There is one subject in the Bible that I continually go back to—preaching it and practicing it, and it is the very thing that transformed my life and continues to change my circumstances…WORDS. Words are everything. From the words we communicate with to others to the words we sing in songs, they affect EVERYTHING.
Constant complaint and worry seems to be the cry of people these days, but God has provided a way of escaping the world’s operation through the words we speak. People are too loose with their words because their thinking is off.
Many years ago, I was given a Doberman puppy, and I named him Samson. In his early days, as I was housebreaking him, I put him in a box at the foot of my bed at night so I could keep him contained in a space and not worry about him wandering around the house. It did not take long until that box was too small for him, so I tied a red leash around the bedpost and chained him up to it—that way he had more space to stretch out but it still restrained him to a designated space.
Every night, I would call him to the bedroom and put the red leash on him. After several months of doing this, I decided to see what he would do if I did not hook him to the leash, but I left it there just in case I needed it. So I called him, and I noticed that he laid down at the foot of the bed where the red leash was. He continued to do this every single night, and he never departed from that red leash.
The Lord spoke to me about that, and He said, many of My people are like that. Life experiences have trained them so that they never go beyond a certain point. That dog could have gone anywhere in the house he wanted to, but he didn’t. He stayed in the exact same spot night after night because in his mind, he was hooked to that red leash.
This same principle is true for every human being. People have experiences, circumstances, or perhaps things they were told as they were growing up that have become red leashes. In addition to that, people listen to the news, thinking they are listening to experts, and accept what they say as how it is going to be. This affects a person’s thinking more than they realize, and before long, it becomes a red leash.
This is why God sent His Word—to release you from the red leashes! First Corinthians 3:9 says, Ye are God’s husbandry (garden), ye are God’s building. What is being sown into your garden?
If you drive by a cornfield, what are you going to see? Corn. If you drive by a tomato patch, what will you see? Tomatoes. What makes the difference between a cornfield and a tomato patch? The seed that was planted!
You are and become whatever is planted in you! This is why it is so important to get rid of the red leashes and get God’s words planted in you.
In Mark 4, Jesus equated God’s Word with God’s seed. Your Bible is not just a book to read and enjoy, it is a sack of seeds available for use for whatever you need.
Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, we find how God created everything—words. Over and over it says, And God said. Then in verse 27, we see that God created man in His image—meaning man is to operate just like God operates and have dominion.
If this is how God set things up, then why are not more people utilizing the dominion that has been given them? Because of their thinking.
Matthew 6:31 says, Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
When thoughts like these or any other thoughts of doubt come to you, recognize that you are at a crossroad of whether or not you are going to plant the wrong seeds. God has given you the right seeds to plant and water, and it is His Word.
You are HIS garden, and when thoughts come to you that represent red leashes, remember what He has said about that situation, and refuse to take the thought by saying it. Instead, declare who you are in Christ, and speak His Word!