Saint Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel to everyone and use words if necessary." What a profound statement! I believe he was saying that a living example of the Gospel is more effective than words. Some people may argue with you about doctrine or the interpretation of Scripture, but unless they believe you're a liar, they can't argue with your testimony.
In John 10:37-38, Jesus said,
"If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him."
And in Mark 16:17-18, we read what Jesus spoke to His disciples after commanding them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
If we want to start seeing the power of God manifest in our lives, we will have to start paying attention to what we say. Words have power—more than any of us realize, but we often speak them as though they are meaningless. Because of that, most of us at one time or another have been hung by our tongues.
Matthew 12:36-37 says,
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
“Every idle word” simply means nonproductive. These are words that you speak but don’t believe. For example, you might say, “I’m dying to see my grandchildren.” You really don’t mean you’re dying, but you say it anyway to emphasize the importance of the relationship.
Every time you say things that you don’t really mean, it begins to numb your heart. Unconsciously, each idle word is making it just a little bit harder for you to believe that what you say will actually come to pass when you mean it and it really counts.
by Barbie Breathitt Adversity and death pursue sinners, but the righteous gain happiness and prosperity. Our emotions will either produce positive or negative motions in our circumstances. Life is about learning to love God and serving others. Ruth is a good example of humble service and overcoming great adversity. Ruth, the Moabitess, continually spoke words of hope, and she obtained the power of grace to change her life. Boaz, Ruth’s kinsman redeemer, was a man of great wealth. He decreed over his reapers, “May the Lord be with you!” (Ruth 2:4) He inquired “whose young woman is this?” (Ruth 2:5) because Ruth stood out in the field. God looks for outstanding women. Our best years are ahead because God is with us; positive changes will bring success! Adversity will only cause us to gain strength and momentum as we learn to press into God.
Doors of Opportunity
Fear hinders our potential by causing us to remain in our current negative situation. In contrast, Ruth concentrated on the abilities God gave her and the love she felt for Naomi. She walked through the door of opportunity determined to overcome adversity. Positive attitudes give us energy to move forward. By managing our thoughts and moving in the Spirit, we will find ways to create solutions. God has a plan to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). Be diligent in seeking God’s heart on every matter. Work hard and solve problems as they arise. Placing God’s will first in our lives will ensure our success (Matthew 6:33). Abiding in His presence develops intimacy which enables us to carry His atmosphere into the world. His presence makes our path straight. The thoughts we think and the words we speak determine our success or failure. Ruth determined to find favor to prosper, and she did. How do we prosper? When condemnation, fear, or negative opinions enter our mind, cast them down. Refrain from entertaining critical, jealous evaluations. Refuse to listen to the accusing lies of the enemy. There is no condemnation in Christ, only love, hope, and grace. Ruth clung to Naomi and overcame devastation. Orpah, “the one who is quick to flee,” kissed her opportunity for a godly life good-bye. When opportunity presented itself, Orpah chose familiar comforts. She ran back to her dead gods, forsaking salvation.
"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."(Matthew 12:34-35)
Words won't work without faith any more than faith will work without words! It takes them both to put the law of faith in motion.
Many believers don't realize that. They'll continually speak words of doubt and unbelief, then they'll jump up one day and say a couple of faith words and expect mountains to move-- and to their dismay, they don't.
Why not?
Because as Matthew 12:34-35 says, it's the words that come from the heart that produce results. The person who just throws in a couple of faith words now and then isn't speaking them from the abundance of his heart, so they're not effective.
Does that mean you shouldn't start speaking words of faith until you're sure you have the faith to back them?
When betrayal comes, what do you do? Get out? Get angry? Get even? You have to deal with it some way. Let’s see how Jesus dealt with it.
Begin by noticing how Jesus saw Judas. “Jesus answered, “Friend, do what you came to do.” (Matthew 26:50)
Of all the names I would have chosen for Judas it would not have been ‘friend’. What Judas did to Jesus was grossly unfair. There is no indication that Jesus ever mistreated Judas. There is no clue that Judas was ever left out or neglected. When, during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that his betrayer sat at the table, they didn’t turn to one another and whisper, “It’s Judas. Jesus told us he would do this.”
They didn’t whisper it because Jesus never said it. He had known it. He had known what Judas would do, but he treated the betrayer as if he were faithful.
It’s even more unfair when you consider the betrayal was Judas’s idea. The religious leaders didn’t seek him, Judas sought them. “What will you pay me for giving Jesus to you?” he asked. (Matthew 26:15) The betrayal would have been more palatable had Judas been propositioned by the leaders, but he wasn’t. He propositioned them.
And Judas’s method again – why did it have to be a kiss? (Matthew 26: 48-49)
Jesus’ words, although impressive, were sometimes ignored or dismissed; however, the miracles he performed were difficult to discount or dispute. Among Jesus’ many extraordinary powers was his authority over the natural world.
Matthew 14:22–33 records the miraculous event of Jesus walking on the windy surface of a stormy lake to reach his disciples. In addition, with Jesus’ urging, Peter was miraculously empowered to also walk on the water. When Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat, the wind immediately became still, which caused the disciples aboard the boat to exclaim, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).
Sometimes words can cut deep into our hearts. I think we’ve all been wounded by negative comments from people in our past or even in our present. Sometimes it’s a parent who criticizes us, or a friend who rejected us. When we let their harsh words sink into our hearts and stay, it can cause us to believe we’re not worth anything.
That kind of insecurity can make us doubt our selves and make us settle for less than God's best for us.
Are there negative words people have said to you - or about you - that have crippled your hope in God’s ability to do great things through you?
Is there baggage that is weighing your heart down and keeping you from God's best for your life?
Then God said, "Let
the waters teem with swarms of living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the
heavens."
And God created the great
sea monsters, and every living creature that moves,
with which the waters
swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind;
and God saw that it was good(Genesis 1:20-21).
The Lord said that His people were worth "more than many sparrows" (see Matthew 10:31), so sparrows are obviously worth something to Him. When He created the beasts He "saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25). The creation is precious to the Lord, which is why we see in Revelation 11:18 that when the Lord's great wrath comes at the end, one reason is "to destroy those who destroy the earth." Christians should be the most devoted conservationists of all, counting precious what our wonderful Creator has given us to enjoy on the earth. Life, in all of its forms, must be esteemed and protected. However, this must not be confused with the idolatrous worship of the creation in place of the Creator.
"A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul."(Proverbs 18:7) We have what we say. As believers, we know that's a vital biblical truth. We can see it in Mark 11:23, Matthew 21:21, James 3:2, and many other verses. Yet we often let it slip. We allow ourselves to begin talking like the world instead of talking the Word. And eventually we get what we've been asking for--a big mess.
If that's happened to you, remember, whatever you have in your life is a product of what you've been saying.
"Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." (Mark 11:23)
Jesus didn't say, "Whosoever shall speak to God about this mountain." He said we should speak directly to the mountain the desired end result.
From a worldly point of view, that sounds foolish. But 1 Corinthians 1:27 explains that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. It's always going to sound foolish to the world when a Christian talks as if what God has promised is reality, especially when those promises seem to contradict the natural evidence around us. But if you want to keep the enemy defeated, that's the kind of talking you'd better be doing.
Endeavor to keep a due guard over your words, that you may habitually speak nothing but what is true on all occasions. Consider what a high offence it is against the God of truth to speak falsely, either through design or inadvertence.
In telling any story or relating past actions be careful to speak deliberately and calmly, ever remembering you are in the presence of the great and holy God. Every sin is a contradiction and offence to some divine attribute. Lying is opposite and offensive to the truth of God.
Whenever you find any extraordinary assistance from the Spirit of God, either by illuminating the mind, strengthening the soul or raising the affections, be sure for some time after to keep a stronger guard upon yourself. I have often observed that after the greatest enlargements in prayer and the greatest professions of devotedness to God, we are permitted to fall into great temptations.
I humbly conceive this to be commonly for one of these reasons: (1) to try the sincerity of the mind, to show us whether or not we are in our outward conversation the same we profess to be in our retirements; (2) to humble the mind, which upon such occasions is too apt to be elated.
It’s been said that we are all the walking wounded. You can help come alongside wounded people by applying to be a mentor. Your prayer and kind words can make a difference. Apply today!
“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)
Many have heard or even recited, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”. How false the second part of this old time saying is! Cruel words spoken to or about us do hurt. In fact, many people, regardless of age, remain wounded for years because of hurtful words tossed at them. The power of just one unkind word can crush a person’s spirit for a very long time.
"The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."(James 3:5-6) Words. Use them right and they'll move mountains. Use them wrong and they can cause your entire life to go up in smoke.
"Now, Brother Copeland," you may say, "I find it hard to believe that major catastrophes can be caused by a few simple words. I just can't see the connection."
Look again at the phrase James used. "How great a matter a little fire kindleth!" Have you ever lit a few little pieces of kindling wood and set them in the fireplace beneath a stack of logs?
Today’s Truth “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).
Friend to Friend
Fruit is one of my favorite foods. When I go grocery shopping, it always takes me longer to get through the fruit section than any other area of the store. I spend what some might consider a ridiculously long time picking out what I hope will be the juiciest apples, the plumpest grapes and sweetest bananas. Experience has taught me to quickly discard any piece of fruit that is bruised, mushy or discolored. I shake cantaloupe and thump watermelons. Ripe strawberries have a unique sweet scent and only the reddest cherries will do. Plums and tomatoes must be firm to the touch, bright in color and wrinkle-free while the more wrinkles the better when it comes to choosing passion fruit.
A new study is so fascinating that we immediately wondered how it would apply to words. You, of course, are our greatest resource for insight. After you read about the experiment, help us think about how word meanings change depending on what else is going on around you.
Researchers at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory are investigating how our different senses impact each other, and they recently conducted a trial to learn how sound affects taste.
The test subjects were given pieces of toffee. First, when they ate the toffee, low-pitched music played in headphones. Then, they ate another piece of the same toffee while high-pitched tones played. The first bite tasted more savory to the participants, and the second bite tasted sweeter.
When we discipline our children, we need to use words that have the power to heal and restore.
by Rob Flood
When we discipline our children, our words often speak louder than our actions. Yes, the rod stings and can hurt. But the wounds our words leave behind last far longer than any physical discomfort our children experience. With the right words, however, the rod brings great healing. (Read "The 'Forgotten' Part of Discipline" for more on this subject.)
Here are some examples of what not to say:
"You always ... " or "You never ... " If our purpose is to build up and restore our children, these will thwart our efforts. Phrases like these are rarely true; they are often spoken out of anger or frustration, neither of which restore our children.
"Your brother / sister never does this ... " If Christ determined our worth in the same way, how would we stand up? There is always someone better than we are. But this phrase is doubly destructive. In one statement you tear down the disobeying child and puff up with pride the obeying one – building a wall of resentment between them.
"What are you, stupid?" Your children's intellect is not the issue here. Smart people sin just as much as anyone else – maybe even more. The source of your child's bad or foolish decision was their heart, not their head.
"You're hopeless." Not only does this communicate what you think of your child, it also is wrong. Can you think of a more hopeless case than Saul of Tarsus? He became Paul and was used to write one third of the New Testament. Can you think of a more hopeless leader than Peter? How about a more hopeless orator than Moses? They all had one thing in common – God. "With God, nothing is impossible." (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; Luke 18:27) Do not steal from their hearts what God has preserved in Christ.
These words cannot restore a child. They cannot walk them to wisdom. At best, they are ineffective. At worst, they are verbally abusive. And as parents who love Christ and have been charged with the welfare of our children, we must be more careful with our lips.
Also, saying nothing at all during discipline can often hurt more than any words you say. Silence robs your children of the love they need following a fall. Imagine the Prodigal Son returning to a silent father; that story of grace would become a great tragedy. Yet, we recreate that tragedy in our homes far too often. If you cannot think of something kind to say, don't choose silence. Just admit something like this, "Daddy needs to pray and ask God's forgiveness for what's happening in my heart … I'll be back in a minute." If your God is the same as mine, He will give you something to say while you pray – He's never let me down.
Important words to use when disciplining
On the other side of the spectrum are words that have within them the power to heal and restore. These express God's purposes behind the times when He disciplines us. They should express the purposes of our hearts when we discipline our children. Here are some examples:
"I love you." With these three sincerely-intended words, you can communicate to your children that your love for them has nothing to do with their performance. Telling someone that you love them in the immediate wake of their sin is restorative. It removes the shame and the need to perform back into your acceptance. It lets them know that you are not standing above them but you are in it with them.
"Do you understand what we've just talked about?" After the physical part of discipline comes the instructive part. It is here that you correct and instruct your children's hearts and minds on what happened, what they could have done differently and why what they did was wrong. When you do this, it is important to know they are hearing what you are actually saying and not misinterpreting anything. So ask this question and then listen. If they say "no" or "I'm not sure," you have a chance to explain it in another way until they do understand. This is a small thing for parents to do that provides an enormous benefit to you and your children.
"I struggle with the same thing." Behind every childish sin is an issue that we all have in common. A 4-year-old boy may lash out and punch a friend in the eye. However, the issue that drove that sin may have been anger or envy. We can relate to that sin. The key here is helping your children know that dealing with sin is a life-long process. Christian parents often feel that if we confess that we are also struggling, we might lose their respect. The truth is, if you are not honest about your own sin, you may not even have their respect. Let them know this and pray for God's power together to change the two of you.
"You are a blessing to me and our family." When the one who just swatted their backsides says these words, it places the act of discipline in the same context as God's discipline of us. Though He responds to our actions, we are still a blessing to Him and His family. We need to share that type of encouragement with our children.
Once discipline is over, stop talking about it—especially in front of others. This builds great trust between you and the offending child. They know they can trust you and share honestly with you because they never see you share what happened with others.
Words like these will reassure your children of their value to you. They will underscore that the foundation of your relationship is bigger and stronger than any wrong act they could perform. Words like these mirror how God the Father loves you.
A great lover must be committed to satisfying his wife’s unique needs. by Dennis Rainey I’m sure it comes as no shock, but men and women think of romance differently.
When asked to describe the purpose of romance, a woman will use words such as friendship, relationship, endearment, and tenderness. Given the same question, a man will answer with one of the shortest words in the English language—sex. For him, physical oneness and affirmation of his manhood equal romance.
April Fools’ Day is here, and while it is not a national holiday, many people around the world celebrate the day with practical jokes. The bounds of social pressure confine most tricks to the good-natured and harmless, and most of us use the day to innocently have a good time with our friends. Nevertheless, the time seems right to briefly explore the subject of foolery and lies.
History and literature offer a number of tidbits relating to the day, with Chaucer’s “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” in Canterbury Tales being a fourteenth-century contributor. In the tale, Chaucer—the first man to eventually be buried in the Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner—retells the fable of “Chaunticleer and the Fox” set on March 32—which of course is the first of April. The tale involves not just falling for a lie but doing so due to pride—a lesson that should make us pause to think about every gullible person from Eve to the one in the mirror.
God hates lying. Why? The serpent’s deception of Eve led to mankind’s rebellion, which brought a curse upon the world God created. The result was untold suffering to those He had made in His image. The serpent deceived Eve into doubting God’s goodness and then lied as he accused God of being a liar. Man was made in God’s image. God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19). Therefore, man was designed to be truthful, not deceptive.
In stark contrast to God, the devil—in the words of Jesus—“was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). All suffering—from the first thorn-prick to the murder of Abel to the Crucifixion of God’s Son Jesus Christ—all of it began with a lie. No wonder God takes lying seriously.
Integrity is a major issue in all areas of life as practical people try to determine whom they can trust. The world watches believers for inconsistencies in their words and behavior. When we stumble, unbelievers get an inaccurate glimpse into the character of God and they seek to justify their own sinful behavior.1Romans 3:7 explains that even if a lie were spoken for God’s glory, it would still be a sin. “For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?” In 1 Timothy 1:10, Paul lists lying along with other reprehensible behaviors that are “contrary to sound doctrine.” Finally, Revelation 21:8 lists “all liars” among those sinners who—apart from the grace available through Christ’s blood—merit punishment in the lake of fire.
Titus 1:2 clearly states God “cannot lie.” Assertions to the contrary can be resolved by a careful study of the text, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We always need to see what the Bible actually does and does not say, lest we, as Alfred Edersheim warned, be guilty of “elaborate trifling with the most sacred things.”2
Not only is lying foreign to God’s holy nature, but the original lie in the Garden of Eden had horrible consequences that led to man’s sin and the need for Christ’s sacrifice. Integrity and trustworthiness make you the sort of person people trust, rely on, and respect. But if you begin playing loose with the truth, those who know and love and even respect you—like your spouse and children and coworkers—will forevermore wonder if they can rely on what you’re saying.
Just a white lie? Jesus spoke of being trusted with small things before being trusted with big ones. He trusts us with many opportunities to get in the good habit of telling the truth. At the same time, we will be building a reputation of truthfulness and trustworthiness. But if we’re in the habit of using little lies of convenience, we will have little conviction holding us back when it “really” counts.
Lying is such an easy sin to slip into. Hebrews 12:1 warns Christians to lay aside “the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Furthermore, remembering that God “cannot lie” (Hebrews 6:18), we as Christians should strive to “be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). As we seek to please the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood has bought us, and to show our Savior to the watching world, we should all ask the Lord to help us cultivate the habit of gracious honesty and integrity. So when the fun of April Fools’ Day is over, don’t let the devil’s subtle tricks make a fool of you.
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Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 3rd edition copyright 1886, printed by Hendrickson Publishers of Peabody, Massachusetts, page 466 of Book III.
Here’s Something New To Feel Good About Today! “Today, see if you can stretch your heart and expand your love so that it touches not only those to whom you can give it easily, but also those who need it so much.” Daphine Rose Kingma
When was the last time you really listened to someone, not just to what they say, but to the feelings they convey behind their words? Today take the time to open yourself to someone else, without judgment or the need to fix anything. Stay quiet, listen and observe.
I’ve discovered that people speak volumes, only a small part of what they communicate is through their words. Body language, gestures, eye movements, voice tone and intonation are all reflections of what’s really going on in someone’s heart.
I believe we all have the capacity to feel compassion and empathy for others. I know that some days I’m more open to listening and sharing. than others. It’s not that I am less capable on certain days it’s more a matter of my willingness to open my heart to allow myself to feel vulnerable.
Having an open heart that stays open is something I aspire to. Just like everyone else, I need to feel validated. When I share from my heart, I want someone to listen, so I offer that to them first to create a level of trust.
A friend shared this story with me and I think it’s one worth Passing-Along to you. The title is:
If You Really Pay Attention –by Paula Underwood (Sep 21, 2009) Listen To Reading!
When I was a little bitty kiddy, about five, my Dad began a process … anytime somebody came and said something to us, my dad would say, “You remember what he said, honey girl?” I would tell my father what the person said until I got so good at it that I could repeat verbatim even long presentations of what the person had said.
And he did this all the time.
Finally, one day there was this old gentleman, Richard Thompson. I still remember his name, he lived across the street. And every time my Dad started to mow the lawn, there came Mr. Thompson. And so I would stand out there.
Dad says, “You might come and listen to this man, honey girl. He’s pretty interesting.” And so I listened to him, and then my dad would say, “What did you hear him say?” And I would tell him.
Well, eventually I was repeating all the stories he liked to share with my dad verbatim. I knew them all by heart.
And my Dad says, “You’re getting pretty good at that. But did you hear his heart?” And I thought, what? So I went around for days with my ear to people’s chest trying to hear their hearts.
Finally my Dad created another learning situation for me by asking my mother to read an article from the newspaper. He says “Well, I guess if you want to understand that article, you have to read between the lines.”
I thought, “Oh, read between the lines. Hear between the words.”
So the next time I listened to Mr. Thompson’s stories, I tried to listen between the words. My Dad said, “I know you know his story, but did you hear his heart?” And I said, “Yes. He is very lonely and comes and shares his memories with you again and again because he’s asking you to keep him company in his memories.”
It just came out of me. In other words, my heart echoed his heart.
And when you can listen at that level, then you can hear not only the people. If you really pay attention, you can hear what the Universe is saying.
–Paula Underwood, clan mother of the Turtle clan, Iroquois nation
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