Cover Your Mouth

 

"The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so."  Proverbs 15:7 

When I was fairly young, I saw a movie on healthy living that had a huge impact on me. They were trying to get the point across that you should cover your mouth when you sneeze. To teach this lesson, they filmed a guy sneezing in slow motion. The lighting they used in filming the sneeze highlighted all the moisture  (I won't say spit), that dispersed out of the 'sneezer's' mouth.

The image has stuck with me, and whenever I'm around anyone who is sneezing, my mind automatically flashes to that picture of a slow-moving cloud of moisture moving toward me. Since that movie, I have also begun doing what I am told is a bad habit...I hold my own sneezes in. I've been told that this could cause a heart attack, or a herniated disc, and one teacher even told me I could pop my eyes out! I hold my sneeze with the good intention of not dispersing anything bad to any bystanders.

I would like you to keep the image of the slow motion sneezer in your mind as we reflect on the words we speak from our mouth.  When we speak, we can speak as the wise or as the fool. The wise will disperse knowledge, encouragement, wisdom, and edification. The fool will sneeze forth discouragement, division, disputes, and worse.   

Let's all wise to cover our mouths, or perhaps hold our words in so as to disperse only words that bring health.

Staying Faithful

"So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority."

Genesis 39:4

One of the greatest examples of faithfulness is found in the life of Joseph. In the book of Genesis we see young Joseph sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He is a slave in Egypt, his life seemingly shattered, in a predicament he did not cause nor ever imagine he would end up in. Joseph didn't quit on life, he didn't sulk or fall into self-pity. He remained faithful to the Lord and became the best servant at his master Potiphar's estate. He trusted and determined to be the best he could be no matter the circumstances and it became clear to all that God's hand was upon him, and he was given great responsibility.

Later in Joseph's life, we see his character and faithfulness revealed again after he was wrongly imprisoned. While in jail, he prospered not by complaining or grumbling, but by trusting in and waiting upon God. Of course we know the end of the story as Joseph is eventually raised up to be second in command under Pharaoh, and his family is spared from famine and reunited. Because Joseph remained faithful even under harsh and unfair treatment, God was able to use him in mighty ways, and take even what was meant for harm to bring about good.

God has called you to be faithful in whatever place He would have you, even if it's difficult and you don't like it. You need to be faithful and allow God to take care of the results.

Glory in Tribulations

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;" (Romans 5:3).

As I write this, I realize you might think I'm a tad silly, but August mornings have had a unique affect on me for quite a while. The warm humid feel and unique scent of the new day give it away. Even without a calendar, my body tells me it's August, and my adrenaline starts to flow a bit.

When August hits, my ingrained memory kicks in and reminds me that this was the time of year I needed to work harder, be more disciplined, to push myself a little more, to lift, run, sweat, and hurt, because football was just around the corner!

You see, for me, August had become the time to really train seriously for the upcoming football season. I would purposely begin to introduce tribulation into my life by adding resistance to my weight training, distance to my long runs, and upping the tempo of my short runs. The extra work was difficult, but I knew the labor was worth it, as it built my endurance and made me stronger for the season ahead. This tribulation was, actually, good for me.

God allows, and sometimes introduces tribulation into our lives and this is not a dreadful thing, for we are assured that in Christ tribulation produces good things. This is one of the great wonders of walking in Jesus, even difficult circumstances, hurtful trials, and tribulations are used to bring forth good fruit. We are promised that all things are used to strengthen and mature us, to conform us more into the image of Christ.

How odd it sounds, but we are to glory even in tribulation, for God is faithfully at work, and even that trial will produce great fruit in you. Trust the Lord and...have a fruitful August!
 

Remember No More

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."  Hebrews 8:12

I have been blessed to help with VBS for a good number of years, I've determined teaching first and second graders is good medicine for my faith. This year was like previous years, the week went by very fast, I got very tired, and as usual it seemed I learned more from the children, than they learned from me. 

One of the evenings during the Bible study time, Pastor John was sharing the gospel with the children by using colored helium balloons. Each colored balloon represented a part of the message, and one of the balloons, the black one, not surprisingly stood for sin. As John held the black balloon and explained how sin keeps us from heaven and blocks us from seeing God, a young boy leaned over to his teacher and quietly said, I think he should just let that black balloon go. I was so blessed that this little guy was in a simple way grasping the heart of the gospel. This boy had a healthy dislike for the darkness and ruin of sin and would have liked to see it just float away. Of course it may not be easy to let go of sin, but by Jesus' blood (red balloon), the curse of sin is done away with, and our sins are remembered no more. 

What a sweet reminder for us all, there is no need to be bound by sin any longer, as we let go of sin to cling to Christ, the crippling affect of sin floats off like a helium balloon.

Steadfast Immovable

1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore be my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

A pastor friend told me a story about a time in his life where he was a little too obsessed with the Lakers basketball club.  He said it was so bad that one season when they had been eliminated from the playoffs, he let his emotions get the best of him and he took his Lakers jersey, hung it over his balcony, and set it ablaze.  I was amazed at what a basketball game could do to the emotions of a very mild mannered guy.....you will never guess who, and I will never tell you!
I enjoy watching sports and I have my favorite teams, and there were times in my life when I let how my teams were fairing affect my emotions.  Now, I never got to the point of burning a jersey, but the Dodger victories or defeats did affect my mood.  With the baseball season being 162 games, you can imagine the daily mood swings!  If I hadn't grown out of it, then I would be very upset this year with the way the Dodgers are playing.
I hope you don't let sports dictate your moods, but I wonder if there is something else that might push your buttons?  We can say that our season has 365 games, with some days that are winners, and some days that are real losers.  We ought not allow the circumstances of each day to have too much control of our attitudes.
The strength of our walk with the Lord is what brings stability to our lives.  With the Lord we have foundational constants, and in them we find stability.  Jesus' love for us will never change, His grace, mercy and care are unfailing.  In Christ you have salvation, whether it's a good day or a miserable day.  You are assured of going to heaven on sunny days and on rainy days.  The best way to remain steadfast and immovable in these shaky days is being grounded in the unwavering truth of who we are in Christ!

Growing Up

Ephesians 4:14  "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting"

I remember the first and only time I ran away from home.  I don't recall what I was unhappy about, but there was some injustice that had occurred that led my eight year-old mind to decide to run away.  I was kind enough to go into the kitchen and announce to my mother my intention to leave home.  Her reaction took me by surprise and helped me grow up some.  I think I expected an apology, or perhaps her coercing me to stay.  Instead my mother looked at me and said she would miss me, and was sorry I felt I couldn't stay under such harsh parenting.  She then gave me a brown bag with some cookies and a kiss goodbye.
I felt determined never to return; spent the afternoon in a local field, ate my cookies, got cold, and went back home to find it was dinner time and there was a place at the table set for me.  My mom welcomed me with a hug and never said anything about my rebellion in my attempt to run off.  My mother didn't need to say anything, in her wisdom she knew there had been a lesson taught and her lecture would not have added to what was learned.
As an eight year-old I grew up some that day and learned I'm not always right, and I can't always get my way.  I learned that I ought not manipulate or threaten to get my way.  The wisdom of my loving mom broke a bit of pride, and that is always a good thing.
God does not want spoiled children.  He wants us to grow up and mature and to toughen up, so we might stand for Him in a tough world.  God loves us so much that He disciplines us, and He cares for us so much that He won't let us call the shots and get our own way all the time.  If you are under God's loving discipline, rejoice and submit, He's growing you up for His good purposes and glory!

Ready To Forgive

Psalm 86:5 "For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

I can still see the nun standing in front of the chalk board, the board was green and the chalk she used was yellow.  She was giving our fourth grade class a brief theology lesson on God's forgiveness.  She drew a large circle on the board, then turned the yellow chalk stick flat on the board and quickly colored in the circle.  The lesson had begun.

She described the filled in circle as our souls when we were born, dark and black (or yellow), from original sin.  After we were baptized as babies original sin was washed away, and she took an eraser and wiped away the chalk from the circle.  She picked up the chalk and began to name sins that would be typical of fourth graders, and with each sin named, she would put a large yellow dot in the circle soul.  I remember a sort of collective cringe of conviction from the class with the naming of each sin, and very soon the soul was dark once again.

We were taught that we needed God's forgiveness, and that His forgiveness was conditional and depended upon works of penance.  We were given a large number of things to do to earn forgiveness.  The list included going to confession, saying the rosary, special prayers to saints, wearing medals, novenas, mass on first Fridays, and much more.  If enough of these works of penance were accomplished, perhaps God might be ready to forgive.  The nun's theology was off, and sadly it set us poor fourth graders on a treadmill of doing works that we could never ever do enough of, to earn forgiveness.

When I came to salvation in Christ, the liberty of living under God's grace was made so very clear to me in His word.  What wonderful freedom once I began to understand that God is ready and willing to forgive me.  Jesus has already completed the work needed for the forgiveness of sins, I just need to receive His gracious gift of salvation.  What weight is lifted knowing that God's willingness to forgive is apart from any works that I do, because I know I could never do enough.

Please don't be separated from the Lord.  I don't care how dark and yellow your soul might be, in Jesus you can be forgiven.  There is no need for you to have to prove your worthiness or win His favor.  Through Jesus God is ready to forgive.