Made in God’s Image with the Authority to Speak

We are children of God, made in His image and loved by Him. This is a beautiful gift, but one that we need to recognize and honor. 

Join us as we explore how we are made in God’s image and what that means for us!

How Being Made in God’s Image Gives Us the Authority to Speak

We are made in God’s image and deeply loved as God’s children. As a result, God is always with us… but it is important that we do not take this for granted or skew our relationship with Him.

It is sadly easy for us to abuse God’s steadfastness. To go from an intimate, caring, two-way relationship, all the way to a relationship where God is our ‘reserve resource’ or ‘emergency team.’ Or, alternatively, for us to misjudge God and think that He is annoyed by our asking or will not help us; thereby allowing a distance in the relationship that should not be!

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

—Luke 11:13 (emphasis added)

God made us in His image; and this includes the ability to speak. He gave no other creature the fullness of this blessing. No other creature the honor, authority, and responsibility that words bring!

Like the GOOD FATHER that God is… He desires relationship with us. And this includes TALKING to us and LISTENING to us. 

Certainly, God’s actions and our own are major players in our relationship, but while we may view our words as only somewhat important, they are actually majorly important. Remember, God’s words created the world, universe, and each and every one of us… 

Life and death are in the power of the tongue; what we say matters! Not only in our relationship with God, but in our lives, in the lives of those around us, and in God’s Kingdom!

What It Means to Ask, Seek, and Knock

We are made in God’s image, and our relationship with Him has many facets. Words matter. Our hearts matter. Actions matter. And this is true across God’s Kingdom!

When Matthew 7:7-8 provides us with the direction to ask, seek, and knock, we see a pattern that can apply in a similar way. Of asking—words. Seeking—heart intents. Knocking—actions.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

—Matthew 7:7-8

Now, this does not mean that we are meant to constantly talk; we are also meant to listen, and to know when to remain silent. Equally, we are not to seek out everything or knock on every door; one person’s anointing and call will not be the same as another’s and, therefore, not everything one is led to seek or knock on will be the same…

Thankfully, God is willing to guide and teach us, even to open doors for us, but we need to be willing to ask, seek, and knock. Yes, God supplies our basic needs—even if we fail to ask, seek, and knock—but we were created to be more than conquerors! We are shaped to overcome and rise above, not through flesh-filled efforts, but through God!

Why YOUR Words are Important!

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

—Psalm 19:14

As we are made in God’s image, He has given us the power to speak out that which is in Heaven so it can be made manifest on earth. And when our hearts and mouths speak in unison with God—our Strength and Redeemer—mighty things happen! 

Think on what words combined with the gift of our Great God bring:

• God SPOKE us into being… and it was so. He gave us breath, life, and a voice so we might speak, walk and act in His ways. Being like Him. Talking like Him. And HE did it with HIS WORDS.
• God gave Adam the AUTHORITY to SPEAK into all His creations. Adam SPOKE names to each creature, and in doing so, their very nature was made. God not only allowed Adam to speak like Him, but to create… just like Him. The Creator of all!

Now, in this we should not allow ourselves to become prideful. After all, God is above us. HE is the One who gave us this beautiful gift of speech and the creation it brings. And we, through man’s fall, have misused this gift…

“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

—Romans 3:23

“…I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

—Matthew 12:36

We are not worthy to speak like our Father in Heaven, yet, through that gift, we find life. It is God’s love, goodness, and mercy allowing us to speak with the authority of Heaven, through the circumcision our hearts by Yeshua’s blood that allows the reverse of curses, redemption of what has been lost, and the renewal of relationship with THE GREAT I AM!

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

—Proverbs 18:21

“From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;

with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.”

—Proverbs 18:20 (NIV)

When we speak life—things from God, His Word, His love—we are not only satisfied, but are filled with life and God’s goodness!

Why We Must Speak Life

Our birthright in God should include many gifts… yet, because of words spoken hastily or without prayerful thought, many blessings are withheld by the enemy—remember, the enemy’s authority is only over things contrary to God.

When what we speak becomes contrary to God, we become contrary to God, and nothing contrary to God can have His blessings poured into, for new wine in an old wineskin can cause it to burst!

“…no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

—Mark 2:22

To win against the enemy who oppresses us we must speak life! We need to speak what God directs us, and in His timing and place. 

We need to fix our eyes upon our Father; to set aside time with Him and His Word so that our hearts will be filled with Him and that we will speak words aligned with His truth.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

—John 6:63

“…what has been stored up in your hearts will be heard in the overflow of your words!”

—Matthew 12:34 (TPT)

When our hearts speak words straight from the Throne Room of God, chains break! 

We begin to resemble our Father as our words align with His; speaking joy and life on our behalf.

It Is Time for Us to Speak!

It is time we speak those things God desires into existence. To set our eyes upon our Father and be His light on earth, as we were made in His image.

“Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!”

—John 7:38 (TPT)

We are not made to be like the world. We were not created to let our thoughts go wherever we desire. Or to believe that all we have to do is say what we want until it magically appears. No. We are to think on the things of God; meditating on His Word and His ways. We are to speak life, thereby lifting up those around us. We are to bear good fruit through those words from Heaven!

“Constantly be on your guard against phony prophets. They come disguised as lambs, appearing to be genuine, but on the inside they are like wild, ravenous wolves! You can spot them by their actions, for the fruits of their character will be obvious. You won’t find sweet grapes hanging on a thorn bush, and you’ll never pick good fruit from a tumbleweed. So if the tree is good, it will produce good fruit; but if the tree is bad, it will bear only rotten fruit and… be cut down and burned. You’ll know them by the obvious fruit of their lives and ministries.”

—Matthew 7:15-20 (TPT)

The power of life and death was placed within the very breath of our words! Therefore, let us not waste that God-given breath, but walk in God’s power and authority against the enemy who would oppress us; oppressing him through God’s own life-giving words!

“When the seventy… returned to Jesus, they were ecstatic with joy, telling him, ‘Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we commanded them in your name!’

“Jesus replied, ‘While you were ministering, I watched Satan topple until he fell suddenly from heaven like lightning to the ground. Now you understand that I have imparted to you my authority to trample over his kingdom. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will harm you as you walk in this authority. However, your real source of joy isn’t merely that these spirits submit to your authority, but that your names are written in the journals of heaven and that you belong to God’s kingdom. This is the true source of your authority.’”

—Luke 10:17-20 (TPT)

To speak and be able to cause the enemy to tremble and fall is a great gift—one necessary in the days ahead—but it is still a tool. A tool for Kingdom purposes, so that God’s Kingdom and knowledge of Him might advance. 

Through the Name of Jesus we are given great authority; in our speaking like God we have power; yet, it is in our redemption through Jesus’ blood—our being written in the books of Heaven—that we find our greatest joy and victory!

It is in God and His words within us, through the wondrous power of the Name and blood of Jesus… that all can be saved!

“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

—Luke 15:7

We should have joy, for we are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven! We should delight in this truth and speak forth God’s life, so that all who receive Him might be saved! For the hour is near, the harvest is ripe, but God’s laborers are few…

Let us therefore walk and speak as God’s harvesters! Let us walk as ones with authority, full of courage, for we know that when we speak in the Name and blood of Jesus, the enemy cannot win!

 “Then He said… ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”

—Luke 10:2