"Word for 5780: I Heard the Lord Declaring, 'Life, Life, Life. Speak Life!'"

According to the Jewish Calendar, we have entered the year 5780. Numbers in the Jewish culture all have meaning and each number corresponds to a Hebrew letter that forms a picture. The prophets have all been telling us that the number 70 relates to the Hebrew letter "ayin," a picture of an eye. And 80 is the Hebrew letter "pey" which is a picture of a mouth opened wide. This year, we have entered into a time where we must open our mouths wide and declare what we have seen. We have moved into a day of proclamation!

Psalm 81:10, "...Open your mouth with a mighty decree; I will fulfill it now, you'll see! The words that you speak, so shall it be!"

Declaring Life

What are some of the things we will be declaring this year? The day before Rosh Hashanah, I awoke from a dream and I heard the Lord proclaiming, "Life, life, life. Speak life!" If there ever was a time to prophesy life it's now. With the suicide rate going up, the abortion issue being heatedly debated, more and more people on opioids and our kids inundated with a death culture, we need to hear life spoken!

I proclaim that this will be a year of life and that you'll catch the momentum of speaking it over people and circumstances! Not only will your words stop death, but your words will cause others to go on into abundance. Our words must be filled with life!

I hear the Lord saying that the people and things that you speak life over this year will live again! Life will spring up in places that were once dead, or at least you thought were dead and hopeless. I hear Him saying that as proof, this year you will see plants that have been dormant spring up from the ground once again, and fruit trees that have failed to blossom will begin to bear fruit. For life will begin to manifest everywhere you declare it!

The redemption of God is going to begin to shine through in seemingly hopeless situations. It all began at the Cross! What looked like a hopeless situation brought life to all who would believe. So don't give up. It's time to look through life-colored glasses this year; proclaim a thing and watch it manifest!

Job 22:28, "You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways."

James 1:21, "...[T]he Word of Life has power to continually deliver us."

The Power of Your Words

Have you ever heard the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me"? This is a total lie! The same way that life comes into our being by Holy Spirit directed words, so, too, can we bring a spirit of death and hopelessness into situations when our speech and our declarations are negative and condemning.

Proverbs 18:21, "Your words are so powerful that they will kill or bring life..."

Proverbs 13:3, "Guard your words and you'll guard your life, but if you don't control your tongue, it will ruin everything."

It makes me think of the young man who committed suicide in his garage by inhaling carbon monoxide from his closed in car. He didn't have the heart to go through with it at first, so he texted his girlfriend, who persuaded him to finish the job and kill himself. She's now in prison. They ruled that her words were the deciding factor in his death. Be careful, little lips (or could I say big mouth?), what you speak. What we say can actually bring death to others!

Every week as a pastor, I have the chance to make positive contributions to the lives of others, or not. I receive lots of messages from depressed and suicidal people. Some have become despondent because someone (sadly, oftentimes a fellow Believer) has spoken negative words to them or about them. I call these death words because they fail to bring life. They're not actual words that proclaim death over another person, but they can cause harm, mimicking a slow death to the spirit and emotions of the receiver when they are negative and void of life. It's kind of like the effect poison has on a person. It begins to permeate the whole being.

James 3:8, "...[T]he tongue is not able to be tamed. It is fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison!"

Our careless declarations can become roadblocks to the spiritual well-being of the one who receives them. They can cause spiritual gangrene, cutting off the oxygen supply of Heaven. And all because we were careless (or couldn't care less) with our words.

James 3:9-10, "We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who was made in His very image! Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sisters, this should never be!"

This reminds me of the story of Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-23. Balak wanted Balaam to speak curses over Israel, but the Lord wouldn't allow it.

Numbers 23:11-12, "Then Balak said to Balaam, 'What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!' He replied, 'Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?'"

Proverbs 16:24, "Nothing is more appealing than speaking beautiful, life-giving words. For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healings to our spirits."

I prophesy this year that the Holy Spirit will stop you when and if you start to prophesy useless and condemning words over someone. I declare it! Not only will life radiate from you this year, but beauty as well!

Stand Tall

A few years ago the Lord said to me, "I want you to stand tall like Audrey Hepburn." I knew that the Lord wasn't talking about height, as I'm short and Audrey was tall and beautiful, I might add. So, I looked through some old articles about her and this is what I discovered. When she was asked to give her beauty tips, she spoke this quote by Sam Levenson:

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you'll never walk alone."

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed...never throw out anybody. This year, let life be imparted to others through every possible means you have available, including declaration.

Remember (attractive lips) speak life, (lovely eyes) look for life (a slim figure), share your resources of life (beautiful hair), allow life to touch you, and (poise) enjoy life with others.

John 10:10 (emphasis mine), "...I (Jesus) have come to give you (and others) everything in abundance, more than you (and they) expect – life in its fullness until you (and they) overflow!" (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Candice Simmons
Stairway Ministries | The Passion Translation
Email: brian@passiontranslation.com
Website: www.stairwayministries.org 
www.thepassiontranslation.com

Brian and Candice Simmons have been married for 43 years. With their three children, they spent nearly eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. Now, nearly everyone in the village follows the Lamb of God. After their missionary career they came to New England, and were involved with starting Gateway Christian Fellowship, which they pastored for 18 years. After turning the church over to a wonderful leadership team, they began to travel full-time speaking, teaching, and helping churches and leaders to grow in Christ. They've had the joy of traveling to over 30 nations, sharing the message of God's greatness and His end time glory that will be revealed through His people. Brian is also the lead translator for The Passion Translation Project which will result in a new, dynamic version of the Bible for this generation. Brian and Candice have three children, six grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

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