Dr Paul Allen

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: And they that love it shall eat its fruit.” I want to illustrate the story of King Ahab to show the importance of declaring victory over your life. This king of Israel had agreed to let the enemy come in and take some of his belongings.  But when the adversary demanded even more, King Ahab said, “Tell my lord the king, ‘Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.’” Something snapped in Ahab, and he decided at that moment that he had given up all that he was going to give up. The enemy will never be satisfied.  There needs to come a time when you decide to stop letting negative thoughts and words control your life. Satan’s goal is to kill, steal, and destroy you and your family, but if you can change the narrative, you can change the outcome.  Victory has a voice. Don’t let the enemy, circumstances, the world, or other people’s opinions control the narrative of you...

Image via Wikipedia "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." ( Proverbs 10:19 )   The book of Proverbs has much wise counsel concerning the use of the tongue. It contains, for example, no less than 27 sober warnings against speaking lies!  There are also at least eight condemnations of gossiping. For example: "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter" ( 11:13 ).   Then there are warnings against using the tongue to criticize, or to slander, or to hurt.  A good example is in  12:18 : "There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health," and also in  18:8 : "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly."   Too much talking is also dangerous, as our text for the day points out, for it often results in sin. In this connection, one of the most picturesque pro...