The Power to Bless - Currency of Blessing

Following through from last session on the Power of the Word, I want to walk through the the net output of blessing we have to impart to others with our Word. 

Part of the reference for this session is based on the following verses:

There is life and death in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21

(The Lord has given everyone an unlimited well of supernatural resource to be released intentionally by decree.)

For we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in in Christ. Eph 1: 3

So we walked through the power of communication and the spoken word, that it is not just a vehicle for communication, but for creation/declaration something into existence. The atheist or humanist would laugh at this notion, and suggest science is the answer to speech, but that fails to explain it's origins, let alone the evolutionary study of ears, eardrum, voicebox, tone, mouth, brain to all work inexplicably harmoniously together to allow speech and comprehension, let alone the "evolution" of language itself.... but I digress.

I want to unpack this further, with a theme that has been on my heart for some months now about the power to bless with our speech.

If you are born of the HS, eventually, you can not live a life of being a net consumer, rather you are compelled (by Love, 1 Cor 13) to be a net producer, a net out-putter, so to speak.

Now this is not always the case, every minute of every day, I get that. But following JC's advice: For everyone who keeps their life will lose it, and everyone who loses their life for my sake will keep it (Matt 10:39), the objective of all that is God's character, is to bless.   To lose your life by giving it away to JC.  And JC doesn't mean, sit in a monastery for the rest of your life and sing hymns in a room. 

As an aside, as men, we need to dismantle that religious and atheistic spirit that on one hand put's God in a miserly, cranky corner who takes away, or on the other hand, says of course God's dead, which is the evidence of your miserable life, becuase if he did exist, you'd be better off!

So when we are in the office or on our way to a client meeting with a fellow worker and the topic of your boss comes up or a painful client or person at the client's, what happens to your speech?

Or here's a better one, you're in the kitchen at the office getting a cup of tea and your co-worker comes in all guns blazing about some other co-worker and you feel exactly the same way.....

Okay, not close enough for you, what about you're out for a drink or lunch with your co-wokers or mates and one of them starts subtely but pointedly slamming his wife and kids, pulling them down possibly for some seemingly justifiable reason in his eyes and you've had a similar experience with your wife...What do you do....

For me, a few things come to mind.

If I have every spiritual blessing in Christ, if Christ say's it's what's in my heart that bears fruit, and if life is in the power of the tongue, then what do I want to come out of this weapon of mass destruction or weapon of mass blessing?

As men, our words locate us, where am i then?

I want to speak life into another man, blessing, honor, riches, hope, love, encouragement, honesty, truth and grace. But mostly, my hearts desire is to speak life into another.

What do I mean by that? Well taking JC's example, sometime he spoke one sentence to a person, and they recieved new life - the robber on the cross, the Centurian, the woman with blood...  yes they all came to him for something, but he gave them words of life, he blessed them.   How could he not.

So what about us? Men can have this awful sourness and foulness that is like halitosis in speech form - every sentence has a foul word, it's degrading, whinging, pointing out faults, expressing dissatification, there's no gratitude.
And if there is something positive and good to say, it's conditional and restrictive.

Guys, I have been there, and at times are there depending on the siutaiton at the time.  I look back on it and I cringe.  I had a situation yesterday, I was sarcastic to a colleague about their job and even though I was trying be witty with a wry twist on it, I was downright rude or condescending.

My question is what about speaking life into someone today, your wife, kids, your boss whom you have issues with, your client that you find incredibly frustrating, your mother....

A good litmus test is to try and reflect on your speech, does it start or revolve around a negative or positive, when you speak with or about someone else, is it about what they haven't done or did do, but shouldn't... 

Bless them with your speech

Prophesy over them

Build them up

Speak their Father's words into their life

Pray: Lord, what is it that you want to say to this person that will bring life into their world?

I have to remind myself all the time, that the words i impart into another have the power of life and death.  Think about it.  Be a blessing.