There are many Christians today who are getting themselves easily ensnared with their own words. They are being distracted through their involvement in the social media and their mingling with the unsaved world, from saying and confessing what God has declared about them and their lives.
If the people of the world around you are changing, it doesn’t mean that you have to be like them. You are a child of God. Your eternal future does not belong on this earth. You ought to be rehearsing what Heaven is going to be like while on the earth. You don’t want to become a stranger when you get to your eternal home:
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself”.
Philippians 3:20-21 NKJV
Our Kingdom is not of this world. There is therefore no need for a child of God to be imitating the children of the darkness of this world, just because you are trying to please them.
There are serious consequences for you and your destiny in life for doing so. The hosts of Heaven are witnesses to what you are saying at all times. They are listening to what you are saying, and they are not pleased with it.
You are born of the light and not of the darkness of this world. That’s why Jesus said:
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16 NKJV
The enemy is using the distractions and side attractions of this world to sidetrack Christians away from walking on the promises of God, for their prosperity, healing and good health.
It’s our duty as Christians to be on guard over what is coming out of our mouth at all times. God holds every believer in Christ Jesus personally responsible for what they are saying with their mouth.
The scriptures say:
“Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.”
Ecclesiastes 5:6-7 NKJV
No one has an excuse to give before God for being destroyed by the words of their own mouth. This is because Christ Jesus had provided everything for our protection from the destruction of the enemy.
You are never a victim of the evil one. You are the victor over him always. And to be able to stand in your victory, you must be careful to be guarding your heart and your mouth concerning what you are saying at all times.
King Solomon said again by the Spirit of God:
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.”
Proverbs 4:23-27 NKJV
A deceitful and perverse lips come from the corruption of this world. A Christian who is diligent about guarding his heart will not be speaking like the people of this unsaved world. He will remove his foot from associating himself with the corruption of this evil world.
There are angelic beings all around you. They are keeping their eyes on what you are joining the unsaved world around you to declare. They are helpless in protecting you, if you’re saying whatever is contrary to what God had already made available for you in the Bible. Angels can’t protect you from evil if your mouth keeps getting you into trouble.
They do have an assignment from heaven to manifest everything that God had given to you on the earth in your life.
But if your mouth keeps hindering you from declaring what the Lord God says concerning your life in the scriptures, then there is nothing that they can do to protect you from the attacks of the devil, and also to bring the fulfillment of His promises to you.
The Bible says concerning them:
“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”
Exodus 23:20-22 NKJV
Do you know that many Christians often die younger, because they are provoking their angels. They keep on saying what their angels doesn’t want to hear them say as the children of God.
The angels have just decided to take them away from the earth, so as to stop them from saying the corrupt words that are coming out of their mouth.
You can’t say to the Lord when you get before Him at the Great White Throne of judgment in Heaven (Revelation 20:11); that what you are saying over and over again had just been a mistake. It will be too late at that time. You will have no excuse to give before God at the time. It will evidently be judgment time.
The Angel of the Lord will never treat those negative words like misspoken words. He sees them as evil speaking, because they are contrary to what God says about you in the holy scriptures.
You have indeed been snared by your own words. Now you have to pull yourself out of the hole that you have cornered yourself into.
There are many Christians today who do know, what God’s word says about their prosperity, healing and good health; but who have been ensnared into confessing what the enemy is doing around them and in their lives.
That’s why it’s important for us as Christians to train ourselves about guarding the tongue out of the spiritual cobweb of the enemy.
However, it’s one thing to be trained to do something, and it’s another thing to be a doer of those things that you had been trained to be doing.
It’s just as important as having a Bible at home. The Bible is God’s manual Book for your success in life; but if you’re not seriously studying the manual Book, you can never be successful in life with it.
For example, Joshua lived under the Old Testament dispensation in the wilderness without the Bible as we have it today. The only thing that he had were the scrolls of writings that Moses had handed over to him, before he became the leader of his people.
Joshua and most of the people with him were not even as educated as many Christians are today. But in the midst of the daily struggles that he had to face in dealing with the Israelites, while journeying through the wilderness with them, the Lord God had instructed him that:
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Joshua 1:8 NKJV
There were a lot of contradictions to the Book of the Law as evident in the lives of the people that he was leading, yet the Lord God had told him that he had to meditate of those scroll writings, which Moses had handed over to him day and night, if he wanted to be successful in carrying out his mission of leading the people into the promised land.
If Joshua was successful in dealing with a worldly and rebellious people while journeying through the wilderness by meditating on God’s word day and night, there is no reason why Christians can’t do better than him today, with the help of the Holy Spirit Who lives inside of us.
It’s very true that there are some Christians who are just being adamant in their hearts towards God. They have made up their minds to put the way of the world above God’s Word. They do know what God’s word says about their prosperity and healing, but they are not using their faith to tap into it for their own benefit.
So instead of focusing on what the scriptures says about their particular situation in life, they have decided to be taking their cues from the news media and social media.
They have chosen relevancy with the world over compliance or obedience to God’s word. They do know what God’s word says about their particular situations; but they are focusing more on what the world is saying to them about those things.
God’s word is in them. But it’s there without any strong root of faith within their hearts. They have been tricked by the devil, who had bewitched them with the worldly desires of their flesh, to the extent that some of them do not even know, who they are in Christ Jesus anymore.
They have gone in the way of the world and had been ensnared by their own words.
Get your mind renewed.
That’s why it’s important for every Spirit filled Christian living on the earth today, to be spiritually trained about getting the words of their mouth connected with their spirit man; instead of just speaking whatever comes on their minds.
The words that come from the heart or spirit man are faith filled words. The unrenewed mind of man was never created to produce faith filled words, because of its numerous entanglements with the corruption of this world.
The mind of a man can never be born again of the Spirit of God. It is the part of man that the enemy still has the ability to influence, even though a person may be a born-again Christian.
But the born-again spirit man of the believer in Christ Jesus is a territory that is untouchable by the devil. This is the real man in you, who has actually experienced the new birth in Christ Jesus.
That’s why the Bible says:
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.”
Proverbs 20:27 NKJV
God uses the spirit man in you to search out the intent of your heart. You can’t hide anything away from God. He sees you through your heart. His Spirit in you communicates with your spirit man always.
This is how you are able to recognize the voice of the Lord God speaking directly into your heart. God’s Spirit dwells inside of your born-again spirit man (2 Corinthians 6:16).
You are able to separate the voice of God from the voice of the devil, and also from the voice of your flesh by this means.
The spirit man has to be trained to discern these voices in your life. The voice of the flesh will cause you to struggle in obeying God’s voice. And the voice of the devil is always there to push you into questioning and reasoning with what God’s word is saying to you.
You apparently will have to make the final decision, about whose voice to obey. That’s why you can’t blame God for the decisions that you are making, which are contrary to His written word. His written words are there to guide you in knowing what you’re supposed to be saying.
It’s the spirit man in you that has the ability to discern spiritual truth. The discernment of spiritual truth can either be good or evil. But it will always come from your spirit man, and not from the mind. God’s Spirit reveals spiritual truth to your spirit man, until you are matured enough in your renewed mind to be guided by it.
A renewed mind in God’s word is dangerous to the devil. He finds it difficult to trick such a Christian.
But that does not necessarily mean that he will not try his tricks on that Christian. He will persist in trying to get access into the mind of a believer in Christ Jesus. He will persist in this by questioning the efficacy of God’s word to you. His goal is to undermine the authority of God’s word in the life of such a Christian, so as to get that person entrapped.
That’s why the Apostle Paul urges us by saying:
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:2 NKJV
The discernment of the spiritual truth from the written word of God, is what helps us to prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. You are able to know what to do in every situation that confronts you in life, because your mind has been renewed by God’s word to discern the will of God.
Be a careful listener, but a slow speaker.
And as a child of God, you have to be slow to speak, while being quick to listen. Many are getting themselves ensnared by just speaking what is on their mind.
Their emotions and feelings are telling them what to say. Their mouth is not connected with their spirit man, in knowing the will of God before speaking.
Your emotions and feelings have nothing to do with God’s perfect will for your life. They can’t move or change God concerning those things. God is only moved by your faith in His written word.
So put aside those emotions and feelings. Let God’s word become the mirror of your life. Looking into the mirror of God’s word daily, will help you in guarding your heart and your mouth to possess what belongs to you in Christ Jesus.
Whatever is on the mind that is not yet renewed with God’s word is dangerous and evil. And it’s in line with the world’s way of thinking.
There is the tendency in such a mind to be reacting and speaking, like the people of the unsaved world, because that’s the system from which such a believer in Christ Jesus came out.
But if you have been renewing your mind, to listen more to the spirit man inside of you before speaking, you will know how to never get yourself ensnared again with your own words.
God’s word that is abiding in you will always lift up God’s standard (Isaiah 59:19b), against every weapon of the enemy that has been assigned to get you entrapped.
The Apostle James enjoined us therefore by saying:
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;”
James 1:19 NKJV
When your mouth is well connected with your spirit man, it’s difficult for the enemy to be putting words into your mouth – words which you never wanted to be saying.
That’s why the ability of the Holy Spirit filled Christian to speak in other tongues is very important.
Such a Christian can be guided by the leading of the Holy Spirit to be speaking slowly, as he listens for the voice of the Holy Spirit within him.
The tongue is difficult to tame, but by praying in other tongues you can always put it in check. When you are doing this, you’re actually speaking the mysteries of God to Him; instead of speaking what the world or the devil wants you to be saying.
It’s important to learn how to be quiet with the mouth, while listening to the voice of the spirit man within us, so as to be led appropriately in declaring the mind of Christ.
The Bible says:
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Ephesians 4:29 NKJV
Many have made the wrong decisions before in life by just saying, what’s on their minds which is yet to be renewed.
The mind that is not being renewed with God’s written word will speak, what is not necessarily of the mind of Christ in any situation. It will often cause the mouth to be uttering words like the people of the unsaved world.
A Christian whose mind is not being renewed is prone to be speaking like the people of the world. He is saved but still using the curse words, which keeps getting him ensnared by the devil.
Many marriages have been destroyed in this manner, as the spouses are not being good listeners to one another, before even speaking such words to one another. The devil uses the opportunity that is given by such moments of misunderstandings, to aggressively destroy their homes.
Oftentimes such words are being spoken in anger, which has been engineered by the devil against their relationship. The devil is a manipulator of words. He will send negative signals to the mind that is not yet renewed, so as to make a false interpretation or decoding of what people are saying to one another.
It’s okay to ask God clarifying questions.
That’s why it’s important to be communicating clearly and better with one another, by asking clarifying questions. Clarifying questions are meant to help us in correctly decoding the words that were heard from others. If you’re not quick to listen and slow to speak, you can’t be good at asking clarifying questions.
This is even more important as some people do speak naturally faster than others. And before you can be able to figure out what they are saying, they probably have made up their minds already about the situation. You may only find yourself trying to figure out what had happened, at the end of the conversation with them.
Clarifying questions are okay to ask God also in our relationship with Him. There is nothing wrong in asking God clarifying questions, about what He has asked you to do.
If the Lord has spoken to you directly about anything, but you are not clear about what you heard from Him; then it’s better to talk with Him directly about it again. It’s better to ask Him to clarify His instruction and direction to you, rather than to just assume that you had heard Him correctly.
And at the end of it all if you did not ask Him for clarifications, you may find out that you had indeed missed out of everything, that were designed to be a blessing over your life.
It’s always a blessing to hear from the Lord. He delights in clarifying the things that you may not understand to you.
The Bible once told us about Samson’s father after his mother had encountered a visitation, from the angel of the Lord about his birth. There were some things that were not clear to him, about the son that they were supposed to have.
The Bible says:
“Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” So, Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?””
Judges 13:8-12 NKJV
Manoah asked the clarifying question:
“What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
If God has given you a child to raise up for Him with some specific instructions; you’d better be sure about what you are meant to be doing in raising up that child.
It’s just like when God’s word comes to you in the midst of uncertainties. You’d better be sure about what He is telling you. Go back to Him and ask Him questions about what is not clear to you. It won’t hurt to ask God about it.
The amazing thing is that God loves it when you are asking Him questions. It proves to Him that you are not trying to be who you are not. And it is better to do this than for you to just assume that you do know it all. Only to find out later that you had made a fool of yourself before God.
God honored the faith of Manoah with his clarifying question. God never turned His back on him. The man received the word of God which clarified his role in God’s plan for the son – Samson.
When you are clarifying things that are not clear to you with God, He begins to take you serious in your relationship with Him.
This is an opportunity for any child of God to start learning how to walk closely with Him. God sees the intent of your heart whenever you come before Him with clarifying questions. He will answer the questions back to you.
Have you recently gotten a word, a vision or a dream from the Lord, that is troubling to you? And you don’t know what to do about it?
Instead of just speaking about it with the people around you, why not go back directly to God with it. He will get back with you about it. The timing may not be yours to decide; but He will ultimately meet up with you at the right time. And when He does you will know that the Lord has indeed led you into the way you are taking.
The Bible also told us about King Saul who was rejected by the Lord God and eventually died tragically in battle, because he was not smart enough to had asked God, to clarify what he was told to do. He assumed that he knew exactly what God wanted him to do. But he was wrong.
He had been asked to go and destroy the Amalekites, because of the way that they had mistreated Israel in the wilderness, as they were traveling on the way from Egypt to the promised land. Saul was told to completely destroy everything that belonged to the Amalekites. But he had kept certain things for his soldiers and for himself. He did not even kill (Agag) the King of Amalek.
The Bible says:
“But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.”
I Samuel 15:9 NKJV
The Lord was not happy with this action by Saul. The Bible says:
“Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.”
I Samuel 15:10-11 NKJV
Eventually Samuel went to confront Saul with the word of the Lord. What was Saul’s excuse for acting in disobedience to God’s commandments?
“And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.””
I Samuel 15:20-21 NKJV
He thought he had done the right thing by keeping some of the loot from the war for himself, with the aim of using them as sacrifice to the Lord. Then Samuel told him bluntly:
.. “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”
I Samuel 15:22-23 NKJV
Obedience to God’s word is very important. Saul thought that he had obeyed God, while in fact he had acted in disobedience to God. The Lord had rejected him as the King of Israel because of this.
The end of the story might had been different, if he had indeed asked clarifying questions before going out to the battlefield. He would have been careful to follow God’s instructions to him.
Are you facing a situation today in which the Lord has revealed His perfect will to you? And you may still be struggling to figure things out what to do about it. Instead of trying to figure out things, why not go back to the Lord; asking Him to explain what you don’t understand for you.
You may be facing a situation like the one in which Saul had found himself. It’s a good thing to go back to God about it. He will let you know what you need to know, before you end up creating a disaster for yourself.
Asking God to clarify things is a good thing. It is what leads us always into His wisdom concerning those things. The more you can boldly approach the Lord God to clarify things to you, the more you’ll be opportune to tap into God’s wisdom.
Asking clarifying questions will lead you into the wisdom of God, which will keep you protected from the evil forces that wants to see your failure in life. So why not go back to the Father, asking Him to clarify what you do not understand for you.
Before speaking out the vision or the dream to anyone, go to the Lord and ask Him to clarify what He has told you. It will guard and protect you from being ensnared with your own mouth. It will save you from a lot of troubles in life. And at the end you will be glad that you did.
Then:
“Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is His treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6 NKJV
Amen!
