Watch Your Mouth!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

James reminds us that the tongue–that little member–holds much power and the only person who controls it–is the person to whom it belongs.

With the tongue we can mend relationships or destroy them forever.

With the tongue we can construct greatness or ignite destruction.

With the tongue we can have peace or chaos.

With the tongue we can create an environment that brings about prosperity or fuel abject poverty.

With the tongue we can speak life–to our bodies and promote healing and wholeness or we can doom ourselves to sickness and disease.

With the tongue–we are responsible for all we say and we must watch what we say because once we say it–we cannot recall words out of the air as easily as we can recall cars that need repair. When we are foolish–we can apologize and ask forgiveness, but it doesn’t take away the sting and hurt of words that linger in the air and in our minds. We must watch our mouths.

When we speak positive things–our words are not often remembered, but the negative things we say, are remembered by others long after we have forgotten what we said.

We have an obligation to ourselves and others to make sure that before we speak, we have prayed and given much thought to how we want our tongues to function. We are to be slow to speak and quick to listen to all God has to say to us and if we listen and obey, we cannot go astray.

Watch your mouth! Think about how words function–to heal or hurt, to spring life or trip to death, the tongue–the tiny member over which we have complete control–must submit to God and only say those things that He says.

We are healed and whole, peacemakers and not peacebreakers, the head and not the tail, providers of those in need and not  manipulators of greed. We are His children, members of a royal priesthood, created to do good, not bad and we shall praise Him for His mighty acts as we live according to His Word so others might see our good works and praise Him,too.

We have shaken off the deeds of darkness and choose to live in the marvelous light of The Lord. We are encouragers to others to live by faith and will not discourage any to live the life God has destined for them.

We are more than conquerors and have victory in Jesus at every turn where the enemy has laid a snare.

We live according to the hope we have in Jesus, not in expectations of mere mortals for they have no power outside of His power to make a positive, lasting, difference in our lives. And we will watch what we say–speaking only as He speaks–so we can obtain what He has already planned for us.

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Focused On What Matters!

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. Philippians 3:13-17 NIV

Lately, I’ve been feeling a little bombarded with the weight of all the negative things that are reported in the news. Part of the problem is–I’m listening to far more newscasts than I should. Normally, I see the early morning newscasts because I need to be aware of weather and traffic and in listening to this–I can’t ignore the sad events that are repeatedly reported.

Knowing as I do, how the enemy deceives people and confuses their minds, I should not be surprised at the number of people who commit random crimes and kill others with no thought as to how their acts will affect others. I don’t just mean how the killings affect immediate family and friends–I mean everyone who has a heart. And the killers–people who kill older people in their homes–are heartless; people who hit people with their cars and then dump the body–heartless; people who randomly shoot at others not caring who gets hit in the crossfire–heartless.

Sensitivity to all the negativity reminds me that I do indeed have a heart, but if I focus on all the negative stuff, my heart will too heavy to continue doing what may make a difference in the lives of others.

At some point, I’m sure others have felt the same way. How do we keep moving forward with all the tragedy that is constantly bombarding us? We stay focused on the things that matter. We cannot control people any more than God will–He gives us all freewill to make our own choices. Some choices people make are not good and some are even worse, but the choices we make–keeping our focus on hearing God and being obedient, can and will make a difference.

We must continue to encourage all to live according to God’s Word. We must continue spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ–no matter how heavy our hearts are and we must continue to love–even those who hate us because of our obedience to God. Our focus on doing the will of God is what matters and for that reason, we have to filter what we hear and deliberately choose to ignore all that will distract us from our purposes.

There is absolutely nothing we can do to change those things which have already happened, but we may make a difference in our present and future–for us and others. Let’s focus on the things of God and encourage others to live for Him.

Comfort As He Comforts!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4 NIV).

While on this journey (life) we have all felt the need to be comforted at one time or another. When we’re unhappy, we need to be comforted; when we’re sad, we need to be comforted, when we feel lost or abandoned, we need to be comforted. For those who know The Lord, we know we can turn to Him–for whatever we need–and it will be provided. And because we know Him, we can reach out to others to comfort them when they need to be comforted–and comfort them–like He comforts us. How do we do that? By showering them with love.

Loving a person means more than just having a “feeling” about someone. When we truly love someone–that love is manifested by our willingness to serve them–in whatever capacity they need to be served. If they need a hug, we hug them. If they need encouragement, we encourage. If they need a shoulder to cry on, we allow them to lean on us and cry. If they need food and shelter, we direct or assist them in achieving a need. If they need a smile, we smile. What does God do? He uses us to serve the needs of others by doing for us, what He wants us to do.

There are a number of people out there in the world today who are fearful, insecure, lonely, desolate and feeling unloved. Won’t you find them–seek them out and find a way to comfort them? Sometimes, just a cup of coffee or tea and a hug makes a world of difference to those who are facing unknown trials and known persecutions. Students are graduating without knowing what’s ahead of them–give them an encouraging word. Soldiers are leaving families to protect other families–assure them you’ll be there for theirs when they need them. Someone just buried a loved one–don’t crowd them right now, but let them know you’ll be there when they need you.

We are not God, but we can do some of the things that He does–never allow anyone to feel alone or abandoned by letting them we’ll be right there and they are never alone. Our most effective witness to others is in how we treat people, not in just having something to say about Jesus. Be a witness today–offer comfort where comfort is needed and when you need it–He’ll be right there in the person of someone else who has learned to comfort like He comforts.