As I was reading Isaiah 55:11, my spirit was stirred to write “Seven Things For the Next Seven Days.”

“So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

You can’t send forth what you don’t know.

Your mouth can’t send forth what your heart doesn’t understand.

Let’s look at this verse in greater detail.

# 1    “So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth. . .”

It’s the Word that goes forth. . .not in a written form. . .but the spoken Word of God.

And these are not just any words. . .they’re the words of God from the Word of God.

It’s not enough to know the Word. . .you must speak the Word.

The Message Bible translation of Isaiah 55:11 begins with this sentence.

“So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.”

In fact, it occurred to me there are seven things we should know about the Word and it’s going forth.

First, read the Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), 17 So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Matthew 4:4 in the Amplified Bible says:

“But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

1 Timothy 4:13 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading, to exhortation (preaching and personal appeals), and to teaching and instilling doctrine.”

One more thing. . .it’s very important that you teach your children a love of reading the Word.

Here are five quick but powerful suggestions on getting them involved in the Word at a young age.

1.      Teach them by example.  There is always more caught than taught.  If your children see you reading the Word. . .if it’s a priority in your day. . .then it will more likely become a priority for them as well.

2.      Ask your children what they’re thinking about. . .do they have questions which you can use the Word to find answers for?  Key your Bible reading to their interests and not just yours.

3.      Reading the Word together is always a wonderful idea for every family.

4.      Buy them their own Bible. . .make sure it’s one they will understand.

I strongly recommend not buying your child a King James Bible unless it’s a Study Bible because they’re not going to understand the 17^th Century poetic language of that time.

I recommend a New Living Translation because it has conversational language without sacrificing the integrity of the Word.

Also, for children and teens. . .get them a Bible that has additional study notes and things that will grab their attention.

5.      As your children get older. . .encourage them to use a journal to write down things they’ve learned or whatever sparked their interest in the scripture they’re reading.

Second, confess the Word.

Salvation comes through the confession.  Healing comes through confession.  Deliverance comes through confession.  Victory comes through confession.

Romans 10:9-10 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.”

Here’s a revelation. . .if you do not confess or speak the word. . .you will not see miracle manifestation in your life.

Mark 11:23-24 says:

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Let’s review the progression thus far.  Read the Word.  Confess the Word.

Third, memorize the Word.

For years, we prayed for our children to recall and remember everything they read or heard in their classes. . .so they could make good grades on their exams and be astute in their classes.

The same principle applies to us.

In our prayer time. . .we should also ask the Holy Spirit to help us remember all the scriptures we’ve read and the accompanying study notes.  He will help us recall and remember. . .because that’s what He wants us to do.

Colossians 3:16 in The Living Bible says:

“Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts.”

When you hear the word over and over again you begin to remember the verses. After a while you will begin to remember where they are too.

John 14:26 says:

“But the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

Today, we know the Lord will speak to us through His Spirit and always through the Bible because it is the only book where the author lives within the pages as it says in Hebrews 4:12.

As we read and meditate on God’s Word, it becomes engrafted in us. 

Psalm 119:11 in The Living Bible says:

“I have thought much about your words and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin.”

When the enemy comes to the door of your mind trying to bring negatives back into your life. . .send the Word of God to answer his temptation so your heart can stay free of sin.

Psalm 119:16 in the Message Bible says:

“I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it.  I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.”

You can forget a lot of things. . .and get by in life. . .but when you forget the God’s Word. . .you shorten your life.

Here’s a 911 worth remembering.  Proverbs 9:11 in the AMPC says:

 ^“For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.”

Fourth, personalize the Word.

Here is Hebrews 4:12 we just mentioned in the Amplified Bible says:

“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.”

Personalize the scripture by inserting your name or that of a loved one into the verse.  Add “them” or “he” or “she” when praying for others.  You can also just speak their name(s).  Again… personalize it!

Deuteronomy 31:6 which says: 

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord our God is the One who goes with Fred. He will not fail Fred or forsake him."

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord our God is the One who goes with <<Your Name>>. He will not fail <<Your Name>> or forsake <<him/her>>."

Visit www.haroldherring.com where we have eight groups of scriptures than can be personalized and printed with your name.  They include:

Financial scriptures, healing verses, success scriptures, never give up & overcoming fear scriptures and Psalm 20, 23 and 91.

Fifth, write the Word.

When you were in school did you ever have to write sentences on the chalkboard because of some infraction of the rules or conduct.

Writing a particular sentence over and over again. . .wasn’t just meaningless punishment as I thought at the time.

“I will not talk in class.”  After writing that sentence 100 times in front of my classmates and I got it.

Writing verses over and over again. . .help engrain them into your thought processes.

Deuteronomy 17:18-19 in the Amplified Bible says:

“And when he sits on his royal throne, he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of what is before the Levitical priests.  And he shall keep it with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn [reverently] to fear the Lord his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them.”

If kings were directed to write a copy of God’s statues, laws, commandments and instructions. . .shouldn’t we do so as well.

Habakkuk 2:2 says:

“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

Write out your key scriptures. . .so you can refer to them quickly either during personal adversity or in helping a friend overcome the storms of life.

Sixth, be someone to do the Word.

Make no mistake. . .God wants you reading, hearing and confessing the Word. . .but He also wants you doing something with what you’ve heard.

According to Strong’s Concordance doer is the Greek word poiētēs (G4152) and it means:

“a maker, a producer, author, doer, performer.”

In essence, you are the writer, actor, producer and director of our own life. . .what you do. . .how the script of your life plays out. . .is entirely in your hands based on what you choose to do or not to do.  Your destiny resides solely in your own hands. . .based on what you do with what you hear and know.

When we do what His word says. . .we get blessed.

The scripture admonishes us in James 1:25 to “. . .not be a forgetful hearer but. . .a doer of this work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Here’s the problem. . .we tend to judge others by what they do and ourselves by what we intend to do.

Make no mistake about it. . .God will judge us by what we do. . .not what we say we’re going to do or mean to do when we get around to it.

James 1:22 in the Amplified Bible says:

“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].”

“Obey the message.”  What is the message that God wants you to obey.  It’s His Word. . .His promises to bless you.

James 1:23-24 in the Message says:

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.”

Act on what you hear means don’t talk about it. . .do it.

Colossians 3:23 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men.”

We’re to give our best effort on everything we do. . .for His glory and honor.

Seventh, live the Word.

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Or we do not, like some [false teachers], need written credentials or letters of recommendation to you or from you, [do we]?

[No] you yourselves are our letter of recommendation (our credentials), written in your hearts, to be known (perceived, recognized) and read by everybody.  You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

When the Word of God is written on our hearts. . .it makes it much easier for us to catch bad guys.

2 Corinthians 5:15 in The Living Bible says:

“He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them.”

Notice the verse says believers are “. . . to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them.”

We’re not talking about the sweet by and by. . .we’re talking about now.

# 1    The Word “. . .shall not return to me void [without producing any effect, useless]. . .”

The New Living Translation of Isaiah 55:11 says “. . . I send it out, and it always produces fruit. . .”

Everything in the universe is governed by the law of sowing and reaping.

The words you speak. . .are words you sow. . .and they will bring you a harvest.  It may or may not want be the one you want but the choice is yours.

Our words will not be lost, wasted, empty or without producing something. What do we want?

The spoken Word cannot be stopped, changed, deleted, erased, short-circuited or come back empty handed.  Not only that. . .the Word has the ability to make something out of nothing.

Before moving on to the next point. . .there are two powerful scriptures for us to ponder and understand.

Psalm 34:12-13 in The Living Bible says:

“Do you want a long, good life?  Then watch your tongue!  Keep your lips from lying.”

1 Peter 3:10 in The Living Bible says:

“If you want a happy, good life, keep control of your tongue, and guard your lips from telling lies.”

# 2    “. . .Shall accomplish that which I please and purpose. . .”

Is God’s purpose going to be accomplished?  Of course it is.

Joshua 21:45 in the New Living Translation says:

“Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.”

Now the real question is what gives God pleasure?

Psalm 35:27 says:

“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.”

Psalm 147:11 in the Message Bible translation says:

“Those who fear God get God's attention; they can depend on his strength.”

Can somebody say “Hallelujah!!”

One more thought. . .who does God take pleasure in.  I can assure you it’s not Captain America or Spiderman.  If you are obedient to His instructions. . .He takes pleasure in  you. . .because you become His hero.

Psalm 16:3 in the New Living Translation:

“The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!

# 3    The Word “. . .shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

In other words, God’s Word accomplishes God’s purpose. For this reason, we must closely heed statements within Scripture that address purpose.

Let us take a little closer look at the last part of Isaiah 55:11 in the Message Bible:

“So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.  They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.”

Your assignment for the next seven days. . .is to read, confess, memorize, personalize, write, do and live out the Word of God.

Frankly, you won’t be able to accomplish this without changing your daily routine.  

If you will focus your attention on these seven strategies for activating the Word every day for the next seven days. . .your life will change supernaturally.

I believe you’ll find the answers you’ve been seeking. . .the doors you’ve wanted opened. . .the breakthrough you’ve been needing. . .the direction you desire and yes, the financial miracles you’ve been praying for.

As this teaching was being laid out before me. . .I was given one other instruction.

Too many times, we focus on what’s going wrong in our lives. . .instead of what’s going right. 

If you want to have a seven-day turnaround in your life. . .there is one other instruction I was directed to share with you.

What’s the top seven things you think are going right for you. . .or maybe even, the things that you’re doing right?

Write them down.

#1     Clothed with the mind of Christ. . .enjoying divine health. . .living in a free country and praising God for His presence, power, promotion, protection and provision.

#2     Loving my fine wife, Bev, more than ever before and showing her by my words           and deeds every day and receiving the same blessing of love from her.

#3     My early morning prayer, praise and writing time with the Lord.

#4     Seeing spiritual progress in the lives of our children…and joy in the life of my Mother.

#5     Being able to think beyond my imagination with a supernatural creativity while           receiving God ideas in every area of my life.   

#6     Having good partners and associates positioned to assist me in everything my hands find to do for His glory and honor.

#7     Living a life without limitations.

I strongly encourage you to complete this spiritual exercise before you go to bed tonight.

When I made my list. . .I didn’t stop and think. . .I just started writing. . .I encourage you to do the same.

Finally, Proverbs 8:32 in the Message Bible offers some pretty sound advice for the next seven days and beyond.

"So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don't squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day's work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God's good pleasure. . ."

Now it’s in your hands! Choose wisely.

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