Tongue of Fire

As many of us have learned as we have grown up “That sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is not true.  Words do matter.  Tone of the words matters.  In actuality words can hurt more than stones.  Bones can heal, but sometimes a person’s heart never heals.  James reminds us of how powerful and important our words are in James 3:5 & 6-

^“5 So too, though the tongue is a small part [of the body], it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites.  ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our [bodies]; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.”

A little bitty spark leads to a flame.  A flame leads to a fire.  A fire leads to an out of control blaze destroying everything in its path.  Our words do the same.  A word or two can break a heart, damage a self-image, cause someone to lose a job, cause some one to get in fist fight, cause someone to hate another, cause someone to not receive the Lord as their Savior.  Our goal should always be the care and love of others leading to their salvation and growing relationship in the Lord.  We don’t want to be hindrance to someone else’s spiritual well-being.  We dont’ want to bring shame to God.  We want to glorify Him in all ways.  So remember how powerful your tongue is.  With these thoughts in mind it just makes common sense to think before you speak.

Instructions Not To Instruct

It is an exciting thing to think that as an adult we could inspire others on in their walk with Lord through teaching a class at church or in a home Bible Study.  But in the book of James anyone thinking about becoming a teacher needs to think twice.  Read James 3:1 -

“Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment;”

It is serious business to become  a leader and a teacher for the Lord.  We are held to a higher standard.  We are human and will make mistakes and stumble in sin, but we are expected to live as exemplary of  a life for the Lord as we can.  Many eyes are upon us a teachers.  What we teach, we must do or others will not want to learn from us.  God will hold us accountable for what we teach, as well.  We need to be prayed up and studied up before we teach.  We need to know God’s Word and teach it accurately.

So James is really imparting some important instructions to us in this verse.   Not everyone is meant to be a teacher.  It is a calling and a gift from the Lord.  So if you like the idea that you could inspire others and could impart wisdom to them, think twice.  Those are not the reasons to teach.  Your reason should be the fact that the Lord has called you to teach and given you the gifts you will need.

Simply Wise

Don’t you just love it when things are simple and easy.  God seems to have designed that in to so many of the things He created or the things that He wanted us to do.  For example, He created all the perfect and simple food we as humans needed to eat to stay healthy and strong.  He gave us vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and proteins to eat in a balanced fashion to help us to thrive physically.  Yet, in our sinful nature we come along and make things more complicated and we decide to mass produce foods that require genetic engineering, preservatives, additives and other processing to make it.  All of which is turning out to be very fattening and unhealthy for us.  When it comes to food, simple is better.  He even made salvation a simple matter.  We just simply need to believe that Jesus is God in the flesh and that He died for our sins and that He rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father.  Then we come along as humans and complicate the message.  Some groups make works a requirement to be saved.  Some make a religious belief system the requirements for being saved.  All these religious groups have complicated what God made so simple.

These things we do as humans to complicate matters really show we are very simple minded.  In other words as humans as the online dictionary puts it we are “Lacking in subtlety or sophistication; artless or naïve, stupid or silly; foolish.”  We are foolish when we make things more complicated than need be.  Yet, even God knows our simple mindedness and provides us with s simple solution to make us wise.  He gave us His word to make the simple wise.  Read Psalm 19: 7-

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;”

Jesus is the Word.  He gave us Jesus as the first step to becoming wise.  Then just learning the Word through the studying of the Bible will further the process of becoming wise.  What an easy system.  God makes things so simple for us.  Wisdom can be simple and can make wise the simple.

Seek the Lord

If we want to get anywhere in life, we usually have to decide where we are going and what we need to get there.  We have to seek out direction for ourselves in every area of our lives.  For example, a High School student needs to determine while they are in school what they plan to do for a living once they graduate.  What they decide will determine what their focus might be for classes in High School.  When I was in school, I decided to have a career in the business field.  Our school had quite a few elective courses that allowed you to take business classes in high school.  They also had classes designed to prepare you for college.  I decided I needed both those sets of electives to prepare me for College and the Business World.  When it was time I took the appropriate tests and applied for the appropriate College.  As a result of my class elective choices in High School I was a more acceptable candidate for the College and my application was accepted.  Next, I took the appropriate courses in College.  When I graduated, I had the appropriate degrees for my career.  Now as a High School Student in my freshman year I really didn’t have the knowledge or know how to be able to figure out all the steps.  I needed someone to guide me and put me on the right path.  So I sought out the right person to help me.  My High School Counselor gave me good advice.  I basically was walking in darkness until they shed light on the right path to take.

Not only do we need to seek out direction for things like how to make a living so we can survive in this World, but we need to seek out direction spiritually in our lives.  We really need to do that before we do anything else.  Even as a youth, I should have been seeking the Lord and asking Him what direction to go.  I should have asked Him what career or lifestyle or youth group to go to.  We need spiritual light to guide us down God’s path in this World.  Otherwise we will end up stumbling on the path or taking the wrong path altogether.  The Scripture is the Christian’s light that we should be using to guide us.  Read Psalm 119:105.

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

Wisdom tells us that if we have enough of the Word embedded in our hearts and minds the Holy Spirit can use it to guide us.  He will illuminate the Word so we understand it.  The Word will show us God’s Will.  God’s Will for our lives will never contradict the Word.  The Word will be a light for our path through life.  So seek the Lord through His Word for every area of your life.  No area of our lives should be untouched by God’s light.

Words of Satisfaction

Remember that song, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”? Not the best lyrics, but it is trying to make the point that the man tries all these different things and can’t get any satisfaction out of them.  This song represents a very sad way to live.  Yet, God has made us to live our lives in ways that are more than just satisfying; our lives were to be fulfilling.  Jesus came that we might have an abundant life.  One of the ways that God teaches in His Word to get satisfaction is through the words we speak and share with others.  Read Proverbs 12:14.

A man will be satisfied with good by the words of his mouth, and the work of a man’s hands will reward him.

Many times we don’t really realize how important our words are.  We carelessly speak words, thinking it doesn’t really matter.  We say to ourselves, “What does it matter what I said.  They will forget what I said anyways.”  However, in reality, once you have said something you can’t take it back.  You can try to apologize or delete that post from Facebook, but if someone has seen or heard your words you cannot erase them from their minds.  Rash, foolish or angry words will end up bringing us bad things.  We will get no satisfaction out of them.  Good, kind, helpful, loving, wise words will reap all kinds of benefits.  We will gain satisfaction from them.  Basically this is the concept of “reaping what you sowing”.  What an encouragement to know that God will bless us for the good words we use. If you plant good seed, you will get good plants.  So think of your words seeds and maybe you will see great rewards grow out of them.

 

Keep On Keeping On

It’s interesting to read different translations of the Bible.  Reading different translations can help you gain different perspectives or insights in to a verse.  However, you have to be careful there are translations that are inaccurate.  To really get an accurate translation and deeper insight in to the Word it is always better to go back to the Greek or Hebrew and do a word study.  Some translations are accurate, but they may only get across a concept or basic meaning.  Other translations may pull out more of the correct tense and definition of the words.  For example, take a look at the verse we looked at yesterday, Matthew 7: 7-8.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 2011)

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (New King James)

⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 1984)

 ⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 All four versions are basically ok, but two, NIV 2011 and New King James, give us the concept and two, NIV 1984 and Holman, give us the original intended tense.  The original Greek wording and tense deepens the instruction being taught in this verse.  We aren’t just to ask, we are to keep asking.  We aren’t just to seek/search, we are to keep seeking/searching.  We aren’t just to knock once, we are to keep knocking.  As the old saying goes, we are to “Keep on keeping on”.  Be persistent.  Be like the persistent widow in the parable in Luke 18: 1-8.

Wisdom’s Opportunity

How many teachers have you heard say, “There is no dumb question”?  Or they say,  “Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Someone else in class may be wondering the same thing.”  It is true that you cannot learn unless you start listening to what you are being taught and then asking questions in the spots you don’t understand.  Yet so many will still sit back in class and be afraid to ask because they don’t want to appear dumb.  It’s not that you are dumb; it is just that you haven’t learned that subject yet.  No human being born as a baby comes out knowing everything.  It is a process.  We miss opportunities to learn by being embarrassed, scared or stubborn.  Without learning certain things we are probably missing further opportunities that would come because of our knowledge.  The next step to learning is the stage of wisdom.  Wisdom comes when we gain knowledge and then apply it and learn further through the experience.  There is nothing sadder than to first not seek knowledge or worse yet not to use that knowledge once it is learned.  We gain no wisdom and use no wisdom in our lives when we do that.  Once such example is found in Luke 10: 25 – 29.

25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  26 “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.  28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This gentleman was expert in the law of the Lord and he saw Jesus as a teacher.  He saw the opportunity to confirm that he was going to have eternal life.  Jesus tested his knowledge with a question.  The gentleman correctly answered.  He had learned well.  Jesus, however, saw down in to his heart.  He knew that knowledge was not being applied.  The man then wanted to try to prove he was good to go by asking Jesus a question.  Jesus told him the parable of the good Samaritan.  At the end Jesus shared some wisdom with him.  He told him to do the same as the good Samaritan.  In other words, Jesus knew that the man was not applying his knowledge and that he lacked wisdom.  With Jesus’ command the man was given the opportunity to gain wisdom. 

It was good the man appeared to be seeking Jesus’ wisdom with his question, but more important would be that he did not pass up the opportunity to apply the wisdom.  We need to do the same.  We need to spend time with Jesus in the Word and prayer and then actually apply what we learn.  Too many times we go to church and hear a message and return home to re-enter our same routines and never applying what we learn.  Remember to take the opportunity to seek wisdom and to apply it.

 

Encouragement For Those Times When You Deal With Mockers

So many Christians are going through their daily lives just trying to live good and upright lives and yet many will be attacked by those who don’t believe.  They are treated badly, ridiculed, teased, mocked and scoffed at for no real reason sometimes.  Other times the actions of a few mis-guided Christians cause the Christians who are on the right track to be bombarded because of their actions, such as in the case of those who were mistaken about the May 21st and soon to be the Oct 21st dates that they promote.  We have to learn to accept as followers of God that we will be mis-treated and mis-understood during our lives this life on Earth.  If Jesus was mis-understood and mis-treated, we will be too.  However, we can put our hope in God during those times.  We can learn from His Word that He does take care of those who mis-treat His children.  Their time of judgment is coming.  Read II Peter 3:3-7.

“3 First, be aware of this: scoffers will come in the last days to scoff, following their own lusts, 4 saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” 5 They willfully ignore this: long ago the heavens and the earth existed out of water and through water by the word of God. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded by water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are held in store for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

In Noah’s day there were scoffers that would not listen to Noah’s message that he preached to them warning them of the judgment that was to come to those who would not obey God.  He suffered through 120 years of hard physical work building the ark while he emotionally suffered through the mocking and scoffing of those who watched him.  In the end he saw God’s judgment come to pass and the mocking ended.  He saw his faith rewarded for his persistence and endurance during the mocking times.  Joshua and Caleb were others who also had great faith and endured others lack of faith.  In Numbers chapters 13 and 14 we read about the people of Israel reaching the edge of the promised land.  Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land and come back give a report.  Only Joshua and Caleb give a good report and show faith that God will take them in to the land.  As a result the people get to the point where they are even going to stone Joshua and Caleb.  They scoffed at them.  God suddenly intervenes and the people stop while Moses goes and hears what God says.  The end result was that the people would not enter the land.  They were judged as despising God and would have to wonder in the wilderness until they died and then their children could go in.  Only Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to cross over.  They received the promise after enduring the mocking.  The others received judgment.

As we see in II Peter, all people will receive their judgment for their mocking and scoffing.  God will keep His word to us and see us safely to eternity, despite the mocking we may have to endure.  God will punish those who despise Him.  So cling to that hope and promise.  God’s promises found in His Word will serve as encouragement for those times when you deal with mockers.

 

A Common Sense Time to Answer a Mocker

When dealing with mockers and scoffers have you ever noticed how they throw lots of arguments and rationale out at you that don’t really make a whole lot of sense?  They are so bent on their opinion that they pick really lame foolish arguments to attack you.  You also know from a spiritual standpoint that they are being foolish to the point where they might be hindering their own spiritual well-being.  We have a tendency as humans to want to argue back and make our point.  We love debating and proving ourselves right.  We really do want them to see the truth.  We really want them to have a strong faith in God and in the Bible.  However, a lot of times when we debate and argue, we really don’t get anywhere with them.  We just end up frustrated and angry.  We make them frustrated and angry.  We even sometimes drive them further away from God.  We really need to study how Jesus dealt with mockers and scoffers.  He used different approaches.  We never did see him just argue and debate with them.  Sometimes He answered their foolish questions and statements and sometimes He didn’t.  This goes back to a bit of wisdom we find in Proverbs 26: 4-5.

“4 Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness, or you’ll be like him yourself. 5 Answer a fool according to his foolishness, or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.”

It sounds like two contradictory verses, but really they are not.  It’s just learning wisdom or common sense in dealing with someone who appears to be foolish.  Sometimes it is necessary to answer them and sometimes it is just not worth it.  We need to learn to depend on the Holy Spirit and study God’s Word to get a handle on how to answer a mocker or scoffer.  We will gain common sense as we study Jesus and how He took care of those people in His life.  We will gradually gain enough common sense to know when it is the right time to answer a mocker.

Instructions For Dealing With Mockers

Most of us would agree that as each day passes we are drawing closer to the end times and the Lord’s return.  Many of us feel we are in the actual last days, of course, the Apostles felt the same way.  The Apostle Peter gave lots of great advice in I Peter Chapter 3 about dealing with mockers and scoffers.  First he foretold that in the last days we would experience a rise in the number of mockers and scoffers against God and our faith.  I think most of us would agree that we are already seeing that.  When things like the May 21 fiasco happen, it pushes a rise in the number of mockers and scoffers.  In chapter 3 verses 3 -7, Peter gives us some good instructions for when we deal with these people:

“3 First, be aware of this: scoffers will come in the last days to scoff, following their own lusts, 4 saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” 5 They willfully ignore this: long ago the heavens and the earth existed out of water and through water by the word of God. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded by water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are held in store for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

Peter reminds us that this mocking and scoffing is nothing new.  He brings to mind the story of Noah.  Noah lived in a world of evil people and God had determined to bring judgment.  He told Noah to build the Ark and warn the people.  Noah preached for 120 years and only reached his own family.  While he preached all those years and built the Ark, he dealt with the people mocking and scoffing at him.  What persistence and faith Noah had to go on through all of that.  Inside this passage Peter reminds us that we need to look to God’s Word when people mock us or our faith.  Inside God’s Word we will find stories of God’s faithfulness to us and stories that show God is not slack in keeping His promises.

So when people come against you and question your faith, remember God’s Word.  Go to God’s Word and show them through God’s Word that when God says something will happen, it will in His own timing and His own way.  These are wise instructions from Peter.  Don’t depend on your own wisdom, reasoning and logic to explain to people what God is doing.  Use God’s Word to respond to mockers.  Just as Peter used the story of Noah to remind the people that God keeps His Word.