SPEAKING OUT OF FAITH

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to Himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:13-15

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

People speak words every second of every minute of every hour of every day. There is never a moment where there is absolute silence if you think about it and we couldn’t count the number of things spoken even if we wanted to. It’s an impossibility to account for all things said.

So given this, we see that talking is as frequent as heartbeats and breaths. As sure as we have life, we possess the ability to communicate with others.

But here are some questions to ponder.

How many words do we speak really matter?

Are we judicious with the words we speak, careful to ensure every word has value?

And when we speak words to others, especially when we are making points, how sure are we that what we say is truth?

Since we all communicate and do so with such incredible frequency, I think all of these questions and more like them should be considered for if we are going to speak and be effective and efficient in our work for the Lord, we should be mindful of what we say and when. Even more, we should allow the Lord to dictate our words for it’s only then that we can be sure we are always saying the right things at the right time, His perfect time.

As we turn to our scripture verses for today from 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, we find the Apostle Paul address the matter of the spoken word as it pertained to a believer’s faith. In verse 13, we find him borrowing words from the psalmist who was afflicted and called out to the Lord because he trusted God would answer his plea. He spoke out to the only One He believed could rescue and heal him from his afflictions.

Paul likens his words and the words of other Christian believers like him to the words of the psalmist, words spoken out of the “same spirit of faith”. Paul practiced speaking out of faith and in doing so sought to show other Jesus followers how to do likewise, followers like his readers in the church of Corinth as well as us today.

How could Paul speak out of faith with such fervent assurance and confidence?

Because like the psalmist, he placed his hope in God, “the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead”, the One who would raise anyone who placed their belief in Jesus as Savior. Paul knew that He and all other Christ believers were counted in that number and this produced a boldness in the words the apostle spoke.

As he finishes his faith-grounded speech, Paul shows the Corinthian Christians, as well as us, the benefit that comes from speaking words out of faith. For when we follow the lead of the psalmist and Paul, completely trusting God in every way no matter our circumstances, then we find ourselves living in a spirit of thanksgiving which overflows to the glory of God the Father.

Friends, living in faith leads us to speak words that are anchored in that faith and truth, and when we live and speak in faith and truth, we can’t help but see our hearts fill up to excess with the thanksgiving we feel toward our God. This thanksgiving will be evident in the words we use as we let others know how very blessed we are to have God with us and for us, a God who was not willing to allow us to perish and therefore made the way to save us through His Son.

Thanks be to God, now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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