Advancing Encouragement By:
Bishop James Jr. Hairston

Proverb: 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

You can speak life so that you can rise up or someone else around you can rise up by what you say. We all appreciate life and what it has to offer. What we appreciate the most is how we use the things of life to our advantage. Someone once ask me how is life treating you, my answer was it is not how life is treating you but how are you treating life. Someone else told me that life is what hand you have been dealt and how you play that hand will determine your success. Let us look at the wisest man that ever lived on the earth; I believe it was King Solomon. The idea behind this passage of scripture is that you have a certain amount of control over your life by what you say. The things that you are convinced of you speak and bring it to past in your life. This is one way of seeing how to have some control over what happens in your life. However, here you are doing all of the work by just performing the things you say. The words you speak indicate here in scripture that they are seeds that bear fruit. Look at the former passage in verse 20: A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. The word increase means produce, gain, fruit or revenue… In that day and time fruit was big business that brought in revenue or gain. Solomon is saying your mouth will bring some kind of gain by what you say. Either you will produce evil gain or good gain, death or life. Remember, as a believer you operate in the spiritual realm and one of the laws in the spiritual realm is agricultural as well as it is in the natural. What you sow with your mouth is what you will reap! Example, if you lie about someone or even about your self, consequences of that lie will not only affect your life but it will reap consequences that will affect everything and everyone else around you. You can heart your family, your friends, and your job or destroy your life by what you say. Once you put it into the atmosphere you cannot take it back. On the other hand, when you speak life, positive things, good things, successful things, pure things that will build up, encourage, empower, give knowledge, wisdom, insight and understanding about the great and wonderful things in life, you will be prosperous, affluent and thriving. If you are building relationships speak positive, kind and loving words. If you are building a business, speak empowering, wise, knowledge full, affluent, successful words. If you are looking for employment, speak positive, good, empowering, knowledge full words that you will be successful and you will make everyone else around you successful. Yes, your words are so powerful like a giant apple tree bearing fruit you can change not only your life but everyone else life that is around you. Today, you will speak life filled with prosperity, wisdom, knowledge, empowering, and affluent, loving and kind words that can change your situation for the better and whoever else will be affected by it. Today is your day; now make it happen, speak life in Jesus Name…

James Jr. Hairston