The Word To Live By:10-20-25
Phil Waggoner
Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. You have spoken hard, rude words to me.” Malachi 3:13
The Word To Live By: Here’s the next doctrine essential to living by faith. Understand that your words have power. They have the power to set the course of your life. When God says, “Your words have been stout against me…” what does He mean? Let’s look at the Message Translation of these scriptures 3:13-15, “God says, ‘You have spoken hard, rude words to me.’ You ask, ‘When did we ever do that?’ When you said, ‘It doesn’t pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it?’ When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about God-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.’” In other words, when you spoke lies about the Word of God. From day one, God has made it clear to His children that He wants the best for them and that His Word is for them to have the best in their lives. Deuteronomy 32:47 says, “This is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.” I’m not going to go into the theology and symbolism in this scripture today except to say it makes the Bible the most important book to know and to heed the instructions in your life. When you live and do what the Bible says, you will be blessed. And one of the main things to know is the power you possess over your life in what you say. When what you say is contrary to what the Bible says, your words are “Stout” against the Lord. Let me make my point today with a few of the many, many scriptures that talk about the words of your mouth and the importance of what you say. Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And those who love it will eat its fruit.” Your words bear fruit. The fruit is from the seeds of what you say. Proverbs 29:20, “There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Think about what you are about to say in terms of its seed. Ask yourself, “Do I want to eat the fruit from the seeds I’m about to sow?” Proverbs 12:18,19, “Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.” Proverbs 16:24, “Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” When you speak wise, encouraging words to people, you not only bring healing to them but also health to your body and mind. Think about the opposite of those two scriptures. That will answer a lot of questions about where you and your friends are in life. I’m going to keep going with this for a couple of more days.
Read through the Bible in a year: Revelation 20; Isaiah 7-8; Psalms 110;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 20, Luke 12:31-59, Titus 2
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160