Don’t Be A Blabber Mouth

Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.Proverbs 10:19

People who talk too much without checking the facts bring ruination to many things in life. The Navy says ‘Loose lips sink ships’ meaning if a sailor speaks about something and the wrong person hears and repeats it much trouble will be in its wake. In my prayer group Moms in Prayer International we have as part of rules of the group ‘What is prayed in the group stays in the group’, period. No repeating it or discussing it with others. 

You might be in an office environment where your co workers engage in water cooler gossip or around the lunch room table. Don’t slip and fall into the trap of joining in. Get away and do something else. Even in other environments such as barber or beauty shops this bad habit can catch fire. 

Be careful what you say and who you say it to. Not everyone needs to know your business or the business of your extended family. Be one who a confidence can be kept secure with and the kind of person people entrust with the little issues in their life. Don’t pass on things on social media as they might not be true, edifying or more important necessary. Start today to be a person of verbal integrity that others can trust with their secrets.

PRAYER:It is so easy to fall into the trap of talking to much and to too many especially with social media at my finger tips. Help me be a person others trust with their private information and prayers. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Just Do It Already, Ok?

He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

Does anyone else have trouble with waiting on God? You can’t be the Holy Spirit for someone but many of us try. Sometimes a nudge or suggestion does more harm than good. 

I know God hears and answers prayers in His time and His way. We just have to trust and give our anxiety or desire to intervene to God. Satan will tempt you with an impatient spirit so don’t cave in and blow it.

What break through are you trusting God for? Do you believe He is working? Then let Him in His way and stay out of it. Your business is to simply pray.

PRAYER: Your ways are higher than my ways and your thoughts higher than my thoughts. I know you care about me and you have a plan. Give me the ability to be still and let you work. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do Your Best And Trust God For The Rest

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Pastor Paul Daugherty of Victory Christian in Tulsa said you can’t drag your children to the cross. You train them right and leave the rest to God. How many parents of adult children reading this may identify with struggles wondering why your children no longer seem to have the same fire in their belly they once did. It is heart breaking but certainly Pastor Daugherty statement stands true.

You pray, believe, trust God and keep silent. Hard,  yes indeed,  but the Holy Spirit has this so let it be. As hard as it is don’t try to run this show on your own. Let it go. Keep praying. Above all do keep your mouth tightly closed.

Cry out to God as He cares and He hears you. Tell Satan to get his lousy stinking hands off your children’s life and pray continuously for Jesus to be alive in their hearts again on a consistent basis. Basically to fall back in love with Him.

PRAYER: There are so many people who feel they can live life without God or Jesus. The enemy may have captivated them or lied to them to get them off the course they were once actively pursuing. If you know people like this keep lifting them up in prayer. Pray God opens their eyes again to His truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Don’t Be ‘Mule Headed’

"Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:24

You’ve probably heard the phrase not to be bull headed which without much thought I guess means stubborn but an even better example is not to be ‘mule headed’ as a mule is truly a stubborn set in their way animal not wanting to budge.

You know you need to have a soft forgiving heart yet you want your way and maybe refuse to be forgiving to someone. Would God do that? Answer, of course not. Hard headed people are on path to self destruction if they can’t start letting Jesus and the Holy Spirit change them.

Many places in God’s word refer to a hard heart or stubbornness separating a person from God. Self is what causes it. It is essential to die to self in order to not be ‘mule headed’. Which would you rather be known as? A kind servant of God or a stubborn old mule? Think about it.

PRAYER: I lift up those people who have stubborn hearts some of which I know. Satan likes stubbornness as it keeps people from total submission to God. Break any stronghold in me that would ever cause this. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Your Sins WILL Find You Out

"But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23

In the recent Hollywood movie ‘Chappaquiddick’ about the July 18, 1969 bridge  accident and death involving the late Senator Ted Kennedy and campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne, much cover up went on to protect Mr. Kennedy who was a rising political figure. One line in the movie said to come clean and give ‘their’ version of the truth. Don’t want to spoil it but wanted to use this movie about  not being able to be totally truthful for my devotion today. No matter what you do wrong it is always best to fess up ASAP and to tell the whole truth. Don’t run and hide as it never works in the end. 

Sin is like a cancer. It eats into you and it is worse when you lie or run away to try to hide what you did. God knows what you did. God forgives sin. Remember Jesus died a horrible death on the cross in order to save us from our sins. This does not give you license to sin anyway but God offers grace and forgiveness. 

The enemy loves to get you tempted to do wrong and it is necessary to recognize this and run far and fast. There is no one that has not sinned. Some sin is worse and has horrendous consequences and others are what people call little. All sin is wrong. Where are you today? Is something grinding on your conscience you need to confess. Be sure the truth will set you free.(John 8).

PRAYER: When I do wrong and displease you I am convicted of it instantly. Satan would have me lie and sneak and not be truthful but your way is total cleansing and coming clean from the start. I choose the right path. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do You Need A Makeover?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Is there something in your life you would like to change? Do you feel you try to be too much like the world? When you do this are you content? Do you feel when someone meets you that you reflect Jesus love on them? 

Perhaps it is time for a makeover of sorts. By this I don’t mean go to a beauty spa but spend some time in God’s word transforming the inner man. You could start in Galatians in the New Testament and the proceed to read Ephesians, Philippians, and finally Colossians. There is a wealth of verses to help set you on the right path found in those four tiny books. 

It is not the outward appearance or fitting in that matters but it is getting transformed from the inside out and get your mind set on things above. Once you make a habit of doing that you will experience the best makeover ever. Give it a try!

PRAYER: Lord I love your word. I pray for those people I know who need the discipline and desire to read it daily. I pray against any strongholds that get in the way of me reading  it as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Kindness

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

You probably have people in your life where opinions on things in life differ. No one needs to prove themselves right or wrong but we are to still be kind whether the person is a friend, family member,  or even a complete stranger. The devil loves separation and he probably loves Facebook squabbles over Political issues. 

Division is a major tool of satan. We are in spiritual warfare against demonic forces. The enemy hates kindness, forgiveness, love, and dropping a need to be right. As a believer it is your job to love and keep loving. When tempted to say an unkind word don’t speak. Say only that which builds up, not tears down. 

As you go through the week ahead practice being kind to those who cut in front of you at the store. To the driver who cuts in front of you on the road. To people who may have been rude or hurt you either knowingly or unknowingly. To the telemarketer who interrupts your supper. Don’t give a victory to the enemy by popping a cork. Stay cool, be kind. 

PRAYER:Not everyone is easy to be kind to but help me Lord with your help to show love and kindness to all those around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.