WE NEVER SHUT UP

"Be silent before the sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near."-(Zephaniah 1:7)

When my bride and I launched into full-time ministry, laying down our success, focus and accomplishments in the entertainment industry, we moved at the prompting of the Holy Spirit from New York City to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I believe that God gives us information on a "need to know" basis, and upon our arrival from our exodus out of Manhattan, I had not yet received my mission briefing for our occupation of the "buckle" of the Bible Belt. Although I personally had not yet heard from the Lord regarding the next steps, I did hear from many other humans. There were quite a few, trusted and loved, family and friends alike, who urged me that it was in God's plan for me to attend a well known Bible Training Institute. These beloved, wise and well-meaning souls all agreed on the same program, citing individually, that it is what they believed I had arrived in green country for.

In light of my infancy in the faith, the dichotomy of our geographical and cultural transplantation and my then, inability to separate good ideas from God-ideas, I agreed. I actually decided that it was God speaking through others into my life to reveal His plans. I believed this so strongly that I filed my application, met the initial criteria and was en route to the facility for my final entrance interview. As I drove to what I believed to be my destiny, I felt an nagging sense of uneasiness. Then, while making the final turn into the entry road of the school's campus, I AUDIBLY heard "Where are you going?" I answered with the name of the school. "I NEVER TOLD YOU TO GO THERE." the Lord replied in a voice that sounded with pure power and thunder in my Spirit. It stopped my heart. I was so utterly shaken that I literally came to a screeching halt and turned around. I went back home to my wife who was expecting me to return much later in the day. "What did you forget?" she asked. "I forgot to listen to God" I answered. I then shared my experience with her and found great support from her in the decision to wait upon the Lord. About a week later I began working as a personal assistant and jack-of-all trades for the man who would become one of my greatest mentors and my personal "Bible Training Academy", Bob Harrison. Over the next two years (and to this date) I have had incredible, irreplaceable, personal training from this great man of God. If I had listened to others' advice and followed through on what man said, I would most definitively have been out of step with the plan of God for my life.

"Where are you going?" is a question that lends validity to all of us at some point in our walk. I do not believe that God randomly chose for us to leave the noise and distraction of the "City that never sleeps" to enter the quiet peace of Tulsa. It was to get quiet before Him. We oftentimes put so much weight on what we want to do, or what others tell us to do, that we do not HEAR from the Lord. We talk about what we want, our desires, dreams and plans more than we listen. Most of us have been miseducated by Christian "inculturation" and we tell God what we want before listening to Him for direction. We create grand blueprints that suit our intellect and flesh and ask God to bless what we are doing, rather than do what HE wants us to do. With that much being said, we wonder why our plans fall apart, or why the Lord does not bless them, when in truth, he cannot bless that which He does not will. "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain."-(Psalm 127:1) I do believe that God grants us the desires of our heart, but I know that we, in our fallible carnal forms miss the precursor for that promise. "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."-(Psalm 37:4) We must first seek HIM. Taking delight in Him means focusing on His ways, His paths and most importantly, His PLANS. When we are looking to God to see His face, we do not first seek His hands. When we look up to Him, He does not need to ask "Where are you going?". “Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” -(Proverbs 19:21) To know His purpose, we must seek His face.

In Exodus, chapter 33, Moses asks God to show him His Glory. A mistake that I have made, many times in my life, is asking to see God's glory manifested in a situation before I knew His plans. We cannot expect Him to move through or reveal anything for us until we first seek His ways. Before Moses issues the tremendous request to see God's Glory, he first asks that God shows him HIS WAYS. Likewise, when teaching us about the material needs and desires of this life, Jesus the Messiah tells us "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."-(Matthew 6:33) We must seek the order and will of God and His Kingdom in all we do or desire, before He will bless or provide. No man can expect God to move on their behalf without they first seek His FACE. Anyone who thinks that they can have their way without seeking His authority is double-minded. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."-(James 1:8) His hands will not move for those who do not seek His face.

This brings us to a very important point; We first seek God's wisdom, then ask in faith without doubt for His blessing. He has given us free-will to operate and develop here on this Earth. But that does not mean to merely work out our own salvation by our own wisdom. The Word says in Philippians 2:12 to work out our own salvation with FEAR & TREMBLING. That fear is not the spirit of fear that comes from the wiles of the adversary, but the reverential fear and awe of the Lord God Almighty. We need to consult the manufacturer for the directions of the creation, then we can ask anything in faith. When we know the heart of the Father, we can ask anything in faith without doubt because we know that He is invested in it.

Hearing God for direction and looking to wise counsel for confirmation is the scriptural order of the Kingdom. When those beloved friends and family advised me regarding that school, it was well-intended, and perhaps wishful thinking that I would hear them as confirmation of God's direction. But with regard to hearing the will of the Father, how often do we talk AT God and not WITH Him? I believe that this is a valuable observation that we must all keep in check. When we pray, do we pray AT Him? Think about it. How many times have you or someone you know prayed a WALL of sound AT the Lord instead of communicating with Him? Communication means that we listen more than, or at least as much as we speak. A healthy conversation with another human being depends on a balance. Now that is just another mortal likened unto our own stature. How much more should we be silent before the Lord God, Creator of all existence? I know that it is in my personal nature to speak (sometimes incessantly) out of design, but being quiet lends the most effective results when genuinely seeking God's agenda for my life. "For our conversation is in heaven; from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:"-(Philippians 3:20) Our conversation with Him demands our attentive ear. God does not speak over us, like people do in a Woody Allen movie. He is a gentleman. He waits for us to stop talking. "And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."-(1 Kings 19:12)

In this tremulous and dangerous hour, as we approach the precipice of the end-times, we need God's genuine direction more than any other time in history. We need His divine plans to be revealed. We must be in the will of the Lord. If we truly desire to be in the will of the Lord and follow His direction, walking out His plans, we must listen for His voice. We must approach Him with open ears. "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all be silent before Him."-(Habakkuk 2:20) I encourage you to implement this today. Seek the Lord with thanksgiving and praise, enter into His presence. Then ask Him to speak to you. Wait upon Him. And listen rather than talk. Pray TO the Lord of Creation, not AT Him and you will hear His voice, know His will and draw nearer to Him in your walk. We must be still and hear HIM.

Eat Your Words

From an early age, I was exposed to the inherent human principle that what we speak can usher into existence either creation or destruction. "You can't UN-say your words..." was a familiar and altogether wise statement that my Mother spoke into my brothers' and my lives. It was valid, and for the reason of its pristine and apparent truth, I never questioned it. She has always been one of the few constant figures of influence in my life who, with specific regard to aforementioned credo, has always offered positive words of love and affirmation. And, as the Word of God shows us, "Love never fails."-(1 Corinthians 13:8) In spite of the acrid and often condemning environment of negativity that this fallen world offers, and in spite of the circumstances that befell us, my mother rang consistently supportive and nourishing words every day. She still does. And I now do so for my children. Our confession shapes not only our lives, but the lives of everyone we are entrusted as well.

One of my mentors and now Father-In-Law on my wife's side, Bob Harrison teaches a very insightful observation regarding the life of a caterpillar. For its entire life-season as a caterpillar, it produces a silk that will eventually be spun out of its mouth and used to create the chrysalis or cocoon in which the caterpillar will undergo the magnificent metamorphosis into a glorious butterfly. He sites very poignantly, that we create our environments, where we live, and what we will become with what comes out of our mouths. There is a marvelous word-picture of God's perfect example poured out for all creation to simply observe and obtain in that ideal.

We not only live in the environments we create with our words, but we create the environments of our future, or rather our very futures themselves from the confessions we make every day. The Word of God is so very clear that "Death and Life are in the POWER of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat its fruit" or "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will have to eat their own words."-(Proverbs 18:21) I appreciate the latter "God's Word" Amplified Translation as it cuts to the heart of the matter. The Word of God offers us two incredible exemplary images that literally embody the concept of eating Words. The Prophet Ezekial is given WORDS on a scroll to eat before speaking to the house of Israel: "Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth."-(Ezekial 3:3) Also, John the Revelator is given a scroll to consume: "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."-(Revelation 10:9-11) We do "eat our own words". It is invariably congruent to the idiom "You are what you eat". For in truth, we will reap the seeds of positive or negative choices in either account. When we make poor dietary decisions, we fare poorly within our physical man. When we make poor choices with our words, we reap the inevitable consequences of what we unleash into the fabric of existence. "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."-(Matthew 12:37)

Did it ever occur to you that through your confession, you create more than your own current state or future conditions? Have you considered that you will have an unwittingly powerful, albeit silent effect on every person who sees, witnesses or touches upon your life? Something to consider... Saint Francis of Assisi influenced literally hundreds of thousands around the world to live for Christ, and yet one of his most famous quotes is "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words. " He chose his words with care and love. Whereas on the polar opposite extreme we find the nihilist, Friedrich Nietzsche, whose words and confessions influenced many, but one in particular who altered the history of mankind, manipulated and misunderstood his words and used them as a catalyst for evil. His name was Adolf Hitler. I will employ the use of an erroneous line of text here, as I personally take issue with ending a perfectly good paragraph with that name.

We underestimate, on a daily basis, the true power of our words. Nevertheless, we are bound to the law of creative or destructive confession. Why? Because precious people, even God is bound by His Words. When remarking on the Purpose of Prayer, our dear friend, Dr. Myles Munroe teaches: "The reason people don't hear God speak very often is because when He does, He knows that His Words will not only become LAW for all creation, they will become law unto Himself as well." "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."-(Isaiah 55:11) If God speaks, He must accomplish it. That is the very essence of CREATION itself. GOD SPOKE. He used His WORD to create the Earth and all that dwell therein. "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light."-(Genesis 1:3) If we are made in God's image and likeness, (and we are), then that self-same principle applies to us as well. We create our world, our life and the environment we possess with our confession. The grave difference between God and us is that the Lord cannot fail with His Word, He is perfect. But we who have the power of free-will, can choose death. It is odd, but this is the magnetic path of our innately sinful flesh, to choose death over life. That is why we must choose Christ. Jesus IS life. In that one incredible, eternity-changing decision, we loose the fetters and bonds of the gravitational pull of the flesh, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak for us.

That is why prayer is imperative for ALL believers. Prayer is not an act of religious rite, but in truth the act of communicating with God with our WORDS, with our confession. Jesus Himself gave incredible testimony to the truth of the necessity of personal prayer throughout the example set during His ministry. Jesus prayed for guidance in places of quiet solitude -"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed"-(Mark 1:35) "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed"-(Luke 5:16). But perhaps the most influential moment of prayer to all believers is when the Disciples asked the Master "How should WE pray?" And the Lord answered- "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."-(Matthew 6:9-13) Jesus otherwise NEVER prays with His Disciples. That confirms that we, individually MUST communicate and confess GOOD and SIN to God the Father, IN THE NAME OF JESUS in order that we might be directed to straight paths. Yes, prayer is meant to be a communication of positive confession. And it must be constant and consistent in order to be effective. The Bible never mentions an "Intercessors Ministry". It mentions times of intercession, but what the modern church has done to almost entirely hedge out the necessity for personal prayer is disarming. Please do not misunderstand me. I love those who have seen the need and follow the call to be in such ministries, but I also must say how unfortunate we are as a body when we rely on a group of stalwart believers to fulfill that which we are either too lazy, too busy or quite frankly too unimpressed by to do. The Word of God says very clearly: "Pray without ceasing"-(1 Thessalonians 5:17) So, lest anyone think that they will see any good thing from the Lord by leaving the future of the Church environment, the future of the members and their own paths to a group of people whose shoulders were never meant to carry that heavy burden. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves"-(James 1:22)

What we speak in our every day walk will inevitably take form into our existence. If you confess "I am so fat." or "I am just not good with (fill in the blank)", you will most definitely never get in shape, and never be good at... whatever. But on the far opposite end of the scale of choice, if we say "I will get in shape" or "I am getting better with (fill in the blank), we WILL. I know right now someone is saying "That's just the power of Positive Thinking". Well, yes it is. But the truth behind the reason that the Power of Positive Thinking does not offer lasting fruit to most is two-fold. First, if we approach the process with the same consistency that we generally do our prayer life, it will not take root nor become effective. Second, if GOD is not the focus, He cannot move through it. In order for our confession to manifest positive results in our lives, we must remain focused on HIM. Trust is the center of any healthy relationship, and that is a valid truth with our communion with the King of Kings as well. But above even that, if we speak LIFE than the seeds of our speech will bring forth LIFE. That is God's Law, His truth and principle. So, as we open our mouths today, let us all heed that Biblical truth which Proverbs 18:21 declares, remembering that, whether spoken with Death or Life, we will EAT OUR WORDS.