Hold thy Tongue!

Proverbs tells us of wisdom.

Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat it's fruit."

Uh, God, isn't that a bit drastic? Can't you just make it a bit nicer?

What sort of Christians are we anyway? Do we believe what God says? (If we don't - why be a Christian - He might not have meant it when He said He took away your sin.) If we do - Why don't we live like it?!?

So what is He saying? That what we say has power to give death and life. If you love to talk you will eat the fruit of what you say.

Some verses to look at about things to do with the mouth:
Psalm 15:1-4
¹LORD, WHO shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill? ²He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart, ³He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour; ⁴In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he who honours those who fear the Lord (who revere and worship Him); who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

Proverbs 12:3 He who hides hatred is of lying lips, and he who utters slander is a [self-confident] fool.

Proverbs 26:22 The words of a whisperer or slanderer are like dainty morsels or words of sport [to some, but to others are like deadly wounds]; and they go down into the innermost parts of the body [or of the victim's nature].

Proverbs 31:26 "She opens her mouth in skilful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]."

and

Proverbs 31:27 "She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat."

Psalm 37:30 "The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks with justice."

So for all the maths people:

Slander = death
Gossip = death
Wisdom = life
Kindness = life
Truth = life

And so on.

In James 3:2 "For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature."

Last night coming home I was feeling rather cranky. I had a heavy headache, and I had nearly an hour's further drive home by myself at 10:00.

So I started complaining to God about it. Pleading with God to get me home sooner. Somehow...

After praying (yes I was praying) for a few minutes I had the guts to pray something real and I thanked God for what He had done for me. Then I spoke to my body. I commanded the headache to leave. And told a few other things to be right. (I can't remember what.) But afterward I felt so much better. The heaviness was gone.

Now note that while I did pray, I did not ask God to take away my headache. I just commanded it to go. And it left. Why? Because I have power in my mouth, and it had to obey.

So if that is what I can do for good, what is all this complaining, finding fault, gossip, slander, etc., doing to us?!

James 3 gives us a lot of instruction on the effect of our tongues. I suggest you go read it now. :)

And next time you want to say something bad - about yourself, someone else, a situation, etc., remember you have power in your mouth - power to change that situation.

Peace in the Storm

Lately I've been very busy. Which is partly why I haven't been posting here. I will try to keep up a bit better than I have been in future.

Thus I have been thinking about contentment, and peace in the middle of storm. So I thought I would ask you if you know the answer to the question, "What is peace?" God's peace.

Jesus said, peace I leave you, my peace I give you - not as the world gives.

So why is God's peace different to the world's idea of peace?

Peace is an absence of aggression, violence or hostility. (According to wikipedia)
The article goes on to say,

"[Peace] also represents a larger concept wherein there are healthy or newly-healed interpersonal or international relationships, safety in matters of social or economic welfare, the acknowledgment of equality and fairness in political relationships and, in world matters."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace)

So that is what the world thinks peace is. So now what does God call peace.

"Be still and know that I am God."

That's it.

By the definition of the world around us you can not be at peace if you are in the middle of a war. But by God's definition you could be in the worst turmoil ever known to mankind, and have perfect peace because God promises us,

"[He] will keep in perfect peace him who's mind is fixed on [God]."

So next time you start to worry think about God. Don't just think about Him though, fix your mind on Him. Fix your thoughts on Him. (Remember, "His burden is easy and His yoke is light.") And know peace.

Getting Answered Prayers!

Remember how I was talking about faith.

I don't actually have trouble having faith. It's just that sometimes I'm not totally convinced of God being more sovereign than what I am looking at. So thus I need to learn to become totally convinced and persuaded of God's sovereignty.

Let me explain. Last week I realised that it hadn't rained for a while. (Who cares that it is summer.) So I did what I always do when it's a bit dry...

"God some rain would be good. Thanks. Oh, could you make it rain for a few days? Hang on, make that a week. Oh, but with intervals so it soaks in a bit and they* don't get wet tonight. Thanks"

And I expected it to rain. It always does when I pray. In fact I can always get made to order weather. I don't have any trouble believing for the weather. Like I said, I always get what I ask for. I pray and God does it. You saw the gist of my prayer... nothing special. Just faith.

James 5:17-18

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Interestingly the verse before says:

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

And to prove the point Elijah and the weather is used. He prayed that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't. But then he prayed again. (This time it is mentioned in 1Kings 18.) And it rained all right!

After praying, the next thing they predicted rain for the next week. (Yep, just as I had prayed.) I was wondering what the weather would be like as soon as the week was up. In the low Thirties.

Meanwhile everyone else was saying about how strange the weather is... I started agreeing with one person and God reminded me, "This is what you asked for!"Oh, yeah whoops... I nearly forgot. I mean, once I prayed I knew I would get it so I didn't think about it anymore.

So Curry Blake says we should apply the same to all of our Christian walk... (Don't worry; I didn't tell him about what I do to the weather guys here.)

I had a cut, so I prayed for it... well more like told it to stop hurting and heal quickly in Jesus name. Well it stopped hurting. The next day I looked at it. I could see the new skin coming up already. (It was cut like you get from a knife. However I can't remember how I cut myself.) Normally takes a few days to heal... and stings because it takes a while for the new skin to grow up. I was pretty happy with that result.

So I'm learning.

*My family, who were out in the open that evening.

What Would Jesus Have me Do? (Part 3 of 3)

Our next question should be then:

"What does God want me to do?"

Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."

So we should imitate Christ.

Jesus said, "If anyone hears My Words and does them I will liken him to one who built his house on the rock..."

And obey Him.

Often called the great commission:

Mark 16:15 - 18

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
I can't believe this... what do I have to do!!! Oh, hang on, those signs will follow me. Hmm does that mean if I go, and I believe (according to 1 John 5: 14 -15*) that they will follow me?

1 John 5:14 -15

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

That means that God will do anything for us if it is in line with His will and we ask with confidence (in Him)

His Word is His revealed will. So I guess He is saying that if we preach they will believe, and if they believe than those mentioned signs will follow. I guess they will follow me too, if I believe. Which I do!!! (Just in case that needed to be mentioned.)

So what would Jesus have me do?

Obey Him, and fulfill the great commission.

What did Jesus Do? (Part 2 of 3)

First off I will start by saying that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So therefore if we want to know what Jesus would do we should be asking, "What did Jesus do yesterday?" because that is what He will be doing tomorrow.

So this is what I found:

Jesus only did what He saw The Father doing.

Jesus fulfilled God's Word.

Jesus healed all who came to Him.

Jesus set the captives at liberty.

Jesus preached the good news to the poor.

Jesus raised the dead... when He came across them.

Jesus blessed the children.

Jesus promised us that we would always have the poor with us. (I thought I would chuck that one in for good measure.)

Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Jesus bore the chastisement for our peace.

Jesus' wounds heal us.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. (Just in case you missed that before.)

Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus defeated death and hell.

Jesus fulfilled the will of God.

Jesus gave His disciples the great commission. (If we are His disciples we have the same commission.)

Jesus told His disciples to wait until they received the Holy Spirit.

Jesus ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of The Father. (Oh, and some angels told His disciples that He will return as He left.)

What Would Jesus Do? (Part 1 of 3)

I remember when the whole WWJD movement started. Oh how I hated it! What would Jesus do if he saw the poor and hungry? What would Jesus do if he was walking down the main street? What would Jesus do if he saw an old man with a walking frame trying to open a shop door?

I remember the things that people said, and still do say about that.

Well, we should do what Jesus would do, so we should sponsor a child, smile at the people we walk past, and open the door for the man. Right? Wrong!

Let me tell you what Jesus did.

1. He multiplied the food for everyone! (With leftovers)
   
2. He cursed the fig tree on one of His visits. He also generally preached where ever He went. Oh, and He "healed all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him."
3. I guess that means he would have healed the lame man... like He did on many different occasions.

I guess being like Jesus has a different meaning to what we have been taught...

Walking with God

His mercies are new every morning.

Something a lot of people seem to have trouble with is walking with God on a daily basis. Some things that you have probably heard and possible even felt.

I forget to do my devotions.

I don't like the books they have out there, and can't find anything I like and that makes it hard.

Even if you find a book you like doing devotions with it does not last forever.

I just run out of time in the morning.

It's just too hard.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I don't know what to do.

I have personally thought all of them. I was wanting somehow to draw near to God, but feeling like the assistance I needed was not there, and that I did not have what it took to seek God until I found Him.

Then I realised something. When I was a young girl, and first saved I used to talk to God at any time of the day about anything, because Jesus was my friend and the Holy Spirit my guide. God taught me His wisdom, to fear Him, and His ways were burnt in my heart.

I did not find it hard to pray. I was praying all the time. I did not feel that I needed some book to guide me to have devotions, the Holy Spirit guided me towards God.

I didn't read my bible out of duty. I loathed the very thought of reading it religiously. But I read it regularly, and also every time I was in a church service were I didn't understand the preacher... or it was boring.

He wanted me. If He has my heart, He has all of me. As I learn to love, and lean on Him, He teaches me more, and I'm one of the happiest people on earth!