knowing what shame, hate or lust were. That was God’s original design. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we can have that same peaceful communion now. Yes, we live in a world where those things exist, but speaking life over yourself and into your world allows the Spirit of God to thrive because He is life.
John 16:33, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
This morning I speak victory, healing, prosperity and peace over you. Thank you for taking this journey with me.
*If you are a reader dealing with depression and need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to talk through some of the tough stuff with you and help you attain the extra help that you may need to overcome. You can reach me at kristen_gillette@hotmail.com. I love you, friend, and so does Jesus. Healing is possible.
Morning Joy 