Early on in my life the Lord began to teach me the true meaning
about a sacrifice of praise, learning to offer up my identity, my security and my control, which ultimately meant my whole being, all while praising his name. The word sacrifice in the Old Testament derives from “Thyo” meaning, the act of making an offering. And the word praise derives from “halal” or Hallelujah, meaning to bless, exult over and thank the Lord. So how does this fit into our lives today? Well, we were created to give God our whole heart that is filled with Hallelujahs, Amen’s and blessed be the name of the Lord twenty-four hours a day in all circumstances, just because that pleases him so and brings great glory to his name. This is what we call true spiritual worship within, when our whole heart is bent toward praising the name of Jesus. Our heart puts the fruit of our lips into action.
Well, what exactly does that look like? How do we continually utter praises from our lips, when surrounded with life’s circumstances, simply because God designed mankind to live fully in the resurrected power of Christ here on earth?
We know the falsehood the world tells us but our tongue is only to articulate forth truth from the word of God, to proclaim his promises into existence! For example, the world states we should fear what the future holds for us and our children, but the truth God wants us to proclaim is, “The Lord is my helper, in whom shall I fear, what can mere man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6) Everything we watch, hear and read these days tells us that sickness, evil and terror will bombard us, but the Psalmist in ninety-one shouts from on high, “That when we rest in the wings of the Almighty, no evil, nor terror by night, nor plague or sickness will come near our dwelling.”
God formed us to be partakers of the benefits of his word by the proclamation of our tongue.
The word tongue in Hebrew derives from “lason” and in the Greek it is “glossa” both meaning, a small physical organ used for taste and speech, that which proceeds from the mouth, and language. How could something so small have such a mighty effect on the outcome of our lives? In 2 Samuel 23:3 David’s last words simply utter “His word (Jesus) is continually on my tongue.” David knew at the end of his life that everything he had and became was because of his Lord and King. He was always ready to praise the name of the Most High God! Some of the very first words spoken in the garden by Eve were suppose to bring forth life to Adam but they chose to speak forth death and destruction by a few simple expressions of the tongue. We can kill, still and destroy with one powerful twist of the tongue.
As Duane and I were raising the kids we made sure they knew that when they spoke forth anything, it was only to be words of truth, life and encouragement to everyone because we are here on this earth to praise the name of Jesus in our family and everywhere we go. If anything else needed to be said they could come to one of us and share their heart and today it has truly helped shape the way they perceive life and most of all their identity in Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 18:21 tells us clearly that, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it will eat its fruits.” 
Solomon should know because he tasted the fruit of life early on by giving his whole heart to God and proclaiming peace to the Israelites but death in his later years of reigning by turning his heart toward the love of women, money, and power instead of his great King of Glory. If we seal the life of Christ into our hearts, then words of life (the power of his name) will cause to flow out of our lips and we will greatly benefit from its fruits as well as many others.
You might lift someone up at the perfect time, thwart a wrong course you were headed down, or bring in finances that you have been proclaiming, or wipe out a fear you have been facing, all through God’s intended life-giving, power of the tongue. On the other hand, words of death and destruction, like fear, worry, anxiety, guilt, condemnation, etc. that are continually spoken forth will begin gnawing away at our inner man and initiate the on set of symptoms throughout our entire being and can literally destroy your life and everyone around you. “The tongue of the wise brings healing and a gentle tongue is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 12:18, 15:4) God created us to be a tree of life in Christ. In the garden the tree of life represented humanity gaining experience (knowledge and wisdom of right and wrong) in life through worshiping the Most High and Christ became that tree of wisdom and knowledge rooted deep within, daily nourishing us to become delightful to be with and pleasing to the eye, which ultimately cultivates a soft, tender speech. So it always goes back Jesus, if we are not growing steadily in an intimate friendship, with a personal trust, that our entire life is at the mercy of his hands, the fruit of our lips will be uttering many other vocal sounds (if you know what I mean) than praising the name of Jesus. So let’s get this party started! How in the world do we tame or control the power of the tongue, by persistently cultivating our relationship with the one who created the power of the tongue, Jesus Christ, so ultimately he can have complete reign in our lives. We are to get to know everything we can about him, through meditation, through the reading and putting into practice of his daily bread and letting him direct every circumstance in our lives, in his timing and his way.
In James 3:1-12 he gives three images for taming the tongue, a bit in a horse’s mouth, a rudder on a ship and a small fire. The bit is the small, metallic mouthpiece that fits on the bridle to control a horse. They don’t like it because it restricts them from doing their own thing. Once it is attached to the mouth, the rider has the complete control to gently guide the horse to follow his or her voice. That is just like God’s children, when we permanently attach ourselves to King Jesus, he can freely cultivate our spirit man to produce a gentle tongue and praise from our lips. The rudder is a small device attached to the stern of a ship which its purpose is to direct its course. This small apparatus is powerful enough to control the largest of vessels roaming the waterways as the captain smoothly guides their course to land. It must be in the right hands in order to produce life. It is imperative to allow the Holy Spirit to soften our heart, so that Christ life may pour forth from our speech. A small fire, if not watched over carefully can quickly breed and destroy all living things We must vigilantly tend to our tongue, lest it get completely out of control and tear down every part of a human life, by keeping watch over the intentions of our heart day and night James is simply telling us our tongue was only designed to head one way, to utter forth the life of Jesus. Well, the good news is we as believers have been given a direct line of command through Christ Jesus to proclaim the word of God that will revolutionize the course of our destiny. In other words, we must learn to faithfully identify with Jesus in all circumstances. In part two of this series I will lay out what begins to happen when we recognize Christ’s complete reign over our lives, and as we continue to offer up a heart of praise we will truly see the effects through the fruit of our lips.
I would like to end with a simple but beautiful account of how the life-giving words of my son Manning resonated within me, which ultimately touched my body. Duane and Farrelle had eaten dinner earlier and decided to go out, so it was just Manning and I eating a homemade fajita dinner together this past Monday night. Over the past couple of days, my physical body was exhausted and aching all over, but even in the midst, I was praising Jesus to touch my body. It was not a sickness, but I recognized the feeling one other time after many years of wear and tear on the body from dancing professionally. Now you have to realize I am usually the one bubbling over with the life of Christ. Manning turned to me at dinner and said, “Mommy are you ok?” And I proceeded to tell him what I was challenged with. And without blinking an eye my seventeen year old boy manifested the fruit of my labor. He said, “Mommy, you are whole and well, and Jesus will supply whatever your body needs.” I told him thank you and that I will receive that, and he said, “I was taught from the best!”
Oh, glorious One On High, he came through for me once again, by the revitalizing words of my son Manning. About an hour or two later, I literally began to feel like a new being. God never works in the same way, let Jesus have the reigns to your heart and soul, and watch your speech turn to life!
journey in jesus 