Meditations

How much weight do our words carry? It’s amazing to realize just how heavy our words are. According to God’s word our words carry tremendous power towards good or evil. It’s up to us to choose our words carefully, as if choosing life or death.

How heavy are our confessions?
“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” [James 1:26]
“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” [Proverbs 10:19]
” Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive..” [Proverbs 17:28]
“A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” [Proverbs 18:20-21]
“Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you.” [Job 15:6]
“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” [Matthew 12: 36-37]
“Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” [James 3:5-6]

Confessions are heavy unto forgiveness.
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” [James 5:16]
“And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing.” [Leviticus 5:5]
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9]
“I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” [Psalms 32:5]

Confessions are heavy unto salvation.
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” [Romans 10:9-10]
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.” [1 John 4:15]
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven,â€� [Matthew 10:32]
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.”[Luke 12:8]
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” [Revelation 3:5]

To confess means simply to speak out before God and man. It is just that simple. All the words we speak are confessions whether we realize this or not. So let us make good confessions before God & man, as if our lives depend on it.

As I did a search to see what God’s word has to say about faith, I discovered to my joy, that I reached a deeper understanding. By reading all the new testament scriptures about faith collectively, I was able to see the whole picture at once. This truly blessed me, and I hope it deepens my faith walk. I’m sharing this thinking that it may bless you as well.
What is faith?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1]
How do we get faith?
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. [Rom. 10:17]
Why do we need faith?
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. [Rom. 3:28]
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [Rom. 5:1]
How will our faith be used?
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. [Rom. 1:17] ( For we walk by faith, not by sight:) [2 Cor. 5:7]
But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? [James 2:20]
that the trying of your faith works patience. [James 1:3]
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; [James 5:15]
So therefor we must…
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, [1 Tim. 6:12]
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) [Heb.10:23]
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. [ I John 5:4] {for we have} One Lord, one faith, one baptism, [Eph. 4:5]
10/11/05

No matter how careful we are, I believe we tend to compare others to our standards. We often don’t even realize we are doing this. We somehow expect non-believers to live up God’s word even though they don’t know God or His standards for righteousness. We also tend to forget that each believer has to walk out his or her own salvation with Christ, that Christ works with each of us in His own way, in His own timing. Next time we find ourselves doing this, we need to remember what Gods word has to say about judging others. Here are a few scriptures that might help to keep this fresh in our memory.

“But why do you judge your brother? or why do you set at nothing your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, said the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”[ Romans 14:10-12]
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why behold you the mote that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye.”[ Matthew 7:1-5]
“Who are you that judge another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.”[ Romans 14:4] “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judge: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judge do the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And think you this, O man, that judge them which do such things, and do the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God? Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But after your hardness and impenitent heart treasure up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”[ Romans 2:1-5]
“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”[ Titus 3:3-5] ” So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.”[ James 2:12-13]
“Speak not evil one of another, brothers. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another?”[ James 4:11-12] “Grudge not one against another, brothers, lest you be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.”[ James 5:9]

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yes, I judge not my own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”[ I Cor. 4:3-5]

10/21/05

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you.” [John 15:7]

We are clearly instructed that we are to make a deliberate effort to abide in Christ. Christ used a parable about a vineyard to express the importance of abiding in him, that He may abide in us. In John 15:1-6, Christ says; “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
How exactly are we to accomplish this deliberate act of abiding in Christ? Fortunetly, John gives us insight into this mystery and describes Christ like this; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John 1:1] “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14] Also in John’s divine vision “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God.” [Rev. 19:11-13]
You see, Christ was the Word made manifest into flesh, therefore in order to truly abide in Christ, we must abide in God’s word. That’s where we should run in times of distress and confusion, or any time we need counsel, courage, or comfort. All the answers we need are there because by abiding in His word we are literally abiding in Christ.
God’s word also says that; “… the anointing which you have received of him stays in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.”[I John 2:27] “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” [I John 2:28]
11/7/05

Sometimes, I think, we tend to make God’s plan more complicated than it really is. According to God’s word salvation is as easy as ABC.

We Accept in our minds that Jesus is who He says He is, God’s Son, and that we are sinners.
Then we Believe in our hearts that He loves us just the way we are, died as a sacrifice for our sins, and was raised from the dead.
Then we Confess with our mouthes that Jesus is Lord of our lives.

This is the beginning of our Journey. Now with Lordship, He can begin to do a work in us to change us into His image as a son or daughter of God. Then we slowly begin to bear the family likeness. In Romans 10 it says; “[9] That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. [10] For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” Also, first John 4 says;” [15] Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.” Praise The Lord, It is just that simple.

10/10/05

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
[Gal. 5:22-23]

Much of the fruit of the Spirit are obvious. It’s natural and easy to desire such things as love, joy, peace, and faith. Yet as we grow, we realize that God intends to take us to a higher level of these traits, to employ them as He does. We are to love the unlovely and even our enemies, to have peace and joy even in the midst of all our sorrows and suffering, and to have faith that can move mountains. He will continue to stretch us even in the desires we thought came natural to us.

Yet some of the fruits are words we almost never hear these days. Take gentleness and goodness for example. How often I wish I heard more parents stress the importance of these qualities to their children, as my parents did. Being one of six kids, I heard them often; “Be gentle”, “Be kind to each other”, “Your a good girl, this is how you should act”. As parents we so often tell our children how not to act, that we forget to tell them how to act and what is expected of them, as if they should automatically know these things.

Then there are the fruits of longsuffering, meekness, and temperance. It’s a good thing God put these things in writing and told me that I should desire them, otherwise it never would have occurred to me to ask for such things. Take longsuffering for example. I just couldn’t see myself in the past asking, “Lord, please bless me with longsuffering.” It goes against my very human nature, yet now I see how suffering has taught me obedience and trust. Also in our culture meekness is considered a weakness, though never realizing how strong and secure one must be, to be meek and humble. Again, I wish I heard more parents express the importance of temperance, better known as self-control, to their children. These days most of us are too busy trying to keep our children under control, and we forget to teach them self control. After all, our job is to prepare them to go out into the world on their own and we won’t always be around to keep them in line.

It’s a good thing that God’s word doesn’t take anything for granted. He knows that we don’t always know what is good for us, that we don’t always know what we need, and we don’t always know which good gifts to ask for. So He blessed us with His word, and; “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” [II Timothy 3:16] 10/28/05