This morning the Holy Spirit in our communion time shared with me again the importance of speaking only the things we want to happen in our lives as a refresher and reminder of guarding our tongue. He emphasized the importance of the fruit of our lips being full of praise. Hebrews.13:15.

Jesus was the person who warned us in Matthew.12:36 about the cost of speaking idle words from our mouths indicating that the price for them is more than we can sometimes bear so we should watch out for what we say with our mouths in order to avoid negative fruits showing up later in our events when we least need them. In Hebrews.13:15 we read these words 5 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

The theme of these words are so beautiful because again the Lord through the Holy Spirit is the person who helps us keep our mouths full of praise. Most times we do not think of our words as an offering we must make to God. We only think of giving money as our offering to the Lord, but in truth we are to give our mouths as a permanent offering of praise continually to the Lord as our sacrifice of service to Him.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. You can give a financial offering to God which we are supposed to do for our benefit, but right on the back of it say words that disqualify us from receiving the due harvest because we use our mouths to contradict and stop the process of harvest manifesting on our behalf.

Malachi.3:13-15 reads these words: “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the Lord, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? 15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”

This is a perfect example of what the writer of Hebrews is pointing out that we ought not to do. We are to be harsh in our words against the enemy by rebuking him, but certainly not against our only help and aid, God.

Just look at what they said with their mouths, the insult to the Lord and His word, that it is useless to serve God. After all the good the Lord had done for them based on His covenant promises. Jesus cannot accept an offering from your mouth that is a lie because Jesus can never affirm and bring to pass lies. This reality is because no one whoever trusts in the Lord can be ashamed or disgraced.

The Holy Spirit is only with us to help us stop the trends of disgrace and shame by bringing us glory. No matter what you see happen your mouth and words must never agree with the enemy, but always with the truth that the Lord has said. John.16:13.

Remember the unfortunate situation with the Apostle Paul and Silas in Macedonia in Acts.16:23-26 which reads these words: And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

You ask how did Paul and Silas give praise in that unfortunate incident where they were beaten for doing a good act for someone? They knew who they served and were not going to offer Him complaints but demonstrate to the prisoners the power of the Jesus they served by praising Him vigorously and you know the ensuing results of an earthquake that changed the lives of so many as they saw the rewards of offering praise as the fruit of their lips to the Most High.

No natural events should ever make you change the fruit of your lips. I recall when I was on a journey to Botswana from Nigeria and when I arrived in Botswana they refused me entry because Nigeria was on the list of Ebola affected countries banned from entering Botswana, but that Government decision had not been made known to the me before I had made the journey and was then told and escorted by Botswana immigration to leave and go back on the next flight back to Johannesburg.

Now I had just completed an 8-10hours flight combined and was now set to go back on the same journey and miss all I had planned to do in Botswana. Satan of course was speaking loudly to me to speak negatively about Botswana, but I resisted the urge to speak negatively of the whole event and chose to praise the Lord. Then the peace of the Holy Spirit rested on me as He spoke to me saying that everything would be alright. He also promised me that He would make it up to me and sort out the mess which happened and recompense me for it.

As the plane took off after about a two hour stint in Botswana I went on and experienced such peace I prayed for Botswana with such joy you would never have believed what I had experienced even though I was tired and worn from the flight journey.

The Lord made it up to me and I was back in Botswana one year later and met the same fellow at the airport who had refused me entry having come from Nigeria, this time from the UK and he remembered me. He was happy to give me a warm welcome. It works to offer God the sacrifice of praise in any and every situation because it allows the Holy Spirit to inhabit the venue and show forth the Might of the Hand of the Lord in manifestation.

I have had many trying plane situations that have sought to force me to utter words of complaint as I enter the region to bring the good news of the Kingdom, but as I chose to offer the sacrifice of praise with my lips I have watched the Holy Spirit change the dynamics and give me a grand entry into the particular nation with increased favor for the trip.

It is always worthwhile to do what the Holy Spirit says even though it looks odd in the circumstances by giving thanks to the Lord because the Holy Spirit steps in and makes all the difference which always brings a beautiful reward of triumph on your behalf.

My prayer for you this morning is that as you hear these words you will find the grace made available to you through the Holy Spirit to offer the Lord your sacrifice of praise through your lips to give Him thanks to Him. Then watch how your life will experience the mighty hand of the Lord, change circumstances for you by giving you stories with infallible evidence that the word of God works in every instance in your life no matter what shows up to challenge it as long as you let your mouth agree with the Lord. This grace will empower you to be a valuable witness to people that the Lord’s word is real and works.

Open your heart also to repent of all the negative words you have offered the Lord in the past so the Holy Spirit can give you a fresh opportunity to be released from the consequences those negative words have set up against you to harm you in the future by changing your pathway back to the path of the Lord which offers you pleasantness, peace and the miraculous.

Make the choice today to be steadfast in offering spontaneous praise as the fruit of your lips to God from this time forward and watch to see how your events will change. The miraculous things you will see the Holy Spirit accomplish on your behalf in Jesus name will astound you.

I encourage you to make a solemn declaration to the Lord to watch that your mouth and words only declare praises to the Lord. Correct yourself instantly when you fall short of it so you are living in the state of praise to the Lord daily in Jesus name. Amen..