The Impact of our Words - Life-giving or Destructive | Kaitlyn Vineyard | EP 143

Welcome, you guys. My name is Caitlin. I'm really grateful to be here tonight with you guys. I've been part of the iRefresh for a couple years now. I've been kind of where you guys have sat. I've been receiving prayer. I've been on the other side, been on a team. Both of it's been amazing. And so tonight, my passage where I'm going to read from is Mark 11. This passage has been something that's been kind of been on my heart for the last year. I graduated from Rhema last May, and one of my professors kind of touched on this, and the Lord has kind of been diving me deeper into this passage over the last year. Something I'm still working on, but... And actually, it's kind of also part of I refresh power of prayer, power of our words, power of believing. So I'm going to just jump into we're going to start with verse 12, Mark 11, 12. It says the next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry, seeing in the distance of fig tree and leaf. He went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. Then his disciples heard what he said to it. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables, the money changers, and the benches of those selling doves. He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise throughout the temple courts. And he also taught them. He said, is it not written, my house will be called a house of prayer for many nations, but you have made it into a den of robbers? The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him. For they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching and When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. And in the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said, Jesus, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered. And Jesus said, have faith in God. Truly, I tell you, if anyone says to the mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and do not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will happen. It will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you say in prayer or ask in prayer, believe that you received it and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. One of the things that I love to do is garden. Like that is my garden kind of has exploded. Each year I think I'm going to dial it back. It doesn't. I usually expand it double every year. If anyone has ever come in my backyard there, they look at it and they tell me it's very overwhelming. Yeah. I losing sun space. And so I cram more that I possibly can. Um, and it's a hobby. It's something that fills me. I love. And so like when I was came to the fig tree, when a professor brought it up and said, you know, Jesus spoke to the fig tree and he, And he kind of went through it in a different way. And I was like, okay, plants. I'm going to lean in here because I've talked to my plants. I have, really, really have. There was one, I have a plum tree. I've had it for four years. And the first year it kind of bloomed, maybe one bloom. And then it just stopped blooming. And then in the fall, I looked at it. I went over into it and I said, if you do not bloom, you're going to be a plant. I'm getting rid of you. You're going in the trash. I am. You're done. So guess what happened this spring? It bloomed like there is no tomorrow. I like I would not recommend threatening things, but I did from that plant. I really did. And then like I love talking to my plants. I've seen the positive. I've seen the negative. Like I have a mandarin tree right now. I have bugs. I got spider mites. I've been dealing with them for years. And I looked at it the other day, and I was like, how? You have fruit, but yet you got bugs. And they literally are like, it's almost destroyed it multiple times. I've had plants die because, you know, if they're tough enough, they'll survive. If they're not tough enough for me, they're not going to make it. Um, and so with this, I think it was really powerful how Jesus talked to the fig tree. He spoke to the roots. He spoke to the tree. And one of the things I thought was really fascinating as I was researching and studying this is the fig tree, when it was in leaf in the spring like this, they actually hold their fruit over. So the fruit that he was going to see was supposed to be from last season. Um, and so with this, I think it was really powerful how Jesus talked to the fig tree. that it wasn't the new fruit, but it was supposed to be an old fruit. And it had nothing at all. And so he looked at it and he's like, at least you should have had something. Maybe not the new fruit, maybe not something fresh, but you should have had something. And so he cursed it. He said, no one will eat from you. And all night they went. He went, did his day. He preached. He overturned tables. And then they went back to Bethany and... And I mean, that was a journey going back and forth every day. And he, and in that morning, like he said, they were walking back by and Peter's like, the tree, the tree that you spoke to it, to them, it was like in a moment, it seemed fast, but Jesus didn't think twice of it because he spoke and it went to the roots. And today I want to talk about how prayer works. is like, we might be praying for something, to something, speaking to that mountain, and we don't see it instantaneously. We want it that fast. We want it to be like that next moment, that right as we walk out the door, we're gonna see it. But then we also have to know that God's working at the roots. That it's going down deep and it's like over time, it's going to then be seen. And it's like, we can speak positive, like I did with my plum tree and see the fruit, or we can speak negative and we're gonna see what Jesus did and it withers up and dies. Another illustration as well of like talking and speaking to things is when I was in high school, we did the rice challenge. I don't know if anyone knows about that. When you speak, you have rice in three jars and one you speak positive, one you kind of ignore it. And another one you speak bad words to and you see the effects that your words have. over the course of how many weeks. I didn't think much of it. And then I did it because it was an assignment, kind of had to. But it was interesting to see how my words really did affect something so small as rice and how translating that to people and how when we speak to people as we speak to our situations, that, I mean, one little word is... can be life-changing to someone. In John 15, verse 2, it says, he cuts off every branch that doesn't bear fruit, but every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes to make more fruit. In Psalms 1, 3, it says, that person, is like a tree. One who meditates on the word is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and who lead and does not wither, but whatever they do prospers. And Luke 13 says, Verse six and nine, it says, And he told this parable. A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for the fruit on it, but did not find any. He said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now, I've been coming back for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it use up the soil? Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year. I'll dig around it. I'll fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if it does not, then cut it down. And Galatians 5, 22, 23, it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And as we remain within the vine, like John 15, when we remain in him, we should be bearing good fruit. We should be bearing the things that are Jesus, of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And how our words are very important as we speak to others. Another thing in this passage of Mark 11, something else that stood out to me was how believing, how we have faith in God and believe in God can be when we speak to the mountain, we know that it's going to be moved because we know the power that God has. We know that God is behind us, that he is for us. But when we speak his word and we align with him, then we know that those mountains move. But if we speak something that we want, we're most likely not going to see that outcome that we want based off the word. And so in Mark 11, Jesus points and says, when you speak to the mountain in faith, Meaning that we're not speaking out of self-motive motives. But when we speak in faith, our words have power. And Proverbs 18, 21 says, There is life and death in the power of the tongue. In James 3, it talks about the tongue as like the rotor in a ship, that little pivot. It says, and how it sets the course and the direction of a ship. And when we speak and we believe and we have faith and we know that there's gonna be that shifting, it might take a little bit of time, but over time that shifting will happen. In 1 Corinthians 3, 9, it says, "'I planted a seed in your heart and Apollos watered it, "'but it was God who made it grow. "'It is not important who does the watering. This passage about planting a seed... We all have, I know some of you guys are moms here. Some of you guys probably know other people. I'm not a mom, but I do have a dog. So I'm a dog mom a little bit. Do a lav corgi mix. She's fun. She's... She's something sometimes, um, a corgi personality comes out every day, every day. She challenged me, challenged me every day. Um, but she, so I don't, I don't get children and seeing that, that side that you guys probably have seen of speaking to them and discipling them to, to walk in the word, um, But when I know that when we plant something that it sprouts and sometimes with seeds, I love, like I said, I love gardening. I love seeds. Um, and I will plant a seed and I'm not one that's the best at taking care of them. I kind of plant them and just see what happens. If they grow great, if they don't, eh, I'll replant. Um, but, um, I'm not going to plant them. But each seed that I found, they have different care and different things that they have, different soil depths, different temperatures. I mean, I have a heating mat for some of my seeds. I don't really use because, you know... not that great at it, but I love to do that stuff. I have all this stuff for these seeds to grow and, and it excites me to see it sprout. Like I just, every day when I plan it, I'm like, is it going to sprout? Is it going to sprout? Is it going to sprout? And like, and I wonder how many times like in my life, how I do that with the Lord, where I'm like, okay, Lord, your promise says this, your word says this. I know you told me that this will happen in my life. And, And it's in there, but I try to go and look. And sometimes I want to dig around and see, has it sprouted yet? Am I going to pull, like kind of pulling it out to check and see? I don't do that in real life, but I know spiritually I've done it. I've done it a lot where I'm like, Lord, are you sure? I know you said this, like, let's say my dog. I prayed. Back then I had a little bit, I feel like I was a little bit more bold with my faith, but we had, I prayed for two years. I spoke it. I said, I want a corgi. And I prayed. I asked the Lord for it. And it took two years for that promise to come to be. And... As the years came on, I got closer and I told my mom, I said, when I see a Corgi, I'm going to buy it. And she was like, whatever. And I was like, I started having dreams that I was going to get a Corgi. Like I had dreams I walked into a store and I saw a Corgi and I bought it right there. And so I knew it was coming. But I was like, and I held on to that. I let it grow. But then recently, you know, I've been praying for... a long time to get married, have a spouse, all this stuff. And I was close. I actually was engaged. And things happened. I had to call the wedding off for certain reasons. And I've been struggling the last several months. Cause I've been pulling that seed from the ground asking God, is this really real? Is this true? Like, are you, was that promise that you put in me so long ago? Like, is it really going to sprout? Um, and it's been, I've been pulling that seed back out, trying to pre-plant it, but you know, God has it. I know it's going to come in his timing and his season and I got to leave that seed in the ground. Um, So I just, I want to encourage you guys. There might be something in your guys' life right now. I don't, God only knows, but just leave that promise in the ground because he's going to water it. He's going to send someone to be with you, to encourage you to water that seed because he's going to see it to come to pass. Just like 1 Corinthians 3, 6 and 9, it says someone might have planted that, gave you that hope, that prophecy. And someone else is going to come and water it, but it's God that's going to come to bring it. And so one of the last things that was in Mark 11 that really stood out to me that I want to kind of speak on, and I'll kind of wrap this up with this, is our forgiving. When Jesus said, when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive so that God will forgive you. And I wonder how many times we go to God and we pray and we ask him for something and he wants to give it to us. But there's that barrier. There's something that's preventing that prayer to come to pass. And when I read that and I stopped and I had to ask the Lord, I had to do a heart check for myself when I was like, Is there something in me that I haven't forgiven that's preventing, say, like my future spouse and for that promise to come to pass? No, man. He's been working on it. He's been revealing things the last couple of weeks that I was... I'm shocked about. I didn't realize was there, but I know that if I stay in that presence of the Lord, that it's going, he's gonna do the inner work. He's gonna prepare me. And just like a seed, there's that hard shell of the seed. And I was pondering this the other night and just thinking about how the seed is hard And how sometimes we can have a hardness of heart and we can like, or we get in the ground and we're like, Lord, it's dark here. I'm alone. It's hard. I don't know what to do. I don't feel your presence anymore. Like, I know you're there, but are you really there? And... But then as we continue to be in the word, as we continue to worship and continue to not shrink away and hide away, his presence is like that water, that moisture that goes around that seed. And as it's there, it's covering it. And over time, it softens and softens and softens to the point where what's in that seed sprouts. The roots are one of the first things that come out and then the leaf comes up. And so how many times do we see that, that promise with that's in us that it's actually sprouted, but we don't see, we don't see it yet because the roots are going deeper. And as we go deeper into the Lord, as we go deeper into the scripture, we're getting that foundation that only we can get in God so that when we produce the fruit, we can be strong and, That like, if we don't do that groundwork, then we might not be able to stand when we have our fruit. Because I know I had some plants that, you know, they were weak. They, I left them in the windowsill. They, they, they grew to the sun, but they, their branches were not strong enough to support the fruit that it was trying to bear. And when it did, they didn't make it. And it's like, we might seem like we're in the right place. We might seem like we're getting the right son, but it might be a little bit too filtered. And it's like, when we seek the Lord of where we're supposed to be, where we're supposed to go, as we continue to seek his guidance, he's going to give us the nutrition and the things that we need so that we can bear that fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So I do have a couple more scriptures in regards to this and for with forgiving. In Romans 12, 14, it says, bless those who persecute you. Do not curse them. Pray that God will bless them. That passage right there, that hit me hard the other day, or well, about a year ago. I had a situation with my brother, and him and his ex-girlfriend were speaking a lot of negative things about me. And they were going after my reputation, they were going after a lot of things. And... I, when I got the news one day, I went, I was in my house in the kitchen. I went down on the floor and I quoted the scripture. I said, Lord, your word says, bless those who persecute you. Do not curse them and pray that God will bless them. And I think that was, that was a hard time because it's like in that moment, you kind of want to, you kind of want to get revenge. And I was like, and I had a lot of good plans, but I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, Um, but I chose in that moment to sit on, on, on the ground and on my knees and say, Lord, I choose to bless them right now. I choose to pray for them. I choose to lift them up to you that they do not know what they're doing. And I didn't see the fruit or the outcome of it. It got, it, it kept going. I took almost a year until I got to see my niece again. Um, and then just recently there was breakthrough, um, I got to see her. I got to, we got to hang out for a day. She's two. And it was one of those things where it's like, I don't know what God was doing in that moment when I chose to bless my brother and chose to bless his girlfriend that was speaking such hate, such negativity towards me. But I'm just believing that whatever God has is working in with them. And another passage in Psalms 130, verse 1 and 5 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul. All that's within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all of his benefits. He who forgives all your inquiries or sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion. who satisfies you with good things so that your youth is renewed like the ingles. In Hebrews 12, 15, it says a portion of it says that no root of bitterness springs up and how we can have a seed of good, a seed of the promise of the Lord, but also the enemy comes to bring those, the seeds of doubt, seeds of destruction, all of these things. And one of the things is like bitterness. And, I've noticed in my life where it's like, I can have that thought comes, I can get frustrated. And if I don't deal with it, then it becomes kind of, I get bitter and then I get angry. And then it kind of keeps going from there. And in this passage, it's like, and no root of bitterness. And that reminds me of like, when, like in my garden, And I go out and I weed. And it's like if I keep the weed in the ground long enough, it's going to produce fruit. And there's one couple years ago that was in our yard that I didn't realize was a weed. And it started producing fruit. It looked like blueberries. It was probably really, really poisonous. And that stuff, I still, to this day, am having a hard time pulling out of my garden because I let it sit. And I had a friend of mine a couple of years ago We were talking garden, and we encouraged each other in helping each other just grow this habit and hobby into something crazy. And she was talking about, she planted all this stuff and didn't realize, and as weed came in, and so she started watering it and fertilizing this weed. And just like, and was like, this is doing so great. And I remember her talking, and one day she got on her phone, took a photo of it, did the look up a plant, and realized it was a really bad weed. And she felt horrible. She's like, I spent so much money, so much time, so much effort to fertilize and take care of a weed that was robbing my plants from what they needed. And it's like that bitterness, that unforgiveness, it's going to rob us from the things that God wants to give us. And so it's like laying that down and forgiving that person, forgiving that situation can just, as we release it, then he can fill us. And once a weed is pulled, there's multiple ways you can fill it. You can, if it's tiny, it's easy, just kind of scoot the dirt back. But if it's big enough, you got to fill the hole. with a plant, with more dirt, with something. And so it's like, then we get to choose what we put back in the hole. We're gonna put the word and worship or we're gonna put back the word I mean, distractions like reading, watching movies, doing things that are going to kind of fill that hole in that void and that circle back. And or with more bitterness depends on what we choose. And the prodigal son, this was a good example of of how like the prodigal son left and the father could have chose to hold on to that. But he didn't. But what's interesting is that his brother did. Because as you, I hope you guys can read it, read that passage at some point. But his brother, there's certain verbiages that say that his brother actually knew where he was, the prodigal son, the entire time. And the father would come and ask him questions or he would go to the father and say, well, don't you know, he's been sleeping around. Don't you know he's done this? Don't you know you've done that? Well, the father's like, well, I don't know where he's at. But his brother did. And so why didn't his brother bring him home? if his brother knew because he held on to something, he would not let it go. And it's like, if we, so we have a choice too. And he, and his, the prodigal son's brother missed out on the party because he held on to something that he wasn't supposed to hold on to. I had someone say this question to me the other day and that Jesus went to the cross and he paid for our sins so that we could have forgiveness, so we can be in righteousness and standing with God. And someone asked me, was the cross enough? Like, if you really step back and think about it, if we hold on to this thing that like we have in a way to have a right to, but if we look back and say, was the cross enough to forgive us and what we did was the cross enough to forgive so that we can forgive that other person. In Matthew 18 verse 21 through 35, it talks about the unforgiving servant. And how like we were supposed to forgive. Jesus says seven times 70, constantly, always. That we're supposed to be a person of love. That we're supposed to like, as followers of Christ, we're supposed to be that like reflection of Jesus. And he forgave us not just once, but all the time. Just kind of want you guys to pound to that. Is the cross enough? Is the cross enough to forgive those people and forgive those situations? As I wrap up tonight, before we go to our small groups, just kind of a reminder how the seed can be good or bad. A weed is also a seed. We get one or the other, but we get to choose what we do with it. We get to choose, do we let the things that God's put on our life grow? And do we allow to be in his presence, not soaking? Just like Carly was speaking about, let the water fall, the Holy Spirit come through. Let that water fall upon us so that that hardness can break so that what the Lord has put inside of you to grow, because everything that you need is inside that seed. And it's like once that seed sprouts, then it starts pulling up that nutrition and. And so I just want to encourage you guys that God has something for you guys. He has a promise and he's going to see it to pass. And so I know tonight we have our ladies that are going to be praying and they, we all love to pray for you. We love to sit back and just listen to what the Lord has for each one of you. We ask the Lord, what does he have for you? What does he want to speak to you? What is something that is? Be that person to bring that water in season.