Dear Passion and Fire family,
We’ve just returned from our annual TPT trip to Israel! Every year it’s life changing for those who travel with us. This year was no different. If you’ve ever thought about going, you should consider coming with us next year (click here for more info).
When trying to describe the trip to others I often think of the disciples who said to Jesus, “Where do you live?” and Jesus replied, “Come and see!” There are not enough words to explain what your heart feels once you’re there in the land of the Bible where Jesus walked and talked. Words just don’t do it justice!
The day we flew out of Israel it was Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the Days of Awe for the Jewish people. And according to the Jewish Calendar we had entered the year 5780. Numbers in the Jewish culture all have meaning and each number corresponds to a Hebrew letter that forms a picture. This year the prophets have all been telling us that the number 78 relates to the Hebrew letter “ayin”, a picture of an eye. And 80 is the Hebrew letter “pey” which is a picture of a mouth opened wide. This year we have entered into a time where we must open our mouths wide and declare what we have seen. We have moved into a day of proclamation!
Psalm 81:10, “Open your mouth with a mighty decree; I will fulfill it now, you’ll see! The words that you speak, so shall it be!
Declaring Life
So, what are some of the things we will be declaring this year? The day before Rosh Hashana I awoke from a dream and I heard the Lord proclaiming, “Life, life, life. Speak life!” If there ever was a time to prophesy life it’s now. With the suicide rate going up, the abortion issue being heatedly debated, more and more people on opioids and our kids inundated with a death culture, we need to hear life spoken!
So, I proclaim that this will be a year of life and that you’ll catch the momentum of speaking it over people and circumstances! Not only will your words stop death, but your words will cause others to go on into abundance. Our words must be filled with life!
I hear the Lord saying that the people and things that you speak life over this year will live again! Life will spring up in places that were once dead or at least you thought were dead and hopeless. And I hear Him saying that as proof, this year you will see plants that have been dormant spring up from the ground once again. And fruit trees that have failed to blossom will begin to bear fruit. For life will begin to manifest everywhere you declare it!
The redemption of God is going to begin to shine through in seemingly hopeless situations. It all began at the cross! What looked like a hopeless situation brought life to all who would believe. So, don’t give up. It’s time to look through life-colored glasses this year; proclaim a thing and watch it manifest!
Job 22:28, “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so, light will shine on your ways!”
James 1:21, “the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us!”
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Can Never Harm Me
That’s a total lie! The same way that life comes into our being by Holy Spirit directed words, so too we can bring a spirit of death and hopelessness into situations when our speech and our declarations are negative and condemning.”
Proverbs 18:21, “Your words are so powerful that they will kill or bring life.”
Proverbs 13:3 Guard your words and your guard your life, but if you don’t control your tongue it will ruin everything
It makes me think of the young man who committed suicide in his garage by inhaling carbon monoxide from his closed in car. He didn’t have the heart to go through with it at first, so he texted his girlfriend, who persuaded him to finish the job and kill himself. She’s now in prison. They ruled that her words were the deciding factor in his death. Be careful little lips (or could I say big mouth) what you speak. What we say can actually bring death to others!
Every week as a pastor I have the chance to make positive contributions to the lives of others, or not. I receive lots of messages from depressed and suicidal people. Some have become despondent because someone (and sad to admit, but many are fellow believers) that has spoken negative words to them or about them. I call them death words because they fail to bring life. They’re not actual words that proclaim death over another person, but they can cause harm mimicking a slow death to the spirit and emotions of the receiver when they are negative and void of life. It’s kind of like the affect poison has on a person. It begins to permeate the whole being.
James 3:8, “The tongue can be fickle, an unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison.”
Our careless declarations can become roadblocks to the spiritual well-being of the one who receives them. They can cause spiritual gangrene, cutting off the oxygene supply of heaven. And all because we were careless (or could care less) with our words.
James 3:9-10, “We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who is made in His image! Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sisters, this should never be!”
This reminds me of the story of Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-23. Balak wanted Balaam to speak curses over Israel, but the Lord wouldn’t allow it.
Numbers 23:11, “Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies and behold, you have only blessed them!” But Balaam replies, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
Proverbs 16:24, “Nothing is more appealing that speaking beautiful, life-giving words. For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healings to our spirits.”
I prophesy that this year that Holy Spirit will stop you when and if you start to prophesy useless and condemning words over someone. I declare it!
Not only will life radiate from you this year, but beauty as well!
A few years ago, the Lord said to me, “I want you to stand tall like Audrey Hepburn.” I knew that the Lord wasn’t talking about height as I’m short and Audrey was tall and beautiful, I might add. So, I looked through some old articles about her and this is what I discovered. In one interview she was asked to give everyone her beauty tips. She said:
- For attractive lips…speak words of kindness
- For lovely eyes… seek out the good in people
- For a slim figure … share your food with the hungry
- For beautiful hair…Let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
- For poise… walk with the knowledge that you’ll never walk alone.
And people, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed… never throw out anybody.
This year let life be imparted to others through every possible means you have available, including declaration.
Remember; (attractive lips) speak life, (lovely eyes) look for life, (slim figure) share your resources of life, (beautiful hair) allow life to touch you and (poise) enjoy life with others.
Jo. 10:10, “I (Jesus) have come to give you (and others) everything in abundance, more than you (and they) expect – life in its fullness until you (and they) overflow!”
TPT ONLINE BIBLE COURSES
Our next live TPT course will be on the book of Revelation in New Jersey on Oct. 25-26. You’ll be able to find all the details on our web site.
ISRAEL TRIP
The 2020 Israel trip is officially open! Sign up here on our website. We’ve just arrived home from our 2019 trip. You can ask anyone who went what they thought. I’m confident that they will tell you that it was worth the money and time. It was a fabulous trip! Life changing! Please reserve your space now.
TPT Updates
Brian is now working on Judges and is in chapter 5. He’s also working on our book “The Blessing”. I’m working on “The Stairway”, updating it and adding the Passion Translation to it along with fresh revelation. Thank you for praying us through all of these projects. Genesis should be out in a month.
Of course, you can find the Translation & some of our books on audio. And look for other information at our passionandfire.com site. If you’re one of our Aussie friends, you can purchase the translation and all the books from Koroong and amazon.com.au and our Canadians friends can purchase them at amazon.com.ca.
Thank you to our Partners!
A special thank you to all our Passion Translation Partners for your monthly donations, and all of you for your incredible prayers and for following us daily on our websites. You have no idea how much we appreciate your sacrifices of love for us!
If you’re a partner, we’ll automatically send you each new book of the translation as it comes out. (This does not include the other books, only the translation.) You will also receive the webinars, notes and the archive of the webinar and you will have the opportunity to meet us personally during one of our conferences when we’re in your area. It’s just another way of saying thanks and of getting to know you. If you would like to become one of our Partner’s, you can do so by making a monthly donation of $39 or $99. Or you can make a onetime tax-deductible gift by credit card at our web site www.passionmovement.com or through our PayPal account (click the link below for easy access) or you can mail your offering to Stairway Ministries, PO Box 4068, Madison, CT, 06443.
Prayers requests:
- Wisdom in scheduling meetings
- Good relationships everywhere we travel
- Good health for us and our family
- Wisdom and revelation for the translation
- and our other projects
- Safe travels
Yours for transformation,
Candice Simmons
