The power of life and death lies in the tongue. Proverbs 18:21
We hear that piece of scripture many times, we swear and somewhere out of the dust this old ass granny jumps out and quotes good ol’ Sols’ words as if she wrote them herself. Your annoying sibling distracts you while you are concentrating on placing that jenga block just so, and it all smashes down and you call him an eeeedjit and granny, again, rises from the mist and dust to proverb the proverb to you. You KNOW the verse (and if you are me, you know it in 2 languages). But do we know what it means? Sure we know what the words mean, and we know that life is good and death is bad. We catch a glimpse of the meaning when granny tells you to stop saying “I am so stupid” or something along those lines. “Don’t declare that over yourself”
I recently caught the meaning in a big way. We make declarations in church when we give tithes and offerings. I know the one off by heart already:
In this year alone I have received a better job, a bonus, an inheritance in the form of a car, debts have been paid off, expenses have decreased. Yes, sometimes I don’t pay attention when we do the corporate declaration, but I believe that God pays attention every time. And He’s like, ”I’m gonna honour you, as you are honouring me with your offering and tithes.”
It is good to have declarations in your life, when you feel like shit as you open your eyes in the morning, you declare the opposite, you declare that “Today is going to be a good day”, when you feel like you just can’t cope and you are buckling under the pressure you lean onto the Word and declare “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” for the power of life and death does truly lie in the tongue.
I watched an awesome movie a few months ago and I thought about it again today – White House Down. It was such a good movie, It made me think that I would totally want to be an American if Jamie Foxx was president. But, lesbe-honest, Channing Tatum… somehow that is all that needs to be said. Channing Tatum is really coming into his own I think. He has such a wide array of genre’s from Step up and She’s the Man, to Dear John and The Vow to G.I. Joe and then this awesome movie. He dances flippen well, plays soccer, is dang ass funny, fights, loves. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins an Oscar soon.
Sigh!
Now to the next thing… The Challenge. Phoenix and I had a moment yesterday after camping and we decided that the time has come that we challenge ourselves to commit 110% to this healthy thing. We sat in her car talking about what we should do and how and all that. Then we prayed and asked that God would help us, because “WE (I) can do all things through Christ who strengthens US (me). Now I totally believe that Jesus wants to help us with something so personal, He is a personal God and Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. So we got some encouraging scriptures and pictures and all… So where to from here?? We prayed but as we all know, faith without works is dead, just like works without faith is dead. Our camping is going well, we feel the burn, we give it our all, but like I have been hearing WAY TOO OFTEN, being healthy and toning up is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. The 80/20 diet…
You know it…
And that is exactly where our problem lies. Emotional connotations to eating is a very real thing. You feel sad, you eat, you feel happy, you eat, you lose a kg, you eat, you don’t lose any weight but pick up a kg or 3, you eat, PMS’ing?? Dang right you eat, you eat everything sweet and chocolaty in sight! So yes, comfort and celebratory eating is a real ass thing in our lives at the moment and personally I think, oh heck no, we only need food for sustenance, not for comfort. It’s a total mind thing, its discipline its having the willpower to say NO to the last éclair in the box, to order healthy food at a restaurant, to stand up against that voice in your head saying “Oh come on, just this once”
No… just NO!
Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. That word TRANSFORMED is the same word as repentance in the original Greek which is METANOIA and as you can probably guess, the English language got Metamorphosis from it. It basically means to change and turn 180ᵒ in the other direction and to stop doing what you had been doing before. Go read this post, I found it to be very informative and a much better explanation than what I gave J. Think about it… I would like to think that this verse can be used for our particular struggle which brings me to this verse Ephesians 6:10 – 17, what I want to point out is this part “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” BAM!!!
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
So the Challenge is that we will be giving it our all, getting Bootcamp Shirts made and everything. Our deadline is 30 May 2014!
This post has been on my heart for a few weeks now and I finally came to the point where I am writing it… as you could probably gather from some of my previous posts I love worship music. I don’t call it gospel cos to me it has a different meaning. In my mind gospel means a choir with some extra vocal ladies belting out Amazing Grace. In all fairness, Amazing Grace is a… well… amazing song.
Worship music to me is the stuff that makes you see your interpretation of who God, Jesus and Spirit is in front of you , worship is what makes you sing your heart out to them, what stirs your heart, what brings heaven down to earth, what makes you escape into God’s house for however long it lasts.
So on that note here is my list of worship songs that do just that for me:
1) Come Away – Chris Qualala (Album: Jesus Culture – Come Away)
This song as far as I know was written by someone on a beach in the US while in a prayer meeting, it is meant as a song from God to us. It’s His invitation to us to go on a journey with Him, to be intimate with Him. This song builds and builds and builds and the words…
“Come away with me, come away with me. It’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be full of Me”
…are so awesome. Off course anything with God would be wild and great and full of His glory and grace.
2) How He Loves Us – John Mark McMillan (Album: John Mark McMillan – The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down)
I think most people recognise this song because of Kim Walker singing it during the Jesus Culture: We Cry Out conference and I had some trouble deciding whether to put her version or the original artist’s on this list. I put the original one here because of the back story and where John Mark cries (around the 6:26 mark), it makes the song so much more real. You can go read the full story here but this is the just of it: There was a guy who was in a prayer meeting and he said to God that if his death could move a generation towards God then he would give his life. That night he died in a car accident and the next day John Mark wrote this song. He was John Mark’s best friend. Please read this post I just found about it before you listen to the song.
3) God I Look to You – Jenn Johnson (Album: Be Lifted High – Bethel Live)
This is like a declaration from the deepest saddest part of our hearts. That’s how I feel. The first time I heard it was at worship practice a few years ago, I was going through some rough times and I was not in the right place with God in my heart and I didn’t want to be at worship practice at all, I felt rebellious and then this song came on as a new song to be practiced. I broke down for the entire song. Ever since then it has never stopped influencing me.
4) For the Sake of the World – Brian Johnson (Album: For the Sake of the World – Bethel)
This is that prayer that I feel we all should be praying. “For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me, light a flame in my soul for all the world to see.” This is what we were made for; this is why we are here. To bring glory to God and to take that glory and shine it in the darkness! Matthew 28:18-20 – “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
5) Waiting Here for You – Martin Smith & Kim Walker (Album: Live from New York – Jesus Culture (Disc 1))
Breaks me down EVERY TIME!!! Sometimes when this song starts on my play list and I can’t give it all my attention then I skip it. I feel like I would be cheating God if it’s just playing in the background, without me entering into His presence. Every time I hear it I see myself standing in the Throne Room while God is out doing something, and I’m in the middle standing singing “waiting here for You, with my hands lifted high, in praise. Singing hallelujah.” And then He comes and we have a good time.
6) Oceans (Feet may Fail) – Hillsong United (Album: Zion – Hillsong United)
I have no words for this song, right from the get go I get goose bumps, and then it just intensifies!! The woman sings it so beautifully and the words are so amazing. Like I say, no words.
7) Revelation Song – Kari Jobe (Album: Let the Future Begin – Passion 2013)
Let it be known that if you asked me what I thought of Kari Jobe last year I would say, “Meh, she’s ok, I don’t like the way she sings the Revelation Song, I much prefer how Kim Walker sings it.” Now, I HAVE to take all that back. This song (as I stated in a previous post) is awesome in every sense of the word. It carries you through your own pain and feelings of worthlessness straight to God’s feet; it helps you remember – oh yes, Seek first the Kingdom of God!
8) Obsession – Chris Qualala (Album: Consumed – Jesus Culture)
This song is at the end simply because it is the last song on Consumed. Now to completely understand my heart behind this song you need to at least watch the video without distraction, really give it all your attention… The end of this song is what makes it so amazing. But even more, when you watch the DVD of Consumed, this song just ends the DVD on such a high note. I can’t explain what happens to my heart in human words… I think only Holy Spirit knows, probably cos He is doing it.
If you have reached this point in the post I wanna say thanx for plowing ahead… I know it’s a long post. I hope you enjoyed it. Do yourself a favour and put all these songs on a nonstop list and spend some time just soaking in the music and God’s presence.
lukraakvars 