Stand And Declare

Amen. Praise God. We're in a series on the tongue, Part four of the series. All the notes are there on the app. There's a phenomenon called the illusion of truth effect.

It basically proves that any statement we read, see or speak regularly is seen as more valid than the one we're exposed to only occasionally. Here's the amazing part of that. It makes no difference whether the information is true or false. The only thing that matters is how often we're exposed to it. Research from the University of California at Santa Barbara clearly shows that a weak message repeated twice becomes more valid than a strong message heard only once.

Even one repetition has the power to change our minds. It was an article published about doctors who incorporated talk therapy to treat patients who were suffering with depression. Instead of medicating the problem, the doctors instructed the patients to start making positive declarations over their lives, saying such things as, I have a bright future, people like to be around me, good things are in store. Some of the patients were depressed because they were dealing with life threatening diseases and they felt like there was no hope. And so the doctors asked him, has anybody ever survived this disease?

The answers were always yes. So he told them, then I want you to start saying, I will make it. I'll be one of the people who beats the odds. Those patients who obeyed the doctor's orders amazingly not only came out of the depression, but they made full recoveries. We're talking about the power of the tongue.

I want to talk to you today about life giving language. Life giving language. Let me give you the definition of the word declaration. The definition of declaration, it's a statement asserting or protecting a legal right. A statement asserting or protecting a legal right.

Two verses of scripture I want us to look at right here at the beginning, and then we're going to look at many more throughout the message. But would you just stand to honor the word of God as we read a couple of verses this morning? If you don't have your Bible or your device, they're on the screen or they will be on the screen. One of them we've used already several times in the series out of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 21. Proverbs 18, verse 21, it says this.

What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded. And then Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14 says, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession or our declaration. Again, the definition of a declaration is a statement that asserts or protects a legal right. Every Sunday we make some declarations concerning the Word of God.

I want you to do that with me before you're seated. Even those watching online, everybody together. Are you ready? Go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God.

This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the Word and I am confident of this that he who has begun a good work in me will complete it. In Jesus name, Amen. You can be seated. So throughout history there have been many declarations made for various reasons.

1320, it was the Declaration of Arbroath. It was a proclamation of Scottish freedom. In 1617, there was the Declaration of Sports by King James I of England, listing the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days. 1687, the Declaration of Indulgence had nothing to do with Krispy Kreme or Crumble cookies. Neither one of them existed at that time.

The Declaration of Indulgence established freedom of religion in England. 1776, our own Declaration of Independence. 1836, the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico. 1909, the Declaration of London established international maritime law. 1948, very significant event.

I've been in Independence hall in Tel Aviv in Israel and seen the the reenactment of Israel's Declaration of Independence declaring and establishing the State of Israel. Now, today we're going to assert and protect our legal rights as children of God. How are we going to do that? Well, we're going to do that by making some declarations over our homes and over our children. We're going to make some declarations over our health and over our finances.

We're going to make some declarations over our church and over our emotions, over our thought life, over our identity, over our actions and over our testimony. In 1st Samuel 17 it's a familiar story about when a young teenage boy by the name of David went up against a 9ft 9 inch tall philistine giant by the name of Goliath who was taunting and mocking the Israelites every morning and every evening. And along comes this shepherd boy who says, I'm going to take him on. I'm going to go out and face that giant who's making a mockery of our God. And in 1st Samuel 17, beginning to read in verse 45 as David walks out, or pardon me, in verse 41 it says, this Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy faced boy.

Am I a dog? He Roared at David that you come at me with a stick. And he cursed David by the names of his gods. Come over here and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals. Goliath yells.

Goliath is doing some serious trash talking. Goliath is doing everything that he can to make David shaking his boots like the Israelite troops were doing. Goliath is doing everything he can to instill fear in David so that David will do a 180 and go the other direction. And David in that moment had to make a decision, just like you and I have to make. Because the truth is, all of us face giants at different times in our lives.

We all face these taunting spirits of the enemy that want to instill fear in us. Every single one of us faces circumstances in life that want to erode our faith, that want to cause us to do 180 and turn our backs on the truth of the Word of God. And we all have to make a decision in that moment, just like David did. Will we give in to toxic thoughts? And they're there.

Many of you know, many of you are very familiar with toxic thoughts and toxic language. And we have to decide when the enemy is taunting us and trash talking us, will we give in to toxic thought thoughts or will we stand in the declarations of the Word of God? Well, David could have cowered in fear, David could have run the other way, but instead he made a declaration that we find in verse 45 about the power of his God. Watch. David replied to the Philistine, you come to me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven's armies, the God of the armies Israel, whom you have defied.

Watch. Today the Lord will conquer you, David declares, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear, but with this is the Lord's battle and he will give you to us. Some pretty powerful declarations coming from a teenage boy in the face of a 9 foot 9 inch tall giant who had a proven track record better than those in the ufc who could wipe people out pretty easily.

And there's David who says, I'm not going to give in to toxic thought, but I'm going to stand and I'm going to make some declarations of faith and about what's going to happen to the Philistine hero. And he starts saying, today I'm going to kill you. Today I'm going to cut off your head. Today I'm going to feed the bodies of your men to the birds and the animals. David starts making these powerful declarations out loud.

Watch what we read in Mark 11:22. Everybody with me? So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God, for assuredly I say to you, whoever what?

Whoever what says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea. And does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things that he what?

I thought you were with me. But believes that those things that he what will be done, he will have. Whatever he says. Jesus didn't say, think about it. Meditate on it.

Visualize it. But what does Jesus say? He says, say it. Jesus says what? He said, say it.

Whatever you say. Why? Because life and death are in the power of the tongue. The. There's power in the declaration.

Surely there's power in thinking the right thing. There's power in meditating on the word of God. But Scripture shows us that there's something that's released in the atmosphere when you say it, when you speak. Romans, chapter 4, verse 17. Watch.

In the presence of him who believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist, what did God do at creation? He called into existence things that did not exist. How did he do that? He spoke. God himself spoke and said, let there be light.

And there was light. He said, let the heavens be separated from the earth. And it happened. And said, let there be animals. And it happened.

He spoke and said, let there be creatures in the sea. And it happened. He spoke and said, let there be vegetation. There it was. He spoke and said, let there be stars and galaxies and moons and planets.

And it happened. And he spoke and said, let there be humans. And it happened. Why? Because he spoke and he called things that were not in existence existence.

Now, I shared last week that you and I are created in the image of that God, that same God who spoke and made things happen. We were created in his image. I challenged the men last week on Father's Day. And I said, because we were created in his image, with our words, we can create. Now, we can't create oceans, we can't create some giraffe, but we can create hope.

We can create courage. We can create strength, we can create confidence, we can create joy just by speaking with our words. And let me tell you something else. We can create church. We can create atmospheres.

Atmosphere in the natural just equates to air.

A sustained atmosphere creates a climate. All of the elements of a climate create a culture or a lifestyle. Let me give you an example. A warmer atmosphere produces a warmer tropical climate, which then creates a culture of a resort or a beach town. In other words, atmosphere plus climate equals culture.

But how many of you know, some cultures and some atmospheres are negative. They're not positive. You can't live without atmosphere. But some are not as healthy as others. When we're talking about in spiritual terms, some of you'll know what I'm talking about.

Have you ever walked into a house and you could feel the oppression in the atmosphere? Nobody said a word. Nothing has happened. But you walk in, and spiritually, you can feel a negative atmosphere. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Listen, I've driven into cities and I could feel the oppression of the enemy in a city. I've passed people on the street before or passed people in a mall or in a restaurant and immediately could feel demonic activity on that person. Didn't say a word. They didn't do anything. I could just feel it.

Why? Because of the atmosphere. The negative atmosphere, spiritually, that they carry. Now, hang with me. Stay with me.

Joyce Meyer said this. My father was a mean, controlling and manipulative person. For most of his life. He was unpredictable and unstable. As a result, the atmosphere of our home, she says, was supercharged with fear because you never knew if what you did would make him mad or not.

Now, listen to me, Church. You can change the atmosphere, spiritually speaking, from negative to positive with two things. You ready?

Come on, Church. I said you can change an atmosphere from negative to positive with two things by doing two things. Are you ready? The first one is this. The power of.

Of words. The power of words. This is so important. Now you have to get this. This will change your life.

I promise you. Kings rule and reign with words. Words equate to power. On the day of Pentecost that we talked about a few weeks ago, the spirit power correlated with speech as they were given a new language. James compares the tongue to the bridle in a horse's mouth or to a rudder on a large ship.

Small but powerful, he says. James, chapter three, verse two. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves. And in every other way, we can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.

And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn Wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It's a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.

It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. Powerful thing, the tongue. The power of our words. Life and death contained in the power of our tongue. Now watch this.

In Psalm 103, verse 20, it says this. Bless the Lord, you, His angels, mighty in strength, Mighty in strength, who perform his word, obeying the voice of his word. Now you got to catch this. Psalm 103, verse 20, talking about the angelic hosts, angels who were mighty in strength, the psalmist writes, who do what they have this great power and this great strength. To do what?

To perform His Word. Now here's what's important. Watch this. Obeying the voice of his word. Did you catch that?

Maybe you're a little shocked. Maybe you're a little surprised that it doesn't say that Angels obey the voice of God. They obey the voice of His Word. Listen to me. When we speak the word of God, angels do not differentiate or distinguish between our voice and the voice of God.

They just hear His Word. You got to get this.

God's word spoken out of our mouth is as powerful as God's word spoken out of his mouth. Angels are listening not for the voice of God. They're listening for the voice of his word. And when you speak his word, guess what? You set into motion These mighty angels who then perform the word of God.

They watch over the word to make sure that it's carried out. Oh, you got to get this. Look what it says in Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 12. For I am watching to see that my word is. Is fulfilled.

God's word in our mouth is as powerful as God's Word in His mouth. And angels don't care if the Word came from God's mouth or from our mouth. Whenever the Word is released, those angels are set into motion and they start watching over the Word to make sure that the Word of God is performed. Here's the second thing. The practice of faith, the power of his words and the practice of faith in the natural.

We wait for seasons. Here we are in the Middle of Summer, June 22nd. This coming week, if the forecast is correct, we're all going to have a little bit better understanding of hell.

And as much as we would love to accelerate the fall season, in the natural, we cannot create seasons. We can't speed it up. We can't make fall happen sooner than when it's going to happen. But watch in the spiritual, we are called to create seasons. You don't have to wait for seasons, because with your words, with the power of your words, by putting faith into action, then you can determine seasons and climates and not just reflect them.

It's a difference between a thermostat and a thermometer. A thermometer can do nothing about affecting the temperature of the room. It just reflects it. But a thermostat determines is it going to be hotter or is it going to be cooler? You and I, as New Testament believers, are called to determine the climate.

We're called to affect the atmosphere and not just sit back passively waiting for something to change.

Acts, chapter 28. Let me give you an example. Acts chapter 28, verse 3 says, as Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on a fire, a poisonous snake driven out by the heat bit him on the hand. And the people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, a murderer, no doubt. Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.

But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed, watch. They changed their minds and decided he was a God. This is a perfect example of an act of faith on the part of the apostle Paul. Shifting atmosphere, changing the climate.

Paul, in that moment when that snake was driven out by the heat and clasped itself onto his hand, Paul could have given in to toxic thoughts and said, oh, my goodness, I just survived a shipwreck. I've survived beatings, I floated at sea, I've survived stonings. And now look what's happened. Always bad things happening to me. I'm not gonna make it through this.

That's a poisonous viper and I'm gonna die. Paul could have given into that, but instead, Paul chose to stand in the declaration of his faith, shake the snake off, and all of a sudden the atmosphere goes from people saying he's a murderer to saying he's a God. Now, I want you to watch what happens next because the atmosphere shifts. Verse 4. When the Islanders saw the snake hanging from the hand, they said, he's a murderer.

Justice has not allowed him to live. And then the next moment they're saying, he's a God. Now look at verse 9 in Acts 28. Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. And as a result, we were showered with honors.

And when the time came to sail and people supplied us with everything that we would need for the trip, listen. Paul shifted the atmosphere, and all of a sudden, he creates an atmosphere for the miraculous. What I need for you to understand today is that through the power of your words and through the act of faith, the practice of faith, you can shift the atmosphere of your home. You can shift the atmosphere of your mind, of your thought life. You can shift the atmosphere, the environment that you work in, and you can create an atmosphere that goes from negative to positive and that creates expectation for the miraculous.

And we're about to do that. Because the reality is, some of you grew up in a toxic, negative culture and atmosphere, and all you ever heard was negative talk. All you were ever exposed to was toxic thoughts and toxic thinking. And because of that, when the squeeze is on, when life happens, when there's a bad report from a doctor, when the bills have stacked up, or when there's relational challenges or you get fired from your job, or when some other thing happens, your default setting is to kick into negative speech and negative talk and to say things like, well, see, I knew we would never get ahead. Or, I knew, I knew it happens to other people.

They get healed. I'm never going to get healed. I'm always going to be in pain. Your default setting is to say, well, you know what? My grandparents always struggle with alcoholism or with drug addiction, and the same thing's gonna be true for me, and I'm never gonna be free from this.

Your default setting, and the enemy just plays on this, is to cause you to slip into that mode that says, well, I'm never really gonna experience true joy. I'm gonna be depressed or I'm gonna be fearful my entire life. And God wants that to shift in your life. Today. God wants you to change that.

Today, God wants you to go from that default setting to saying, when the squeeze is on and when life happens and the bills stack up, rather than saying, well, I knew we would never get ahead. That all of a sudden you catch yourself and you say, rather than giving in to toxic thought, I'm gonna make some declarations based on the authority of the word of God, and you begin to say, my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory.

Instead of you giving in to toxic thought and saying, well, I guess I'll just be sick or in pain the rest of my life. No, you declare My God is Jehovah Ropha. He's my health and my healer, and I am the healed of the Lord. Even though circumstances may not show that in the moment, because we're so quick to agree with our circumstances. And the enemy wants you to do that because that erodes your faith.

It neutralizes the power of God in your life. What activates that is when you declare it with your mouth. When you begin to say, I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus, I'm the head and not the tail. I'm above and not beneath. You begin to declare, declare, declare.

You're asserting and protecting the legal rights that you have as a son of the Most High, as a daughter of the Most High, rather than giving way to the enemy, rather than agreeing with your circumstances. Are you hearing me today? So here's what we're going to do. We're going to practice the power of words. We're going to practice our faith.

When you came in today, you should have been given a card that looks like this. It says Daily Declarations on it. And if you did not get this, we printed enough so that everybody gets their own copy. You don't have to share with somebody, but if you need one, you didn't get one. I want everybody in the room to have one of these right now.

Hold your hand up. They'll bring one to you if you need it. I want everybody to have one. Those of you watching online, these are available on the website and on the Refuge app. You're going to want to download the app.

Those of you in the room, even though you're getting a hard copy, they're available for you on the app available on the website. Here's the beautiful thing that right now, while we're doing this, Refuge kids, every child is getting their own version of these declarations right here. Because while we're learning about the power of life giving language, so are your children right now on Refuge Kids. Isn't that awesome? I wrote these daily declarations 15 years ago in 2010.

We have distributed these a couple of different times here at the Refuge. The last time we distributed these was in 2019. So it's been a while. So I want to make sure everybody has a copy of this because I want this to go on your bathroom mirror. I want it to go in your car.

I want it to be up on your refrigerator. If you need more copies, you can go to the info desk. You can get more. I had a counselor come to me after the first service and he said, I've got 40 clients right now that need this. And he had a stack of these that he's taken to give to all 40 of the clients that he's counseling that are struggling with depression.

Had many others that said, I'm taking these because I've got family members who needed to hear this.

Anybody else that needs one of these, we want everybody to have one. So for years after I wrote these In 2010, my job in the mornings was usually to transport our kids or grandkids. At the time, my oldest grandson, who's now 15. But I would take our kids to school. Melanie would get them ready, she would pack their lunches, get them out the door.

I would take them to school. And after I wrote these in 2010, every single morning on the way to school, my kids knew we were going to make some declarations and we would say these out loud. My kids and grandkids, they all had these memorized. And every morning they knew as soon as the car went into drive, we were going to start making some declarations as we went to school. And that's what we're going to do today.

And some of you say, I don't really feel. Doesn't matter. It's the word of God coming out of your mouth and it'll begin to shift the atmosphere of your heart. Everybody ready? Everybody's got their own copy.

Here we go. Beginning with number one. Everybody together. You ready? Go.

I am a new creature in Christ, forgiven and free of shame and condemnation, washed by his powerful blood. I live by faith and not by sight or by feelings. And my faith is rooted in the eternal word of God. I refuse to receive a spirit of fear today because I am given by God a spirit of power, love, and self control. I can do all things today through Christ as He gives me strength.

His strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. And whatever I face today, he will give me the strength to match it and to overcome it. I am fearfully and wonderfully made by God. I am his workmanship, his masterpiece. Therefore, I will praise him at all times.

And I will not walk in insecurity as I am obedient in the areas of tithing and giving. God will supply all of my needs. He will give me the power to gain wealth and add no trouble to it, will increase my store of seed and will cause me to live.

I am blessed to be a blessing. I will sow and reap generously on every occasion, live to give cheerfully and learn to steward well God's blessings in my life. I have everything I need today concerning life and godliness. Therefore, I will live a pure life, striving for the holiness of God, casting down vain imaginations, taking disobedient thoughts, captive and walking in my identity in Christ. My home is built on Christ and will stand when the storms hit.

My children are blessed and protected. And as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. And today I will increase in favor with God and man, compassion for others, anointing and godly influence, wisdom and faith. Praise God. Praise God.

So here's my challenge to you, Church life giving language. My challenge to you is that for the next seven days, for the next seven days, that every day you make these declarations.

And I want to challenge you that you do it out loud. You'll shift the atmosphere of your own heart. You'll shift the atmosphere of your home. You'll begin to shift the atmosphere of those around you. But I won't for seven straight days.

Because I believe in the power of life giving language. I believe it's a biblical principle in truth. And I believe that the Word of God works. Anybody believe that with me today? So over these next seven days, I want you to begin to declare.

I want you to protect and assert your legal rights as a son or daughter of the Most High. It's not some gimmick, it's not some magic formula. It's the Word of God. And the Word works. Come on.

Will you declare that with me today? The word works. Say it. The Word works. Come on, say it.

The Word works. Come on, say it again. The Word works.