Keep Paddling Upstream

Keep Paddling Upstream
Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
– Psalm 141:3
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Do you really believe that you need to watch over your mouth? Most believers don’t. You can tell that just by listening to their conversations. They profess, for example, to be trusting God concerning their health. But you’re likely to hear them say something like this: “I’m just sure I’m going to get the flu. I get it every year. I’ll be sicker than a dog too, you’ll see....”

Do people like that have what they say?

Oh yes! Check with them a few weeks later and they’ll be quick to tell you that they got just as sick as they said they’d be. But, odds are, if you try to tell them there’s any connection between the words they spoke and the illness they suffered, they’ll look at you as if you were out of your mind.

Of course, if they’d dig in to the Word of God and find out what it has to say about the subject, they’d realize that the words they speak have a tremendous impact on their lives. They’d see that words quite literally determine their future. If you’re a born-again believer, you’ve already experienced the most powerful example of that. You believed with your heart and confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you changed the eternal course of your life. You know firsthand just how powerful your words can be.

Yet, even so, if you’re like me, you still find that speaking faith-filled words consistently is tough to do. I’ve been at it myself for many years now and, despite all the time I’ve spent on it and all the experiences I’ve had, it’s still something I have to watch all the time.

You see, the world around you is in negative flow. Like a rushing river, it’s always pulling at you, trying to get you to flow with it. Living by faith and speaking words of faith is like trying to paddle upstream. You can do it—but it’s a great deal of work. And there’s never a time you can afford to take a vacation from it. All you have to do is relax a little bit and you’ll just start drifting right back down the river.

Make the decision right now to set a watch over your lips. Determine to consistently fill your mouth with the Word of God. “Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings” (Proverbs 4:20). Let God’s Word be your watch and everything you say will take you a little farther upstream!

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Scripture Reading: Romans 10:8-17
© 1991 Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc. aka: Kenneth Copeland Publications All rights reserved
 
Hmm never heard people say that, seems self-defeating!

But there are plenty of people already with health conditions that like to complain about them.
The flu is something that doesnt seem to discriminate between believers and unbelievers. There was a great influenza epidemic in the early 20th century that killed more people than the entire world war.

I have not had it, praise the Lord, but in winter I have come down with cold. Just had a day off work, no big deal. My doctors said do you want a flu vaccine and i said no. I dont trust whats in the flu vaccines even if they are free. I dont know if they work or not, but havent had the flu without it, so...why put yourself through unneccesary pain with stuff you dont know injected in your body (apparently its weak flu innjected in your body to build up immunity). I dont recall saying 'im going to catch a cold' but I certainly know if I'm coming down with something to not go to work so nobody else can catch it off me.

I dont know if paddling upstream is living by faith in the words you speak, but I have heard that walking by faith is like going against traffic for example, everyone is taking the broad way and stuck in rush hour crawling just cos theres so many but you are going in the other direction by the narrow way that has fewer people.
This isnt to say its necessarily more work just you are going in the other direction! Which in fact, is proabaly easier!
 
My workmate, who I cant say is a believer yet because he be very antichrist toward me, was feeling crook yesterday but still went to work. He got told to go home and stay home by the boss. He insisted he was alright but he clearly wasnt.

I dont know if his illness is caused by him speaking about it but hes often in two minds about things. Like he will boast about never taking a day off work but then complain he is not feeling up to it. Im like dont you ever take a holiday? He will talk about it but he wont actually DO it.

Another person I know, who actually told me he got saved and so I though, ok, I can invite him come to church then, kept saying he would come to church but then I was waiting around for him to come along and he never did. This same person always said to me he was going to cut back on spending, but the next thing he does is go out shopping and buy one more thing.

So people can say a lot of things but dont actually follow through on what they say. Which is why God wants you to shut your trap if you say something to someone which isnt true, because then what is the point of you saying it?
 
People tend to want to take the easy way and flow right along. God on the other hand does not flow with the flow of this world or another words His ways are Not the world's ways so in order to walk in God's ways, you are going to have to go against the flow of this world.
 
I guess was looking at it from persepctive of the narrow way that few find vs the broad way that leads to destruction.
But yes if we walk in Gods ways its going to be opposite of the way the world goes.
So when we repent we turn around, and go back the way to God. But everyone else just keeps going the other way. So sometimes you have to fight the crowd.

Im not thinking in terms of declaring not having a cold though. Im thinking something like everyone wants to go to say the rugby game. Its on sunday morning. Everyone is headed for the stadium. Its the national game. But God doesnt want you to go to the rugby game, he wants you to go worship Him with other believers at church.

You are going to have to go against most everyone who asks you if you saw the game. And you say no I was at church.
 
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