One morning as I awoke I heard, "I‘d like to give My People more power and authority with their words so that they can use them to do creative miracles. However, if I were to do that now, there would be drive by shoutings that would be just as deadly as drive by shootings.”

People so casually say things like, “Drop dead,” that if He gave us more power with our words, we would actually kill others with them.

I grew up in a household that had little understanding regarding the power of the spoken word. There was a general who once said, “Loose lips sink ships.” They can also destroy families.

I can remember my parents and siblings loosely saying things like, “My tooth (or stomach, or foot) is killing me!” I would say, “Don’t say that! I don’t want you to die!” They would laugh at me and say it all the more. Even as a child, I felt that since God created the world with His words, we could speak life or death into existence as well. We could live or die due to our choice words.

When I was 18, that actually happened. My oldest sister’s tooth killed her. She died of an unknown, unattended abscess on a tooth that drained through her bloodstream to her heart, causing acute endocarditis (an infection of the heart) that literally killed her. She was only 30 years old, married, and left behind a husband and three sons, ages 3, 6 and 9.

Years later, as a young single mother of two early stage teenagers, my children and I were moving, with friends helping us. Towards the end of the move, we took a break to eat before I would send the kids and our pets (a dog and a very hairy hamster) on to the new apartment while I stayed behind to clean up.

As we finished up our sandwiches, cheese curls, and soda pop, I reached into Harry the Hairy Hampster’s cage to shake his paw “goodbye.” I forgot about the fact that Harry was a rodent, and rodents love cheese, which my finger was covered with! CHOMP! Down Harry’s teeth went, into my finger, and he would not let go! My smart son finally stuck a cheese curl in the cage, which caused the hamster to let loose of my finger for it. I was so angry that I shook my painful finger at Harry, saying, “You are dead meat, buster!”

I cleaned and bandaged my finger as the crew left, and began cleaning. Pretty soon the phone rang, and I heard my friend’s voice on the other end saying, “First of all, the kids, the dog and I are fine, but we’ve had a little accident. We stopped quick at a light, and the hamster cage tipped, Harry ran out, the TV fell over, and, well . . . Harry is dead.”

The Bible says to “Be angry and sin not,” but in my anger, I’d shot the gun (my mouth) with the bullets (my words) that killed my children’s beloved little pet.

Obtaining greater privilege comes with greater accountability. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things”.

As we grow up, it is expected that there will be change. The Word says that those who won’t change do not fear God (Psalm 55:19), but that by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. (Proverbs 16:6). Also, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10), which leads to life, and that person won’t be visited with evil. (Prov. 19:23) If we do not bridle our tongue, we are deceived and our religion is useless. (James 1:26)

Statements such as, "People just have to take me as I am!" "The way I talk is just part of my personality" - or - "That's just the way prophetic people are" just don't cut it with God!

James 3:5, 6 & 8 tells us, (5) "The tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!" (6) "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell." (8) "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poisons.”

1 Peter 3:10 says: "For He who would love life and see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit."

Matthew 12: 34b and Luke 6:35 & 45 tell us that, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." - So how we talk to or about others shows what is in our hearts!

(7)” I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.(8) Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God.”

How sad to speak in such a way as to cause the hearts of others to "melt!" The statement, "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me" is not true! Nasty words do hurt! God counted it as such a meaningful sin that those who caused people's hearts to melt by the words they spoke were not permitted to enter into the Promised Land!!!

I once dreamed of a younger man that was obviously in ministry and people followed and admired him very much. He was on his way up a mountain. As he went and people followed, he'd speak so harshly to them that they would fall off of the mountain. As they did, pieces of the mountain where they'd had footing broke off and that area became very slick, with no place on which to stand. Finally, the man was at the top alright, but all alone. He had to hang on to the top of the mountain for dear life, but could gain no footing because all that was behind him was now totally slick. He finally cried out for help.

Suddenly, a huge angel came out from behind a larger mountain. He reached down and scooped up a pile of the people into his hand that this man had "killed with his words." At first the angel wept, and then he was angry! He was so angry that he screamed and rushed over to the man clinging to the now small, smooth mountain, fist clenched and held high, ready to kill the man! But just as he was poised to do so, he felt a surge of love and compassion when he saw the horrible fear in the man's eyes, for this angel loved the man very much. The angel crumbled and wept for the condition of the man's heart instead. What an awesome example of God's love and heart for redemption, even for the abuser!

There is a saying, “Hurt people hurt people; Healed people heal people.” As Spirit-filled Christians, we need to be healed people who heal others.

It is true that "Whatever doesn't kill us only serves to make us stronger." We do need to allow what we go through to cause us to grow and become strong. God does work all things together for our good. But… it is not “our business” to "dish out being tough so as to make others tough too." In fact, that's usually the very dysfunctional action of someone who has a history of having been abused!

I heard an abuser being interviewed on a TV program say once, "I knew my child's potential, so I was extra hard on them so that they would be stronger! Now that they are dead, I wish I would have just loved on them!”

Often the reason abusive parents do not understand the positive power of a word of encouragement is because they never experienced it from their parents. Adults who were abused as children tend to continue the cycle - whether to their spouse, children, co-workers, employees, or others - until they, themselves, are healed. They look on encouragement as causing a person to become weak. How sad! How glad I am that our loving Father says things to us like, "You can do all things!" "Nothing is impossible!" - He sends forth His encouragement in both His written and prophetic word!

Romans 12:20-21 says: (20) Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In the day in which this set of verses was written, travelers would often walk across country by night, carrying a basket of hot coals upon their heads to keep warm. The "good Samaritans" along the way would add a few hot coals to the basket to "help keep them warm" until they reached their destination. When we as Christians return good for evil, we are helping to keep even our enemies warm in the faith until they reach their destination in the Lord!

We can't allow what someone else does to cause us to receive an impartation of their bitterness, or to cause us to have fear of man or to retaliate in like form. Rather, we are to use what we are learning to avoid that trap all the more by overcoming evil with good.

Some of us may have a boss or spiritual leader rise against us in this area. If so, we just need to "Stay cool!" Eccl. 10:4 says, "If the spirit of a ruler rises against you, do NOT leave your post!" It goes on to say in verses 5 - 7 that WHOEVER it is that digs a pit for another will fall into it themselves! Yet the REAL hope is that Romans 12:20 hope; that they, too, will be kept warm in the faith!!!

No wonder some of our unsaved loved ones don’t want to go to church or have part in our Christianity, with all they hear us say about our church and those who go there!

The motto for the state of North Carolina is "To be and not just seem." It is time for us as Christians to BE and not just seem like Christians. We need to pay attention to being cautious about the way we speak; to the climatic atmosphere our families live in because of what we say; and to adjust our mouth like a rudder that it would be HOLY Spirit controlled - and bring forth life.

We also need to be cautious of the WAY we pray! - We need not to pray in such a way as to pray our opinions or our will for another. Rather, God's heart and will, that they will come into conformity to HIS plans for their life, not our thoughts on the subject!

I had two intercessors who were faithfully praying for me when I was on a trip with my then unsaved son, and things were getting worse and worse. I asked the Lord why, and He said, “Call your intercessors and tell them to pray My Will, not their new plan.”

I called my intercessors and discovered they were praying, “That everything would come to a head on this trip!” - YIKES!!!! I lovingly told them what the Lord said, and how to pray, and the rest of my trip was much better!

You may remember the biting incident a few years ago during the Tyson/Holyfield fight. Right around that time, a news report came out that the people in North Korea were so hungry that they were becoming cannibalistic, and their government was calling upon the Christian missionary organizations for help in feeding them. - Interesting that they would feel that "feeding" upon Christ would stop them from "feeding" upon one another!

Through those two things, I felt that the Lord showed me that, just as Tyson was hungry for power and fame, when Christians are "hungry" for attention and love and do not "feed" upon the right source, they, too, will "bite and devour" upon one another. - As it says in Galatians 5:15 "If you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!"

Like the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus, we as prophetic people are called "for such a time as this" to anoint the feet of the Body of Christ with the oil of the Holy Spirit, speaking prophetic words of life to them.

There are none of us who have not been guilty of this at one time or another! Eccl. 7:21-22 says: (21) “…do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you. (22) For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others”.

We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God, and if and when we fall, we have an advocate with the Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, if we feel convicted in our hearts, all that we need to do is as it says in Revelation 3:19, "Be zealous and repent!" - In other words, ask for forgiveness and change and go forward!!!

The Lord longs to give power to the Church; but loves her enough to wait for her to first learn how to become Spirit controlled before becoming Spirit empowered. We want to be people who God can trust with His power upon our words.

Proverbs 31:26 talks about the virtuous woman, and I believe it is an encouraging word for the Bride of Christ today. It says, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.”

Lord, let us have the LAW of KINDNESS upon our lips. Let us BE and NOT just SEEM or TRY to seem like you! Please forgive us and help us to "stop the killing" that we have done with our words, and to have the love in us that the Father has for you, "Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight" that we might be good stewards of the anointing that you place upon our words and enter into our Promised Land in you with the power of major doses of the anointing of YOUR LOVE upon our lips! Thank you that we are on our way towards that goal! Amen.