James 3
The tongue is one of mankind's most dangerous organs. It has sliced and diced many a heart. Many have an unintentional problem with their tongues- they don't intend to hurt people, or speak out, or offend, etc., but it just sneaks out before we can catch ourselves. Others, often thinking that is the right thing to always do, "speak their mind" in ways that are offensive or at the very least not Christ honoring.
James spends almost a whole chapter of his 5 chapter book on the tongue. If you have a problem with your tongue, in what you say, or how you say it, what should you do? How can you deal with it when the Holy Spirit brings it up to your heart? Here are some helpful tips:
Acknowledge Its Power
Proverbs 18:21– “Death and Life are in the power of the tongue.” How many I've known through the years who have had a harsh or biting word said to them, that affected them to the core, and though it happened years before, they still remember it like it was yesterday. Your words are important, and have a power to touch, and change a life. Do you realize that every day, you have, by your words, the power to make someone's life better or worse, happier or more miserable? How do you use that power?
Admit Your Weakness
Rom. 6:13a – “don’t go on yielding your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness …” One of the signs of a mature believer is that the Holy Spirit shows them when they sin. Have you ever sensed the Spirit convicting you over your words? Have you ever felt guilty after going on a tirade, or gossiping, or criticizing unmercifully another...? You need to recognize the Spirit wants you to know it is sin, and wants to help you stop. But you must admit you have a problem (that's called confession), and then seek His help in changing you.
Agonize in Prayer
Rom. 6:13 – “yield your members as instruments of righteousness to God…”
Ps. 19:14– “Let the words of my mouth… be pleasing to thee”
Ps. 141:3– “Set a guard over my mouth O Lord…” These last 2 verses are prayers! They would be good to verbalize in our prayer time concerning our own tongue. We tend to pray in a very general way about sin. Pray and ask God to help you in a specific way-- "Lord, I yield my tongue to You, and ask You to help my words glorify You today...." May what I say be pleasing to You... Guard my mouth, help me to stop before I get going...."
Avoid Excessive Talk
2 Tim. 2:16 – “avoid godless chatter, because it will become more and more ungodly …”
Prov. 10:19– “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable…”
Determine to Bridle It
Matt. 12:36– “in the day of judgment you will give account of every careless word…”
Col. 4:6– “Let your speech be always with grace…”
Eph. 4:29– “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only that which is good for edifying, that it may give grace to the hearers”
You can get victory over a loose tongue, over one that is constantly tearing down rather than building up, critical and negative rather than encouraging and positive. Determine it dishonors God, it hinders His work in His body the Church, and that you will allow Him to control it and bring glory to Himself.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
It's Time for another New Year!
Are you ready for it?
"New Year" implies something typically very hard for us to handle– not something that comes naturally or that we jump up and down about. It implies "transition". Transitions bring with them something at times very hard to accept. We never know how it is going to come. Many times they catch us off-guard. They at times arrive like a unexpected package on our doorstep left by UPS.
Transition is defined as– a passing from 1 place, activity, topic, or thing to another. It is built into the very fabric of life by God:
Time: Every 12 hours
Every 24 hours
Every 7 days
Every 30 days
Every 90 days– seasons
Every 365 days– year
Humanity: birth/child/teen/young adult/adult/senior adult
Parent: no children/young child/toddler/adolescence/teen/young adult/gone
Marriage: single/married/children/empty nest/grandkids/
Job or School
Bible: has a major transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament
Salvation: preconversion/conviction/conversion/growth/glory
Every Biblical Character God used in a mighty way experienced Transition in their life.
– Let’s look at Moses, Exodus 3
Transitions are built into the very fabric of life, and always demand a response. God allows or brings transition into our life to nudge us up the Chrislikeness scale. But we if we understand and respond to it correctly, we receive incredible blessings from God.
Looking at the life of Moses, let's see what blessings He received by responding correctly to the transitions God brought into his life:
He experienced God's Purpose– Exodus 3:7-10 -- Moses had been a shepherd, but now was being called by God to be personally involved in God's deliverance of the nation. He would have missed God's purpose for his life without this transition-- he would have stayed a shepherd.
He experienced God's Provision– Exodus 15:22- 16:4 -- God miraculously provided for Moses and the Israelites due to Moses' willingness to accept this "transition" in his life.
He experienced God's Presence—Exodus 3:12,14; 6:3; 15:26; 17:15 -- the difficulties brought on by this transition brought Moses into a deeper understanding of who God was. God revealed Himself to Moses as a direct result of the transitions.
He experienced God's Power– Exodus 3– burning bush; plagues; Red Sea. He saw God's activity in ways he never would have seen without this transition in his life.
He revealed God's Character– 2 Cor. 3:7 -- God's character and glory showed in his face and flowed through him from his contact with and obedience to God's . Paul says of Moses:
the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance..." God's ultimate desire in bringing or allowing transition into our lives is to make us like His Son and reveal His Son through us. Do people see Jesus in you?
As you look to a new year, it means transition- Letting go of the old, embracing the new; Releasing the past, receiving the future; Are you ready for it?
"New Year" implies something typically very hard for us to handle– not something that comes naturally or that we jump up and down about. It implies "transition". Transitions bring with them something at times very hard to accept. We never know how it is going to come. Many times they catch us off-guard. They at times arrive like a unexpected package on our doorstep left by UPS.
Transition is defined as– a passing from 1 place, activity, topic, or thing to another. It is built into the very fabric of life by God:
Time: Every 12 hours
Every 24 hours
Every 7 days
Every 30 days
Every 90 days– seasons
Every 365 days– year
Humanity: birth/child/teen/young adult/adult/senior adult
Parent: no children/young child/toddler/adolescence/teen/young adult/gone
Marriage: single/married/children/empty nest/grandkids/
Job or School
Bible: has a major transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament
Salvation: preconversion/conviction/conversion/growth/glory
Every Biblical Character God used in a mighty way experienced Transition in their life.
– Let’s look at Moses, Exodus 3
Transitions are built into the very fabric of life, and always demand a response. God allows or brings transition into our life to nudge us up the Chrislikeness scale. But we if we understand and respond to it correctly, we receive incredible blessings from God.
Looking at the life of Moses, let's see what blessings He received by responding correctly to the transitions God brought into his life:
He experienced God's Purpose– Exodus 3:7-10 -- Moses had been a shepherd, but now was being called by God to be personally involved in God's deliverance of the nation. He would have missed God's purpose for his life without this transition-- he would have stayed a shepherd.
He experienced God's Provision– Exodus 15:22- 16:4 -- God miraculously provided for Moses and the Israelites due to Moses' willingness to accept this "transition" in his life.
He experienced God's Presence—Exodus 3:12,14; 6:3; 15:26; 17:15 -- the difficulties brought on by this transition brought Moses into a deeper understanding of who God was. God revealed Himself to Moses as a direct result of the transitions.
He experienced God's Power– Exodus 3– burning bush; plagues; Red Sea. He saw God's activity in ways he never would have seen without this transition in his life.
He revealed God's Character– 2 Cor. 3:7 -- God's character and glory showed in his face and flowed through him from his contact with and obedience to God's . Paul says of Moses:
the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance..." God's ultimate desire in bringing or allowing transition into our lives is to make us like His Son and reveal His Son through us. Do people see Jesus in you?
As you look to a new year, it means transition- Letting go of the old, embracing the new; Releasing the past, receiving the future; Are you ready for it?
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