If someone talks to you, and they're holding themselves in, then they're concealing who they really are, they're not being authentic, so you don't feel in those words any spiritual connection whatsoever. But when someone opens their heart, when we have authentic fellowship as believers, there's a flow from your spirit, and that flow from your spirit brings refreshing to others. That's part of coming into small groups, the power of small groups is when we open, share, share what God's doing, share testimony, share life with one another, there is a refreshing, and there is a flow. When you meet with someone and they're guarding themselves, holding themselves in, or just trying to create an impression, you can tell it ain't genuine. You can feel the lack of spiritual flow. It's absolutely easy to pick up.
I have found in working in Asia, I found even though there's a language barrier, even though I can't speak the language, I speak the heart, and speak spirit, so people are sharp. I have learnt that the Asians are incredibly sharp, very spiritual people, and so they always feel what is in your heart. No matter how slick you might look or try to be, they feel what's in your heart, and they can just read you like that; so in other words, they're spiritual people, picking up what's in the spirit. You can always feel it. You feel it. You may not be able to get words to it, but it comes out of your heart.
So let's just move from there, I want to just talk then about the whole issue of the Word of God. I want you to just look at first of all Genesis 1:2 - so the words we speak. Let's just have a look, and I want to just share some simple things which you can put into practice. Genesis 1: and the spirit of God moved, or hovered, over the face of the waters; and God said: let there be light, and there was light. So notice how God, from the spiritual realm, brought a physical world into being. There's two things are crucial; one was the movement of the spirit. The spirit of God was present, the spirit of God was moving, and within that, He spoke His word. As a result of Him speaking His word, with the anointing or the spirit of God on it, there was a bringing from the spiritual world, something into being in the physical world. Now that's in the very second verse of the Bible, so here's the principle: things from the unseen world of the spirit, make their way into the physical world, by words. I'll say that again: Things from the unseen realm of the spirit, make their way into the physical world, by speaking words. It's by speaking words. You think about that. How do you access the presence of God, and have God touch you? You speak words. He says: come to Me with words. Words are crucial for the building of our life, and so we need to think like a builder when we use our language, and not be careless with our language.
When God spoke His word, with the anointing of the spirit, some things began to change. That's how He creates. That's how He brings things from the realm of the spirit. Now here's the key thing for you. Your words have power to shape your world. Your words already have shaped your world. Your words are shaping your world today; your words will shape your world for tomorrow. Your words have power to shape your world. A couple of examples: when a person gets engaged, how does a person get engaged - which is a deep, long-lasting contract? They say words. How does a person get married, and have a contract, and now they're legally recognised? How does it happen? They say words, and why do we write down, and fill in a book, and sign a piece of paper? It's actually witnessing the words. The words created something, a bond that wasn't there before. The words created a covenant.