GET TOGETHER- NEGATIVITY THE OPPOSITE OF HOPE
1Co 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
It was not my goal to make anyone feel any false guilt last week as I shared about doing the 40 Day Word Fast. The Holy Spirit brings conviction, but not condemnation to those who follow Christ. On the other hand, if He did gently nudge you and say I want to help you with that thank Him for loving us that much. This week I must admit I blew it a few times during the word fast. On the other hand I always cling to this verse when I fall short. Pr 24:16 For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.” (NKJV) I asked the Lord to forgive me and to help me not to repeat that sin again. And Hallelujah He does both!
So here is one of the areas that I fell short in this past week. It was negativity in my speech. I caught myself talking to someone about how bad things were in the culture more than talking about the solution. When we get into negativity we basically begin to talk like there is no hope for the culture, the circumstance, the person, or whatever that we may be talking about.
In 1 Corinthians 13:13 the Apostle Paul list the three abiding gifts of the Holy Spirit that every believer in Christ has. One of them is hope. The Greek term for hope is elpis, el-pece’. That term means to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial. Negativity says that there is nothing good and beneficial to look forward to.
The Apostle Paul uses the term hope in at least thirty eight different verses. In the following passages we see the antidote for negativity. Ro 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; and Ro 15:13 ¶ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can rejoice rather than criticize and fault find. We can expect victory in times of trial. Prayer will do what negative words cannot do. Prayer will connect us with Heaven. Negative words hinder the Holy Spirit working in the things that trouble us. We can have joy rather than heaviness, we can have peace rather than turmoil. And according to Paul the Holy Spirit will give us an abundance of hope, joy, and peace.
I am preaching to me as well as to you. The choice is ours. We can let negativity rob us of peace and joy, or we can fast from those words and speak words of hope, life, faith, peace, comfort, and joy. I think I am going to go on a permanent fast from negativity. Hold me accountable.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we thank you that You are the God of all hope. Today we ask You to help us to eliminate negativity from our mouths. Lord help us be so full of you that nothing, but hope, joy, peace, and words of life come out of our mouths.
In Jesus Name
Amen
Here is another word that will help us.
Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Your Friend/Kinfolk
Preston
