Many people have heard the famous quote from Proverbs 18:21, that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”, and countless sermons have been preached over the years about the power of positive confession – even the secular world understands that speaking (and thinking) positively can have a benefit.
The scriptures however take it deeper than what most people realize. Positive thinking and positive confession without a foundation on the truth of Jesus Christ, is empty. It is just words without substance, it is clouds without rain if we don’t understand exactly why we can speak and think positively – and have it be more than simply nice words or pleasant thoughts.
Many people, including believers that I have talked to, are trying to get the benefits of positive thinking and positive confession, without the foundation… putting the cart before the horse; and without the basis of Jesus Christ, it all falls flat.
So what I want to share with you today, are some examples of how this was used by the people in scripture, about the very specific positive confessions that they spoke, and how they actually obtained results… and by seeing this, you will be able to speak and think positively, with confidence and substance, because you will know why it is true for you.
Now as I mentioned, the most popular quotation, is from Proverbs 18:21; however as we look at the context of the verse, we see some interesting details in Proverbs 18:20-22:
“A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.”
Now one thing to remember here, is that these are Hebrew proverbs, and the Hebrew way of expressing is very “pictoral”. What I mean by that is when they speak of a part of the body for example, they generally mean something more than the literal, especially in a poetic form as we see here.
The belly for example can be referring to hungers and desires, not just a place where food is digested. Just as we already know, the tongue has more to do with speaking here, and isn’t referring to specifically the muscular organ in our mouth in a biological sense.
So what we can see here is that a person’s desire will be satisfied, by working themselves as hard as they can, really knuckling down and giving everything they can until they burn out.
Oh, wait! That’s not what it says. Although that’s what most people are led to believe. If they are being completely honest, most people believe that to obtain what they want, they must “earn it” and the entire system of the world revolves around earning rewards for hard work and effort, and going above and beyond. Now, there is nothing wrong with performing well at your job and setting a good example, I’m not saying that is wrong… but what I am saying here, is exactly what the scripture is saying: that as admirable as those qualities may be, that is not where true satisfaction comes from.
As we can read in verse 20, true satisfaction of desire, doesn’t come from your efforts, or work, or even working yourself until you are burned-out and stressed-out like many people do today. Instead, true satisfaction comes from the fruit of your mouth. In other words, what your mouth produces, the words that you speak.
I’ve had discussions with a lot of people (and been one in times past!) that wanted good things and worked really hard for them, but they were always beyond reach, and they could never really figure out why, but they would always say things like “Man, things never work out for me!”, “I have the worst luck in the world!”… they are using their belief in a negative way and sabotaging themselves.
This is not just my opinion, this is actually mentioned in 2nd Corinthians 4:13, you speak what you truly believe.
And a lot of people have bought into the lie that their words are just words, when in-fact they carry the very power of life and death, and when used properly can even satisfy your desires as we read here.
Now take a look at verse 22, because there is something very interesting here. It says Whoever finds a wife, finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.
This almost seems out of place here in the context of what we are studying about speaking, but there is something here that many people do not see at first… keep this verse in your mind, and turn to Proverbs 8:35, and we will see something quite remarkable:
“For whoever finds me finds life, and shall obtain favor of the LORD.”
Do you see it? Here in Proverbs 8, Wisdom is here personified, and she uses the same phrasing as in Proverbs 18:22!
And since we know from 1st Corinthians 1:30 that Jesus is made to be Wisdom to us, now this all can be connected and make sense. That the reason why we can speak life, speak victory and be satisfied by the fruit of our mouth, and have it actually mean something is because of Jesus! Because of what has been done for us, who we are in Him!
Now, I want to show you that I didn’t just use some clever logic to make this up – some people will always try to argue for their right to remain down and depressed and continue speaking negative… but I am going to remove as many of those excuses as I can! So take a look at Joshua chapter 5, and let’s see how some people in the Bible, used their words, and what results they had. Joshua 5:1:
“And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.”
You may not think very much of this at first, but there is a wonderful principle right here in this verse. You see, whenever you read about Israel and her enemies, you can also make connections to us as God’s children, and our enemies today. We know that today, our enemies are spiritual (Ephesians 6:12), and I have spoken with many believers who often complain that they seem to lose many more battles than they win… and it’s because they fail to acknowledge this principle here.
If you recall our studies from earlier – Jesus really has already won the war; our enemy is defeated. Many times people try to fight a battle that has already been fought, they try to slay a foe that has already been slaughtered. The only reason that they really seem to lose, is because they aren’t acknowledging the truth! They speak and accept and believe that they are defeated… so that is what they receive! It’s exactly what we have read in Proverbs.
Now contrast that with what we see here in Joshua 5:1… and notice the specific details mentioned. Remember that there are no insignificant details in the scriptures… they all have a purpose, and they all reveal some aspect of Jesus.
We see here that the enemies of Israel had their hearts melted, and their spirit was no longer in them, which basically means they totally lost the will to fight and could no longer make war. This should make every single believer perk-up and take notice because this is what so many people need… they need to know how to see victory over their enemies… and this is it. Notice what caused their enemies to crumble: When they heard. Now what specifically did they hear? When they heard that the LORD dried up the waters of the Jordan until Israel crossed over.
It was a testimony of what God had done for them! It was the testimony of not only God’s power, but His care for His people! And it melted the heart and disintegrated the spirit of the enemy!
Now, go one chapter forward to Joshua chapter 6, and we’ll see other example. Joshua 6:20:
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”
This of-course is the moment when the great wall of Jericho fell, but notice the detail here. Everyone assumes it was the trumpet and the shouting that made the wall crumble, like some sympathetic vibration or something like that. However it says here: When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the shouting, that is when the wall fell down flat!
And in verse 16, you can read exactly what the shout was for:
“And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.”
Now I want to point out, that this was prior to the wall falling down. Up to this point they had zero physical evidence that the victory was theirs… but they were speaking positively in faith, and they were shouting in victory, because they believed God!
These are just two examples, but there are many more… David and Goliath, Joshua and Caleb, the scriptures are literally filled with examples of speaking not just positive confession, but positive confession of faith! Testimonies, not of how big your problems are – as many do today – but testimonies of how great God is, and how small your problems are! That’s the point of all of this. I want you to see the difference, not primarily of behavior, but of mentality. Speaking positively does little good if you are still in turmoil on the inside – then it’s just fake, it’s just phony… that’s why I want you to understand the foundation; you can speak positively, and actually have it be true. You can speak positively and actually believe it, because of Jesus!
Today, regardless of exactly what your enemy might be… a sickness, a feeling, finances, start declaring victory over it. Jesus has already won your battle. And as you declare the truth, as you confess the truth of Jesus, the heart of your enemy will melt, and its spirit will disintegrate! The wall will crumble down, as the truth of Jesus is declared!
I will end this study today, with one final example from Zechariah 4:7:
“Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace to it.”
Just as before, some very specific information here. Regardless of what your mountain may be, you can shout Grace! because of Jesus, and the mountain will become a plain to you.
Notice that Zerubabbel, did not ask nicely for the mountain to be removed. Zerubabbel, did not beg and plead and cry bitter tears for the mountain to be brought down, nor did he afflict himself and stew about deliverance either… in other words, he didn’t do any of the doubtful things that many people do today.
I’m bringing this to your attention so that your eyes will be opened to the truth and you will rise up in faith and realize who you are in Christ Jesus today and you will have the confidence in Christ to shout in victory just as we have read in the scriptures today!
I encourage you today, your problem may look like an impassable wall, or a fearsome foe, or a big mountain – but in Christ, just as Zerubabbel declared, it is nothing! Shout victory over it in Christ, not because you are trying to get victory, but because today, on the other side of the cross, you already have it!
Be blessed.