November 2024 - Creation Beckons

Our Mouths–Encourage not Discourage

Ephesians 4:29 Our Mouths–Encourage, Not Discourage

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (ESV).

This is part four of a five-part series on the Christian lifestyle. This series was inspired by Dr David Jeremiah’s book, Belief That Behaves. The five parts of the series are entitled, Our Morality, Our Moods, Our Money, Our Mouths, and Our Manners.

The Word tells us what a powerful and dangerous weapon the mouth is. I believe that the mouth is like a grenade Once a hand grenade has exploded, it is impossible to put all the pieces back inside the grenade. All the small pieces of metal inside the grenade have been released with such a force that they tear through any flesh they encounter, making the grenade and grenade launcher the most lethal of the close contact weapons. Mayhem and chaos are the results of the explosion of a hand grenade. The same can be said of the mouth and the words it emits. Once they have been sent forth, they explode upon anyone and everyone who hears them. Hateful words can wound the one they are aimed at, but they are such that they also explode upon anyone near the intended target and can cause unease, concern, or even pain in them. Often the one who speaks the words is sorrowful for what he or she said, and has remorse, but it’s too late now. The words are out there for anyone to hear, and they cannot be stuffed back into the mouth; their effects are felt by all those who hear them.

Let me turn that last paragraph around by suggesting that words of praise, thankfulness, and blessing can also be spoken from the same mouth. Again, everyone who hears them, the one spoken to, bystanders, and the one speaking them is affected by the words. Words of blessing, thankfulness, and approval bring peace and joy to the hearers and the speakers. And when we speak words of praise and worship to our Lord, we include Him in the list of those blessed. So I suggest that we watch our words and do our best to send out grenades of blessing when we speak.

Two other important Scriptures come to mind: Proverbs 18:20,21; “From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (ESV), and Romans 10:9; “…because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV). The first verse reminds us that we need to speak of God’s blessing, claim them, and the second verse focuses on the best thing ever to result from the words we speak, salvation. We have to speak the words of asking for forgiveness of sin, and we have to acknowledge that Jesus, the Son of God raised from the dead, is Lord in order to receive salvation. That’s the great eternal result of the words we speak, eternity in heaven with our Lord.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the last in the five-part series, Our Manners

Our Money–Share Our Wealth

Ephesians 4:29 Share Our Wealth

“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (ESV).

This is part three of a five-part series about the Christian lifestyle—our morality, our moods, our money, our mouths, and our manners. This series was inspired by Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, Belief That Behaves.

Good words for today—“Let the thief no longer steal.” I have a friend who is the check-out clerk in a local drug store. One day in a conversation we had about the business, he told me that people come in the front door daily, pick up several candy bars and leave without paying. He also told me that many of these people do the same thing several times a week. He has been told by the management to do nothing, to say nothing, just let them leave. With the work load that the police department has, they are not going to respond to a call involved stolen candy bars. In fact, in our neighboring state of California, they will neither arrest nor prosecute anyone stealing anything or anythings with a value less than $950. Sounds like a license to steal, but do we want our police departments spending their valuable time on “petty thefts?” It’s a problem solvable only by a change in the morals of the nation. Some time ago, one of the local WalMart stores was set up for a smash and grab robbery by thieves who started a fire in the paper goods department. While everyone was busy rushing around getting customers out and containing the fire, the gang of thieves grabbed what they wanted and walked out with everybody else. Needless to say, thievery is a common occurrence in our nation, and we don’t know how to stop it. Some stores have started locking up small items that fit in a pocket or purse. I believe that all stores have a line item in their budgets entitled, “Losses by theft.”

“In this one verse, Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus to stop stealing. Then he tells them to get an honest job and earn money. What does he tell them to do with the money they earn? Share it with anyone in need. One New Testament commentator said this “This verse may be the most striking description of conversion in the New Testament: ‘The thief is to become a philanthropist.’” Dr. Jeremiah says, “Do not take what is not yours but work hard so that you may be able to give to others what is not theirs.” Wow, Paul is asking people who used to steal to get a job and give to others, a complete turnaround. That’s what Jesus did. By dying on the cross, He obtained forgiveness from sin, and He didn’t need forgiveness for Himself, because He didn’t sin. He earned sin forgiveness, and He gave it away to anyone who would accept it. I believe Paul was telling the Ephesians, and us, to do as Jesus did, give to those who are in need.

We are told by Hebrews 13:16, “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” I want God to be pleased with me, and I am sure you desire the same. “Quit stealing” may not apply to all of us, but being generous with those in need is something that God likes all of us to do, so as part of the Christian lifestyle, we are to help everyone we can.

Join us tomorrow for part four of our series, Our Mouths.

Our Moods–Control Anger

Ephesians 4:26,27 Our Moods–Control Anger

“Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (ESV).

This is part two in our five-part series about the Christian lifestyle—our morality, our moods, our money, our mouths, and our manners. This series was inspired by Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, Belief That Behaves.

Dr. Jeremiah believes that “Paul wasn’t talking about getting angry at things like traffic or the day’s news. He was talking about getting mad at your ‘neighbor.’” When we get angry at a friend, neighbor, or acquaintance, it becomes personal, and when it gets personal, feelings get hurt, relationships are broken, and harm is done to the soul and spirit of the offender and the offended. Disagreement can be spoken, and anger can be expressed without “calling names” or attacking a person’s personality.

We have examples of Jesus getting angry. The occasion of Jesus clearing the temple of the merchants is well known. He showed His anger in actions and words. He was angry because some people were using the requirement to offer animals for sacrifice as an opportunity to rob and cheat people by offering “acceptable” animals at a high price. Some suggest that the merchants may have bribed the priests to refuse many animals people brought for the required sacrifice so they would have to buy other animals from the merchants at extravagant prices. In Matthew 21:12,13 Jesus called the merchants “a den of thieves” and overturned their tables and drove them out. Jesus disciples quoted Psalm 69:9, saying, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” There are two accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple in this way. The passage in John 2:13-17 was early in His ministry, just after He changed water into wine. The passage in Matthew 21:12,13 describes an occasion at the beginning of Holy Week, just after Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and had been hailed as the “Son of David.”

Jesus also exhibited anger in Mark 3:4,5 as He healed a man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The religious leaders had been looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, and healing on the Sabbath, evidently, was against their rules. Before He healed the man, Jesus asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. They refused to answer Him. In verse five we are told, “He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored.” Jesus was angry that the religious leaders raised their rules above the helping of a man who needed to be healed.

In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus takes the religious leaders to task for misleading the people, for putting strict rules on them, and for misinterpreting the writings of Moses to their own benefit. He accuses them of having neglected “the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”

Jesus’ anger was addressed against misuse of His Father’s house and the uncaring and unsympathetic attitudes of those in charge of the Temple. In other words, they were misusing their power for their own benefit and not showing the love of God to those in their care.

In Ephesians Paul does not tell us not to be angry: rather he tells us to control our anger and not let it control us—put a limit on it, and end it before we go to bed; do not let it cause us to go too far in expressing it by causing permanent damage to a relationship; be sure we control it rather than letting satan take over our emotions for his benefit. Anger is a strong emotion and it takes the support of the Holy Spirit to keep it in control. It may be difficult to pray or even hear from the Lord during periods of anger, but we need to do so in order to use anger at appropriate times and in an appropriate way.

Come back tomorrow for part three, Our Money.