Blog Archives: January, 2005 -- Word of Truth Family Church, Many, Louisiana

Interestingly, Pastor talked about the power of words yesterday morning at church. He referred to James 3 and Matthew 12:36-37 as well as Proverbs 18:21. No, he hadn't been reading my blog (see previous entry just below). He's not a techie yet, though he does do email. I think it's just the Holy Spirit trying to tell us something. (Duh.)

Most of James 3 talks about taming the tongue. The first thing that may come to your mind is verse 8: "No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

When you read such a strong statement, the first inclination may be to say, "Well, what's the use, then? No man can tame the tongue, so why try?"

My response is, if it is impossible, why would James spend 12 verses addressing this issue? I see a clue to success in verses 9-12. James says, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing....This should not be so." Then he gives a natural example that both fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring. As The Message Bible puts it, "You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?"

³³"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

How can we tame the tongue? Change what's on the inside, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." A bad tree yields bad fruit. A good tree yields good fruit. If there's good in your heart, good words will come out of your mouth. Out of a bad heart, bad things come out.

What makes a "good" heart? First, it's one that has been renewed and changed by the blood of Jesus. But, let's face it, even Christians can let bad things come out of their mouths. Does this mean they aren't saved? Does this mean their tongue cannot be tamed? No, it means their minds have not been filled and renewed with the Word of God. Bad becomes good when it is cleansed by the washing of water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). The Word will cleanse us.

In the New Testament, I am still in the book of James. Haven't really moved out of the second chapter yet. What jumps out at me this morning is verse 13 (NIV):

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

¹³For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.

This verse about showing mercy reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 6. It's best to read verses 27-37 to get the full context of what He's saying, but He sums it up in verse 36 (NIV):

Just as Jesus said in Luke 6:31, "Do to others as you would have them do to you," it seems as we do to others GOD will do to us. That is, if we show mercy, we will be shown mercy. If we forgive, God will forgive us. If we do not judge, we will not be judged. If we do not condemn, we will not be condemned. The reverse is also true of these statements.

This is the admonition: Show mercy. Forgive. Don't judge. Don't condemn. We really have no right, as Christians, to do otherwise.

Psalm 105:1-4 (NIV):

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

² Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

³ Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

(emphases mine)

The Holy Spirit is reminding me today to seek the Lord. SEEK the Lord. Seek THE Lord. Seek the LORD. Seek HIM. Look to HIM.

Of course, this calls to mind corroborating scriptures.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV): (See also Luke 12:31, NIV)

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

1 Chronicles 16:11
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 24:5-7

⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD
    and vindication from God his Savior.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
    Selah

Psalm 34:10
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Psalm 53:2
God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

Psalm 63:1
[ A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. ] O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 119:2
Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

And there are quite a few more scriptures along this line. Clearly, this should be my top priority. Anything else I need just takes care of itself--rather, GOD takes care of it--when I put Him first. You really can't beat that.

Psalm 19:14
”May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! (verse 1, NKJV)

David has a certain habit that some of us have…he talks to himself! Whereas WE are saying things like, “Where did I put my keys?” David is exhorting himself in the Lord, reminding himself to praise the Lord, to bless the Lord, to remember all that the Lord has done for him.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,” he continues, “and forget not all His benefits.” (verse 2, NKJV) The Message Bible says, “…don’t forget a single blessing!”

I just read an article in the February 2005 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal that declares “The Secret to Feeling Energized” is to be thankful, every day, for small, ordinary pleasures. According to a Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness, “grateful people tend to be the happiest.” The bottom line reason is that they are, as the old song goes, “accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.”

My mom used to sing me that song all the time…well, at least just that line: “ac-CENT-uate the positive and, ee-LIM-inate the negative.” Sometimes it would make me mad. Why? Because sometimes we don’t want to look at the positive. Sometimes it is so much easier to just stare at and meditate on the negative—how bad things seem to be. It takes a little effort to do a hyper-jump and mid-air flip into thinking positively and focusing on the good things that are going on instead of the bad.

The great thing about Psalm 103 is that NO MATTER WHAT we are going through, if we can’t think of ANYTHING else to be grateful for, we can praise the Lord:

³Who forgives all your iniquities,
       Who heals all your diseases,
       ⁴Who redeems your life from destruction,
       Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
       ⁵Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
       So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

It’s really awesome when you think about it. And DO. Think about it. Don’t forget it, O my soul.

When going through tough times, many people want to point their finger at God and blame Him for the bad stuff. James wants to make very clear that, first of all, when you are tempted with evil, God is not the source of it. Many bad situations we get into of our own making, and even if it is not of our own making, we can be sure of one thing:

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)

James prefaces this statement with the admonition that we not be deceived (verse 16). In other words, he might say today, “Let me make this very clear, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—the good stuff is from God. There is no bad in Him.”

"So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from he Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle."

If only most people would “get” this one little concept. God is not two-faced. He must be really tired of getting blamed for the bad stuff.

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him.” This is not a new thought separate from what has come before. We’re still talking about enduring through trials. And when we’re in a trial, many times we need wisdom concerning what to do in that trial to overcome.