Be Careful Little Tongue What You Say

Last week I wrote that we need to be careful about the words that we allow to be spoken into our lives. When destructive words are allowed to take root they can undermine Yahweh's glorious purpose for us. In the same sense, we need to be careful of the words we speak. The easiest thing for us to do is complain. It is the most natural thing for our flesh to do and it does it often.

Our Father hates complaining.

That statement alone should cause us to sit up and take notice. Few of us would want to be engaged in any activity that our Father hates and yet every day we find ourselves complaining about people, situations, our perceived lack or the many great injustices in the world. Consider this one simple example from God's Word:

"When the people complained intensely in the Lord's hearing, the Lord heard and became angry. Then the Lord's fire burned them and consumed the edges of the camp." (Numbers 11:1)

Obviously we live in the age of grace, an age in which we are covered by the grace of our Lord as we grow into maturity. But just because the Lord does not punish us for the things we do does not mean they do not hurt him. Our God takes our complaints personally. That should mean something to us.

What really hurts is when we complain against his goodness. Our flesh has selective memory. It remembers the slavery of sin so much differently than the reality of it. It remembers the pleasure of it and forgets the consequences. It even exaggerates the pleasure so that we will complain about where  we are in freedom in Jesus and long to go back to slavery. Remember this:

"The riffraff among them had a strong craving. Even the Israelites cried again and said, 'Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for free, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our lives are wasting away. There is nothing but manna in front of us." (Numbers 11:4-6)

Funny how these complainers forgot about their lack of freedom, forgot the chains, forgot the whips, forgot the hard labour, forgot the thousands of dead. We need to take warning from this moment in Israel's relationship with the Lord. Complaining goes beyond our Lord hating it; these words also have an effect on our trust relationship with the Lord. Every word of complaint is a testimony against the goodness of our God. We hold on to enough of these words and it will erode our trust in Jesus and his promises. We will begin to believe that there is something better for us elsewhere. When we get into a crisis we will try to find help from another source. And when it comes to the good gifts of our Lord, we will reject them.

This complaining generation of Israel is the generation that failed to enter into the land of "milk and honey" that Yahweh had promised them. Because of their complaining attitude they could only see the giants, the fortified cities and the great armies that they faced. Their complaints turned their eyes away from the LORD God Almighty to the things of this world that, in themselves, they had no hope of overcoming. No wander our God hates a complaining tongue; he knows the effect it has on the heart.

If we are to remain his children we need to follow the example we find in the Word and fill our mouths with praise and thanksgiving. We need to put effort into this relationship and cultivate a heart of gratitude in all things. Whether in the desert or the land of plenty, our Lord remains the same, his love remains the same, his promises remain the same, his provision remains the same and all praise is due him. We can trust him. Today, let us sing with the psalmist:

Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Serve the Lord with celebration!
    Come before him with shouts of joy!
3 Know that the Lord is God—
    he made us; we belong to him.
    We are his people,
    the sheep of his own pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanks;
    enter his courtyards with praise!
    Thank him! Bless his name!
5 Because the Lord is good,
    his loyal love lasts forever;    his faithfulness lasts generation after generation.  (Psalm 100)

Expressing The Christian Life

So, you say you are Christian. What does that mean to you? There are a lot of people who say they are Christian but have no idea what they are claiming, and those who do understand don't necessarily know how it should be expressed. Most as satisfied with attending church and singing worship songs. For many this is about it when it comes to expressing their life as a Christian, but we have been saved for greater things.

I don't mean greater things for you. I don't mean a more comfortable life. Quite the opposite. The Christian life is meant to be lived uncomfortably. Even those who understand this life have not mastered it, but they are at least wrestling with it.

Now if you have studied Jesus at all you will know he taught some very uncomfortable things, like saying no to yourself, taking up your God-given calling and living as he lived; which means loving as he loved. But for the sake of brevity and simplicity today I want to make my point with one simple passage found in the powerful letter to the Ephesians:

You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Now let's just focus on this for a moment, "created in Christ Jesus to do good things". To do good things. Our life is not about us because we have received everything we need through Jesus and he is always there for us to run to, to get strength from. He is our encourager and helper in all we are called to do. And what we have been called to do is breathe goodness into other people's lives.

Now look at this: "God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives". This is our Christian expression, the goodness we breathe into the lives of others, the little things and big things. Our life is about being good to others. Helpful, generous, encouraging, pleasant, polite, joyful are all words that should describe who we are to others.

We know we are getting it wrong when we are easily offended by people, when we are too busy for people, when we don't notice the people around us, when kind is not how people would describe us. When we are constantly taking from people instead of adding to them, when everything is about us, when people don't want to be around us, we know we are failing.

So I ask you today, how are you expressing your faith in Christ?

The Danger Of Morality Thinking

Morality apart from Jesus has no value. That is a truth to keep in mind as we progress through life. It is good to be good but it has no eternal value without a relationship with Jesus. Stay with me for a second here as we process this reality. The psalmist wrote:

O my soul, you have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord,
My goodness is nothing apart from You.” (Psalm 16:2)

Our salvation is not found in ourselves because it is a free gift offered to us by Jesus. We can do nothing to save ourselves. Living a good life, being good, being kind, being a nice person is all well and good but it has nothing to do with our salvation. Our salvation begins and ends with Jesus because he is the only one capable of giving us salvation. What does it take to be saved? Believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In other words, admit you are a sinner, that Jesus wants to save you from that sin, and believe that he has. That is it.

We get it wrong when we push morality before relationship. We are saying being good will make us worthy of salvation. We probably don't think that way but it is how we act and how we present. We must remember that Scripture tells us "While we were still sinners Christ died for us". We were not required to be righteous, morally fit to receive salvation. It is hard sometimes to keep it straight in our thinking.

I have a couple of children who have yet to receive Jesus. I am not happy with how they have chosen to live but their actions are only a symptom of their lack of Jesus. Should my concern be about their actions or their heart condition? The fact they are without Jesus should be the topic of my prayers and my conversation, not an effort to convince them conform their actions.

"My goodness is nothing apart from you" should be the overwhelming message in the Church. Too many unsaved people are sitting in our pews thinking they are okay because their behaviour falls into the acceptable norm. True goodness springs from a heart possessed by Jesus Christ; we don't gain a possessed heart by our goodness.

In The Face Of A Bad Day, I Rejoice

How was your day yesterday? Rough? I've been there too. Sometimes it leaves you wondering where God was in it. Where are all those benefits we are suppose to have as the children of God?

I guess these questions are similar to those asked by the world: "If God is so loving, why do bad things happen?" Why are there earth quakes, tornadoes, floods, wars? The short and simple answer is that we have done this to ourselves. Bad things exist because the heart of man is self-centered and evil (that which is contrary to God). But what about God's children? Are we not suppose to be blessed?

Well, we are blessed but it is also good to note the words of Jesus here. He was speaking about one of the key foundations to understanding God's love but it gives us a greater picture of how God sees things:

But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for that? Even tax collectors love their friends. (Matthew 5:44-46)

Sometimes the rain is not such a blessing. Sometimes believers and non-believers stand in the same storms, face the same disasters, walk through the same valleys. The difference is, our God protects us and strengthens us as we go through it. When we have a bad day we need to praise our God because we have no idea how bad it could have been. We seem to be missing this in our understanding these days but it was not lost on the psalmists:

You, Lord, are my shepherd.
    I will never be in need.
2     You let me rest in fields
    of green grass.
You lead me to streams
of peaceful water,
3     and you refresh my life. (Psalm 23:1-3)

This as true today as during David's time. When we allow the Shepherd to lead us we receive good things and are in a place of peace and rest; no worries, fears or anxieties. That is where we are suppose to be in Jesus so that we learn to trust. It is in that place of trust that we are able to praise him on the bad days:

You are true to your name,
    and you lead me
    along the right paths.
4 I may walk through valleys
as dark as death,
    but I won’t be afraid.
You are with me,
    and your shepherd’s rod
    makes me feel safe. (vv. 3-4)

David certainly had his share of bad days but he saw them as mere shadows and there is no substance to shadows. No matter the storms, whatever fear they are trying to provoke in you, they are mere shadows, no substance.

If only we could capture the vision of this psalm, the peace, the trust, the righteous paths, then we would be able to accept God as our protector, especially on the bad days. Especially when things look dark. Especially when we don't have a clue which way to turn. It is not faith when we doubt God's promise to use everything for our benefit. It is not faith when we fear losing stuff and don't recognize his protection. It is not faith when we stare at the shadows and ignore the peaceful waters. It's only faith when we ignore the fears and rejoice in the peace. 

In the midst of the bad days, Jesus is there to encourage, strengthen, and defend us. In the midst of the storm he tells us to "trust". So, sing, dance, rejoice, be glad because God is good all the time and all the time God is good. No day is a bad day when you keep the promises of Jesus alive and well in your heart and mind.