Saturday, November
15, 2014, 12:15 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read James 3
(ESV).
We All Stumble
Not
many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach
will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if
anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to
bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they
obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though
they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very
small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a
small member, yet it boasts of great things.
The song “For Our
Nation” is not the song I would have chosen to go with this passage on the
tongue, yet that is the song the Lord Jesus put in my mind. As I contemplated
the words to this song prayerfully, though, I realized that the song was speaking
of deceit and betrayal, and this passage is speaking about teachers being
judged more strictly. So, I believe I am to look at this idea of teachers being
judged with greater strictness, in relation to the words that we speak, and in
relation to these specific areas of deceit and betrayal.
Yet, first of all I believe there is encouragement in this
passage for all of us, but specifically for us who teach. We all stumble in
many ways. In other words, not one of us is perfect. This fact, nonetheless,
should never be used as an excuse for continued and willful sin or to lead us
to believe that if we do sin that it is no biggie. We don’t need to walk around
like there is a hammer hanging over our heads, but we should take sin
seriously, and we should daily be yielding our lives over to our Lord,
resisting Satan, fleeing temptation, and drawing near to God in surrender to
his perfect will for our lives – all in the working of his Spirit. Yet, when we
do sin we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over it, but we should confess it to God,
and we should yield to the Spirit in allowing the Lord Jesus to mature us and to
grow us in the areas of the use of the tongue where we still need to be under
the control of the Spirit.
Now, to the matter of Christian teachers of the word being
judged more strictly, I am not certain at all what that means other than we
have a greater responsibility before God and before humanity to make certain
that we guard our words well in the power and working of the Spirit within us,
as we cooperate with the Spirit’s work. The reason for this, I believe, is
because we are in a position of influencing others, so we must make certain of
what we are teaching, that it is truth, as well as we must set a godly example
in the control of our tongues, so that we live what we say we believe, though
not one of us will do it perfectly.
Yet, since no one is perfect, and we all stumble, we should
be all the more diligent in the matter of bringing our words into submission to
the Spirit of God. We must also make certain that we use our tongues wisely,
that we maintain purity and integrity in our speech, that we are respectful and
kind to others, that we are not gossipers and slanderers, and that we don’t
participate in ungodly speech that would end up discrediting our testimonies
for Christ and for his gospel, i.e. which might bring the gospel into
disrepute.
The Tongue is A Fire
How
great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a
world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the
whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and
has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a
restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and
with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same
mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a
fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a
salt pond yield fresh water.
So, what does it mean to bless God? It means to speak well
of him; and to thank and praise him. To bless humans might be similar, and it also
may mean to desire wellness for them or for something good to happen to them,
or it might mean just to thank them. Then, what does it mean to curse humans?
It means to wish or to cause harm to somebody or to wish evil, misfortune or
trouble on somebody, which is the opposite of blessing. It can also mean to
make cutting and hateful remarks about or to someone, as with an evil intent,
perhaps as a means of getting even with them and/or in order to bring harm to
their reputations. Our tongues can be used for good, or they can be used for
evil. As followers of Christ, we should not be doing both.
In the same (or similar) respect, returning again to this
idea of teachers being judged more strictly, there are many people who claim to
be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ who have both truth and lies coming
out of their mouths. Some things they teach are truthful, and yet other things
they teach are obviously full of lies, deceit and betrayal. And, they cleverly
blend the two together to make it all sound like truth. Satan is the author of
this confusion, for he disguises himself as an angel of light looking to
deceive the unsuspecting minds of naïve people who easily trust whatever they
hear without checking it out against the Word of God to see if it is truth or
not. He counts on many people just believing what they hear, and not taking the
time to search it out to see if it is true. Lies and truths can be so
intertwined together that they seem like truth, when truly the intention is to
deceive.
To the degree that this is taking place in American churches
is astounding! God has been making me so ever aware of these clever lies
mingled with truth coming out of the mouths of believers in Christ (or
professing Christians) who are teaching and influencing people here by the
masses. And, it breaks my heart, not only to witness this, but to see so many
people just blindly following these leaders without testing what they hear
against the Word of God through careful and diligent prayer and Bible study. It
is everywhere! So few preachers or teachers teach what is in accord with sound
doctrine these days. So few teachers of the Word are teaching the unadulterated
gospel message. So many are making compromises with the world and are giving out
feel-good messages meant to please the itching ears of their listeners. So many
ministers of the gospel are following a humanistic philosophy for growing their
churches, which is more human-focused than it is God-focused.
An example of this can be read here – http://www.wayoflife.org/index_files/steve_mcveys_corruption_of_grace.html
- although this is only a sampling of what is going on in today’s evangelical
church. We need to pray for the church, because there is so much deception
going on now within the church, and the people need to be awakened to the
truth.
Meekness of Wisdom
Who
is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works
in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition
in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom
that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where
jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile
practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open
to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest
of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
What comes out of our mouths is really a heart issue.
Scripture teaches us that what comes out of our mouths comes from what is
stored up in our hearts. If we want to bring what we say under control, we must
first of all examine our hearts and our attitudes. When we say unkind or
cutting and hurtful remarks to others, it comes from what is stored up in our
hearts. So, there must be something there that needs to be removed or else we
wouldn’t have all this ugliness coming forth from our lips. For instance, if we
are being selfish, we might get angry with people who get in our way or who
somehow hinder us from doing what we want when we want it. We also might have
outbursts of anger toward others if they do not meet our expectations for what
we (in our flesh) think they should do. If we are prideful, we might get angry
with people who challenge us. So, we need to be honest in evaluating our own
hearts and attitudes, and we need to get rid of what is ungodly and of the
devil, and we need to yield to the Spirit’s control in all areas of our lives.
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting.
Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Trust Him with your
life today.
Make Him your Lord and
your Savior.
Turn from your sin.
Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of
your sin;
Cleanse your heart,
made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust
fraying.
On our knees to God
we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in
Him.
God is sovereign over
all things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things
under His command,
And will work all for
good.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and
interceding
For our nation and its
people
To obey their God
today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He
offers suture.
He is all we need for
this life.
Trust Him with your
life today.
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