James 3:4
“Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.”

There are very few Christians that would blatantly ignore the will of God if they knew what He wanted them to do. Does God speak to people? Yes! Have people heard His voice? Yes, I believe they hear His voice. Why then do people often say they knew what to do but just didn’t do it? The problem is not in the speaking or in the hearing—the problem is in the doing.

If we believe that the God has a destiny for each of us, then it is important to connect with Him and not waste our time. Once we connect it is important to hear the direction, desire, peace, word, counsel reading, or whatever other way you picked up His signal. The third part is the hard part: acting out that direction.

James the Apostle says we are like ships at sea. When we get instruction on where we are to go then we are to set sail for it. But if the rudder on our ship is broken, then we are at the mercy of the wind and water. Most people live at the mercy of the immediate circumstance. They rarely reflect on where they want to be 10 years from now, or what their heart is calling them to be.

We must fix our rudder in order to reach what is in our heart. What is the rudder? James says the tongue is the rudder of your ship. Broken rudders speak of today’s problem and today’s bad news. Use your rudder (tongue) to guide you to your destination. Shipwrecks are not in God’s plan!

This question can be one of the most informative or one of the most destructive questions we can ask. When it comes to discovery, this question has opened the door to fabulous inventions and modern technologies; however, when it comes to life and death the question “WHY” causes many a soul to sink to levels of depression never before experienced. Some aspects of the question “WHY” which pertain to death, dying and destruction will never be resolved until one day when we stand before the creator of humanity.

How do we come to grasp with these issues of “Why?”?  First, understand that God is not the creator of evil, but it issues forth from the heart of humanity that is separated from God by sin. Second, recognize that from the very beginning of time there has been a force of evil (Satan) determined to destroy the very creation that God holds as the apple of his eye. Third, realize that it was only the deepest love that created humans different from all creation giving us the faculties of reason, will, humor, imagination, words and decision-making capabilities—and with these abilities come great responsibilities for life, family, country and even our earth.

So today let’s turn our Whys in life into a Why Not?—turning the negativity of depression into the positivity of expression! If you’re down and don’t understand, choose to release this situation to the Lord and find the good that remains in the life or lives around you!

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Prov 18:21 NIV).

Jesus gave a Roman centurion—a man who had no covenant with God—a higher compliment than He gave to any of God’s covenant people. Jesus told His disciples that He had not seen greater faith in all of Israel than what He saw in this man (Matt. 8:10). What caused this centurion to receive such a compliment from God?  He had evaluated the similarity of authority that He and Jesus carried, and told Jesus to speak the Word only and his servant would be healed.

This soldier’s understanding of how his own word of authority operated in the natural realm gave him perfect understanding of how Jesus’ words operated in the spiritual realm. This centurion had a revelation that words controlled both realms! If that is the case—and Jesus has given us the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 16:19)—then what we say is the road map to our future. We are our own prophet; we declare our own future.

Can this power be abused? Yes. But it was intended to be used by people with a new, God-filled heart to bring about the desires of that heart.

Laws are designed for good. They are intended to protect us. When an offender breaks the law, we want him in jail. There are laws in every area of creation, both seen and unseen. For example, there are laws that govern nature, such as the law of gravity. We build our science on laws that work. In physics, for instance, there are laws that dictate how electricity works. These laws have always existed. When men understood them, they could harness the power of electricity for good to bless mankind. But if these laws are broken, then what was meant for good can do evil to you. The same heat generated by electricity to cook eggs on your stove, will also cook you if you sit on it—even though you own the stove. The laws that govern electricity are not respecters of persons.

In the same way, the law of faith is a dynamic given for the good of mankind to bring the blessings of heaven to earth. It is the currency of heaven. It is the evidence of things not seen. It is the victory that overcomes the world. It is the answer to all things desired. It is what makes possible the things that look impossible. We can value it for our benefit, or it can easily be used for our destruction. Let us operate in the light of the faith revelation.

What is our future? If we really believed that what we plant today is what we will see tomorrow, then we would start planting what we want to see. What are the seeds that we have to plant? The law of sowing and reaping shows us that good and bad are the result of what we sow.

If we want good in our life, Jesus told us very clearly what the seeds are when He revealed the law of faith. Faith is designed to bring to pass good desires, or what you want. If you are not admiring your life right now, then change the seeds you are sowing!

There are laws that govern God’s “moral universe” just as we recognize the laws that govern the physical universe. Cause and effect is used to defend the creation of earth by God. Is there a cause and effect in the realm of faith where actions can predict results? If we have an unchangeable Christ, can we discover principles of His kingdom that are unchangeable?

In Galatians 6:7 Paul said, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”  God declared that seedtime and harvest would continue as long as the earth remained (Genesis 8:22).  He sowed the seed of His Son to reap the harvest of billions of sons and daughters. There are two overriding truths here: Seed produces after its own kind. And seed always produces more than the amount of seed sown.

These truths will work in every area of life. At my home I have terrible bushes that try to overpower my property, and they flourish. If these principles work for bad, corruptible seed like those undesirable bushes, just think how well they will work for an incorruptible seed like the words, thoughts, and actions motivated by your relationship with your Lord!

We are seed planters. Everything in my life; my world, my body, my ministry, my job, and my family begins with a seed.

How much do you want out of life? How high do you want to climb? How long do you want to live? How much power will you exercise? What goals do you want to reach?

You could say this: whatever you give yourself to will increase. Whatever you put your focus on will multiply. In your life, whatever you pay attention to will grow, and whatever you ignore will diminish. Seeds give back what you plant, and more.

This is the eternal question asked by humanity all over the earth and especially in Westernized societies! Satan to this day is utilizing the only tool he has available…deception. He attempts to pervert the word that God has given us. Ephesians 6:11 tells us to be aware of the devil’s schemes. In fact, we are mistaken if we think we must fear the power of the devil! He has no power but that which we give him when we distrust God’s Word.

We are encouraged to take a stand against Satan’s schemes, strategies, deceits, wiles, and tricks. We are not encouraged to take our stand against his power. Satan has only one tool, and that is to pervert God’s truth and convince us not to believe what God has told us in His Word. Essentially the plan of evil has not changed from the first day until now!

God has given us all that pertains to life, and we have the answers (2 Peter 1:3). We have a source that cannot be controlled by other humans, economics, armies, or any powers.

People are excited when they hear the voice of God’s scriptures declaring that all things are theirs to enjoy. It is God telling them to enter the supermarket and fill up their basket as often as they like. They go into the store with joy, but they are dismayed when everything they want is packaged as bags of seeds. It’s not in the form they were looking for! God promises us apples, but He rarely, if ever, gives us orchards or even a single apple tree. He gives us apple seeds.

People want instant gratification. The seeds God gives will produce everything they want in life, but they must plant them. The seeds will produce the image they project. They will grow. They will multiply just like any other seeds. God’s words are self-fulfilling. Jesus’ words are pre-programmed to produce the images of you and your life that He bought and paid for. His words are self-fulfilling in your life.

A tomato seed is pre-programmed to produce tomatoes. It does not matter how much the tomato seed would like to produce potatoes or how long it tries to grow them. It can only produce what it was programmed for.

Whatever seeds from God’s storehouse we plant, we will have the same harvest as God Himself would receive if He planted them!

It isn’t the loudness or length of speaking that produces change, it is the words that are spoken. For example, we were in the capital of Costa Rica with a marvelous group of leaders and believers as well as thousands of other people.

We conducted over 21 meetings. We met with the president of the country. The national Christian television station broadcast all the meetings across Latin America. Our time there was building to a climax, when my interpreter decided he was tired and wasn’t coming to my final meeting. Tired?? One doesn’t get tired in the middle of a campaign! I found myself at the meeting with the music playing, 40,000 people waiting to hear the Word of God and be healed, and no interpreter! What would you do? What you believe really comes out in moments like this!

I told the choir to keep singing, then stepped down from the platform and walked among the people, looking for someone who could speak English. I finally found an old schoolteacher. He had just a whisper of a voice, but he could speak accurately. I told him not to worry. “I will preach with heart,” I said, “just say the words, and Jesus will back us up. Only be accurate with the words.”

My faith was in Jesus alone, and it was very lonely up there with the multitude waiting to see Jesus. My dear new friend whispered the message, and I prayed with great vigor for the manifestation of the healing power of God to make the people whole. My friend whispered the prayer, and it brought a great thunder of faith from their hearts and miracles began to flow. Many canes and wheelchairs were thrust into the air. Arms were lifted, and a parade of hurting humanity gave witness to the living God.

The next day in the town where I was staying, I was negotiating with an art store owner for a particular painting. He greeted me with a big smile and called me Pastor. I had never mentioned that I was a preacher, how did he know?

He said his wife had insisted that he go to the mass miracle meeting the previous night, and so he had stood way in the back. When I invited people to lay hands on themselves where they would like Jesus to lay His hand, he could not think of anything wrong except the golf-ball-size bone deformity he was born with on his lower spine. As he touched it, he felt it dissolve under his hand. He was so happy that Jesus revealed Himself, and he found Christ on that field. I have the picture that we haggled over hanging in our home today!

Our own words will either justify or condemn us—so it really does matter what we say! An old friend of my family’s—a hard-drinking, cursing man almost all his life—experienced Christ gloriously in a church service and had a spiritual new birth. He was so sensitive to the presence of Jesus within him that when he tried to speak, all he could do was nod his head, because his whole vocabulary consisted of curse words. It took him six months before he could say a sentence without cursing!

We must be sensitive to what we are saying. Jesus said we bring up blessings or curses from our heart and release them with our words. People want to speak their minds. That’s a good thing unless what’s in their minds does not match up with their place in God’s kingdom, their rights as God’s children, their privileges as members of God’s family, or their love dominion based on their legal standing with God.

They talk as if they’re not redeemed. They talk as if they’re not free from the curse of death and the fear of injury, sickness, accidents, plagues, and evil men that bring death. Don’t waste your precious gift of speech by declaring that you are in agreement with evil, failure, depression, sickness, or fear!

“God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”  (Philippians 2:9-10 KJV).

Can a name really have power? If I were to tell you that Bill Gates, Microsoft genius and one of the world’s wealthiest men was ready to give you $1,000 worth of computer software, would you doubt his ability? Of course not, because globally the Gates name is synonymous with computer software. Even internet cafes in the most remote parts of the world have computers with Microsoft windows software. The Gates name has power in the software industry.

Jesus’ disciples discovered that His name had power in another realm. Two thousand years later His name remains synonymous with healing. I encourage you to speak the name of Jesus.  We can boldly declare, “Sickness and disease, in the name of Jesus, you must leave!”