Job 22:28 says in the Amplified version, "You shall also decide and DECREE a thing, and it shall be established for you, and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways."

God says, "Decide and decree a thing and you'll get it." We must do more than "decide"; we must "decree."

A decree is a proclamation made by someone with authority. A decree is always made by kings. A king makes a decree by declaring what is legal and illegal, and everyone has to obey it. His words are law. His words determine the future of his domain.

Now the Bible says this in Romans 5:17, "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

You are meant to reign in life through Jesus Christ. The same scripture in the Amplified Bible says, "...those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness...reign as KINGS IN LIFE..." You can reign as a king, because you are a king.

Revelation 1:6 says, "And [Jesus] hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father..." (KJV). What has Jesus made us? Kings and priests.

Thank God for the Protestant Reformation, because it brought us the truth of the "priesthood" of every believer. However, it neglected the revelation of the "kingly authority" of every believer. Thank God that we are kings!

You might want to pause for a moment and declare, "I am a king!" You might say, "But I don't feel like a king." Well, what do feelings have to do with anything? Anyway, what does a king feel like?

"Well, I think I would feel better than this," you might say.

Let me ask you something. Are you saved? Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus? Of course you are!

Do you always feel saved? Do you always feel like a new creature? Of course not, yet you are one anyway because the Word says you are. And that settles it! The same is true of being a king! God's Word says you are a king, so act like one.

Someone might say, "Yes, we are going to reign with the Lord IN HEAVEN!"

Wrong! Romans 5:17 says that we "reign IN LIFE." Our domain of rule is here in this life. We don't wait until we die to reign. We reign right here in this life. Besides, why would we need to reign in heaven? The devil is not there, sickness is not there, poverty is not there.

"Reign" means to rule over. There is nothing in heaven to rule over. It is in this life that we need to rule. We rule the devil, sickness and poverty in this life. And how do we rule them? Through law! Your mouth makes the law. What you decree is what will be established for you in this life.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt 18:18). The word "bind" means to “declare unlawful.” The word "loose" means to “declare lawful.” How do we bind and loose? Through our declarations! We declare with our mouths!

So, how do you predict your future? First, you must choose what you want in life and know that God's Word promises it to you. Then, you decree it! You speak it as though it were law!

What thing do you need? If you're sick, you need health. If you're confused, you need wisdom. If you're poor, you need money. If you're a sinner, you need salvation. If you're powerless, you need the baptism in the Holy Ghost.

Decide what you need. Be convinced that you are going to get it. Then declare with authority that you have it!

RUDDER TO YOUR LIFE

In James chapter 3 verse 7, it says, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man." James is taking us back to Genesis chapter one where God said to man, "I give you dominion, and you are to rule the animals, the birds of the air and everything the creeps upon the earth." God told him to rule the animal kingdom. Yet Adam's dominion extended beyond the animals. God told him to rule everything. That included the devil and demons.

Now in James chapter 3, he shows us how mankind's dominion has been limited. Man can make a lion lie down, but cancer can make him lie down. He can make an elephant stand up on one foot, but disease can make him lose his foot. Why? Because there's one area that man can't control—and that's the tongue. "But no man can tame the tongue..." (v. 8) Because of this, man can't rule like God intended him to rule. This is why man can be so defeated in life.

Sickness can destroy him. Poverty can pulverize him. Natural catastrophes can demolish him. He can rule the animals, but he can't rule the elements in the world. James shows that if man can get control of his tongue, he can rule completely and thoroughly:

For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech—never says the wrong things—he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature. (James 3:2, Amplified)

Think about this scripture for a moment. If you never say the wrong things you are able to control your whole body. But if you say the wrong things, then you are out of control. If you're out of control, then someone else is in control.

What wrong things do we say? Anything that is contrary to the Word of God is the wrong thing to say. However, if you say the right thing—the Word of God—then your whole body is lined up and under your control.

Your body will line up with the words of your mouth. What you say with your mouth, your body will line up to those words. Now you can understand why certain things happen.

You say, "Oh, I think I'm catching a cold." Then quit running after it.

You say, "About this time of the year, I always get the flu." What happens when you speak like this? Your body lines up to your words. What's really sad is that you are proud that you predicted that you were going to get the flu. You say, "You see, I told you so. I told you that I was going to get sick, didn't I?!" Your body is simply lining up to your words.

Yet, the Bible says that if you never say the wrong thing, then you're a perfect man able to control your body. This is dominion. This is control, and you can have it.

Suppose your doctor has given you a negative report, "I'm sorry to inform you that you are going to have this pain for the rest of your life." Let me tell you something: Your body is not meant to be under the control of someone else's words; it's meant to be under the control of your tongue.

You should simply thank him for his diagnosis, then declare, "Jesus bore my sicknesses and carried my diseases in His own body, and with His stripes I am healed!" Don't say, "I guess I better plan to retire." No! Shout the Word! As you begin to speak the Word, your body lines up to your words.

You might say, "But I'm crippled. I don't have any strength to continue working." Then start speaking the Word that says, "The Lord is the strength of my life!"

HEALED OF ARTHRITIS

There's a lady in my church who reached the age of forty. She began to feel a sharp pain in her left elbow. The pain eventually traveled through out most of her arms. She thought, "It is only natural at my age that I should get arthritis." But after hearing the Word, she began pushing those thoughts out of her mind. She refused to verbalize her pain.

Her husband and children knew the pain she was going through, because one day while she was exercising with her daughters suddenly she couldn't move her arms. She even got to the point that she couldn't do her household chores. Even though her family was very concern for her, she continued to keep her tongue from speaking arthritis.

One Sunday morning, the Lord gave me a word of knowledge: "The Lord wants to heal a woman who has pain in her arms. This week you have had a lot of pain. Come forward for prayer if that's you."

Immediately, she and her daughters both turned to look at each other. She didn't hesitate one moment, she ran forward and was gloriously healed.

Learn something: Don't verbalize your fears, instead verbalize your faith. You may have to confess for forty years that you are strong before you see any difference. But say it anyway. Sooner or later your body has to line up with your words.

This is my declaration: Every organ, every tissue of my body functions in the perfection that God created it to function. I refuse to allow viruses, infection or allergies in my body. Anything bad that tries to attack my body instantly dies. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore only good is in my body.

What am I doing? I'm predicting the future of my body. This is what James says the tongue can do.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:3-6)

I asked the Lord one time, "Why is James so negative about the power of the tongue? After all, Proverbs 18 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. The tongue can be used for evil and good, but why does James seem to focus on the evil that the tongue produces?"

The Lord answered, "Because James is speaking to the majority of people. Most people are negative; most people use the tongue for evil and not good. The tongue too often is poison instead of the balm of Gilead. Most people are speaking death instead of life, curses instead of blessings."

Let me give you an example: Suppose you came out of a mall with your children. As you walk to your car, you see someone kicking the tires of his car cursing, "You no good for nothing car! I don't know why I bought you! You are a lemon!" Does that incident surprise you? Of course not. In fact you might think, he probably bought the car from the same dealer that you did.

Now, let's change the situation. You come out of the same mall with your children. You walk to your car and see a man smiling at his car, hugging it and saying, "Oh, car, I love you. You are so good to me. You never break down. I'm so glad I bought you." What are you thinking? You think that man is crazy. You grab your children and walk away from him. You think something is wrong with him because he is so positive.

This illustration shows that we are accustomed to negativity. This is why James appears to use the tongue in a negative way, because most people are accustomed to negativity. Now you don't have to be negative. Your tongue can be used for the good, however that’s up to you.

THE RUDDER TO YOUR LIFE

Notice that James uses three analogies to describe the tongue. He describes it as a rudder to a ship, a bit in a horse's mouth and a small spark. They all are very small, just like the tongue. Out of all the parts of the body, the tongue is one of the smallest parts—yet it is the most powerful part of the body. Your tongue is the most powerful instrument you possess.

A rudder is used to determine the direction of a ship. The wind may be blowing from the west, and normally the ship would be blown off course, but with a rudder, the ship can go right into the storm and stay on course.

The same is true of your tongue. The winds of sickness and poverty may be blowing against you, but by the rudder of your tongue you can sail right into the storms of life and go the opposite direction. You don't have to be carried away by the storm. You can use your tongue as a rudder by saying, "Winds of sickness are not going to blow me off course from the Word. I'm going right against the storms by declaring that I'm healed by the stripes of Jesus." Your tongue acts as a rudder and keeps you healthy despite the storms of life.

The winds of poverty may blow against you, trying to get you off course of God's plan for your prosperity. But you simply maintain your course by saying, "Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a plan for me and it is a plan to prosper me. It is a plan to give me hope and future." You see what you are doing: You are charting your course by the words of your mouth.

DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY

Just as a rudder determines the destiny of a ship, so you are determining the destiny of your life by the words you speak. Your words are predicting your future.

James also says that your tongue is like a bit in the mouth of a horse. A horse may want to go one way, but the bit tells the horse where to go. The rider is in charge, because he controls the bit. You're the rider. You control the direction of the horse. How? Not because you are bigger and stronger than the horse, but because of a little bit. That bit makes the horse obey you.

You see, diseases may be stronger than you, but you can control them by your words. Your words can make cancer shrink. It can make your immune system function right. Your words can make your life better.

Your tongue also can destroy your life. We know this because James also describes the tongue as a little spark that sets a forest on fire. He says that this little spark "SETS THE WHOLE COURSE of his life on fire." Your tongue SETS THE WHOLE COURSE of your life. Your course is the future direction of your life. Your tongue determines the future of your life.

You may not be aware of it, but simple little words like these can destroy your life:

"Nothing ever works for me."

"I'm always getting sick."

"I'm never going to amount to anything."

"I never have enough money to pay the bills."

These words are like little sparks that do not look devastating, but they can set your life on fire from hell. You give hell permission, through your words, to bring these things in your life.

Now listen carefully: You can not say with your mouth that you are healed and prosperous, and then also say that you are sick and poor. When you do that, you have what the Indians call "a forked tongue." You say one thing, and then you contradict yourself and say something else. You cannot use your tongue that way and expect positive results. James rebukes this kind of talk:

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? NEITHER CAN A SALT SPRING PRODUCE FRESH WATER. (James 3:10-12)

James is saying that if you have both fresh water (that's good) and salt water (that's bad) coming from the spring, then you get salty water. In other words, the fresh water does not overcome the salty water. Salt water will always make fresh water salty. Isn't that right?

The same is true of our tongue. Your negative words will always cancel out your positive words. The reason is simple: We live in a negative world that has been plunged under a course. The world is like a stream—and water always flows downward. It takes greater effort to go up the stream.

This is why you can say MANY positive things, and then in a moment of doubt say ONE thing that's negative, and you'll end up cancelling your positive confessions. This is why you must guard your tongue. You must pray like David, "Put a muzzle on my mouth, so I don't sin against You."

Don’t get under condemnation and fear, however, because of the negative things you have said. Ask the Lord to forgive you, and He can cancel out your negative words.

It's time that you chart a new course for your life. You do it by speaking words of health, words of prosperity, words of victory, words of success—all the time. And don't let any cursing—saying bad things—come out of your mouth.