SPEAK UP!
by Steve Pegram

I have for you a simple word today – Speak Up! I have developed a simple acrostic for the words “Speak Up” that I want you to look over. As you do, ask yourself, “Am I speaking life, or death into my situations?” As you do I believe that God will enlighten your mind to think more than ever how what we say matters.

S - Say what you mean, and mean what you say! “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. “ (Matthew 5:33-37 Message Bible)

- Why do you wait to speak into people's lives what you really want to say?

P - Present your case with conviction, if it's valid. “Remind Me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together; State your position, that you may be proved right.” (Isaiah 43:26 Amplified Bible)

- You must stick to your convictions, but be ready to abandon your assumptions.

E - Express yourself reasonably and intelligently. “The Lord God has given Me [His Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught], That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” (Isaiah 50: Amplified Bible)

- If you wouldn't write it and sign your name to it, then don't say it!

A - Ask for what you really want. “You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].” (James 4:2 Amplified Bible)

- Living with integrity means not settling for things that are beneath you just for the sake of settling to get it over with!

K - Keep your focus on the real issues at hand! We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. “Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.”

(Galatians 5:22-24 Message Bible)

- Make choices based on what you believe, not what others believe!

U - Understand that you may not always be understood. “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” (Matthew 18:15 NKJV)

- Courage means to keep working at your relationships, and to stay focused during stressful situations.

P - Protect what you have by speaking words of life over it. “Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose. Find a good spouse, you find a good life—and even more: the favor of God! The poor speak in soft supplications; the rich bark out answers. Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” (Proverbs 18: 20-24 Message Bible)

- Fight for what you have, and for what you believe in, and for what is rightfully yours through the blood covenant of Jesus Christ, by speaking THE Word over those things, and not just "a" word!