STICKS AND STONES

Sticks and stones may break my bones ...but WORDS will never hurt me!"

I can remember using this little "saying" more than once during childhood as a comeback when someone said something to me that hurt my feelings or embarrassed me.

I was sent to school in homemade dresses that looked different from all the other girls'. I was taller than everyone else in my class... even the boys... so I was "the giant". I wore glasses from the time I was eight years old so I was "four-eyes". I looked "older" than most girls my age so that made me different as well.

Just living a life that makes one feel "different" is hard enough. The insensitivity of someone actually voicing their opinion that you are different can make a wound that lasts for a lifetime... even though the speaker may never know he has said or done anything wrong.

Thoughtless. Insensitive. People voicing things that should have not been voiced. Feelings trampled under foot. And if you mentioned to the speaker that they had hurt someone's feelings with their carelessly chosen words, they would likely be without a clue.

Words once spoken can never be erased. Whether they were heated words spoken in anger... or careless, criticizing words that cut to the heart of a child... pointing out the differences... or making them feel stupid, those words can never be taken back.

Even if they are followed by an apology, the wound is still there... a "sore" in the memory which will require much praise and positive affirmation to overcome... and may never be completely overcome.

The Bible speaks a lot about the words of our mouth and their power in our lives:

"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)

"He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." (Proverbs 21:23)

"He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."

(Proverbs 13:3)

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

(Proverbs 10:19)

"The power of life and death are in the tongue."

"Even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps his mouth closed!"

The word says that as a child of God we have to think before we speak. As believers, we are called to be "imitators of Christ". We are to hold ourselves to a higher standard than the world demands in the way we act and the things we say.

Unless we can uplift someone... unless we can praise someone... if we can find nothing positive to say... most words are best left unspoken.

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Lord, forgive us for the words we have spoken in haste or in anger that have hurt others... whether they were an accident or spoken on purpose.

Help us as believers to be mindful of the effect our words can have on the lives of others, and help us to choose what we say with care.

Little is Much

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and crossfire he had lost touch with his Comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock.

Quickly he crawled inside on of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed. "Lord, if it be Your will, please protect me. Whatever Your will though, I love You and trust You. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out if this one." The he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

"Hah", he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is spider web. God does have a sense of humor".

As the enemy drew closer, he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand.

To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on.

Suddenly he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

"Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man.

"I had forgotten that in You, a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."

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We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways.

As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will have success!" (Neh. 2:20)

Remember! Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's web can become a brick wall of protection and defense.

Believe HE is with you always.

Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great power and love for you!

Little is much... when God is in it.

MEETING GOD

A little boy wanted to meet God.

He knew it was a long trip to where God
lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato
chips and a six-pack of root beer
and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks,
he met an old woman. She was sitting in
the park, just staring at some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.
He was about to take a drink from
his root beer when he noticed that the old lady
looked hungry, so he offered her some chips.

She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.
Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted
to see it again, so he offered her a rootbeer.

Again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted.

They sat there all afternoon eating
and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and
he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a
a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman,
and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his
mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.

She asked him,
"What did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied,

"I had lunch with God."

But before his mother could respond, he added,
"You know what?
She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen."

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant
with joy, returned to her home.

Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked,
"Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

She replied,
"I ate potato chips in the park with God."

However, before her son responded, she added,

"You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word,

a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Embrace all equally.

Have lunch with God. And bring chips.

REDEEMED

"Redeemed! How I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. ..... His child and forever I am." How blessed we are as Believers to know that when we received Jesus as our Saviour, and the Lord accepted us into His family, all of our sins were forgiven- past, present, and future.

We read it in His Word. God has "removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west". No one can measure that distance... because it goes on and on forever. In an instant... like the twinkling of an eye, we were changed into a new creation... with our past washed away and our sins under the blood.

As we continue to walk with the Lord, to hear His word preached, to read it for ourselves, and to fellowship with other believers, our thinking begins to change as our minds are "renewed". The things in life that had seemed so important before our salvation have "dimmed" in comparison to this new life in Christ.

We accepted Jesus. His gift of salvation wiped away our sin. We began to go forward in our Christian walk. God took our sins away... and will never remind us of them again. .. because He has forgiven us. We're a new creature in Christ... but we still remember the past.

We remember all the times we fell short. All the times we did things our own way instead of the right way. We remember the people we have hurt... and those who hurt us as well. We have an enemy... an adversary who takes great delight in reminding us over and over of the mistakes we made.

The devil revels in trying to keep our history "current" and active in our minds. He hasn't forgotten a single detail, and he will do his utmost to see to it that we never forget it either. A person's past can provide a lot of "fuel" for satan to use against us.

As a believer, we should know what is right and what is wrong, and strive to please God in all things. W e have all sinned... and have no merit on our own to be accepted by God... let alone to be loved as He loves us and forgiven as He forgives. It is all because of His mercy and grace that we have been made to be "joint heirs" with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The enemy uses our past to "bog us down"... to keep us from growing and maturing in our walk with the Lord. No matter how many times we confess our mistakes and ask the Lord to forgive us, we can count on satan to bring it up again.

We have to learn to recognize his voice... the voice of the liar satan... a voice that accuses... and demeans... and belittles us.. a voice that is harsh and full of hatred and blame. When we are continually "bludgeoned" with our past sins and made to feel worthless and useless, we can be sure it is the handiwork of the devil. Only the devil wants us to walk in condemnation.

God wants us to learn His promises and His spiritual principles... to apply them to our lives and to grow in the love and nurture of the Lord.

God's voice comes to us gently, lovingly... even when He corrects or punishes us.

If the Lord God can forgive our sins and never bring them up to us again, who are we to "pick them back up" again... to "own them" again... and to allow the enemy to "run roughshod" over us, knowing that the Lord has atoned for all our sins, once and for all?

We must choose to forgive ourselves. We must choose to let go of the past. We have to stop using the mistakes we made long ago as an excuse to keep us from being the Christian God desires us to be.

When the enemy brings up our past, we need to remind him of his future. Our debt has been paid. The enemy has already been defeated. We must choose to live our lives as a victor... and not as a victim. No one can make that choice for us.

We must recognize those who bring up the past that we have confessed and God has forgiven, and tell them that those things no longer apply to our lives. All those bad decisions are "under the blood".. and that's where they must remain.

Accept God's forgiveness. Let go of the past. Forgive those who hurt you... and forgive yourself for the part you played.

Today is a new day. We need to go on with God, and spend our time and energy winning lost souls to Him... instead of "nursing and rehearsing" the same old songs again... and "singing the blues".

Instead we shout have a song of joy in our hearts when we remember the supreme sacrifice Jesus made for us.,and the great Love for us that brought Him to the rugged cross.

All praise and thanksgiving to God for His gift of salvation... and for paying our debt "in full".

THE CHOICE IS OURS

“All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ. If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much; but if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, He will be to us the whole treasury of God.” — Henry Benjamin Whipple

In my life, I have found that I make time for the things that are important to me, the activities I enjoy most, and the people who are most important to me. The priorities in my life are given more time and attention. And, in most situations, the more time I invest, the greater the reward.

In a relationship, closeness is in direct proportion to the amount of time and attention given to the other person in that relationship.

If I ignore my husband, shut myself up with a book in another room, and cut myself off from his conversation, we will grow to be distant. But if I express joy at being home after a long day at work, if I talk to him about his day and mine, if I share any news I have and ask questions about what's going on in his life, then we are more likely to "stay in tune"..., "on the same page"..., closer because we share our lives with each other.

Sharing the good and the bad, the happy and the sad will all develop our relationship. If I want to have a close intimate marriage, then I have to be willing to open up, to make myself vulnerable, to be honest with him and to share more of myself with him than with any other.

If I apply this analogy to my time spent with the Lord, the results are the same. If I want closeness with the Lord, I have to "give" in order to "receive".

If I don't seek out “His company”, if I don’t desire a closeness, if I don’t take the time to learn who He is and what He thinks about the everyday details of life, that relationship with never grow to be one of deep sharing and intimacy. Instead, we will be "acquaintances" because I haven't devoted the time and energy through devotional time, quiet time, prayertime, Bible reading, and conversation with Him as I go through my day to be more.

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God wants to be the one to whom we all come with our joys, our heartaches, and all the details of our lives. He is always waiting ... just a breath away... to share the day with us and to give of Himself.

Are we satisfied with a casual relationship with the Lord... an hour on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night? Or are we willing to spend time and share our life with Him on a day to day basis?

The choice is ours......