Vision Retreat And House Story

The Power Of Speaking Life

Job 22:28 And The Light Pattern

Solomon’s Judgment And Declaration

The Name Of Jesus As Declaration

Humor Break: Say Something

Marital Words That Build Or Break

Three Grounds For Decrees: Friendship, Calling, Kindness

Caesar’s Decree And Prophecy Alignment

The Centurion’s Faith And Spoken Word

Corporate Declarations Over Home And Life

Salvation Call And Closing Prayer

I am ready to preach God's word. Are you ready to receive it today? The year was 2018, and Arshan and I took a little break after the Christmas holiday before the new year started. And we snuck downtown away from the kids. A few weeks ago, I told you couples that it's good for you to date, uh, to encourage one another daily, to date weekly, and to get away annually. And we like to get away from underneath our own roof and away from the kids. And so on this occasion, we journeyed just a few miles downtown to the lake shore and got a nice room. And we made sure we got one of those hotels that had was way up there, skyscraper, and had an access and a viewing area and a creative area. And we just got down there to dream and share and think about the possibilities of what might the new year might bring and what we wanted to do as a family and what we wanted to accomplish as a couple. And so we have these sessions just about every year where we dream and discuss and talk. And this particular year we sat down and we took some time to like write down our thoughts and then we shared them with each other, and we were unanimous as we began to share that one of the things that we wanted to do, and we set like a two to five year window of time, was to buy a house. This was 2018. At that point, we had lived here in the Chicago area for six years, and we uh had rented the entire time a house because honestly, the housing market in Texas when we left, you could get a lot of house for a little bit of money, and the market here in Chicago, which you can get a little bit of house for a lot of money. And it was a little bit of a sticker shock. You know, the there weren't three-stall garages and five bathrooms and a big play. I mean, there just wasn't, we were like, where's everybody gonna sleep? Where's the where's the piano gonna go? Where's all we just didn't know what to do? And so we decided to rent a house, and then we just kept renting. And in 2018, we're like, you know what, we need to, we're gonna be here for a while. We ain't going anywhere. Let's go ahead and buy a house, let's figure it out. And we didn't have the means at that moment, and based on the salary we earned here, it was gonna take a while to get there. And so we were like, but we're gonna declare it, we're gonna make a declaration. And it was 2022, and I'll never forget it. I was doing a little bit of a side hustle and a side gig, and on in a March uh meeting I was in, I called her, Shauna. I said, baby, I think this is the year. Let's start looking. Well, I didn't have to say it twice to her. I got home from Dallas that week in March, and I looked, and she had a list of all the houses we would look at. And we started looking at houses all over this area. And um, when we used to live in Oak Park, we would walk past houses and admire the architecture. And she always loved houses with a wraparound porch on the front. And she would say, What if we could just sit in a rocking chair on the porch and watch the kids play and have coffee in the morning? How great would that be? And don't you know the Lord provided a house with a front porch that wraps around the side where we sit around and have coffee and watch the dogs run and we just have so much fun out there. But God did it, but I it's the year that I learned if you can see what God says and you can say what God sees, you will experience the blessings and the favor of God in your life. Because something needing to happen in your life is waiting to be said. So why don't you just turn to your neighbor and say, it's time to say something. And then to the one you've been ignoring all service, just say this. I do declare. I do declare, I'm gonna speak life. I do declare. Today we're in this series, and I'm gonna pause from just focusing mainly on marriages today, and I feel compelled in my spirit to speak to you as a church about this journey we're on and about the authority and the opportunity you have to speak life. And the declaration that I want to share today as we talk about marriage and relationships in this series, and we're working our way towards the marriage retreat. And last I checked, there's about 28 couples registered for our very first retreat. There's still time if you're not registered yet. You will do yourself, you will do your spouse, you will do your marriage a favor by coming. And I know you're thinking, well, I don't know if we can afford it, but you need to find a way. Sell something out of that closet, sell something out of that garage, find a way because it's gonna change your marriage. We've been talking about it, we've been praying about it, and we just believe God's gonna bless that time. And I just declare that if you're thinking about, oh, it's not for me, it is for you. If you're married and you have a pulse, you need to be in the marriage retreat. So I said all that to say today's declaration is this This year, with God's help and the power of the Holy Spirit, I declare, I will speak life into or in my relationships. Everybody say, I will speak life. Look at today's scripture. I want to bring you to your attention. It's Job 22 and verse 28 in the New King James Version. It says, You will also decree a thing and it will be established for you. So light will shine on your ways. Will you read that with me? You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you, so light will shine on your ways. Look at what it says in the message. It says this way you decide what you want, and it will happen. Your life will be bathed in light. You see, there is a pattern that you can see through God's word for your life. You decree or you declare, God establishes, and then light comes. And light isn't just the light that shines, it is the light of revelation, it is the light of open doors, it is the light of wisdom and direction for your life. You know, knowledge is knowing all about the stuff, but wisdom is what to do with the stuff. And when you begin to decree a thing and declare those things in your life, God can establish that, and the light and the revelation will shine in your life. So, what are you believing for in your marriage? And what are you believing for in your relationships? And what are you believing for in your family? And what are you believing for in your career? Because I'm gonna tell you today, it is time to say something. Nothing can happen in God's kingdom until something is said. You know, I was thinking this week as I was studying about Solomon, and it's not in your notes, but it's worth you to circle and just maybe make yourself a note to go back and read the story. But Solomon was presented with a situation, and it was between two mothers. They both had similar aged sons, and they were young, infant sons, and at some point in one of the nights, and one of the mother's child dies in the middle of the night, and she gets up and takes that dead child and swaps it out for the living child. And in the morning, the mom wakes up of whose son is actually alive, but not in her arms, and realizes this is not my son. And so they start to have a debate and an argument, and then they bring it to the king. And they bring it to the king and they say, King, we need you to settle this. And he says, What's the problem? And the first woman speaks up and she says, Well, my son's alive and her son is dead, but she switched the babies, and now she's got my son, and she's giving me her dead son, and it's not gonna work for me. And the other one says, No, no, no, no. She's telling a lie, it's the exact opposite of what she said. And Solomon says this in the scripture. It says, Well, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna cut that baby in half, and then you each can take a half a baby home. Well, that sounds really, really, really terrible. And you know, the mom whose child had already died said, you know what, that's fair, I'll accept that. But the mother whose child was living, it was her son living, said, No, no, no. If you're gonna harm that baby, you let her take that child so he can live. Now, the interesting thing, and the reason why I'm telling you that story, is because that scripture where it says Solomon said, Let's cut. That word cut in the Hebrew means to declare or to decree. What I'm suggesting to you is Solomon wasn't physically saying, Let's cut the baby in half. What he was is he was making a declaration. And when he made that declaration, wisdom came into the room and light was established in the room, and it directed the path of who was the rightful mom with the rightful son. Listen, I'm gonna tell you something. In your life, the people whose dreams are dead are gonna want to take your dreams and kill them too. But I want to promise you if you can decree a thing, God can establish a thing, and light will come because God's not willing that any dream would perish. So you've got to declare it. It makes me think about Hebrews 4.12 when it says that the Bible is a two-edged sword, Pastor Matthew, that is a sharp, two-edged sword that rightly, rightly cuts asunder and it separates the thought from the heart. It's the same idea. It's not literally cutting it, but it's establishing light into the situation. So when you declare God's word over your life, you're declaring a light to your path, a lamp for your feet. You're declaring bread for your life, you're declaring the good things of God in your life because we are one church declaring God's promises, fulfilling his purpose until the whole world knows, and then fulfilling that purpose. It only happens as you declare the promise. I feel some preaching in this nine o'clock service. In fact, I can take it a step further than just declaring God's word. We sang about it today. Jesus. Like, can I tell you something? Sometimes it's the only thing you can get out, is Jesus. And you can say Jesus when you're happy, Jesus, or you can say Jesus when you're sad, oh Jesus, or you can say Jesus when you're afraid, Jesus. It doesn't matter how you say it, but when you say it, the name of Jesus in and of itself is a declaration. Because you're declaring it's the name above all names. It's the only name that saves, it's the only name that heals, it's the only name that frees. And whatever the situation is, I can't get another word out edgewise. It is the name of Jesus over that situation. Cancer cannot stand to the name of Jesus. Confusion cannot stand to the name of Jesus. Dysfunction in your family cannot stand to the name of Jesus. I just wonder, it's time for somebody to say something. So we we get the opportunity to make these declarations. You decree, God establishes, and light comes. Reminds me of the story of this young man who wanted to do something special for his parents. And he was like, you know, I want to do something special. And he went around a few stores and at the mall he couldn't find anything. He's like, no, they're they're deserving of something special. It was in the day when there was, you know, there used to be a pet store in the mall. Remember those days? They don't do that anymore for probably a lot of good reasons, but he walked into the store and his he told the sales clerk, he said, you know, I want to do something special for my parents. I mean, what do you do for parents who have everything? And again, they have everything they need. They buy whatever they like. I they don't really need anything from me, but I want to do something special. And so the the the clerk started walking around and he took him back. He said, Yeah, I'll tell you, I'll tell you something special. He says, This McCall bird right here is special. He says, Oh, what makes it so special? He says, Well, very entertaining. He's very wise, very smart. In fact, he knows two languages. He knows Portuguese and he knows English. And um, so he will entertain your parents. He will he will keep them company, he will, he'll make them laugh. I mean, he'll talk to them if they need somebody to talk to. He's a good bird, smart bird. And the the son was like, I I think it's a great idea. Wow, how much does something like this cost? He's like, Well, this bird is five thousand dollars. He went, ooh, that's a lot of money. But my parents are worth it. My parents are worth it, so yeah, I'm gonna do it. He says, Now I need you to ship it to them in Atlanta. And he says, Well, that's gonna cost even more money because now we're gonna have to give it a certain amount of shots and then the whole shipping. So that in itself totals up to five thousand dollars. He said, So you're telling me to send this bird to my parents is ten thousand dollars. He said, Yes, sir. Well, that's a lot of money. He said, But my parents, they're worth it. So he sent the bird. It was near the holiday season, and he sent the bird, and I couldn't wait to hear from his parents. And a week went by and another week went by. He didn't hear from his parents, and so finally before Christmas, he called. He said, Hey, mom and dad, I just want to check in. Um I sent you a little something. Did you get it? Oh yeah, son, we sure did. You're so generous. He says, What how about that bird? He says, Son, that was a delicious bird. He said, What? He said, Oh yeah, we had friends and family over. That bird, man, that cooked up so good and everybody loved it. Lots of compliments. Thank you. That was what a gift. He said, Dad, dad, that that wasn't a bird for dinner. That that's dad, that's a McCall. That that's a$10,000 bird. That, Dad, that bird speaks two languages, Portuguese and English. He said, Well, he should have said something. It's time to say something. It's time to say something. Oh, by the way, husbands, the situation you're in right now in your marriage, it started with you saying something. It started way back when you went to that young lady's dad or the significant family member in that young lady and said, you know what, I think I'm gonna ask her to marry, and I'd like your permission. And then it didn't stop there. You actually kept declaring things. You told her you loved her, and then you kept declaring things, and you said, you know what? Not only do I love you, I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me? And your declaration got you into where you're at right now. And what's gonna get out of the mess that you're in is you learning to decree and declare the right things. You've got to say something, bring a life-giving word. And just because you're arguing about the finances or what's gonna happen with the kids or what you're gonna do with the house doesn't mean you don't love her any less. You still love her, you still affirm her, you still pay attention to her, even in your fighting. Just tell her you look good when we fight. You look amazing when we fight, you're beautiful fighting. I in fact, I love the fight because what happens after the fight? You've got to decree life into your relationship. So let me give you three examples quickly. Number one, you can decree on the basis of your friendship with God. I don't have time to read all the scripture, but it's in your notes and read through the story of Abraham. Abraham hears from God. About five or six times in scripture, it said that Abraham is a friend of God. It calls Abraham a friend of God. And so Abraham hears from God. God visits Abraham and says, I'm gonna take out the city of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. And now Abraham's nephew lives in Sodom. And he says, Well, if you're gonna do that, can I at least get to my nephew? So would you save the city if you were to find 50 righteous? God says, sure. But Abraham's a friend of God. And he's he's like, Well, what if you found 45? He works them all the way till he, if you just find five, would you save the city? Why? Because he was making a declaration, decreeing something based on his friendship with God. God's not willing that any should perish. And all God is waiting for you is you to say something that he already agrees with. And so, whatever it is in the situation you're facing, if it's a family situation, if it's a finance situation, do you know based on your friendship with God? You can make a declaration. You can decree a thing, and God will agree with it and establish it in your life. The second thing you can do is you can make a decree in light of your calling and your anointing. Joshua, I want to pull this up in the verse here. Look at this. Joshua 10, verse 12 says this. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord. Who is Joshua speaking to? Okay. Joshua spoke to the Lord. Okay? You need to remember that. Underline that. Watch this. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. And he said in the sight of Israel, who's he talking to? He's talking to God in the sight of Israel. He says in the sight of Israel, Son, stand still over Gibeon. Who is Joshua talking to? The Lord. He's not talking to the Son. Joshua doesn't have authority and anointing over the sun. God tells the son when to rise and when to set. God sets that up, not Joshua, but Joshua says, I'm talking to you, God. Son, stand still. You want to know what? You have an anointing and authority in your life to decrease something over your circumstances and over your relationships. And you don't have to talk to the circumstance, but you talk to God. You say, God, I'm standing here, and in, ah, this is what I pray this week. You open every door for my boys that needs to be opened. Doors open wide in favor and blessing and anointing and righteousness and goodness and relationship. God, you open that door. I don't have to talk to the door because I can talk to the one who opens the door, no man can shut, and shuts the door, no man can open. The one who opens the windows of blessing so big we can't hold the blessing. I'm just telling you, you can talk to God based on your anointing and your authority. And then the last thing is you can talk and decree a thing based on an act of kindness. Again, don't have time to go through the scriptures, but read this when you get home this week in 2 Kings. Elisha, a man of God is traveling. A woman and her husband see him traveling through the area a lot, and they finally say, you know what, let's make him something to eat. And so they feed him a dinner. And he comes back again. And like, you know what? Not only should we feed him, let's give him, let's build him a room. The man of God should have a room at our house and stay at our house when he's in town. And so he feeds him. And instead of sending him back out on the street to figure out where he's gonna stay, no, we got your room. Look how nice. He said, You did this for me, yes. And Elisha gets up in the room and asks his servant, Gehazi. He's like, what should we do for her? So they call her in the room. He says, What would you like me to do for your kindness? What can I do for you? Can I talk to your king? Can I talk to the commander of the army? What do you need? No, I don't need any of that. It's just you're a blessing to be here. Okay. She leaves. He says, Gehazi, what what should we do for her? Gehazi said, Well, you know what? I think I was in the kitchen and I heard her talking about they don't have any kids. She wants a kid, and Gehazi says, and the husband is very old. That's pretty mean. Call out the husband. Like he could have just said, they don't have kids. If I say the husband's old, if he says the husband's old, she doesn't have a kid. And Elisha calls her back and says, Listen, thank you for your kindness to me. Next year at this time, you're gonna have a son. One year later, she has a son. I'm just telling you, you have the power to make a declaration based on your friendship with God, based on your personal anointing and the calling God has for your life, and based on the idea that there's if if if you can speak a declaration over people because of their kindness to you, because of God's kindness to you, you can speak those life-giving words into all I'm telling you, it's time to say something. And let me close with this right here. These those these last two thoughts Luke 2 and 1. We read this all through the holiday season, but it appeared to me as I was reading this this is a powerful thought. Look at this, it came to pass in those days. But nobody's gonna know it except that he makes a decree. God's plan and God's promises called the Messianic prophecies all through the old testament. It is declared that from the seed of David in the town of David, which is Bethlehem, will be a son who will be called Emmanuel, God with us. Caesar doesn't know that. In Joseph and Mary, they don't live in Bethlehem. They're from Bethlehem, but they don't live there. Joseph's from there, he doesn't live there. But because Caesar made a decree, it started to bring the right people to the right place at the right time for God's promises to be fulfilled. And it took a declaration. So when you begin to decree things, you begin to call things into order, people into the right place at the right time, according to the promises of God that they'll be fulfilled in your life. Something needing to happen is waiting to be said in your life. And it's not going to move into place. Look at this. They were taxed. The money got into place, the people got into place, and Jesus was born according to the promise because of a declaration. One more, I'll show you. The centurion soldier finds Jesus walking with the crowd, and he says, Jesus, my servant, is paralyzed. And Jesus says, Listen, I'm on my way. I'll be there. I'm coming. And the centurion soldier says, No, sir. No, sir. He says, Listen, I'm aware of the authority Caesar has to make a declaration and for things to come into place and into order. In fact, that same authority has been given to me. And if I tell one man to go, he goes, and if I tell another man to come, he comes. So I understand authority. And Jesus, there's no need for you to come to my house. But watch this. If you will just speak a word, then my servant will be healed. Why? Because there's something that happens through the spoken word. You know what I realized? God already knows what you need. He knows every need you have in your life. He knows everything you need. Before you come to him, he knows if you need healing. He knows if you need companionship. He knows if you need uh some direction in your life. He knows if you need finances to be opened up in your life. He knows everything, but something. Nothing in God's kingdom happens until it's spoken. And it's almost like sometimes God's just waiting. And he's got the blessing ready for you. The stronger marriage, the stronger relationship, the opportunity within the workplace, the more united and directly aligned home. Just waiting on a word. Waiting on a declaration. So I'm gonna have you stand with me and we're gonna make some declarations together. And I've I've given these some thought. I put them on the screen. If there's one that grabs you, that's the one you're gonna hold on to. You should be able to tap that disc around your seats right now and download these declarations. You'll have all kinds of screens that you can save to your phone, carry with you, and look at all week long until listen. I'm just gonna keep saying it until it happens. I'm just gonna keep saying it until I see it fulfilled in my life. I'm gonna keep declaring it and watch God establish it and watch the light come into that situation. So let's go. Here's the first one. Are you ready? Let's do it together, everyone. Everything in my life is finding its appointed place. Everything in my life is finding its appointed place. I'm calling order and divine structure and health in every home, in every marriage. That as you speak these declarations, the home begins to line up, your relationships begin to line up. All right, let's do the next one. You ready? This everyone under my roof is moving toward blessing. Listen, if they're not moving toward blessing, they need to be moving out because my home is gonna be a blessed home. Let's do the next one. Everything that I need is moving in my direction. Come on, what is it that you have need of? Finances, healing, healing in your marriage, direction for your children, open doors of opportunity of employment. What is it? It's moving in your direction. You just got to decree it. Alright, let's do the next one. Everything that needs to go is going, and everything that needs to come is coming. Listen, we don't have time for what's not meant to be in our life. Get rid of it. Get out of my way, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. Get out of the way because God's got something coming my way I need to make room for. Alright, last one, here we go. Every paralyzed thing in my life is being healed. Your relationship's paralyzed, it's going to be healed in the mighty name of Jesus. I just speak healing right now in the mighty name of Jesus over every situation. Your finances paralyze. I speak healing over your finances in Jesus' name. Your kids aren't following you to church on Sunday morning. I speak the name of Jesus over their lives. Open doors, the promises of heaven fulfilled that when we raise our kids the way they should go, they will not depart when they're older. I speak in the mighty name of Jesus. Sons and daughters, come home because something is happening in this atmosphere. This is a season of healing, a season of blessing, a season of favor, a season of direction, a season of God's promises fulfilled, a season of light coming into situations. I speak it in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I declare I will speak life into my relationships. I will speak life. Listen, if you're in this room and you never made a decision to follow Jesus, every eye closed for just one second. Listen, you never made a decision to follow Jesus. Guess what it starts with? A declaration. Paul tells us in Romans 10 verse 9 that with your heart you believe to salvation, but with your mouth your confession is made to righteousness. It just takes a spoken word. It was the spoken word that God said, Let there be light. It's the spoken word when God created the heavens and the earth. And it's the spoken word that will lead you to salvation, sir. It's the spoken word that will lead you to salvation, man. And it just requires you to open your mouth and confess what you believe in your heart. What is that? I believe that Jesus Christ walked on this earth, died on a cross for my sins, rose again on the third day with victory over death, hell, and the grave, so that I can be free because he who the Son has set free is free indeed. You don't have to be bound by your past hurts or your past hopes any longer. And I'm not telling you accepting and confessing Jesus in your life will make your life perfect or easy, but I can promise you this you'll never be alone. Never, never, never. So I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer with me. Everybody in this room, if you're praying it for the first time, I want you to mean it and you need to speak it out loud. Confess it. Jesus says if you'll confess me before men, I'll confess you against uh before my Father. It's the power of the spoken word. So let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me, for giving me a gift I can't earn, for the free gift of salvation. I confess I believe in you as my Lord and Savior. I turn from my own ways and I'll follow after your ways. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Come on, receive that word, church.