“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].” The tongue has the power of life and death. This is referring to your confession. What we say mixed with faith in what we’re saying brings creative power. Saying or confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart is the basis for becoming a christian. We have the use of the Holy Spirit with measure, which means individually we can and will have what we say over time. We speak ourselves into victory or defeat. Satan uses the power of our tongue to bring us down. He will bring temptation to you and if you take the bait, you will begin to speak that thing out of your mouth and as you believe it, the power is released against you. We say things like, “You’re killing me”, when someone makes you laugh really hard. Or something like ” You’ll never amount to anything in life”. These negative expressions are in our daily lives because of the demonic influences in the world. Most people are not aware of these spiritual truths, and laws. The devil has been using the power of the tongue against mankind for thousands of years. He knows our make-up, and understands how spiritual things work. He hates us because of God kicking him out of heaven, Lucifer was his name then (he was God’s worship leader in heaven). The meaning of his name from the old English Latin, is light bringing, morning star. In Isaiah 14:12 he is referred to as “son of the morning”. The power of the tongue is known by the dark side. Now you know, so run with it straight into victorious living.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you.” When the bible talks about passing through the waters, or the fire, it is indicative of big trouble or troubles. It’s saying as we walk through the fire we will not be burned. It is not saying we will be kept from the fire itself but the intervention of God takes place here so we pass through unscathed. Trouble and storms of life come to us all, there’s no escaping it. Learning how to pass through victoriously is key. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal first of all. We are wrestling against the principalities and powers of the air which are evil spirits behind the scenes working against Christians especially. We carry the light of the world and evil represents darkness. Light has to do with exposure and truth which they can’t deal with, and it reminds them of the Holy beat down Jesus gave Satan in hell. God will be with you through all of your struggles and crises or anything else. Walking through the valley of the shadow of death has no hold on the trusting believing christian that knows his or her authority in Christ. We should be on the offensive while God has our backs at every turn in life.

“No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.” You would think if a person today would lay down their life for a friend’s sake, that person could be a bit mentally off their rocker according to this world order. Most of us would be skeptical about dying for a family member. All this Jesus has done for us, to make us right with God. It was God’s love that sent His Son Jesus to die as a living sacrifice for our screw ups, and wrong doings. Justice had to be satisfied before the eyes of God, so love in action was given to the entire world. The Love of God goes against all we’ve learned as people in this life on planet earth. To be in this world but not of it takes God’s love working in you. It’s a sacrificial love when it needs to be. It’s an understanding love always. It’s a comforting love when needed, and won’t let anything separate us from the Lord loving us. There is no greater love exemplified in any way by anyone other than God. We are His children and He has commanded us to love one another, can we at least try. It’s an act of your will. Let’s make it happen for Jesus, because without Him we’d be lost.

“So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Herein lies the great commission of God, sharing the good news, which is the bible. Jesus made disciples of the twelve that followed Him. The example has been given for us to go out and do the same. People won’t follow you if there’s no attraction to what you’re saying. Having the Holy Spirit in times of not knowing what to say and how to say it, is vital for effective ministry. We must exude the righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit in our lives, because this is the way of the God’s Kingdom. People know fake when they’re around it. The wisdom of God operating in your life will help make you approachable and with a sense of being blameless to the person you’re going after for discipleship. They may not be ready to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior in that moment, but you will have planted the seed of the gospel in them. Then God will send another person to water that word you planted to help confirm the witness you provided first. And then God gives the increase, in which He’ll send yet another person to lead them to the Lord by the sinner’s prayer. We are laborers together with God, but without Him we can do nothing. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.

“praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” Praying in the Spirit is simply praying in the Holy Ghost, which still may be hard to understand. Praying in the Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues is a direct perfect will of God prayer (Acts 2:4). It’s praying God’s perfect will back to Him. He is moved by faith on the lips of a believer confessing His word back to Him. As we spend time alone with the Lord in prayer and we reach that moment when we begin to feel His peace and comfort all around us and from inside you, you’re praying in the Spirit, because He has now gotten involved with your prayer time. Getting started is always the hardest part. We start off by faith, feeling dry, or the day’s stress is still on us. As we continue to pursue God, there will be a breakthrough whereas it becomes more fluid or easier to pray. The more time we spend with God on a regular basis, the easier each time will be to get started. We can build up residuals from praying often making it a more enjoyable and even exciting time with the Lord.

“But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].” The Spirit of truth has come to set things straight. Many times in life the crooked places of confusion or uncertainty can throw us for a loop. Since we can’t know or understand everything all the time, this is where the Spirit of truth comes in and sets things right in our lives. Truth overrides facts because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He walked in the law of the Spirit of life while on earth, thereby defeating the law of sin and death. All facts of the old testament commandments have been fulfilled or superseded by the new commandment Jesus gave of loving your neighbor as yourself. The Spirit of truth working in you will guide you into all truth. In this world the facts about many things in life has been a lie. The news or fakebook on social media, mostly deceptive, untrue information. Without knowing the truth in every situation or circumstance of your life, the evil one (Satan) in this world can have a foothold in your decision making, and most of your thoughts where he begins to work on you with lies. Let the Spirit of truth guide you, we all need Him.

“Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].” Some of us may look at this scripture and say, who is he talking about. We are purified and Holy and well-beloved by God Himself. Most people do not see themselves as such. As our behavior becomes marked by tender hearted pity and mercy, kindness and we have a lowly opinion of ourselves, gentle ways about us, and patient, we begin to line up with God’s words of this text today concerning us. It is how He sees us even when we’re still growing in grace. These Godly qualities are transferred in us at the new birth, when we become christians. It’s our job to allow the fruit of your newly recreated human spirit to develop (Galatians 5:22-23). God says in His word, “Be ye holy for I Am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). The issue with most of us is we don’t want to do the work it takes to get there, and that’s between you and God.

“For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul speaks to the Romans in this text about his experience with God and His loving kindness. Nothing can or ever will separate us from God’s love for us. We are precious to Him in every way. Our nature has been altered since He created us, but God always has a plan. His love for us is unparalleled to anything we can comprehend. Unlike mankind, God has no obstacles or pressures of life that could change Him. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. We may get pretty close to something detrimental to us, but His love will not allow us to fall and stay down. We have a part to play in connecting to the Lord’s love to complete the love circuit which undergirds our faith. Faith works by love, and everything having to do with our relationship and fellowship with God is by faith. We may forsake God, but that’s not in His nature to do to us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love, so count on it, and know He’s got you.

“You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you.” We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Our bodies are where the Spirit of God dwells, more specifically He lives in our new recreated human spirits, which happens after we become christians. It is important to become God inside minded so we can reap the benefits of His presence in us. He’s not a free loader just hitching a ride around the planet in us. He is our helper, our teacher about life and all things, He’s our comforter, and a very present help in time of trouble. Once we’ve come to the point in our christian walk of understanding God’s not just a Sunday morning feel good experience, and begin to put Him to work to solve our everyday human struggles, that is part of His purpose living in us. We belong to God and He desires to be involved in our daily lives. He will never force Himself on us like the devil does, but God allows us to make the choice on our own to want His help. Keep your temple in order, and find out what makes things tick, and how. There are many hidden mysteries exposed to the person who diligently seeks after the Lord. His Spirit in us reveals all truth concerning everything that concerns us in life.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Before Jesus left the earth to go to the Father in heaven, He told His disciples He was leaving them His peace, He is the Prince of peace that had just conquered the evil in this world. The peace that passes all understanding is ours for the asking. It passes all understanding because when Jesus defeated Satan in hell, He took the keys of death and hell, (peace robbers). Jesus has become the answer for all life’s negativity and unanswered questions. We tend to lose our peace over things we don’t understand or fear. The knowledge of God is our basis and foundation for peace. Jesus left His peace behind when He ascended on high. It must be discovered like any other treasure on earth. Lay your foundation for peace by studying God’s word so that you can receive it by faith. Get away from people who are not peaceful by nature. We must deal with anti peace makers from time to time, but the majority of our life should be spent with people and situations that lend themselves to a more peaceful outcome if possible. Otherwise more time with the Prince of peace brings you closer to a more peaceful life in general.