Today’s Reading:
Genesis 1
2 Corinthians 10
Proverbs 18
Ecclesiastes 3
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [ak]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [al]sky and over every living thing that [am]moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28 NASB 1995
The Spirit of the Living God says,
Dwell on My goodness. Dwell on My patience. Dwell on My kindness. Dwell on My love. Are You becoming who I Am? Are you becoming more and more and more like Me? Are you walking in My footsteps into the path unknown, uncharted by anyone else but Me? Are you starting to resemble Me? Do you look like your Father in Heaven? Who are you becoming? We’re always becoming something, someone. Who are you becoming?
“The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 MSG
Your mind is the universe that you control. You permit what comes in. You regulate what must stay out, and the thoughts that you permit to marinate and grow and escape your mouth — those thoughts become words that either build or destroy. Both are necessary — building and destruction. Are you pointing those building words at ideas, concepts and realities that are worth building? Are you pointing those destruction words at darkness, evil and even simply unworthy things that deserve destruction? Know your aim. Master yourself. Your mind is your battlefield, and your words are one of the most powerful weapons you wield. Your speech creates or destroys. It cultivates or it tears down. Be sure your aim matches your words. Be sure you are not tearing down the beautiful life, the beautiful things, the worthy and purposeful things that I have called you to build. Be sure that your words are not encouraging growth, building and facilitating the prosperity of filth, degeneracy, wickedness, evil or even unhelpful things. Point your words with purpose. Control your mind as a master gatekeeper. Be diligent with the entry and exit points of your mind. And be very disciplined in the wielding of your words.
20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;
Proverbs 18:20-21 MSG
good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. 21 Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.
I made you to create like Me. I also made the destroyer to destroy. If you are called to destruction in this season — to destroy wickedness, to destroy unworthy elements or institutions of darkness — destroy them in wisdom. Destroy them with Me. I made you to conquer. Destruction has its season. Let the destruction you cause be overflowing with righteousness. Let it be for My Kingdom and for My Name’s sake. Don’t destroy that which I have called to be built, and don’t build upon that which is determined for destruction. Know the season. Know your purposes. Know your role, and operate masterfully in wisdom, in discipline and in love.
How to Respond
- Sit with the Lord and ask Him what He’s calling you to build and/or destroy in this season. Align with that purpose, and discipline your mind and mouth to be in agreement with that purpose.
- Pray, Lord help me to follow diligently after You. Help me to be purposeful and vigilant about what I permit to enter into my mind and what I do not. Help me to be aligned and very disciplined with my words — so I build what You are calling me to build and destroy what You are calling me to destroy.
- Declare, There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a tie to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up.
- Decree, I will align my mind and my mouth with the purposes of the Lord. I will be diligent about what is permitted to enter my mind and what must remain outside. I will dwell on the goodness, the patience, the love and the kindness of the Lord, so I become more like Him. I will follow closely in His footsteps into places only He knows. And I will use my words and my hands to build what He calls me to build and destroy what He calls me to destroy.
For more encouragement from Glory & the New Wine, check out the post from this day in 2022: Walk As A Ruler, Not As the Ruled
And in 2021: A Call to Occupy
Recent Comments