Stop The Chattering-Tune In To God

The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Whoever winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin.Proverbs 10:8-10

Do you chatter on the phone, on social media, in person and in chattering often don’t really know if what you are passing on is even factual? This is a big time to start the rumor mill running and a statement catching fire and taken out of context and not a good thing to do. 

Everyone has probably been guilty of talking too much and passing on stuff that sounds true but you don’t really know if it is true. Probably best to leave the ‘fact’ unspoken, and perhaps talk to the savior first for guidance. 

The times today are filled with wrong information everywhere. The internet says so and so is dead and in fact they are very much alive so therein starts the rumor mill. Ask God to give you discretion and also give you love for others so you don’t talk about them and try to not be guilty of setting a forest ablaze with your words. 

PRAYER: Lord help me be kind with my words and think before I spread misinformation. Help those responsible for giving news be truthful and not out to destroy someone. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Enquiring Minds Want To Know!

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you. 1 Thessalonians 4:11

There is a supermarket tabloid whose 1980's TV advertisements used to proclaim "Enquiring Minds Want To Know! I Want To Know!" My response to that is "why"? What do we gain by filling our minds with celebrity gossip? Is it a necessary part of life, fun diversion, or a time waster? Mind you I am not standing in judgment just asking you to think on this.

This sort of leads me into the area of being nosey and thinking we have to know everything about people. I am sure celebrities wish they could be left alone. Much of the write ups are sheer garbage in my opinion, but shoppers, mostly females I assume, crave this stuff. Therefore it flies off the shelves. Does it improve the life of the person consuming this information any? Another verse for my message today could be Philippians 4:8 which says "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." 

Do you focus your mind on good, decent, pure, and perfect things or do you find your mind dwelling in the moral gutter at times? It can get there easily by not only reading tabloids, but by things we read, listen to, or watch on TV or on the big screen. My challenge for you today is to try to keep your mind focused on the King! He alone is worthy! 

PRAYER: Lord I find at times it is difficult to keep my mind from going into places it should not. Help me keep the word of God as the center of my life and give me strength to resist things that are not pleasing to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Stop Your Murmuring, Christian!

 Do everything without grumbling or arguing. Philippians 2:14

Murmuring, gossip, and complaining are not a good thing for believers. It is so easy to fall into that trap though. How many of us maybe go to church, sing the hymns, pray the prayers and feel all holy, then walk out the door and complain about traffic getting out of the church parking lot? Perhaps we grumble at the local restaurant when not served in a timely manner?  Yikes but we may even say something unflattering about the pastor?

Today is the day to stop this very bad habit. If you are honest with yourself we probably all have done it. Satan rejoices over complaining, grumbling believers as it is sure not a very good witness or a way to get closer to God.

If you know this is you ask God to transfer you into His image to include His speech. Try your best, with God's help, to start off right controlling the words that spew forth from the mouth that is supposed to be spiritual.

PRAYER: I have been at fault in this area Lord and I ask forgiveness. I know Satan is joyful when I fall into his trap of doing this. I choose to let my words bring glory not shame. Help me. In Jesus'  name. Amen.

Word Power

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

There are many times in my life where I forgot to think before I spoke and then regretted it. Words are so important and so is patience before you speak. The wrong words can hurt feelings, bring misunderstandings, and damage relationships.It is always good to pause, take a breath, and think before you speak. This could even mean "emailing" before you think things through.

Our mouth is used to praise God, bless others, share good news, recite Bible verses and so much more. What it should not engage in is gossip, complaining, backbiting, rudeness, anger, cursing, judging or belittling.

It is so hard to wait, at least for me. We want to give our opinion or speak out before knowing the facts. If this describes you as well God can help you gain self control over this. Just ask Him. He is the great Healer and Deliverer. 

PRAYER: I try so hard on my own effort to watch what I say. Give me your strength to master this. Let my words be few and acceptable to you. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

M AND M(AKA MOUTH AND MIND)

Those two M and M's in our lives can at times create lots of trouble
for us. If we say the wrong words we can hurt someone or destroy a
relationship. If we allow our minds to focus on the wrong things we
can also be deceived by Satan into believing lies. These two M and M's
need God's intervention to help you with self control of both what you
say and what you think.


The mind is a battleground of sorts for the enemy Satan. He can get
you to imagine things, concur up scenarios, worry, fret,reason, or
have self pity. To combat this, it is essential to keep your mind on
things "above". You may recall the favorite Bible verse of mine I use
lots and that is Philippians 4:8(NIV) which says 'whatever is
true,whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever
is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy, think on these things.' Letting your mind dwell on bad
junk or worrying unnecessarily not only robs you of peace but keeps
you from being productive for the Lord. The enemy can captivate you by
causing your mind to dwell on wrong things.

Now as for that mouth, nothing unholy should be coming out of it. Do
you gossip, argue, belittle, lie, or curse? These are a few examples
of bad junk that proceeds from our mouth. James 3:11-12(NIV) says 'Can
both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My
brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?
Neither can a salt spring bring forth fresh water.' Likewise our mouth
should not curse at someone then bless them. If your tongue is a
problem pray and surrender that area to your life. God can help you
have kind and pure speech if you are serious.

It is so easy to offend someone with words we say. Perhaps something
is said in innocence and totally taken out of context. And that mind
too can get us into some real wrong thinking predicaments. The cure
and your assignment is to dwell on the word of God each and every day.
Start reading the Bible daily. Read the book of John, Romans, or
Proverbs to start out. Ask God to open your mind to the good things He
has for you to learn. With The Lord's help your M and M's can be under
God's control.

PRAYER: Lord it is my desire to have a pure mind and speech that
glorifies you. At times I know I have hurt someone by words so please
forgive me. Help me lead a life pleasing to you and being kind to
those around me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

DON'T CONDEMN AND JUDGE! PRAY!

Recently one of my favorite pastors was in the news for a alleged incident involving a family matter. I choose to not elaborate as  to not cause further 'Christian gossip'. If you do not know who I am referring to it does not matter for the purpose of this devotion. Ministers of the gospel are put up on a pedestal of sorts and held to a certain standard but they too are human and they too can have their problems. When something happens and they are well known and it makes the news atheists and others rejoice and are glad especially when their ministry is reaching millions worldwide with the saving message of Jesus Christ. Satan loves to take advantage of it as well. We are as brothers and sisters in Christ not to join in and start fault finding and condemning but we are called to pray for this servant of God who obviously knows they did something wrong and is hurting inside.

We are just as wrong when we start flapping our tongues and talking about something. James 1:26 says "Anyone  who says he is religious but can not control his tongue, you are fooling yourself,and your religion is worthless."   This goes for when we hear about movie stars such as Lindsay Lohan or Brittney Spears for instance who have numerous issues in their life. They do not need our scowling and finger pointing but these young ladies are struggling in their life and need people to pray for them. When you join in the talk around 'the water cooler' you should act like a follower of Christ and that would not include being a gossip would it?

Galatians 5:1 says "Brothers if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself or you too could be tempted." In other words we are all capable of committing sins of all kinds whether we have accepted Christ or not. The entire chapter of Matthew 7:1-5 is about judging and it says "Do not judge or you too will be judged.For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother 'let me take the speck of  out of your eye ' when all the time you have a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take  the plank out of your own eye and the you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

 Are you able to love all people? Are you able to leave the judging to God? Do you think it is right to gossip even if you think it is innocent say 'like at church'? Start today to love like Jesus loves and to pray for those who are hurting instead of condemning them. Pray for those lost and leading a life going in the opposite of what Jesus wants them too. This could be a world leader, a government official, a family member, a friend, a teacher, a co worker, and the list goes on. It is hard to condemn someone when you are lifting them up in prayer.

 I will end with this Bible verse from Matthew 5:44 that tells us to " Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."   Psalm 19:4 says "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart,be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord my strength and my redeemer."

 PRAYER: Lord in the world we live in it is easy to be  caught up in condemnation and 'innocent' gossip. I know this displeases you. Let my words be pleasing to you and let me show love to those who hurt or who have gone astray. In Jesus name. Amen.