Fills My Mouth with Good Things

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits...who fills my mouth with good things so that my youth is restored like the eagles. 

Psalm 103:1-5  God also declares He has forgiven all our iniquities, healed all our diseases, redeemed our lives from hell, and crowned us with His steadfast love and mercy.  However, the next "benefit" is different in that it requires our participation.  He may "fill our mouths" but it is up to us to speak these good things. This is much like the expression, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

2 Corinthians 4:13 states that since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke" we also believe and therefore speak.  We believe Jesus has overcome sin, sickness, the devil, and death.  Then we bring this overcoming power into our lives by saying it with our mouths.  It is one thing to hear the Word of God, but another to make it ours by declaring this truth

Consider what words you usually declare.  If there was a recording of all your words from the past 24 hours, would it sound positive like hope and joy or would it be doubt and fear and defeat?  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, according to Jesus in Luke 6:45, so our words reveal what is in our hearts.  Have you ever noticed what comes out of your mouth in emergency situations?  It is often something we didn’t even realize was in our heart.  Yet God has given us a new heart and now renews our mind with His truth and ways so we can become His mouthpiece on the earth. 

As we declare His truth, we allow the Holy Spirit to confirm our words with His power.  Our youth or life is renewed like the eagles.  Just as an eagle soars and is lifted up effortlessly by the wind, so our bodies are renewed by the breath of God.  

Beyond our personal benefit, God's plan is also for "His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven," which is how Jesus told us to pray.  Peter goes so far (1 Peter 4:11) as to say that we who speak are the oracle or mouthpiece of God.  Just as God spoke creation into existence with words, "Let there be light" and so forth, this same principle of power is declared in our spoken words, according to Proverbs 18:21, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue."  Amos 3:8 exhorts all those who hear God to speak what we hear, "The Lord has spoken, who can but prophesy?"  Prophecy is hearing from God and then speaking the message our loud to establish it on the earth. 

The bottom line is "It is finished."  Jesus, through His death and resurrection, has finished or completed the work of restoring all that mankind has lost through sin and now reigns as King.  We agree with God's Word and use His kingly authority to overcome anything and everything that does not submit to His rule.  Therefore, Romans 5:17 can boldly say "all those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and speak the good things from God's Word to renew your youth like the eagles!   

You Rule on your Knees with Lifted Hands

Hear the Word of the Lord: "Rule in the midst of Your enemies!" 

Yes, we rule.  According to 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:5 we have been made a royal priesthood (or kings and priests) in the Kingdom of God.  Believers have been given authority "to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" by Jesus (Luke 10:19). This truth is amplified in Romans 5:17, "For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."   

One look at the news today shouts the truth that death reigns in the world, but the Good News is that "much more" do the ones who receive the abundance of grace (I suggest salvation, being transferred from Satan's domain into the Lord Jesus' kingdom) and the gift of righteousness (notice it has nothing to do with how good we are, but rather "He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God") reign in life.  Jesus desires us to reign with Him "in life."  As Psalm 110:2 declares "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.  Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"  

How do we rule?  We have been given the keys to the kingdom, the tools to walk in and release the power of God.   In the New Testament, 1 Peter 2:5 states it this way, "as living stones, [we] are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  The key work of priests is offer sacrifices.  Therefore, the way we rule with the Lord Jesus is through our royal priesthood of spiritual sacrifices.  Hebrews 13:15-16 further explains this call, "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.  But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."  The sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise is powerful for ruling in every situation by acknowledging all He has done.  He has overcome, and by our faith we overcome with Him.  

Whether you realize it or not, you rule through the praises and thanks you give.  We are seated with the Lord Jesus in heavenly places and rule with Him by the declaration of our mouth and the agreement of our hearts.  God entrusted the earth to Adam, who unfortunately gave this authority to Satan, but through Jesus' death and resurrection, man's authority to rule the earth has been restored.  Therefore. as Proverbs 18:21 declares, "death and life are in the power of the tongue" and God calls us to choose life.  Speaking words of life out of the overflow of our hearts, releases the life of God.  Prayer, praise, thanksgiving, worship, and prophetic declaration are keys and tools to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth, or as Jesus taught us to pray, "Come, Thy Kingdom, be done, Thy will, on earth as it is in heaven." 

Rule today.  Utilize the authority and position God has given you through worship, praise, and thanksgiving.  Know that God's Word will not return void, but He will surely establish the purpose for which He sent it. He who calls you (to rule in His name and authority) is faithful, and He will do it!