Tuesdays with Jesus : 06/01/2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #102

#102: "Rx for Stress"

June 26, 2007

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)

According to the Washington Post, 54 percent of Americans are concerned about the level of stress in their everyday lives. Increasing numbers of children, teenagers and college students report feeling under stress. 66 percent of Americans say they are likely to seek help for stress. And stress contributes to such life-threatening problems as heart attack, stroke, depression and infection, as well as to chronic aches and pains.

A Tahoma, Washington newspaper carried the story of Tattoo the basset hound a while back. Tattoo didn't intend to go for an evening run, but when his owner shut the dog's leash in the car door and took off for a drive – with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice. Motorcycle officer Terry Filbert noticed a passing vehicle with something dragging behind it. He commented that the poor basset hound was, "picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could." He chased the car to a stop, and Tattoo was rescued. But not before the dog had reached a top speed of 25 miles per hour, falling down and rolling over several times. Too many of us are living our lives like Tattoo, picking them up and putting them down as fast as we can – rolling around & feeling dragged through life.

And if you're a Christian, you have another problem. You have an enemy. Satan..the devil..the accuser of the brethren, the god of this world..whatever you want to call him. He is your arch enemy and stress producing situations are his specialty. An unknown author put it this way: "Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length; Pressed so intensely, it seems beyond strength; Pressed in the body, and pressed in the soul;
Pressed in the mind, till the dark surges roll. Pressure by foes, and pressure by friends--Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends." I don't know about you, but there are seasons in life......and maybe you're in one right now.

So, what's a stressed out person to do? When if it weren't for bad news, you'd have no news at all, what do you do? You can divorce that spouse...not a good idea. You can quit your job...can you say, "cardboard box"? You can throw your kids out on the street...I don't think so. How do you cope when it seems that you just can't take anymore? When one more thing just might be your breaking point? My friend, the Great Physician has a prescription for you today. Not for Valium, not for anti-depressants, not for Vitamin B-12 so that you can run even faster. We need to learn how to experience rest. If all we needed was physical rest we can always take a nap. If we needed only emotional rest, we can always take a vacation. But where can we find spiritual rest? How can we obtain relief regarding the deepest issues of life at the deepest level of our hearts?

Come to Jesus. In Matthew 11: 28, Jesus is calling you. He says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." The Greek word for "weary" is "kopiontes" and means those tired from hard toil. The word for "burdened" is "pephortismenoi" and means those loaded down. Does that describe you today? Weary, tired, burdened, loaded down? Jesus says, "Come". He doesn't preach you a sermon. He doesn't read you the riot act. He simply says, "Come".

Dwell in Jesus. Psalm 91 is a beautiful testimony about our security in life. Verse 1 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." The Hebrew meaning of the word "dwell" (yashab) is to sit down, in quiet. To remain.To marry, abide and continue with someone. It is a picture of easing yourself, and settling down. A picture of marrying someone and keeping house with them. The Most High, the Sovereign Ruler of the World, wants you to settle down with Him. And again, He promises rest. Rest in His shadow. How many of you know that when you are in the shade, you don't face the full heat of the sun? By the same token, when you rest in the shadow of the Almighty, you don't face the full heat of your difficulties. Shade reduces what you actually feel. He simply says, "Come...Dwell."

Don't worry. Worry is obviously not akin to our generation exclusively. If it were, Jesus would not have felt the need over 2000 years ago to command the people, "Do not worry". (See Matthew 6: 25-34) Notice I said "command". He says not to worry about what we will eat, what we will wear or about the things the world worries about. Maybe for us that's global warming, terrorist attacks, our provision in a tough economic climate. He tells us that our Heavenly Father knows everything that we need. He knows the electric bill is due. He knows that Johnny needs braces. He knows that you need a job. He knows that you have a disease that needs to be cured. He knows that your child is running wild. He knows that your parents are aging and so are you. But He still says, "Don't worry!" If we could really understand and wrap our minds around the first two points (Come and Dwell) .... and really know WHO we were coming to and dwelling with...goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!...we would never worry again. The One we come to...the One we dwell with...tells us to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing things], and all these things will be given to you as well." Jesus said it...that settles it! Don't worry!

Pray. The apostle Paul must have gotten this prescription for stress. In Philippians 4: 6-7 he says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." He then tells us what to think about, instead of our problems. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you." Pray and Focus. Which leads me to my last point.

Focus. Isaiah 26: 3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (KJV) The Amplified Bible puts it this way: "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." And the Message says it this way: "People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit. Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing." The One that you come to, dwell with, pray to and focus on is a sure thing!! He is Faithful and True. Focus on Him. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Turn them away from the problems that you face, the people that are tearing you down and the situations that are overwhelming you. Look on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your faith. He will finish the work that He has started in you. He never starts what He won't finish. And as someone else once said, "He's not about to ruin His reputation on you."

Remember the lines from the unknown author in the beginning of this devotional? About all the pressure, from the inside and out? Well, in closing, let's look at how he finishes.."Pressed into knowing no helper but God; Pressed into loving the staff and the rod. Pressed into liberty where nothing clings; Pressed into faith for impossible things. Pressed into tasting the joy of the Lord; Pressed into loving a Christ life outpoured." That's your prescription for stress, my friend. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Donna Schultz

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #101

#101 "But God...."

June 19, 2007

"Then Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'" (John 11: 40)

I waited a long time for a son. My wife Sarah had a plan that did not turn out so swell. Ishmael, even though I loved him, was not the child that God had promised me. Then came Isaac. Sweet Isaac. The child of our dreams. The child of the promise. The one we prayed for, longed for and received when I was so old that I didn't even know I had it in me! I couldn't understand why God told me to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering on the mountains. Ishmael was gone. All of my hope for the future was in Isaac. Sacrifice HIM?? A lot of folks make a really big deal about my obedience to God's request, but I want to tell you that I was sick inside. I prayed that day like I've never prayed before. And I'll never forget the look in my son's eyes when I tied him to the altar on top of the wood. I was his father. What was I doing? But there we were, my only son and I..up on the mountain...the knife raised up in my shaking hand. But God.....

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I know that I was proud, arrogant and liked to flaunt my father's preference for me in front of my brothers. I would have been sick of me too, if I were them. And oh, how I liked to strut around in that colored coat my father gave me. But I don't think that I deserved to be thrown in a cistern and sold to those Ishmaelites. Nevertheless, off I went. Into slavery in Egypt. I got a pretty good job, but that went south when my boss's wife tried to seduce me. I did the right thing, but I ended up in prison. I made some friends. They were nice enough guys..one was the king's cupbearer and one was his baker. They had done something to the Pharoah and got themselves thrown into prison. But when the cupbearer was released, do you think he remembered to tell the king about me? Nope...he forgot about me too. So there I sat, day after day. But God.....

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I grew up the son of Pharoah's daughter. I had privilege to all of the treasures of Egypt. But I had a moment of intense anger and beat an Egyptian to death. So I found myself on the back side of a mountain for forty years. Yes, I had found a beautiful wife and had children of my own. But I always felt that there was a greater destiny out there for me somewhere. Something amazing that I was born to do. Have you ever seen a bush burn without being consumed? Well, neither had I...but there it was. And God was speaking to me out of that very bush. Stuttering, stammering ME! Telling me that I would set my people free from bondage in Egypt. Yeah, right! I even had the audacity to tell God that I couldn't do it. I asked Him to please send someone else. But He would have none of that. So off I went ... back to Egypt. It seemed that I had only made things worse. That stubborn Pharoah would not let the people go. He even increased the Israelites work load. Because of his stubborn refusal, God sent all those plagues on Egypt until one day, Pharoah agreed to let us leave. Boy, were we happy! Off we went ... to freedom. Even carrying the goods of Egypt out with us. But we came to a complete standstill when we saw the Red Sea before us and the Egyptian chariot army behind us. We were trapped...But God.....

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We were good Jewish boys. Born of royalty and nobility in Jerusalem. Carried off to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king. He changed our names to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Rack, Shack and Benny, as the Veggie Tales like to call us). He could change our names, but he could not change what we believed and how we honored our God. We refused to eat their food and drink their wine. We lived on vegetables and water and we thrived. We also refused to bow down to that golden image the king made of himself. Talk about an ego! The herald proclaimed the edict that if we didn't bow to the image we would be thrown into a blazing furnace. We didn't and someone turned us in. We might have been employed by that king, but we served Yahweh, our God. The furnace got turned up seven times hotter than usual and in we went. It was so hot that the flames killed the guys who threw us in. But God.....

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My brother was dead. My sister Mary and I had sent for Jesus to come when he was still sick. But for some reason, He didn't come ... at least not in time. Lazarus was already in the tomb for four days. I had all of those arrangements to make. All those people in the house from morning until night and I had to clean up after all of them. Cook for them. Listen to their well-meaning words of comfort. Wonder what we would do now, without a man around the house. And all Mary did was stay in the house. Didn't lift a finger to help me. Allowing herself to be comforted. She didn't even come out with me when I heard that Jesus had finally come. I almost couldn't help thinking, "A little too late." He tried to talk to me. I know that He truly cared because I saw Him cry. And then He wanted the tomb opened. You've got to be kidding me. Do you know how it must've stunk in there? I tried to tell Him, but He insisted. My brother is dead...what's the use? And then He said words to me that I will never, ever forget..."Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" I listened but Lazarus was still dead. They rolled away the stone, and he was still dead. But God....

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We left everything we had. We left our families and our homes and our jobs. We were so taken with this Man they called Jesus that we could do nothing else but heed His command to follow. We walked with Him, ate with Him, learned from Him and watched Him perform miracles like no one had ever seen before. He spoke with authority. His words were the very words of God. We truly believed that He was the Savior, the long awaited Messiah. He would save us from all this Roman oppression. He would wield His sword and lead us all to victory. But, not so much! We heard Him tell us that He would have to be betrayed, by one of our own, no less. We heard Him say that He would suffer. That He would die. But we never quite understood. Or maybe we just didn't want to understand. Because we also watched Him receive a kiss from our brother Judas and be betrayed into the hands of the soldiers. We watched Him as He took the razor sharp lashes to His already bleeding, torn back. We heard His cries. We saw Him carry the wooden beam through the streets of Jerusalem, be nailed to a cross and die. Now it was over. Everything that we hoped for and the One we hoped IN was gone. All of our dreams of victory and freedom....buried in a borrowed tomb. But God....

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Today, you may not be holding the knife above your child, like Abraham. But you might be holding the report that your child has cancer, is drug addicted or in real immediate harm. You may not be in prison like Joseph, or maybe you are. Or maybe, like Joseph, you are in a pit and you can't see the palace for the trees. You may not be facing the Red Sea like Moses, but there may be no money coming in front of you and the Egyptian army of bill collectors is behind you, right on your heels. Or like Moses, you may think that God has called you to do something that you are in no way qualified to do. You don't have enough training or education. You may stutter or stammer. You may be afraid. You want Him to send someone else. Today, you might be in a fiery furnace of divorce. You might be abused, have relationship issues, suffer from sickness and disease. You may be persecuted for standing on your convictions. The furnace seems to be turned up seven times hotter than usual and you don't think you can ever escape un-singed by the flames. At the very least, you're really going to smell like smoke. Something in your life may have died like Martha. Your marriage, your finances, your dreams for the future. Dead and stinking in the tomb. Or like the disciples, you may be watching everything you staked your life on, everything that you had your hope in, being crucified. The one person that you trusted, the one thing that you banked your future on....gone.

Down through the ages, those who came before you are speaking today. They are speaking to you as those who have been to the edge of hopelessness and been delivered. All seemed lost, but God intervened. God came through. He heard and answered their desperate cries. This "great cloud of witnesses" is bearing testimony to you that the race can be run successfully and that the rewards are great. They are testifying that you can never count God out of your situation. It's never too late. Things are never too far gone. Your problem is not the one that God can't solve. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Your hopeless situation is an opportunity for God to show off. The Great I AM, in the voice of His Son, the Christ, says to you today, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So, I encourage you today to believe. It looks hopeless. You feel helpless. But God!!!

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #100

#100 "A Breach in Your Wall"

June 12, 2007

"There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144: 14-15)

You're a Christian. You go to church every Sunday. You read your Bible and pray. You serve on committees, help feed the poor, maybe teach Sunday school. You don't drink, dance or chew and you don't hang out with those who do. In spite of all these things, your marriage is falling apart. Your kids are running wild. The eviction notice is in the mail. The lights are about to be cut off. Your health is deteriorating and you just never feel well. If it weren't for bad news, you'd have no news at all. Those words of health and prosperity that you hear just never seem to ring true in your life. There might be a breach in your wall.

It's easy to blame the devil. And sometimes it really is his fault. I can attest to the fact, and I mean FACT, that I am presently going through a season where the enemy is coming in like a flood. When you are about to embark on a new level of intimacy with God or increased fruit bearing for His Kingdom, don't think for a minute that Satan is happy. He'll fight you with every weapon in his arsenal, particularly those things that he knows are your Achille's heel. But "when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59: 19 KJV) That's not what I'm talking about.

Not everything is the devil's fault. Sometimes we play a large part in the distresses of our lives. We create breaches in the walls of our own safety and security. A "breach" is literally a break in something. In the case of walls, a breach is an opening in the wall, a rupture or a gap. In Bible times, cities were surrounded by walls. They were thick and strong. Among the Jews, walls were built of stone. "Walls" were used metaphorically in the Bible to mean security and protection (see Isaiah 26:1, 60: 18 and Revelation 21: 12-20). Walls protect. When walls are breached, those inside are vulnerable to enemy attack. They are not protected. They are open prey for the enemy army.

It's interesting that while the word breach can be a thing or a noun, as we've just described, it can also be a verb, an action. According to the Law.com Dictionary, a "breach" is a failure to perform a contract or a failure to do one's duty. It is failing to perform one's agreement, breaking one's word or otherwise actively violating one's duty to another. Now we're getting somewhere.

The picture that God paints for us in Psalm 144, verses 12-14 give us a view of ideal family life in a community whose God is the Lord. The sons are vigorous as young plants; the daughters are tall and stately; the barns are full; the flocks are prolific; and the oxen are strong. The people are blessed with peace. Such are material blessings expected in such an ideal society. A society where God is their Lord. Does this describe your life? If not, why? Again, there might be a breach in your wall.

What part of your wall have you left wide open to enemy invasion? Where have you failed to do your duty, keep your word or otherwise violate your commitment to God? It might be your disobedience to God's written word. Or saying "no" to the voice of the Holy Spirit telling you to do something or not to do something. It may be your lack of self control in some aspect of your life. Proverbs 25: 28 says, "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." Are you actively violating one of the ten commandments? Are you proud? Do you continue to gossip, finger-point and judge? Is it adultery, pornography, a relationship in a chat room that you're not willing to give up, at the expense of your marriage? Are you squandering the material blessings that God provides? Are you selfish and self-seeking instead of looking out for the benefit of the other guy and having a ministry of encouragement and edification? It might be outright blatant sin or something a little more subtle and harder to identify. Only you know where your breach is....only I know where mine is. But I'm telling you.... that is right where the enemy is gaining entrance into your life.

The way that the children of Israel rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah is a perfect illustration of what we need to do to repair our own broken, breached walls. First, people were assigned to build sections of the wall near their own homes. This is where they had a personal interest and a great motivation to work at it. "By arranging for each man to work close to his own home, Nehemiah made it easy for them to get to work, to be sustained while on the job, and to safeguard those who were nearest and dearest to them. It also insured that each person would put his best effort into what he was doing." (Getz, Gene A., Nehemiah: Becoming a Disciplined Leader, (Broadman and Holman, 1995), p. 53.) Put your best effort into getting your own house in order. Take the time to search your heart and your life for those vulnerable, open areas that are giving the devil access to your life. Then work hard to close the breach.

Second, remember that you are also a part of the Body of Christ. There are others out there, rebuilding their breached walls, just like you. Come along side of them. Encourage them. Encourage each other. Pray for one another. Be accountable. Walk along side each other for the common goal of being a beautiful picture of a city with strong walls....walls that can't be penetrated by the enemy of your souls. 1 Peter 2:5 says that "you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Romans 12:5 says, "..so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Do the breach-plugging individually and corporately for Jesus' sake.

And last, know that the enemy won't be happy. God's work of rebuilding seldom goes forward without opposition. Right after Nehemiah 3 where we read about the work of rebuilding, comes Chapter 4 about the opposition that Nehemiah and the people encountered. They were ridiculed, they were becoming exhausted physically and spiritually. But the Bible says that they "prayed to [their] God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." Assess your vulnerable points....start rebuilding and closing up the breaches, pray, encourage each other and let God give you the victory.

You will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings (Isaiah 58: 12). You will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest (Isaiah 32: 18). God will strengthen the bars of your gates and bless your people within you. He will grant peace to your borders and satisfy you with the finest of wheat (Psalm 147: 13-14). There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in your streets. Blessed are you, the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 144: 14-15)

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #99

#99 "Taming the Tongue"

June 5, 2007

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." (James 1: 26)

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We've all heard that saying haven't we? Perhaps we've even said it ourselves.

I often expand on my "Tuesday's" for messages that I preach. Today I am going to use a message that I preached this past Saturday, for my "Tuesday's". The feedback that I received on this topic was amazing and humbly encouraging. It was truly a word in due season. So I'd like to share it with you today, the precious people who I have the privilege of sharing what God has put on my heart each week.

This devotional is about the tongue. We are going to see how that little saying about sticks and stones and words is SO NOT TRUE! Our tongues give expression either to our flesh and what we feel or to the spirit. We can use it to speak God's word or we can use it to express the devil's work. Unwittingly, many of us use our tongues for the latter. Even Christian folk, you know.

Proverbs 18: 21 says that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life)." We have got to take the power of the tongue seriously. We can use it to bring blessing or destruction to our own lives and also to the lives of many others.

In our verse for today, James says that our religion is useless and worthless if we don't keep a tight rein on our tongues. Our church attendance, prayer, fasting, tithing, reading the Bible and Christian talk are all worthless if we don't tame our tongues. And if you think your words don't matter, well, James says that you're fooling yourself. One who is truly religious will demonstrate it by controlled speech. He elaborates on this very same topic in Chapter 3. If you would please read this passage from the book of James, the half brother of Jesus. It will help you understand the word today regarding your tongue.

BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: James 3: 2-12

What was the first thing you said today when you got out of bed? What about at the office? Or on the telephone? You may think that those words don't matter, but James says that they do. Even Jesus warned us in Matthew 12:37 that "by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." We need to learn to tame our tongues! In Psalm 39: 1, David said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." Spiritual maturity requires a tamed tongue!

The tongue is small, yet influential. James uses three examples: the bit and the horse, the rudder and the large ship, and the spark and the great forest. In the same way, the tongue is small but it makes great messes. It's petite but powerful. "It is with men as with horses: control their mouth and you are masters of all their action." (Ropes) The tongue is also perverse, or turned away from what is right or good. It is corrupt. And far worse than that, it can be satanic and infectious. James says that the tongue is a fire, and a world of evil. Proverbs 16: 27 says that "a scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire."

James says that the tongue corrupts the whole person, and sets the whole course of his life on fire. It is as though the tongue is at the center or the hub of the wheel of nature and, like a fireworks display, the wheel is set on fire at the center. The more it burns, the faster it revolves until the whole wheel spins in a blaze, spitting fire in all directions. But the tongue is only the fuse. James says that the source of the deadly fire is hell itself. And he tells us that no man can tame it.

So what is our hope of ever getting this thing under control? The tongue is undisciplined and wild, always wanting to do its' own thing. A child is like that. Or a wild animal or appetite. That's why we need the Holy Spirit to control our tongues. God can tame your tongue! But He won't do it alone. You can't just get delivered from an unruly tongue. God wants your cooperation. You must learn to discipline your tongue and take full responsibility for what it says. If not, you will spew the deadly poison of your tongue and the venom of hate and death-dealing words . And those death-dealing words won't just affect you. They will affect all those around you.

Words are containers for power. Your words have the power to bless or curse your life and the lives of those around you. "Blessing" is speaking well of. "Cursing" is wishing evil on someone or something. Would you rather bless or curse with your words? I was the victim of verbal abuse for most of the first half of my life. I used to think that I shouldn't call it abuse because that sounded too harsh. But the definition of verbal abuse is "language that condemns, usually unjustly and angrily. It usually goes along with the anger of the one speaking and stresses the harshness of the language." By that definition, I was verbally abused...by my parents and later by my first husband. I can tell you first hand that those words cut through a person sharper than any fist ever could. The bruises of emotional and verbal abuse cannot be seen outwardly but they are there nonetheless. And they hurt just as much. Proverbs 12: 18 says that, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." No outward bruises, but inward pain. I share this with you today to let you hear from a living, breathing, fallible person that words hurt and damage and destroy if we choose to direct them in ungodly ways. The damage can affect people for the rest of their lives. Your words matter. Finding out who I am in Christ and allowing Him to heal my wounds has brought me out of that pit that I was thrown into by other people's words. But take it from me...Your words matter!

Have you ever heard the old Indian expression, "He speaks with forked tongue?" Well, snakes have forked tongues. They come out from the snake's mouth and go in two directions. Similar to the forked tongue of the snake is man's uncontrolled tongue, which speaks praise and spews curses. James says that with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father (which is our tongues' highest purpose, by the way), and with it we curse or wish evil on men who have been made in God's likeness. It doesn't fit. James says, "my brothers, this should not be." It's not in harmony. It's inconsistent. Fresh water can't flow from a spring along with bitter water. Fig trees can't produce olives. Grapevines don't bear figs. Apple trees don't bear oranges. Everything in nature goes in an orderly course of good or bad. So should our tongues. Your tongue should not be an instrument of inconsistency. The tongue is small and influential and must be controlled. It's satanic and infectious and it must be corralled. It's salty and inconsistent and it must be cleansed.

So how do we beat down this little member that is contained in a cage of teeth and lips, but still escapes all the time? First of all, understand that the kind of life that you want starts with your words. It starts with the blessing of your words and the creative power that lies in those same words. You can affect your life with the words that you speak. In Genesis Chapter 1, we see that everything that was created was created with God's word. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We repeatedly see in the creation account, "And God said,..."..."And God said,...." God created everything with His word. God also spoke blessings with words. He blessed Adam and Eve in verse 28 with His words. In Genesis 22:17 God made His covenant of blessing with Abraham with what? Words. Blessings and curses come through words. Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus, "sustains all things by His powerful Word." Jesus sustains and keeps all things by His Word. Psalm 138: 2 says that God has exalted His name and His Word above all else." God's word is full of power and that is step number one in bridling our tongues. Learn the Word of God. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. Chew on it. Meditate on it.

The key to right talk is right thought. Intelligence doesn't keep the lock on the cage. Neither does money or social status or lack thereof. Wisdom and understanding of the word of God, planted in your heart and your mind...that's what keeps the tongue locked tight in its' cage. Jesus said that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." What's in your heart? What's in your mind? What do you occupy your day with and allow to enter your spirit? Is it the world and the TV talk shows and what momma and them say, or is it what God says? Proverbs 4: 20-24 says this, "pay attention to what I (God) say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. ABOVE ALL ELSE, GUARD YOUR HEART, FOR OUT OF IT FLOW THE ISSUES OF LIFE. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk from your mouth." Guard your heart from wrong things that want to get in. Good speech demands a wise source. Your mouth is connected to your mind. Psalm 119: 11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." There you have it! Fill your mind and your heart with God's word and out of the abundance of what's in your heart, your mouth will speak...for good or evil. God's word in....God's word and good things out. Garbage in...garbage out!

Step number two in taming the tongue is to pay closer attention to what you say. Our loose lips may be something we've paid no attention to until now. Sometimes we say the most ridiculous things! If we could just hear some of the things we say on a tape recorder we might begin to see why we have some of the problems in our lives that we have. We would hear words of doubt, unbelief, complaining, grumbling, fear and all sorts of negative talk. We'd hear, "That kid of mine will never change. This marriage won't ever work out. Every time I get a little money, something happens and takes it away. Nobody loves me. I guess I'm just destined to be alone all of my life." But....at the same time we say that we are "believing" for that child, that marriage, our finances, our future spouse. Out of the same mouth??? Forked tongue????

Or we say things about ourselves. Things like, "I think I'm going crazy. I forget things all the time. I must be getting Alzheimers. If this doesn't stop, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. (by the way, that used to be one of my personal faves). I'm dumb, ignorant, stupid. Sometimes other people don't have to be the ones pouring this poison into our lives. Many times it's our own mouths! Speak life...not death!!

Did you watch this season's American Idol? Do you remember Melinda Doolittle? From what I understand she was a strong woman of God. I was so excited one night when she was asked to sing a certain song and one of the lines would require her to call herself a "loser". Well, that girl knew the importance of the words that she spoke over herself. She refused to sing that line as it was written and changed it. And she let millions of people know that she believes in the power of words over her life. She knew that she was not a loser and she wasn't about to speak that over herself.

Pay more attention to what you say and replace those words with God's word and what He says about you. Find Scripture that relates to your problems and speak those words, out loud, to your problem instead of the negative words that you have been using. Speak it over the people in your life. Whether those words line up with what you see right now or not. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. And do you know what God does? He "calls those things that are not as though they were." Call things in your life that are not, as though they were. God's word is living and active and full of His power. Angels respond to His Word. Situations respond to His Word. Illness and lack respond to His Word, spoken in faith..calling those things that be not as though they were. Line your mouth up with His Word and get ready for the blessing to hit your house! And then praise Him and thank Him for it!

It's not enough to pay attention to your words. Pay attention to your thoughts. That's step number three. The Bible says, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." What you're thinking will inevitably come out of your mouth. But right thinking will change wrong actions. Conquer your old way of thinking with a new way of thinking. Philippians 4: 8 tells us what to think about: "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Change your mind and you will change your life! Renew your mind with God's word. It always goes back to that with me. If you haven't seen me in a long time, that's where you can always find me...standing on God's wonderful, amazing, awesome Word.

Last, and certainly not least..pray. If you know that you need help with your mouth..pray. Ask God to convict you when you're talking too much. Or when you're saying things that you shouldn't. Be sensitive to the inner nudging of the Holy Spirit as He tells you gently to "shut up" when you're speaking negative things or when you're complaining, sounding harsh or any other kind of evil speaking. Pray Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." And 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." God will answer those sincere prayers. He once told Moses, "I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." He's no respecter of persons...He'll do the same for you.

I have included an attachment for you with multiple Scriptures contained in your Bible regarding the tongue. Take some time and read them. Digest them. Heed them.

Watchman Nee, a bible teacher in the last century once said, "If you listen to a person, you can detect by their words the spirit that is coming forth from them." Your words reflect who you really are! That is why it is so important to place a guard upon your lips so that only good things issue forth from them. Kind things, positive things, edifying things that line up with the Word of God. Change your thoughts and words and you will change your actions and behaviors. And I believe that with the help of the Spirit of God, you will change your life. You can choose to imitate the devil (see John 8:44) and speak forth lies and accusations and every manner of evil speaking. Or you can choose to imitate Christ who never opened His mouth for evil (see Isaiah 53:7), who never said a deceitful word (see 1 Peter 2: 22-23). Who would you rather fashion your words after?

It's your choice today! God said that He places before you life and death. Blessing or cursing. And He says for you to choose life! Remember that your words are containers for power. Power over your life and the lives of those around you. For blessing and life or for cursing and death.

Sticks and stones CAN break your bones and words can DEFINITELY hurt you!

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