What Did You Say?

Psalm 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

Psalm 52:2 Thy tongue devises mischief; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.`

We live in a world dominated by smooth talkers who proclaim goodness but are corrupt to the core. Jesus warned that many false prophets would come; preaching harmony and love, but they were wolves in sheep's clothing. What about us? Have we presented ourselves as sheep when we know a wolf lives inside?

We’ve all known that person who seemed so cool that butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth, and may have felt privileged to have them in our world…yet, time and life melted away the surface ice and the real person was revealed. The smooth talk becomes harsh and abrasive. Soothing words evolve into wounding razors. Just as a blade cuts deep into flesh, unkind words cut into the heart.

A sacred trust has been entrusted to Christians. That trust is the dignity and feelings of the rest of God's children. We become our neighbor's keeper. It is our duty to love and defend one another. The tongue has enormous power to build up or to tear down. How will we choose to use it?

Ask for God's wisdom and guidance as you make choices in your life. He will expose the darkness of lie and deceit through His holy light. Speak words of comfort and love and encouragement, rather than words which leave others bleeding. We are His mouth on earth, measure your words by the standard which is Christ Jesus.

Lord, grant us a careful and discerning spirit. Make sure we use the common sense You have given us. Protect us from those who would try to take advantage of us and keep us from taking advantage of others. May every word out of our mouths be one that encourages, builds up, or praises. Remove from our hearts the desire to hurt others by our words. Fill our mouths with Your thoughts and words, Lord. Amen.

Internal Interference

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.

Have you ever experienced a time when you were reading something only to realize you had no idea what you just read? Gosh, that’s disturbing! This morning I was doing my reading and it seemed as if half of my brain was trying to focus on the words on the page and the other half was having a totally different conversation with myself about what I might have done to make my back sore. Two separate lines of thinking going on at the same time, it was frustrating. I knew I wasn’t catching the meaning of what I just read so I read it again, same outcome. The noise in my head was making me nuts! “Just stop!” I didn’t realize I said it aloud but the pup’s reaction leads me to believe I must have.

I have often joked about having a split personality and all three of us, Me, Myself and I, talk among ourselves. This morning, it felt like all three were talking at the same time! I am joking about having a split personality but the noise in my head was no joke at all. Then it hit me, I’ve been reading the word of God for an hour and a half and the enemy didn’t care for it at all, thus the attempts to sidetrack my mind and focus. Pastor and Christian Counselor, Neil Anderson, calls this ‘internal interference.’

Some people experience internal interference when demonic powers are confronted by the truth. The answer to this mental chaos? Prayer, acknowledging God's presence, claiming His authority, and binding the enemy to silence. If we have a thought that is contrary to the Word, we need to address it then and there. Some thoughts can be very hostile or threatening. Others will be very deceptive. (Have you ever called yourself stupid or worthless or a loser?) Some seem innocent enough but the distraction has worked. The power of satan is in his lie. The moment we bring the contrary thought to light, the power of it is broken. The power for the Christian is in the truth. That is why it is truth that sets us free.

 Sarah Young, in her book Jesus Calling, said, “Stillness of soul is increasingly rare in this world addicted to speed and noise.” How true is that?!

My Friend, awareness and ownership of our thoughts is vital. Scripture says we will be held accountable for them; makes knowing not only what they are but where they originate rather vital, eh? Stop the noise in your head, examine them, discern the truth from the lies, take authority over them and commit them to God.  

Onward Christian Soldiers

 Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

 Charles Spurgeon said in his book entitled "The Hand Of God In The History Of A Man," from October 10, 1875, “…It is a warfare, brethren, for all these reasons, and yet more so because we must always be upon the watch against danger. In a battle no man is safe. Where bullets fly, who can reckon upon life a moment? Brethren, the age is peculiarly dangerous. Perhaps every preacher before me has said as much, and every preacher after me will say the same for his times — yet still, I say, in this peculiar age there are a thousand perils for the soul, from superstition on the one hand and skepticism on the other; from rude self-reliance and indolent trust in others, from a wicked world and an apostate church. You must not wonder that it is so, for war is raging. The enemy has not laid down his weapons, the war drum is still beaten; therefore do not lay down your arms, but fight manfully for your King and country — for Christ and for his church.”

What was true in 1875 is all the more relevant today. The year 1875 may sound long ago but it isn’t. My paternal great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Mize, was born that year. A mere three generations ahead of me. Another three have come: me, my children and my grandchildren, the youngest born in 2011. Doesn’t sound so long ago anymore, does it?

The enemy of our souls is still at war today and has more access to get into our heads via all the instant technology available to us with the touch of a button, the push of a key: instruments of war, none the less. We would have no trouble recognizing the blatant signs of attack of the enemy: a bomb makes a lot of noise while it is being destructive. There are the hidden bombs in the roadways that destroy lives just as much. Morality takes a beating everyday on TV and in movie theaters; its victims include little children. Just as a bomb going off, it is deadly and sneakier as it anesthetizes us more every year to the point we find violence, immoral sexual behavior, foul language and breaking the law to be entertainment.  

Every day in unseen ways the enemy is out to get us. We need to be alert at all times for his subterfuge and deception come disguised in many seemingly benign applications. Yesterday, for instance, my ortho doctor told me I have a tear of the tendon in my right elbow. This tear was causing the acute pain in my hand, which was the issue I was concerned over. It seems the elbow tear was causing a small tear where the tendon goes over my hand as it tried to compensate for the elbow injury. That was not good news but the really bad news was that he said I had to stop writing for a couple of weeks to let the tendon try to heal with the help of a cortisone shot. There are unpleasant consequences down the road if I don’t. I recognized this as an attack of the enemy trying to stop my work writing for the Lord. This isn’t the first or even second attack on my hands. Off the top of my head I can count five; “subterfuge and deception come disguised in many seemingly benign applications.” My weapon(s) is obeying the call of the Lord to write this blog, for one.

Yes, I must use wisdom in treating my arm, the damage is done and pretending it doesn’t exist is just ignorant. First line of action…prayer. Second…following the orders of one more medically knowledgeable than me, my sweet doctor. Third…more prayer. Forth…putting my right arm in a sling to support it and keep me from typing with it. This is being written with God’s help and my left hand, as will be all the blogs coming in the next couple of weeks. 

We have to recognize our enemy, reevaluate our strengths, defer to the only true Commander in Chief, take up our arms and march on into battle. This is war, Friends, and we cannot tread lightly or in intimidation. We are more than conquers! Remember, the enemy has read the last chapter, too. He knows he is defeated.

Riptides of Life

Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Romans 8:37 (KJV) Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

If we are alive and breathing, then we are probably facing a struggle. Life in a sin-plagued world is not always a walk in the park. At times, it can seem as though we move from one problem to another. Other times it feels like problems dog-pile on top of us, leaving little breathing room. Often we cause our own troubles. Some of life’s challenges are circumstantial; others are direct attacks from the enemies of God who hate us because we are His children. We encounter criticism, obstacles, and challenges throughout our earthly journey. I went to bed last night, plagued by many problems; I was worn out mentally and emotionally drained.

Yesterday had been a day where all those spiritual enemies listed in the verse above came rushing at me like tsunami. They continued to storm my refuge well into the night. This was all topped off by my computer going blank, a dark screen, no vision, and no light. Staring at the dark screen felt like a material representation of things happening in my life at the moment. I did all those things we do when facing a problem; I stormed around, shared my misery with those who would listen, prayed, begged the Lord for mercy, cried, stormed around some more and wallowed in my tribulations. I felt horrible and oppressed.

When I feel like I’m drowning in troubles and despair, the only thing that keeps me holding on is KNOWING God is not going to let go of me in the riptide of trouble and injustices. I have to rely on what I know rather than what I feel because my human feelings are all over the place and, like I said, I felt horrible and oppressed. Knowing God is there becomes my life preserver. I picture in my mind’s eye an image of His hand holding my head above the surface of the dark waters of tribulation.

Jesus told us in John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” He is in control of the entire universe and He is prepared to defend us against the challenges we confront. He walks on the waters of the tsunamis!

I’d like to tell you that I have so much spiritual maturity that I just sail on through the troubled waters, singing as I go. But I can’t because that would be false. Some troubles rock my boat more than others. All the 'predator troubles' were circling yesterday, drawn in by the blood of a broken heart for the frenzy feeding. Jesus would be sleeping in the back of the boat…I want to be more like Him and less like Peter flailing about as he sunk into the murky waters. I was more like Peter, sad to say. The good news is that God didn’t leave me to be consumed by the predator troubles, understands my times of weakness in spirit, and forgives me in spite of myself.

This morning I woke as usual and stumbled into my office to make the coffee. I laid my hand on my closed computer ~in faith~ and thanked the Lord for its miracle healing and restoration. As the coffeemaker filled the air with the aroma of the nectar of the gods, I rubbed my eyes and open the laptop. I pushed the power button and sat back in my chair. I was amazed as I saw it flicker with little lights dancing on the screen before it popped out in full computer color! I was doing the “Thank you, Jesus!” happy dance before coffee this morning!! I don’t know how God fixes computers but He does! I don’t know how God is going to ‘fix’ my other predator troubles but I know He will. Nothing like a good miracle from the King of Kings first thing in the morning to start your day off right! I, once again, am so very thankful His mercies are fresh every morning. I’m pretty sure I used more than my fair share yesterday.

This morning I feel stronger, like I can swim again. I take with me that image of His hand holding my head above water because I know I will flail about once more. My strength is temporary. His strength, however, is eternal.

May God make you strong and bold, may you not be afraid of the unknown, nor of risks, nor of your enemies - nor the enemies of God, for Adonai your God goes with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deut. 31:6, CJB).

   

Royal Priesthood

“Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9a, KJV)

We, as believers, are priests of The Most High. The Apostle Peter told us, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9a, KJV). The Apostle John wrote, “Jesus Christ…has made us His Kingdom and His priests who serve before God His Father” (Rev. 1:5-6, NLT). Serving as priests becomes part of our high calling when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

We have inherited some, not all, of the priestly duties from the Levitical priesthood dating back to the time of Moses! While some practices, such as offering sacrifices, are not applicable today, we are still expected to intercede on behalf of the people and to direct others in worship to God. We also retain the important, though often overlooked, responsibility of imparting blessings upon God's people. Like other priestly duties, this is both a responsibility and a privilege. We can, and should, be speaking the blessing of God over others. It is our reasonable service to the Lord and it is our loving obligation to those around us.

God commanded the priests to bring His blessing upon the people to sanctify them. This world is corrupted by sin and sin leads to death. Despite that reality, the world's words and behaviors are competing to overtake and control our hearts. We are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare yet victory results from the Lord’s blessing. We read about the lure of the world in Romans 12:2, “Do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of this world. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying, and able to succeed”(CJB).

The “standards of this world” are self-focused. They promote thoughts and behaviors like hate, jealousy, lust, competitiveness, bigotry, condemnation, and so on. Consequently, words based on the world's standards are condemning, belittling, hurtful, and discouraging. The Apostle Paul distilled this life-or-death matter down to a choice. We can either conform to the world and its standards or we can conform to God and His standards. The New Testament authors confronted every conceivable sin at work within the Church. The ability, tendency, and temptation for those of us in the body of Christ to conform to the world's standards are beyond dispute. If we are honest with ourselves, we know this is true based on our own personal struggles, past or present.                  

In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart.” The hearts of those in the world (that is, those who do not know Jesus as their Savior) are trapped in sin without God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore curses come out of their mouths. When we allow their words to influence our minds and emotions (our “hearts”) then we allow ourselves to conform to their standards.

In Romans 12:2, Paul gave us the key to transformation – our minds must be renewed by the Word. The more we saturate ourselves with the Word of God, the more we know what God wants, and the more we agree that what He wants is good, satisfying, and able to succeed.

Jesus taught us God's kingdom standards in Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (NIV). Here we discover that God's standards are selfless. They are based on preferring others to ourselves. We are to love God completely, with every fiber of our being, and we are to love others more than we love ourselves.

These are tall orders. They may seem reasonable as you read them right now. However, when you are having a “discussion” with your spouse or you have been cut off in traffic, or the boss gives your promotion to a coworker, or a relationship is ended without explanation…that’s when obeying these commandments can be challenging. In these moments, our ability to conform to the selfless standards of God’s kingdom may appear beyond reach. Therefore, we must approach them with transformed perspectives from minds that have been renewed by the Word of God.

May you find wisdom and, in doing so, find life and win approval from the Lord (Prov. 8:35, NLT).