Slow to Speak.

Life Lessons…

Jas 1:19 …let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. 

All too often I am slow to hear, swift to speak, and swift to wrath. It's true! So very often I'll only hear a little bit (look at that second verse up there- ANSWERING A MATTER BEFORE I HEAR IT ALL),  and I'm just jabbering away with my opinion, my thoughts, my two cents worth of nonsense because I haven't even heard all of what was being said.

I've had this pointed out several times, okay a lot more than that- often enough to know it's a fact and I need to be ashamed of myself!

Have you ever found yourself just jumping into putting your two cents into a conversation before you even know what all is being said?

Sometimes I legitimately believe that a pause in a conversation means I can jump in, that a breath taken between one word and the next was just the opening I needed. There, I didn't interrupt, I responded.  Other times I'm just biting at the bit to get my thoughts out there on whatever subject it may be and impulsively I'll interrupt mid-word, you read that right, mid-word not sentence. I need to be ashamed.

So, why do I do this? In part it might be the swift to anger bit spoken of above. I have a hair trigger response in my brain. The least bit of criticism, angst, upset of any sort and my brain automatically screams in the background where I can't even hear it happening-  Shields up! Weapons ready! Fire!  Yes, just like that my go to response is one of defense at the slightest provocation and that does not make for a very easy - slow to wrath response at all!

There is a reason for these words of God's wisdom.

Jas 1:19 …let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. 

When we are swift to hear- focusing on the hearing- then we are giving someone the attention they deserve. We are serving them over ourselves. We are loving that other person. We are giving respect to that person by listening to them fully. If we take the time and measure our responses in light of all they've said we further that respect, that love for them. If we do not immediately get angry no matter how painful, hurtful, inciting the words may be, again we are loving the person speaking the wounding words- in spite of their venom filled tongues. If what is being spoken to us, hurts us, intentionally meant to hurt us or not, we have to be SLOW to WRATH. If we are going to have wrath it needs to be justified, and the only way for wrath to be justified is by it being a righteous anger, and even then we aren't supposed to hang on to that anger and let it fester.

How many of us have said things impulsively we've regretted the moment they came out of our mouths? All of us, right?

By heeding God's wisdom being slow to speak, might that not help with this problem? I can't say for sure it would eliminate all the speaking of things we regret but at least the instant retort wouldn't be the issue.

I need to learn these life lessons.

Slow to speak, slow to wrath, listen attentively, and do NOT interrupt others. Better to ask if they are done speaking than assume they are done speaking.

It is my prayer that God help me with my lack of these things so that I may be better used by Him as He wills.  I'm most certainly not portraying Christ in me when I'm lacking the loving respect for others- all others- that they deserve. I am commanded to love others, please Lord, help me do this.

All by Your grace and love, through Your will Lord, Jesus Christ my Savior now and forever!!!!!!!

Choosing Christ Always - Our Anchor.

Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 

Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 

Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Impossible for God to lie.

We have a strong consolation in Christ, our hope.

God promised and God fulfilled His promise.

There were those who looked forward to the promised Messiah, and those who lived in the time of the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

We live in the time of the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

The hope of a Messiah.

That hope realized.

In our life we all need to flee for refuge. There isn't a single person alive of an age of comprehension that hasn't struggled in their lives in one way or another and needed the refuge of Christ. Even the most affluent of people are not without their problems. The problems simply appear according to individual situations. One person's problems might seem totally insignificant compared to another. Holding up a life or death situation against the very feel (to the person) angst of finding the right party dress seems almost laughable in the absurdity of measuring one against the other. However, life or death could be the next situation the party dress girl has to face, we can't know. The fact that we all have problems that seems intense to us, and could very well be intense to all, is not unique to anyone, we all face these problems throughout our lives.

The biggest problem any of us will ever face, excluding no one at all of a sound mind and age, will be the choice we will need to make to serve God or self. Many may scoff at such a thought, thinking one way or the other it is easy to choose, but that doesn't rid us of the truth that it is the grandest, most monumental, most life altering, future affecting choice we all have to make. And it won't be a one and done choice, it is a choice made constantly over and over because we live in a world of sin that would tear us from our refuge- found only in Christ.

Let's use our weight as an example (even if you've never had a weight problem you know someone who has) too much or too little, the problem is a constant in that the ability for it to fluctuate will always exist. Up or down, we like to be able to find a comfortable place and maintain the ideal weight but that isn't always possible. We may be just cruising along in life and realize uhoh, we've put on a few pounds, or lost a few too many. We then need to take action if we want to return to the maintaining weight. The example here is vigilance and choosing, we have to take stock of our lives I'm going to say daily/weekly but definitely not beyond weekly or we risk losing grasp of our spiritual life. Daily because our Savior even tells us to take up our crosses daily, and to pray a daily prayer. Weekly because we are given the seventh-day Sabbath in which to rest in God and surely to be in the rest of the holy time set aside by God we need to take stock of our relationship with God. 

Just like our weight (but unlike our weight only in that no one is excluded) we need to make a conscience choice constantly in our day to day life to serve God or self. We ultimately place our faith in God to make up for our lacking faith, but that too is a constant surrender to God. 

Can we really claim Christianity as being ours when we willfully choose to live a life contrary to God's will? So many do.

Christ is our anchor, our hope, our refuge. Christ is our all in all. Christ should be our conversation, our thought, our life. Heaven, where Christ resides right now and will leave to come get us, that is where our home is, that is where our hope is, that is where our treasure is- that is where our salvation lives.

All by the grace of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever may we choose HIM ALWAYS!

God, My Refuge.

God is our refuge. Refuge- shelter, protection, sanctuary, harbor, safe haven.

Heaven is my home, God is my refuge.

I am a stranger and pilgrim upon this earth, allowed to exist not for a senseless end, but for the purpose of God's love, God's will.

I suffer as we all suffer - great or small, rich or poor, sickly or healthy. We each suffer as is our lot to do so as long as we exist in a world whose ruler is the prince of darkness. My suffering is little compared to many, and my suffering is great compared to many. We all exist within the confines of our own uniqueness. Our sharing the common things of all mankind can give us a tiny bit of compassion and comprehension for each other until we delve down into the uniqueness of self-experience that no other can ever possibly have. We are uniquely created and God's most merciful love is enough for each of us to cling to as His children. We are the children of God. What wonder, what majesty, what honor! Our worth can only be measured against the value place upon us. Our value according to the very One who created us is so incredibly high, we were worth a God dying for us. Our nothingness in the shadow of such magnificent love leaves us clinging to the hope of the righteousness of the One who deems us worthy. He is our refuge, He is our hope, always!

Deu_33:27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms …

2Sa_22:3  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me …

Psa_9:9  The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Psa_46:1 … God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa_46:7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psa_48:3  God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

Psa_57:1  …Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Psa_59:16  But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psa_62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Psa_62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psa_71:7 … thou art my strong refuge.

Psa_91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Psa_91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation

Psa_94:22  But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

Psa_142:5  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Pro_14:26  In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Isa 25:4  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 

Jer_16:19  O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction…

Heb_6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 

Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Psa 91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Psa 91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 

Psa 91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 

Psa 91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 

Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 

Psa 91:6  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 

Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 

Psa 91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 

Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

Psa 91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 

Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

Is Our Conversation In Heaven?

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ

Is your conversation in heaven?

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God

We are fellow citizens with the saints and household of God. The household of God!

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels

The heavenly Jerusalem.

An innumerable company of angels.

Heaven is far from empty and I'm not talking about the great deceptive lie of Satan's about us leaving our bodies upon death and going to heaven to live- that is not scriptural at all. The Bible tells us the dead know nothing. The Bible calls death a sleep. There are clear scriptural passages that tell us that men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Noah, and others will not be in heaven without us. No human being other than a very select few are in heaven right now. Elijah was translated without seeing death. So aside from a very few human beings, heaven is filled with angels, with God, with Jesus Christ.  Heaven, where our treasures are to reside. Heaven, where our conversation is to be. Or another meaning for conversation in this verse is citizenship- either one works towards the same end. If our citizenship is in heaven, if our treasures are to be in heaven- our conversation most assuredly should be in heaven. Our thoughts need to be in heaven, they do, but so often they are so filled with only earthly things- heaven is far, far from what we are thinking about.

Just today there was a little tiff happening and when little tiffs happen you know how your thoughts can turn inward, or outwards towards the one you're tiffing with. Well as my thoughts started to veer outwards towards the one I was tiffing with another thought popped in my head (and this thought I like to say and believe was the Holy Spirit guiding me). The thought was- 'Don't think of that person, think of Me, think of Jesus.' So, I thought of Jesus instead, by the grace of God.

Taking our minds off the earthly and putting them towards the heavenly, this is what we need to do a lot more often than we do.

Are we truly looking for Jesus? If so we need to have our thoughts heavenward.

A lot of people right now are speculating on the nearness of Christ's return. May this wake up call, this sounding of the alarm be truly heeded and may people with all sincerity and truth in their hearts prepare for Christ's return! We don't know when it will be, but we know it will be.

God help us all! Let us truly live for HIM and no other.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Our Conversation Is In Heaven.

Do you want direct instructions from God? Do you think He is silent, not telling you what you need to do? Read on…

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

STUDY.

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

LABOR.

ADD the following…

2Pe 1:5  …giving all diligence, ADD to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 

2Pe 1:6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 

2Pe 1:7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 

Study, labor, add… these are ACTIONS, these are INSTRUCTIONS.

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

IF we ADD to our faith… virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity then we will NOT be left in the dark when it comes to KNOWING our Lord Jesus Christ!

2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 

Oh, how incredibly easy it is to FORGET we were purged from our old sins! Especially when they slip in once again and strive to take mastery over us, and they will! Make no mistake about it, the life that was buried in the grave, the old us who died so that we could rise in the newness of life in Christ, that old life will be clawing its way back to us in desperation. The old life filled with the sins that were purged from us will do everything it can to reunite with us. We CANNOT let ourselves forget that we were purged from our old sins, that we died with Christ on the cross and were buried with Him, and rose again with Him. We need to take a good hard look at our lives and ask ourselves if we are striving against sin. You heard me STRIVING, are you STRIVING!

By definition striving means to try hard to achieve or get something, to fight in opposition to something, to compete resolutely against somebody or something.

Heb_12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

STRIVING against sin.  

We are NOT to lay down and roll over and let sin have its way in our lives! We are NOT to say, "Oh well, I can't help it, that's the way it is. I'll always be this way."  We are to FIGHT! FIGHT! Do you hear me! FIGHT! We have to FIGHT against sin! If we really take stock of our lives and this--

IF we ADD to our faith… virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity then we will NOT be left in the dark when it comes to KNOWING our Lord Jesus Christ!

--asking ourselves if we are adding to our faith, to our belief in our Lord, virtue…are you adding virtue? Knowledge, are you adding knowledge? What about temperance and patience, and godliness, and brotherly kindness and charity! Do these thing permeate your life? Would one who knows you say you are a faithful believer in Christ, that you strive against sin, that you are adding virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity to your life? Would they know that you despise the lack of these things in your life?

2Pe 1:10  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall

Did you read that?  Read it again.

YE SHALL NEVER FALL.

How will  you never fall? IF YE DO THESE THINGS.

It doesn't say you will never fall if you simple do nothing at all, adding nothing to your faith. We are told what to do! We are instructed!

2Pe 1:11  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

2Pe 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 

We need to be established in present truth.

We long for an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  When our Lord returns we want to be KNOWN by Him! When our Lord returns we want to be HIS, wholly His and no others! We can't let Satan worm his evil way into our lives by trying his utmost to bring us to despair. We must STRIVE towards the mark!

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 

Php 3:16  Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 

Php 3:17  Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

Made New Through Christ Our Passover.

1Co 5:6  … Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

Leaven- yeast that creates bread that rises. You put a little bit of yeast into dough and the whole pile of dough rises. I made dinner rolls today using yeast. The recipe called for 4 1/2 tsp of yeast, and 4 and 1/2 cups of flour.  There are 216 teaspoons in 4 and 1/2 cups of flour.  Think about ratio….216 tsp to 4.5 tsp. And that's just the flour, that's not including eggs, butter, sugar, water the other ingredients that made up this dough. The tiny bit in comparison to the much larger bit is very significant.  Truly a tiny bit of leaven can leaven a whole lump.

What we are being told here is that a tiny bit of sin will affect the entire person's life and the life of others. To make allowances for sin is to endanger your spiritual life. To accept sin without calling it sin, excusing it…is wrong.

A little sin will destroy a spiritual life. The sin needs to be purged out before it destroys the spiritual life of the sinners and those who allow and condone the sin.  We need to purge out sin so we can walk in the newness of life. Christ died so we can be purged of our sins, not so we can excuse them. We need to live our lives not with the sins that will destroy us but with sincerity and truth in our lives. Sincerity and truth cannot live in the lives of lies and cover ups of sin.

Sin can't be hidden, don't think it can for even a single moment.

Purge out the sin by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through His love!

A Daily Death to Self, A Daily Resurrection to New Life In Christ.

Col 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 

Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses

Buried with Christ. Risen with Christ.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Buried with Christ.  Risen with Christ.

The new life we live when we are raised from the death of our old life- it has to be different, it just has to be if we are truly brought back to a newness of life.  Too many of us take our new life and slowly watch it decay until it resembles our life prior to death, and then it is as if we'd never been brought back to life, as if we'd never died.

We need to die daily. Oh, I know we aren't baptized daily, just imagine if we were - what a recognition of our new life, but I suppose if it became a daily baptism it might become something that would lose its meaning too.  I know another recognition of our new life is the Lord's Supper, the taking of the bread and wine, the symbolic act we are to do often in remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection. And as soon as we are brought into remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection we need to be reminded of our dying and being resurrected spiritually with Him. We need to think about our baptism, and about our new life. We need to acknowledge that the old us is dead.

Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

Deny himself. We have to deny ourselves daily. The cross we take us is one of self-denial.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world

Denying ungodliness- recognizing there is a lot of ungodliness in our world and denying that ungodliness. All too often we call evil good and allow ourselves to be deceived that there is nothing that is ungodly. We live in a world where lusts are accepted and encouraged as being a natural part of ourselves that we shouldn't have to deny. Wrong. The natural part of us has been corrupted and if we refuse to believe that then we are denying God, we are denying Christ Jesus, we are actually saying we have nothing to be rescued from and this is how everything is supposed to be- simply because it is how it is, that we are what we are. We call evil good. We declare that sin doesn't really exist. We says all the pain and agonies of life are fine because they are naturally occurring. WRONG! Pain should never be! It is, but that doesn't mean it SHOULD BE! It's existence is not proof that it is natural and acceptable! It's wrong and should never have existed! We need to deny all the worldly lusts, all the things that should NEVER be. Just because a worldly lust may rise up in you and you can't keep it from rising up doesn't mean you need to yield to the lust within you. If you do yield when you are striving against sin then you need to repent and seek forgiveness- every single day if need be, fighting against the world, seeking Christ Jesus persistently never giving in to despair!

Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 

We know how easy it is to yield to iniquity, to worldly lusts, to sin, we need to choose to yield to righteousness and holiness instead, no matter what!

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

A LIVING SACRIFICE TO GOD that is what we are to be! NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD! TRANSFORMED! A RENEWED MIND!  A daily death to self, a daily resurrection to new life in Christ all by His grace, by His sacrifice!!!!!!!