Corrupt Communcation

Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The scripture has a lot to say about how Christian should be communicating. Before coming to Christ, unless trained otherwise, we took no thought about the words we spoke. The old self had no filter, it spoke what it thought, and would justify itself because they were injured or disrespected by someone else. When someone does wrong against us or violates our self image, the natural response of the “old man” is to lash back out. To get even, get revenge. “No one talks to me that way, I’ll show them”. Being angry at the actions of other people is not sinful, Paul said, “Be angry, but sin not”. Don’t let your displeasure cause you to spew out corrupt communication. Let the Holy Spirit put a guard on your tongue. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by allowing the devil to take control of the words you speak. Put on the “new man”. Let God transform the way you communicate the words that come out of your month. Especially those that are new born in Christ. It will be a work in progress. Putting off is a deliberate action that is taken. Refrain from using words that are filled with evil speaking and are malicious. But let the words you speak be uplifting and kind. A soft word turns away wrath. Entreats the Holy Spirit to empower you to be a witness for Christ and minister grace to those who may not be deserving.

Yet, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

In spite of all that may happen or all that may go wrong, I will still rejoice in the Lord. Praising God is a choice that we make. We can choose to blame God for our circumstances and hardship, or we can believe that God has everything under control. Believing that He is in control of life’s situations and yet choose to rejoice in Him is to have faith as a grain of a mustard seed. The prayer of faith looks beyond what seem possible and rejoices to know that all things are possible to them that choose to trust in God. Habakkuk faced things that seem to be unsurmountable, but He set His eyes on someone that was greater than His problems. Rejoice forevermore, even when things are not going so good. 

Flee to the Rock

Psalm 6:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

The cares of life have a way of overwhelming us. To others, the things we are facing may seem insignificant. The things that overwhelm us in perspective may not be as big as what others may be facing, but at the time, they are real and have an effect on our emotional and spiritual well being. Whether our hearts are overwhelmed with something small or something big, He is still our Rock. He is the unmovable Rock that will shield us from the storms of life that we face in life. He is the “Gibraltar” that will stand when all else is washed away. Flee to the Rock and let Him be your shield and keep you from being overwhelm with life’s cares.

The Lord Told Me

1 Kings 13:17  For it was said to me by the word of the Lord.

Be weary of those who say, “The Lord told me”, especially if it affects the decisions you make or need to make. Counsel is good to seek and should come from someone who is living close to God. A person who not only knows the word of God, but also lives in the word of God. There are many voices that call out to us, but the one voice we must listen to is the one that speaks to our heart through the word of God. God will not have us do anything that is contrary to His word. It matters not how much or how long a person prays, God will NOT command anything that is not consistent with what He has spoken through the written word. Satan will come as an “angel of light” and twist the word of God to misdirect our steps, we must be diligent to seek the truth and ask God to reveal the light of His word to our hearts. The Holy Spirit will not led you into temptation,sin, and disobedience to His word. He is our guiding truth, and will not lead us astray.

The Heart of a Child

Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

There are some childish things that we should not put away. The disposition of children raised in environment where they are sheltered and protected is to trust those who care for them. They live life without care for they believe that their parent(s) will feed them, and keep them safe. They run, play and enjoy life without worrying if they will have supper, or have a place to rest their heads at night. It is this simple trust that the child of God has toward his Heavenly Father. He cares not today what tomorrow will bring, if sunshine or rain, he knows that God will provide for today and when the sun rises tomorrow morning. The kingdom of God consist of those who willing abandoned themselves to the providence of God and trust God that all will be well. The heart of a child is to trust.

Spotless and Blameless

1 Thess 5:23, 34 The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless… Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

It is God’s desire to keep us spotless and blameless from the contamination of the world and sin. Paul’s prayer was that God would sanctify believers, set them apart to be vessel of honor and live holy in this world. The enticement for pleasure, power, prestige, and popularity are strong pulls placed on the fleshly desires of man. It requires a full submission to the whole will of God, and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to maintain our vessel clean and spotless. The promise of God is to sanctify us by sending the Holy Spirit to purge our hearts not only from the sins we have committed against Him, but to purify our hearts in faith. To do this, we must totally submit our will to surrender our lives into His hands. Be willing to pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things, do as the Spirit leads, follow the commands of God, and abstain from that which would cause us to be influence for evil. For this is the will of God, even our sanctification.

Don't Worry, God Has This Covered!

Matt. 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself…

“Don’t worry, God has this covered!” We are creatures that fret about tomorrow. I believe it is part of our human nature. How we handle worry is the choice we make. We can go about our day and become “worry sick” and start to doubt that God cares or that God is even in control. There are many things in life that we don’t have any control over. Yes, if we had known the outcome of events, we could have chosen a different path, but we didn’t, and we face what is before us. The way life works, the other path would also present us with its worries. There was a song in the 80’s called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in life we will have trouble and things will happen, but we only double our trouble when we begin to worry. Jesus said, you can’t do anything about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. Trust God for today. Cast all your cares and worries on Him, for He cares for you. When you begin to worry, think on the goodness of God, and His love for you. Trust in Him with all your heart, and this too shall come to pass.