Your words reveal “as it is in your heart.” The words of our mouths begin in our heart and mind. We won’t speak words unless we first have corresponding thoughts. Therefore, we can see what has been going on in our minds by the words that we speak in response to any given situation.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45
For example, one day you are driving down the road when your tire blows out. As you pull to the side of the road to examine the damage you say, “This kind of thing always happens to me! Nothing ever goes right for me!” Your words show that you regularly think these kinds of thoughts about yourself, about your life, and about your future.
What if your response was different? What if instead your response was, “I wonder who God is sending me to minister to because of this: the tow-truck driver? The mechanic? I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in this situation!” This would be evidence of a pattern of thinking that corresponds with truth found in the Word of God.
Caleb & the Heart of a Conqueror
Caleb had the heart of a conqueror. He was a man whose words confirmed that his thoughts were on the promises of God rather than his natural circumstances. He was one of twelve men who Moses sent into the Promised Land to spy out the land. When they returned from their expedition, ten of the spies gave a report filled with fear.
“We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there…We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we…[It] is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” – Numbers 13:27-28, 31-33
All twelve of these spies had the same experience as Caleb. They all had grown up in slavery in Egypt, seen the plagues and the Red Sea part, and eaten manna and quail. However, the way these men responded to the obstacles they faced was vastly different. Ten of the twelve had thoughts of fear and defeat. Yet Caleb and Joshua had thoughts that corresponded to the Word of God, and Caleb displayed their thinking by the words that he spoke.
We Are Well Able
“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’” – Numbers 13:30
Joshua and Caleb went on to say, “Do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them” (Numbers 14:9). Caleb’s words showed the faith he had in the Lord, that his thoughts were on what God had promised them. Yet, the Israelites responded by wanting to stone Joshua and Caleb!
As It Is In Your Heart
After the Israelites refused to take the Promised Land, they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones from their generation to survive. When the land was distributed to the tribes and families of Israel, Caleb again displayed the focus of his thoughts and confirmed that our words come from what is in our hearts.
“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart” – Joshua 14:7
When speaking of the land he was personally given to inherit, Caleb went on to say, “As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day…I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:11-12).
Caleb was a man of faith who saw things from the Lord’s perspective, not the perspective of those around him. It didn’t matter what things looked like in the natural, his thoughts were focused on the promise of God. His mind was being ruled by the Spirit rather than by the flesh (Romans 8:6); his words were evidence of his thinking (Luke 6:45).
Related Resources
Brain Training
It is vitally important to become mindful of the source of your thoughts: the world or the Word. So, it’s time for some Brain Training! Discover what the Bible teaches about the mind, and how to be transformed by renewing yours. Learn how to keep your life from conforming to the pattern of the world around you and to start seeing things from God’s perspective.