Our Words Have Power

In the beginning God spoke and it became as he said.  He spoke our world into existence.  His words are power.  Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV) continues:  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  We are made in his image, so we also speak words of power.

This is where we immediately get into trouble.  We tend to fall on the side of error with how we talk rather than the way God would have us talk.  Our words must line up with his words.  Instead we put ourselves down.  Say stupid things when we get angry.  Gossip, rumor mongering and negative words come out instead.  We like to complain about how hard life is as if our woe can out do someone else’s woe.  Your words are going to tell the truth about you whether you want them to or not.

I cannot stand myself when I’m in a negative funk.  I definitely do not want to be around people who are being negative with their talk.  I do not need any help in making myself have a bad day, if I so chose.  See it comes back around to us choosing again  We can chose how we want to feel about something.  We can chose how we speak to a problem.  We may think we have firmly made a choice and then we open our mouths and the truth comes out.  Are you saying negative things about your life or are you speaking God’s Word against all those problems you see?  The problems are going to happen, but how we speak about them will make a huge difference.

James nails this issue squarely in verses 3:8-10 (NIV) of his book.  But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.  I do this.  We all do this.  We praise and curse out of the same mouth and think we are doing all right.  Well, we are not!

We need to be aligned with God’s Word in order to even have a chance of knowing the right way to go with our words.  However, we want to gloss God’s words over because they hurt, they go against what we want, and we really don’t want to admit our faults.  Let’s hide them over here in the dark where no one can see them.  Sorry, light comes even in the darkest place.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) sums up how God’s Word works.  For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  So if God’s Word can do this to get us thinking the right way, how much more should we watch our words?  We slice ourselves and others up so easily with the tongue and this is why.  Words hurt. 

We do not even want to have to deal with offense in our society anymore.  You must talk to me the way I want you to and say only what I want to hear or you are being mean to me.  Ouch!  Really?  We cannot even politely rebuke someone when they cause an offense without people getting defensive.  Worse, it is our loved ones we bash on the most and share the most negativity with as if that will make our lives better.  Sure we need to talk about things, but we need to allow some correction in our thinking, too.  We spew out all our woes and do not allow some help on the matter.  We like to wallow in misery and then we wonder why we never see the sun.

So every day we must ask ourselves, “Where are my words leading me today?  Towards good or towards evil?  Towards blessing or towards cursing?”

God Lets Us Choose

We can find plenty of scriptures that tells us God chose us and he knows our destiny.  There is no way to change his mind about us.  He will love us no matter what.  He shows mercy to the repentant heart.

Many people haven't grasped this about God.  It took me until I was thirty-three to even accept Jesus and a few months in a spirit filled church to understand it for myself.  Jesus wants to be our friend.  Not someone we get all silly with, but a friend we can talk to about anything.  We are to be his brothers and sisters.

God lets us chose if we will love him back.  We know his will by reading the Bible and gain knowledge through prayer, open communication with God.  If we are claiming to be Christian, we better be in the Word and in prayer daily. This is how Jesus beat the devil in every challenge presented.  One that is very important, we do not live on bread alone, but on the Word of God.  Without that food we are losing out on the knowledge God supplied to help us know him.  If we are not praying in a way that is communicating with God, we are not going to see or hear any answer to prayer.

Even the strongest Christian can be slammed by the storms of life and Satan to the point of falling.  We all are going to stumble in our walk with Jesus.  It is how we get back up that matters.  Are we going to be repentant and confess to God what we did in order to gain his mercy?  Or are we going to stay mad about it and play the blame game?  The blame game got Adam and Eve evicted from the Garden of Eden.  Trying to use an excuse for what he did caused Cain to be sent out to an even harder life off the land.

David, on the other hand, repented for how he had claimed Bathsheba as his own and then had her husband, Uriah, killed in battle when he would not go home to his wife while back in the city and the war still waged on.  He lost the child that was conceived in sin, even after he repented, but later his son, Solomon, born to Bathsheba, became the greatest and wisest king ever seen on earth.  The continuing bad side was much strife in the family with it leading to further sins by his children.  God does forgive and forget our sincerely repented sins, but sometimes the sin still has effects and circumstances further in our lives.  You can find the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. 

Joshua had it right even near the end of his days when he challenged the Israelites to chose.  Joshua 24:15 (NIV) says, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Jesus challenges us in John 7:16-19 to prove if his teachings are from God by saying, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him."

In order to have a blessed life and many years in the Promised Land, Moses challenged the Israelites to chose life.  Deut 30:19-20 (NLT) says, "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!  Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

So we can chose to do things our own way and not bother with God at all, but what good will that do?  It just keeps us from his love.  We can live a life that feels cursed because God is not with us or we can chose to accept him for a blessed life.  I am not talking about a smooth sailing life, but of one in which we are overcomers in Jesus as our blessing.  I'll echo Joshua by saying, "I will serve the Lord."

We Can Approach God Without Fear

Rom 5:1-2 NLT - "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory."

We have gained access, we do not deserve, to God's amazing grace through what Jesus Christ did for us.  God’s grace not only gives us the unmerited free gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation, it also gives us the right and the empowerment to be children of God.  We should not fear punishment from God when we acknowledge our sins to him and admit to our wrongs.  As we stand on faith in what Jesus did for us and lean on God’s grace, we grow closer to and learn more about who God is and who he wants us to be.  His grace empowers us to live as sons and daughters of God, rise above our natural human ability and live in this world as Jesus did.

Eph 3:12 NLT - "Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome."

Thanks to Christ we may approach God directly with freedom and confidence through prayer.  We are his children and he wants a relationship with us.  Prayer is our way to talk to him.  It is not just asking God to do something for us or something we want.  It is our way to relate to  and communicate with God.  Because of Christ we can approach him comfortably and in confidence.

Heb 4:16 NLT - "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it."

God loves us and really wants to help us.  He wants us to live abundant lives on this earth and knows we need his help.  We can boldly seek his help for ourselves and for others.  We know that what seems impossible to us is possible through Him and His grace.  We should approach him with reverence and bold assurance knowing he is also our Friend and Counselor.

Heb 10:19-22 NLT sums this up well.  "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water."

So when we are told to fear the Lord, it really means we are to revere Him and see Him with great awe.  We are not to be timid and afraid as if facing some great menace who only wants to punish us.  Proverbs 14:26 NIV says, "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."

Are you still running with the world and feeling insecure?  Are you afraid that whatever you have done in life before disqualifies you from accepting Christ and experiencing God’s love and grace?  Think again.  Jesus wants you to be his friend and He wants to help you in all that you need.  He is the way to a secure life where we have nothing to be afraid of.  Who would not want such a great Counselor on their side?

What Does Christmas Mean to Me?

God gave us the greatest gift by giving us His son so that we could be properly reconciled to Him.  The Law may tell us what is right and wrong, but on our own power we cannot stick to this law.  God could have done this any way He wanted, but He starts this phase of His plan by sending His One and Only Son as a baby born by a virgin.  Worldly opinion wanted a strong, conquering hero.  God sent us a miracle instead.

One of the names Jesus was to be given upon his birth was Immanuel, which means God with us.  Isaiah 7:14 (NIV) says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  Matthew 1:23 (NIV) says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which mans, ‘God with us.’”

Jesus was indeed God among us.  Let us follow along with what John tells us in the first chapter of his gospel.  Verses 1-2  say, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.”  God used words to form the world.  This Word is also Him.  In verse 14 we find, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  So the Word, God, became flesh among us as Immanuel, Jesus.

But why all the controversy over this?  John explains this in verses  10-13 which say, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of god – children born not of natural descent, nor of a human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The darkness, sin, of the world has clouded the view and warped our knowledge of God.  It led us to being unable to even follow His Law on our own power.  So when He came, many did not believe and many still do not accept this miraculous story.  But there is more proof about the birth of Christ and what he did than proof for many other historical events of that time.  Those who did not believe worked overtime to convince others it never happened.  Herod went to the extent of killing every male child two and under in Bethlehem in order to kill the King of the Jews that the wise men came looking for.  Herod was scared this special child would usurp his authority.  Today many are scared that they will have no freedom if they accept Jesus and all his rules.

It took me some time to accept Jesus because I preferred what seemed logical to the world rather than believe in a miracle that sounded like a fantasy story.  I was thirty-three when I finally accepted Jesus.  Amazingly, due to God’s amazing grace, I felt far freer after accepting him.  It did not matter how illogical or fantastical His gift to us looked.  It was given to us because He loved us even when we were still sinners.  He could have pulled off this gift giving any way He wanted.  Instead He chose to send us Jesus as a baby born to a virgin.  He did it just the way He said he would hundreds of years prior to the event via His prophets.  He told us what to expect about the birth of Jesus, so there was no excuse not to know it when it happened.

What really matters is He came to reveal more of God to us and show us the true way of reconciliation with Him.  He came to show a world full of sinners the way to His grace and mercy, which we accept by faith.  His grace is free for the taking if we accept Him.  It is our gift from God.

So to me Christmas is the celebration of the greatest gift God ever gave us, Jesus, who brought us grace.  This grace brought to us through God’s great love and mercy is the way we can be children of God.  There is no other way.  When giving gifts this season remember this greatest gift of all.

Are You Properly Armed?

“Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  Ephesians 6:17 (NIV)

This is our weapon as a Christian.  We need to make sure they hear the truth, but we also need to show God’s love in this truth.  The Holy Spirit will give us the words we need to say at the right time.  However, if we are not studying our bibles regularly we will not know and understand what we need to say. 

The bible tells us that God’s word is flawless.  2 Samuel 22:31 (NIV) says, “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.”  Proverbs 30:5 (NIV) mirrors this with, “Every word of God is flawless.”  So it is well worth making sure you are getting the word not only in your head, but in your heart.  “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:11 (NIV).  Another verse that many know that lets us know how God’s Word leads us is Psalm 119:105 (NIV),.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  I know walking around in the dark hurts and I find this reassuring. 

I tried a lot of worldly ways of doing things before I became a Christian.  Following God’s Word and knowing how to use it properly has made life so much better.  Sure it seems crazy at times, but it isn’t any crazier than Joshua following God’s lead on how to take Jericho.  Simply by marching around it in a prescribed way for seven days he and the Israelites watched God make the walls fall without them even having to touch them.  Going back to Psalm 119 in verse 9 (NIV) we find some good instruction:  “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.”  Do not stop following the Holy Spirit and the Word because the unimaginable and totally crazy will blow people’s minds as God does His wonders.  I have seen prayer teams answered as they pray via the leading to the Holy Spirit and believing God’s word in how he watches over us and helps us when we ask.  Cell phones have worked where they normally do not to report emergencies and never worked there again.  Helicopters airlifting patients get through air space and weather issues.  Head trauma patients walk again as if nothing happened only three weeks later.  And I could list more I know of personally.

But it is not all about the miracles.  Simply having the right word for anyone, even a complete stranger, can totally change their day.  It can let them know there is a God that cares.  Maybe they are not ready to say yes to him today, but our following the Holy Spirit guidance we all have access to as Christians and knowing how to apply the Word to our everyday lives will make a world of difference one little word at a time.  Per James 1:22 we must not only listen to the word because we could wind up deceiving ourselves into thinking we got enough.  We must do what it says.

Now this is why the Word can cause issues and feel like things hurt.  It is a living thing.  Let us look at Hebrews 4:12 (NIV).  “For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  It is a weapon, but if used properly it is cutting off the bad and leaving us with good.  It is helping us grow into the person God really intended us to be rather than what the world would love to force us to be.  It is scary because it has power.  All words have power to cut, but the word of God works to a living and constructive end.  The world would like us to be defeated and negative just because we do not have this or that thing or skill.

Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  I see this all the time and I’m sure we all do.  As humans, whether we know Christ or not, we find it all too easy to slide to the negative side and say things we should not or play the blame game.  We must remember words are living things and cut to a spiritual level.  Do we want our words to be a healing balm or do we want them to cut people down?

It Has Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I have posted anything in this blog.  The only person I can blame is myself for not following through with the work the Lord gave me.

I actually went several months of not writing anything, not even the novel I was working on.  I can thank a friend for getting me back to the novel writing by convincing me to join NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.  I did not get fifty thousand words, but I did get working on my novel again.  Then ideas for this blog started again.  Amazing how things flow when you are doing what the Lord wants you to do.

Per 1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV), “We are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”  We are to be working with god in all that He has given us to do.  For me that includes my writing.  I cannot stop like I did just because I was in a funk.  If I get stuck on one thing there are other things to write until God’s leading helps out.

Even if you do not know yet what you are supposed to be doing for God, God has told us how to work.  Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not man.”  Whether you are the cleaner or the chief executive, this is how God wants us to think about all we do.  I do not have a job, but I still should see cleaning the house and my writing as what I do for the Lord.

We are good at making excuses for not wanting to work at our best or at all.  I know I have complained about a job or the people I worked with.  That never inspired me to do better and it sure did not inspire anyone to want to work with me either.  Negativity just stops the good works.

God gives each of us a specific ob to do for His kingdom.  He has this set so that all can find their place and mature in Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV) says, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  When we are not doing our part the whole is missing pieces and will not function properly.  Others who need us will be missing out.  We will even miss out on things the Lord has for us.  We are not to earn blessings by works, but if we are not where the Lord wants us and doing our part, we will surely miss His greater plan.

So are we slumping in our works, no matter what they are, or are we working to our fullest to honor the Lord in all we do?

Be Gracious

Grace, like God’s love is a free gift.  What does God’s grace add to our lives?  It is the power to accomplish something greater than ourselves through the favor of God that granted us this grace.  The forgiving of our sins and the availability of salvation is only the beginning of this grace.  Eph 1:6-8 says, “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (NIV)  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  (NIV)  God wants us to abound in his grace and power to accomplish the plan He always had for our lives.

We have to actively accept the gift of grace.  It can be multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus.  2 Peter 1:2-4 tells us this:  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (NKJV)  Through our relationship with Jesus we can grow in knowledge of Him and God’s great gift of grace in order to show the world who God really is.

In my last couple of entries I talked about knowing and showing God’s love.  We also need to show His grace.  How do we do that?  Colossians 4:6-6 tells us how.  “Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.”  (NLT)  We need to know how to talk to people in the way Jesus would.  We cannot accomplish this without His grace.  We must get to know Him better and better.  Last year I posted about our Christian lives needing to be a relationship with Jesus.  This is why.  Without Him we do not get to know God and understand this gift of grace that helps us proclaim to the world who He is.

It is not an easy thing, but I feel any good thing is worth some effort.  I know for a fact that even as I studied to write this I was tested in how gracious I could be.  I wound up getting angry with some people with how they were handling a situation.  My assumptions were proven wrong, so I graciously admitted to being wrong and thanking them for telling me so.  I did explain why I had come to those assumptions in order for them to understand why I did mess up.  Of course, there are at least three answers you will get when you admit to being wrong:  1) the mad will stay mad at you, 2) people will not care that you admitted your wrong, and 3) people will be glad for your acknowledgement and explanation.  Do not expect everyone to be happy when you graciously admit a wrong.  We are not here to make everyone like us.  We are here for God and the great plans He has for us that allow the world to know Him.

Paul exhorts Timothy to always be ready for the questions that will come his way in  2 Timothy 4:2.  “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season . Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” (NKJV)  We need God’s grace in order to be ready no matter how we feel, what our circumstances are, or what the world thinks.  We need to know how to share the truth of God, even the rebukes that should be shown with love.

Walk in God’s grace and love knowing He will help you be the person you were meant to be and show the world who He is.