Betty
Hadden, Oregon
The
scriptures below are just a few of a great many that the Bible shares which contain
the power and principles of living happy, abundant lives. These are just
a few of the diamonds and sapphires that I have used and will always use
because of their inherent wealth and ability to produce a more abundant life
for as many as will use them!
As the
Lord has said to me a few times, what I share might be old manna to me, but is
very much new to many. But one of the many joys I have in sharing these
truths is that I get to rain them down once again on my own spirit, and so they
cause me to recognize more fully the great fruit they have already added to my
own life.
Matthew 12:33-37
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit
good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is
known by his fruit.
34
O generation of vipers, how
can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh.
35
A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the
evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, that every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
(KJV)
Using
the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, abundance means: a
surplus or superabundance, abundance. It’s taken from another word
that means to superabound in (quantity or quality), be in excess, to cause
to superabound or excel
So you
might ask yourself, what is it that comes forth out of “my” mouth
abundantly? The words you are speaking now on a regular basis are the
fruit of what has been planted in your heart.
These
truths from God’s Word are spiritual laws and will work for whosoever will work
them. The Bible says that we can have what we say if we believe in our
heart that what we say will come to pass. (Mark
11:23-24) Even those “idle” words you don’t think really mean
anything, if you have been saying them over a period of time on a constant
basis, then you no doubt are eating the fruit of them now.
Where
we are right now and what we have right now is entirely based on what we’ve
said in the past. We can’t blame anyone else, but we can change where
we’re going now and what we’ll have in the future by what we say and
“continue to say” now.
Luke 6:43-45
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth
corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit.
For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance
of the heart his mouth speaketh.
(KJV)
Treasure
is referring to the storehouse of his heart. Webster’s Dictionary
gives some of the meanings of treasure to be: a store, treasure;
accumulated or stored wealth in the form of money, precious metals,
jewels, etc.; any person or thing that is considered very valuable; to
store away or save up as for future use; to value greatly; cherish.
13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and
the man that getteth understanding. {that getteth...: Heb. that draweth out
understanding}
14
For the merchandise of it is
better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies: and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand; and
in her left hand riches and honour.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and
all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to them that lay
hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
(KJV)
God
says here that wisdom is more precious than all the things the world says we
should desire. His Word which is His wisdom, He says, is more valuable
than the most costly thing here in this world. How many of us believe
that . . . and act accordingly? Will you? Have you?
Prov.
2:1-6
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
and hide my commandments with thee;
2
So that thou incline thine
ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and
liftest up thy voice for understanding; {liftest...:
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and
searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of
the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
(KJV)
When I
first came into contact with these verses, I just chose to believe that what
God was saying here was the truth. Because I did, I started putting these
words into my heart according to the way He instructed me to. If we don’t
follow the “manufacturer’s directions,” then how can we expect the fruit it
promises to come forth?
As a
result, instead of “stinkin’ thinking” coming to my mind, His Word would come
to mind instead. Instead of being bombarded with accusations, guilt,
condemnation, and fear (which causes torment), I started reaping the fruit of
the Word of God which I’d planted in my heart instead. This resulted in
peace and rest, such a wonderful harvest of these that I’d never experienced in
my life before!
I can
still remember the first time I ever experienced peace. I mean, oh my
goodness, I was so excited. Anyone that has ever known only torment in
their souls like I had could ever understand what I mean here.
It was
revolutionary for me because up until then, I’d known only confusion, fear,
doubt, anxiety, etc. But once I started planting God’s Word in my heart, I
started producing its fruit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
etc.
To
share something that Kenneth Copeland shared in one of his magazines, he said
that one time while he was meditating Matthew 12, the Spirit of God spoke up on
the inside of him and said, “Kenneth, most people go from day to day hoping
nothing bad happens, hoping ‘nothing happens that I can’t handle.’
Then,
when the curse comes--because of what they’ve been saying AND THINKING--they
try to change things in a few moments of prayer and tears, not realizing that
over a period of years, their words actually caused what happened.”
The
Lord went on to say: “Meditating on the lies of the devil builds doubt
and unbelief in your spirit until it overflows in abundance into your
mouth. Then it is released in words of fear and takes action.”
He
also said in his article that the kind of meditating the Lord was referring to
as “on the lies of the devil” is called worry. Words, birthed by our
worrying, bring forth words of fear that bring to pass the works of the devil,
just as words of faith bring to pass the works of God. Faith connects us
to God. Fear connects us to the devil. Sooner or later we will act
on what we’ve been meditating on and will live them out. Our words
determine our future.
- To be
continued… here
