Last time we were together we talked about how the words we use have power. Today we are going to see what happens when Jesus speaks. Hint, his words have great power! 

Partner With The Holy Spirit 

Our goal as followers of Jesus is to become just like him. It’s my desire to be so much like Jesus that when people look at me they only see Jesus, not Cherise. In fact this is something I often pray for. I have been praying for years to fulfill the words Jesus spoke in John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” I want to not only know what those greater works than Jesus did are, but I want to be one of the people who he gives the power to do those things!

When Jesus Speaks, Things Happen 

‭‭Jesus knows his words have power and as such he carefully chooses what words to speak. We know from John 1 that Jesus is the word that came to the earth in the flesh. It says in ‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭4‬, ‭10‬ ‭(ESV),‬‬ “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (10) He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

Jesus is the Word. He is the Creator. He spoke and all creation was made. From the things in creation we can see, like the trees, to the things we can only see in the spirit, like angels. Jesus spoke and all of creation was made. Just think if Jesus messed up his words, and instead of saying that the trees will grow from the ground, he accidentally said the trees would grow from the clouds. We would have fruit falling from the sky. Can you imagine walking down the street and getting hit in the head by an apple, or worse a pineapple? Ouch!

Living In A Movie

It would be kinda like that movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs where a guy made a machine that made the sky rain food. It didn’t turn out well for those people. Those people eventually had giant meatballs chasing them down the road. 

Can you imagine if Jesus said, “Oops, I didn’t mean to say trees grow from the sky.”? Thankfully Jesus chose his words very carefully when he created things like the trees. We need to follow his example and choose our words carefully too. Remember we are created in his likeness. That means that when we speak our words have power too! (Recall our discussion from last week about blessing and cursing)

Jesus Shows Us His Power With Words

Let’s take a look at a time when Jesus shows us just what we can do when we partner with him in what we say. 

In Mark 4 we read about a time when a great storm came and threatened the lives of Jesus and his disciples. 

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭35‬-‭41‬ (‭ESV) tells us,‬‬ “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?””

Jesus had just finished teaching a group of people. He was doing exactly what the Father sent him to Earth to do – teach the world about his kingdom, about the Father, and literally walk as God in their mist. Jesus was stepping into his mission on the earth in even greater measure and the enemy didn’t like it one bit. I believe this storm was an attack by Satan himself to destroy the work of Jesus, and even kill him if possible. 

I’ve Gotten Attacked Too

I don’t know about you, but when the Lord wants to reveal to me more of why I am here, I get attacked by the enemy. It happened in 2019 when the Lord instructed me to start this blog. Suddenly all of these people I knew for years and some I knew for most of my life started to turn on me. Everything I did was wrong. Everything I said was wrong. Furthermore, they cut me out of their lives forever. It was like the Lord wanted to promote me, and the enemy got scared and started using people to try and stop me from becoming who God created me to be. 

The Enemy Uses People 

Sadly, the enemy often uses other people to try and prevent God’s people from doing and becoming all he created them to be. I’ve learned a valuable lesson through all the persecution. We need to be gracious to the person, but not to the demon. You stand firm in who Jesus says you are and refuse to allow those demons to bully you and intimidate you. 

Furthermore, you continue to pray for freedom and healing for the person the demon is using to try and disrail your calling. You love the person while not tolerating the shenanigans of the demons. 

I recently had another attack come upon me, and the Lord reminded me of this lesson of showing grace to the person but not to the demons behind the attack. I asked the Lord how to do that. He said, “When you talk to the person, you show them my love while standing firm in my truth. However, when you go to fight the demons in the spirit, you show them no mercy.” 

The other key to dealing with attacks launched at you by people is you absolutely fight the fight in the spirit first. Then, and only when the battle is won in the spirit, you can confront the person. If you fail to fight in the spirit first, you are asking for a beating. Prayer is the key because it allows the Lord to show you what is really going on. It is much easier to have compassion on the person if you allow Jesus to show you what is controlling them. 

Jesus Isn’t Worried

So we see Jesus and the disciples in a boat, crossing a body of water. Jesus is tired from all the teaching and ministering he just finished and goes to sleep. Unbeknownst to Jesus a huge storm is going on. Why can Jesus sleep in the midst of a huge storm like this? Because he knew he had a job to do and there was nothing Satan could do to stop it. He trusted his Heavenly Father to protect them and get them where they needed to go. 

You better believe this storm is from the enemy. Jesus just stirred up the evil spirits or principalities in the region. They were angry that Jesus dared to intrude into their territory. They forgot that Jesus created both them and the area they believe to be their territory. As their creator he trumps them in authority to come and go wherever he wants. He’s God; he can do whatever he wants. Furthermore, he has a mandate from his Father to go where they were going and do all he was doing. So any way you look at it, Jesus was going to win no matter what!

Remember these guys were fishermen. They were used to storms on the sea. Can you imagine how violent this storm must have been for them to be so afraid?

There Was A War Going On

There was a war going on in the spiritual realm and the physical result was this crazy storm. Unfortunately the disciples didn’t understand this concept and were terrified by the over-the-top attack from the enemy. They chose in this moment to come into agreement with the spirit of fear and death. These guys did the only thing they knew to do at that moment, which happens to be the exact right thing to do. They go to Jesus and say,  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” While they didn’t react in the best possible way, I can’t really judge them. How many times have I wondered where God was in any given situation where I felt like my life was in danger? Regardless, in this statement we learn these guys didn’t fully trust Jesus. They questioned the love Jesus had for them.

Can you imagine accusing the creator of not caring about you? Can you imagine this from Jesus’ perspective? He was tired and needed rest from all the ministry, and suddenly he was jarred awake by these hysterical friends of his. Upon awakening he encountered this franticness, unbelief, and fear. He came to the realization that his friends truly believed he would allow them to die at that moment. 

Jesus’ Response

What was Jesus’ response? He got up from his sleep and “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’” He didn’t talk to the disciples and try to comfort them. He simply spoke to the problem, and everyone and everything had to obey their creator. The demons had to come under his authority, as did the wind, waves, and the weather. 

Jesus used his words to silence the enemy and create peace in the atmosphere. The war waging in the heavens stopped and the physical realm followed suit. 

When we partner with Jesus, we can do the same things. We can tell those spirits of fear to be silent and call for God’s peace to fill our hearts and minds. They have to obey because we tell the demons to leave us in the name of Jesus. It’s the power of Jesus that he freely gives us so we can calm the storms in our lives – both figuratively and physically. 

The fear these guys felt in that moment was like a dashboard indicator that they needed more faith. Remember that faith is the evidence of things not yet seen (Heb. 11:1), and Jesus lovingly called this out in the disciples

Jesus Gives Us Authority 

Brett and I have seen this in action in our own lives. When we finally get tired of appeasing the will of demons and stand up to them in the name and power of Jesus, they leave us alone. Sometimes a spiritual war goes on that affects the physical world, but the end result is always peace and stillness. Jesus always has and always will have all the power and authority. He allows us as co-heirs with him to walk in the same power and authority so long as we always remember it’s his power and authority not ours. Alone we have no power or authority. Alone we are left to the mercy of the demons. But with Jesus we can defeat them, conquer them, and cast them away from us and send them wherever Jesus chooses to send them. 

So, yes, words have power. With the words we choose to use we can cause blessing or cursing on ourselves or others. With the words we choose we can stand as defeated and a victim or as conquering and victorious. 

Maybe a better phrase than “Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” could be “Sticks and stones may break my bones, and words have great power to bring life or death. Choose them wisely.”