tongue – ThrivingBranch

Taming Your Tongue (in Christ)

June 18, 2023June 21, 2023Leave a Comment

Generally, when Christians discuss “taming your tongue” two verses of scripture always come up… Exodus 20 (the Ten Commandments) and James 3 (where most English translations actually place the heading “Taming the Tongue”)

When most people hear the phrase Taming your tongue, or the phrase “don’t take name of the Lord in vain” from Exodus 20:7, they immediately think of swearing or using vulgarities.

Now, I get it; no Christian wants to use a bunch of profanity. And many times we wake up in the morning and decide before getting out of bed, that we definitely will not use any vulgarities today… then, we stub our toe getting out of bed, and we’ve already failed!

While it can be somewhat disheartening when we experience a perceived failure, I believe that we are also missing a crucial point in these mentioned scriptures.

Now, I am not dismissing the desire to speak well without vulgarities— not at all. However what I am saying as that these scriptures are referring to something more, something deeper, and something much more potent, than merely coarse words; and this truth is what I want to share with you today. And as a special bonus, I believe that as we meditate on this truth together, it will have an effect on every area of your life— including your speech, but don’t focus on your speech, focus on the truth of Jesus.

The Key to Powerful Belief (part 2)

February 28, 2021December 20, 2020Leave a Comment

Welcome back to the second part of our study on belief. In part one, we began looking at some of the challenges that we often face when it comes to believing, and the prophetic report of Isaiah, outlining the sacrifice of Jesus, and the redemption that He brought.

Today we will continue this discussion by seeing more of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us, and how to allow Him to increase our faith and belief as we look directly at Him.

Speak Victory, Not Defeat

March 11, 2018September 9, 2019Leave a Comment

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.

The Real Sacrifice of Praise

August 28, 2016August 28, 2016Leave a Comment

A long time ago, there was a popular praise song that we always used to sing; the lyrics in-part were “we bring a sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD.” This is a reference to Hebrews 13:15, saying that we should continually offer such a sacrifice to God. This phrasing has always puzzled me. Because in my human mind, the word “sacrifice” always implied cost, or some kind of a victim. Often times we hear preachers say that in order for our praise and worship to mean anything to God, it has to “cost us something”, and this left me even more confused because it really wasn’t costing me anything to praise God – as a matter-of-fact I enjoyed praising Him! So did this then mean that my praise was worthless?

I struggled with this thought for many years, and it led me into a performance-driven, merit-centered mentality where I was trying to give something of value back to God, which I naturally assumed was my own works and efforts; my performance and law-keeping. However, this idea is not actually supported in scripture. In-fact the Bible is very descriptive regarding what the real sacrifice of praise is which we are to offer, and this is precisely what we will be studying today.

Speak Life and Have Victory

August 9, 2015August 10, 20152 Comments

What you say matters. Your words may seem insignificant, but they carry more weight and power than you can possibly imagine. Yet many times I hear believers describe in graphic and sometimes gruesome detail the victories which they perceive that the enemy is having in their lives and even in their bodies, and it is precisely because they do not understand the power of their words; and as a result, they do not realize the ground which they are giving-up to the enemy.

That’s why in this study today, we will be examining the power of what we say, the words that we speak, and what the Bible says about it all. This is not new-age philosophy, but it is Bible fact and truth from the Word of God.

Speak the Holy Spirit’s Words for Good Success

July 19, 2015September 1, 2019Leave a Comment

Last week we studied how God will always lead us to righteousness, and how as believers today, we serve in newness of the Spirit and not the Old Covenant of the Law. We also saw that the first area that the Holy Spirit affects when He fills us, is our tongue, because when our tongue is under control, our entire body can be under control as well. There is indeed great power in our words and what we speak.

Today we will be continuing this study by taking an in-depth look at the power and benefit that comes from speaking the words of the Holy Spirit. How letting Him control our tongue can bring life and healing to not only our physical bodies, but to every area of our lives.