The other day, our pastor made mention of
something John Osteen used to say, “There’s a miracle in your mouth.” I’ve
heard variations of this over the years, but yet every time I ponder it, I
recognize all over again just what a powerful my mouth I have.
Sure, I make jokes about how muchI talk, but, if I pay attention to whatI’m saying, I realize I need to
slow things down and guard my mouth; I get to be the one in control of what
comes out of my mouth. Am I speaking truth? Even when, and perhaps, especially
when - I’m the only one there to hear what I have to say, it’s
important that I speak the truth, and that I speak it in love.
“Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature
body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” – Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
Yes, I want to grow into all that Jesus has
for me. I want to bring glory to His Name, and I want to edify the body of
Christ. But, I need to be a healthy member of the body of Christ in order to
bring that edification to the table. If my thinking is tainted by some flaky
wind of doctrine or lies from my past, I’m being deceived and I’m sharing that
deception. I need to be renewing my mind with the Word of God all the time.
Sometimes we can be in conversation with
someone and think thoughts like, “Does this person even have a clue what they’re
talking about?” – or, “This guy’s short a few marbles.” Truth be told, others
have had these same thoughts about us.
(picture from redeeminggod.com)
In scripture we read, “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such
a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, Who has known the mind
of the Lord so as to instruct him? But, we have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians
2:15 (NIV)
(picture from thoughtco.com)
If we fail to engage our own brain in our
conversations, how much less do we tap into the mind of Christ? God has told us
we have access to His mind, yet so often we rely on self, or worse, we just
allow whatever happens to happen without considering what we can do to impact
the situation.
But, what about when I’m talking to myself? How
am I impacting my life by speaking out things that are negative and
destructive? I’m crippling God’s precious Princess. I’m creating handicap in my
own life. I’m also acting in rebellion, denying the very power of God working
in me.
(picture from treatingfungus.com)
In Romans 8:11 we read. “…if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (NIV)
How can I deny the truth if the very Spirit
of God lives within me? I’ll tell you how. If I’m still living a carnally-minded
life. If I’m not renewing my mind with God’s Word – I have nothing else to fall
back on except the lies I’ve always believed. By the way, a carnal life doesn’t
have to mean a sinful life, it simply means a life perceived by natural means;
through our five senses. There are things more reliable than our sense of seeing,
hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. Once we give our lives over to Jesus,
He promises that His Spirit will live within us. We can tap into that, we can receive
from His Spirit, and we can rely on Him, trusting Him completely. He’ll never
leave us, no matter what. His love is unconditional, and His presence is as
real as His love.
James
1:26 tells us, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you
are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” (NLT)
(picture from wikiHow.com)
I’m a talker and I admit it. Sometimes I
allow my words to get ahead of me and I say things I shouldn’t, to myself and
to those around me. But, to say I can’t control it, would be a lie. I might be
lazy about guarding my mouth, I might be slack in renewing my mind with the
Word of God, I might be uneducated about the power I possess, but that’s all on
me. God gave me control, I get to make the decisions regarding my life and how
I live it. He gave you the very same control; the very same choices.
“This day
I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you
and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to
his voice, and hold fast to him.” – Deuteronomy 30:19-20a (NIV)
“Death
and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it
will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.” – Proverbs 18:21
(AMP)
Are you speaking truth? Are you speaking
life? If not, you can choose to
change that, through the Word of God.
This is my Christmas story, I've share it before - but, here it is again. However you imagine the hammer used to nail Jesus to the cross, here's the story inspired in me many years ago. I hope you love it as much as I do....and the songs that follow the blog post.
(picture from ispygod.net)
The Hammer
by Helen Williams!
Since Mary and Joseph had been
turned away from all the inns and told they could stay in a barn and that their
child could sleep in the newly made manger when he was born, that’s where they
found themselves the next morning. Their child had been born late in the night,
a boy child. They named him Jesus. He lay quietly on a bed of hay in the
manger. As Mary sat there watching him sleep, she couldn’t help but notice what
a beautiful manger it was. Considering it was built to hold hay for the cows,
she wondered why its maker took such care and put so much delicate work into it.
Her husband, being a carpenter, might know. She called it to his attention and
asked him why he thought the carpenter that built it would have made it so ornate.
‘Well, either he just takes a lot
of pride in his work, no matter what he’s making, or he had nothing much else
to do and decided to put all that detail there to keep himself busy. Or perhaps
God told him that our child – His child, would lay there. Only the carpenter
himself knows. And yes, he did a wonderful job on it. But we’ll probably never
know who made it, dear.’
As he was answering Mary some
straw from the hayloft sifted through the boards and they heard a rustling
coming from above.
‘But then again,’ he whispered,
‘one never knows.’
He tiptoed around to the steps
that led to the hayloft and as quietly as he could, climbed them. When he got
to the top he boldly asked, ‘Who’s up here?’
He waited for an answer. At first
there was silence. But when he saw the straw moving, he asked, ‘Shall I come
see for myself?’
At that, the straw moved a lot
and from it emerged an old man. He tried to stand, but lost his footing and sat
down.
‘Hello, master. It is only I, the
keeper of the animals. I mean you no harm. I sleep here alone. I’ll be on my
way about with my chores now.’
He got up and hobbled to the top
of the steps as Joseph descended. He came down slowly. By the time he reached
the last step, Mary eagerly asked him if he knew who had made the beautiful
manger.
He nodded his head. ‘It was I,
ma’am.’
Mary noticed that even though he
was on the ground now, he didn’t stand up straight. She complimented the
craftsmanship he’d so skillfully used on the manger but had to ask, ‘Why did
you make it so special? A manger is for animals to eat from. You made it look
like a piece of furniture for a king’s house.’
‘Ah yes, ma’am. I did make
furniture for the king’s palace, and he did like it to be perfect. I can still
work as well as I used to, even though I’m all bent over now. So my work
carries on. Though the only job I could get was here. You see ma’am, once
you’ve worked for the king and been let go, no one wants you. I’m a reproach
among men and they don’t even know why. The king didn’t like the way I look. When
I was young and strong looking they liked to have me as the king’s carpenter.
But as I’ve aged, time has not been so kind to me. The longer I live, the more
bent over I stay. When the king dismissed me no one would even look at me. I
felt as though he’d spit on me. All I managed to bring with me was that big ol’
hammer there.’
(picture from pinterest.com)
He pointed it out. ‘So now, you
must know that God’s hand is upon me for me to make such a craft using such a
big hammer. The other tools I use, I’ve made myself. They too are meager, but
that big hammer was once in the king’s carpenter shop. I guess it’s rather
special to me. I worked there a long time.’
As he rambled on, he came nearer
to the baby and was straining his neck to see him. Joseph sat down behind Mary,
putting his hand on her shoulder. They both smiled at the man. Mary asked,
‘Would you like to see our baby? Come closer. He seems to have awakened by your
voice, but he’ll not cry.’
‘Why, his eyes are opened and
he’s just a newborn. I’ve never seen the likes of him,’ he chuckled. ‘It looks
as though he’s looking right up at me, almost as if he knows me. Cute little
boy. What did you name him?’
Joseph spoke up, ‘His name is
Jesus. Come closer. Would you like to hold him?’
‘Oh, you can’t trust my back. I
don’t think I should.’ But there was a look of yearning in his eyes.
‘God’s hand is upon you,
remember? You said so yourself. Pick him up and hold him close,’ Mary said.
The old man came closer and bent
over to pick him up, praying he’d be able to hold the boy Jesus. As he stood
up, he kept straightening himself to a standing position. At first he didn’t
even realize he stood up straight, as he did in his youth. He smiled at the
child and talked to him ever so quietly. He looked at Mary and said, ‘If I
didn’t know better, I’d think he was trying to tell me that he knows me. Just
the wishing of an old man…’ His voice trailed off.
Suddenly realizing he was
standing tall, he exclaimed, ‘Why, little Jesus, if you could see me now! I’m
standing again! It’s a miracle!’
He held the baby close to himself
and began to dance around the room. Joseph smiled at Mary and she said, ‘It’s
not the first one to happen in this barn.’
After returning the baby to the
manger, the man said, ‘I’m blessed by the hand of God, indeed. I can’t repay God
for the miracle He’s done in my life, but I do want you to take my hammer with
you when you go. I want you to teach this young child to be a good carpenter.
As he grows, show him how to bring life to something as simple as a piece of
wood. And tell him about me when he’s older. And tell him about the manger.
And, I wish I could tell him myself. If you were going to be around for a
while, I’d make him something to take with him, from me. But I’m sure you’ll be
moving on shortly here. So take the hammer, please. The hammer reminded me of
when I worked for the king. But my walk will remind everyone that I walk for
the king, now.
His eyes gleamed with joy and
delight.
Joseph accepted the hammer from
the old man and promised that it would be Jesus’ to use as he grew, knowing
that he’d have to be quite a little man to swing that hammer. It was a big one,
indeed.
When Jesus was big enough to
swing the hammer, the first thing he made was a manger for his donkey to eat
from. He took time and care and lovingly made it after the pattern his mother had
described so many times. When he’d completed his work, he called his mother to
see it. He led her by the hand into the workshop where he and his father worked
so diligently. She was proud of his work and her eyes filled with tears.
Jesus said, ‘Mother, if my donkey
can come into the house, we can keep it there! It does look beautiful enough
for a king’s house, doesn’t it?’
‘It sure does, my son. But the
donkey stays outside. We’ll keep the manger forever. It will remind us how our
heavenly Father wants us humbled before Him, so He can lift us up with His
blessings. The manger you laid in was truly a blessing, to me, as well as to
the old man. I wanted you to have the best, but God wanted you to be born in a
barn. But in the midst of that barn, He let us know that He was there with us.
Oh my Jesus, I love you.’ She hugged him tight.
As Jesus grew older, he grew in
the wisdom of God and in love. He always showed his love, never esteeming
himself more highly than others. He knew that it was better to give than to
receive and he knew that he would give the ultimate display of love at the
appointed time. He knew that when you lend, expect not to receive back what
you’ve lent. And he always gave his best, which is why when a city boy came out
to where Jesus lived, looking for the biggest and heaviest hammer he could
find, Jesus gave him his.
The boy told him, ‘My father is
the biggest man in the city and he has a big job to do. I told him that I would
find just the right hammer for the job and I’ll keep looking until I do.’
Jesus stopped him and said, ‘Why
did you promise to find this special hammer for your father?’
‘Wouldn’t you?’ the boy replied.
‘Besides,’ he added with a whisper, ‘if I do bring home the perfect hammer, he
won’t send my mother and me away.’
(picture from icollector.com)
Jesus told him, ‘Well, you’ll
need a little help to carry my hammer. It’s very big; just right for that big
job. I’ll help you carry it.’
They walked together for almost a
mile. Pointing, the boy announced, ‘There’s my father. We live over there. He
will be please. Would you like to meet him? Come on.’
The boy ran ahead of Jesus,
calling to his father. Looking up, he saw them coming.
‘I’ve found the biggest and best
hammer for you, Father!’
His father looked at Jesus and
furrowed his brow. ‘Do I know you? You look so familiar. Your look says you
know me.’
‘No,’ Jesus replied, ‘you don’t
know me yet.’
He handed him the hammer and
shook his other hand. After Jesus turned to walk away, the man looked at his
hand, the one that held onto Jesus’, running his fingers over the palm as if he
were feeling for something.
‘He was a big man, wasn’t he,
Father? He sure had a big hammer, and he gave it to us, Father!’
Years later on a hill called
Golgotha, Jesus saw that hammer again, and it was being used for a big job
alright. After the soldier swung the last blow of the hammer, he looked at the
man he was nailing to the cross. His eyes filled with horror as he recognized
his face. He fell to his knees but quickly got back up before anyone would
realize that his heart was being pierced. It seemed like forever as he looked
into Jesus’ eyes, everything he’d ever done came up in his mind. He felt so
helpless and he somehow knew why.
(picture from pinterest.com)
Jesus said to him, so quietly
that no one else heard, ‘Now, you know me. And yes, I’ve always known you, and
I love you.’
It was no coincidence that his
marriage was mended from the day he received that.
It was no coincidence that his
son was standing there beside him, also in a Roman soldier’s uniform.
He dropped the hammer and walked
away from the cross, looking back only once. In his heart he grieved. But he
knew that God knew of his grief when Jesus cried aloud from the cross in the
air, ‘Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.’
He followed after the disciples –
forgiven and alive for the first time in his life.
Have you yet to hold that hammer
in your hand?
The house the King desires to
live in is your heart. What have you let Him build there – with His hammer?
I
wonder how it feels to be the doctor that delivers babies for a living; how it
feels to be the first to hold a child leaving the safety of their mother’s womb
– as they draw their very first breath.
Holding
a newborn just minutes later is so incredibly awe-inspiring and emotionally
overwhelming! Snuggling that same child
a week or a month or a year later is, to me, invigorating and life affirming.
I
wonder how it feels to be the nurse who holds the hand of the sick or elderly
drawing their last breaths. That, too,
must be profound, touching one’s heart and soul in countless ways.
(theguardian.com)
What
about all the breaths in between? Do we cherish them, or do we take them for
granted? We seldom even pay attention to our breathing unless we’re struggling
to do it when we have a cold or are out in temperatures when the air feels like
it’s freezing our lungs….or when we’re either so happy or so sad that we’re
gasping to catch our breath.
Incredible
beauty and anguishing sorrow can both seem to “take our breath away…”
It’s
been shared with me that when God created Adam and breathed life into him, the
word breathe translates to the word inspire. When I look up the definition of
the word inspire, I read: “to fill with an animation, quickening or exalting
influence.” God filled Adam, and all of us – with animation; He quickened us,
bringing us to life. We respire, which means to breathe. We can only respire
once God has inspired us.
As
you’ve read this piece, how many breaths have you drawn? God knows, but we pay
so little attention to the miracle held in each breath. We’re alive! We’re
alive to glorify the giver of Life, Himself!
(angierayphotography.com)
As
we draw breath during this holy holiday season, bring to mind the scene;
however it looks in your own mind, of when the Christ Child first breathed our
air, first cried. I don’t know if they slapped babies on the bottom back then,
I’ve not seen a doctor do it these days, either, though. It was probably Joseph
who held Him first; we hear no mention of a midwife showing up in the stable.
The giver of Life draws breath among us for the first time!
And
recall his last, as He called out to our Father, “It is finished.”
(erniearagonjr.wordpress.com)
And
think to cherish each breath He drew as He walked on earth in flesh, like we do
– leading to the day He’d sacrifice that life for ours; so that we can live
with Him eternally in perfect peace.
Each
breath is a reminder of the peace that can fill our lives as air fills our
lungs – when we let Jesus reign in our hearts!
Hallelujah!
“In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without
him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the
light of men…. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
(Seeds from 1994, still in a bottle on the shelf....)
In
John 14:6 Jesus proclaims, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.”
That explains a lot. Note, He didn’t
declare that He is a way, or a truth or a life – but the
way, the
truth and the life. He doesn’t want us falling for the wily deceptions of
the enemy.
In John 8:12 He tells us, “I amthelightoftheworld. He who follows Me shall not
walk in darkness, but havethe
lightoflife.”
And again in John 9:5 we read: “As long as I am intheworld, I amthelightoftheworld.”
Jesus
tells us that we are “the salt of the earth and the light of the world” in Matthew
5:13 and 14.
How
can we be the light of the world if that’s His job? Because we learn to let His
light shine through us, as we recognize His light within us.
It
appears that, among other things, we – Jesus and those of us who love Him, are
also likened unto seeds for planting.
(superhealthykids.com)
Per
Galatians 3:29, we are the seed of Abraham; “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham'sseed, and heirs according to the
promise.”
God’s
Word or the Word of God’s kingdom, is also likened to a seed. In Matthew
13:18-23 we read the explanation for the parable of the sower, which is also
expounded upon by Mark in chapter 4:14-20. Mark begins Jesus’ explanation with
the words, “The sower sows the word.”
Such important points are made in this story that we again read the account in
Luke 8:11-15, where Luke begins the revelation in verse 11 with the words, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the
word of God.”
I’d
like to point out that yes, the Word of God is the heart and the passion of the
scriptures that fill our Bibles, but the Word of God is also the living Word,
Jesus Christ, Himself. “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1
God’s
spoken and written word is a seed planted in our hearts; it comes alive in
Jesus, the Person.
I’m
going to liken faith to planting a packet of mystery seeds from a local
nursery. Purchased confidently, seeds guaranteed to grow in my climate and
terrain; I ready my soil and plant the seeds according to the given
instructions. I tend to them, per the instructions and I wait. I wait to see what growsin my garden.
(mylifeinthedirt.com)
God’s
Word reveals a thing or two about seeds. For one, what is sown does not produce
life unless it dies. We see this in John
12:24 (Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone;
but if it dies, it produces much grain),
as well as in 1 Corinthians 15:36 (Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it
dies).
Every
springtime, along with bunnies and daffodils and candy-filled baskets, we hear
about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We
understand that, yes, Jesus Christ died. He died to pay the debt amassed by the
sin of mankind; your sin and mine. Payment was death and a sentence to hell.
Had He not died, faced hell and triumphantly risen on the third day, that debt
would not have been paid. Risen, He put on incorruption and is now glorified
with His Father. He gave up His earthly life, willingly, for us. No regrets. (Hebrews
12:2)
Our
turn. In order to reap the harvest of our lives, we too, must die. We must
crucify our flesh daily. Does this mean suicide? Clearly not. That would not
glorify God at all; Jesus came that we might have life and live it more
abundantly! (John 10:10)
To
crucify our flesh daily, we deny ourselves harmful, carnal indulgences of the
world; we turn away from the things God identifies as sin, those things
displeasing to Him, those things that, in the long run, will bring us needless
pain and suffering. So death to self means surrendering to the will of God in
our lives.
Does
God offer us pleasure? Absolutely! Sin is pleasurable only for a season. God’s
peace and joy and the pleasure we have in Him is perfect and eternal.
We
often wrestle with the need to do things our own way (temporary fun) vs. doing
things God’s way (which promises joy, peace, love, eternity and every good
thing we can imagine as well as so much that we can’t fathom). Given the
outcome, why do we repeatedly choose our own way?
I
suppose we often choose our own way because we can see what we want with our
physical (temporary) eyes and we impatiently grab for it.
This
is likely why most of us buy our fruits and vegetables from the supermarket
instead of patiently waiting for them to grow in our yard.
We
want what we want, when we want it – the way we want it. After all, “if it
feels good, do it” – right? And “our way IS the right way” – right?
(chicagonow.com)
Let’s
apply some logic. You and I cannot see what tomorrow holds; God can, He’s seen
the end from the beginning. If He’s to be trusted and taken at His Word, we
need to accept that He knows how tomorrow turns out; He knows what choices we
should make today and He knows the consequences
of the wrong choices.
He
has only good planned for us. He gets no joy from needless suffering or our
pointless struggles. But, take note; He sees what we’ll reap from the lessons
we learn and the obstacles we overcome. He sees the end result of the Seed He’s
planted in us, and He sees what we, as seeds, will become.
Choosing
to die to our own self-will boils down to trusting and displaying our faith in
a God that knows the outcome, instead of blindly following after the desires of
our flesh.
So,
little seed – will you prosper and grow, or sit in a bottle on a shelf,
yielding nothing?
During
a wedding the other day, my mind wandered a bit; my eyes were drawn to a statue
of Mary. Unlike any statue of her I’ve seen, I can’t even find a photo of this
statue on line, the one pictured is not it. Her face was sculpted to capture love and compassion, yet it
was filled with wonder and questions. She held a crown of thorns in her hands,
clutched to her heart.
My
mind wandered further to imagine her, collapsed to the ground, holding the
crucified, dead body of her Son, having gently removed the crown of thorns from
His bloody head, setting it aside to wiped blood and tears from His precious face.
No doubt her breaking heart wept, even if she didn’t have the physical strength
left to sob over his ravaged body.
It
didn’t help that I was already emotional, simply because I was at a wedding,
but, I fought back my tears. If it was my son, I believe I’d be holding him to
myself for as long as I could.
Even
as we stand beside a loved one, laid out at their funeral, longing to hold them
in our arms one more time, our heart breaks in a way we could never have
imagined before. We may cling to memories, or even to a token of their lives.
What
did Mary cling to? Did she clutch that crown of thorns? Did she grapple in the
sand for the bloody nails that held Him to the Cross? Did she reach deeply into
her understanding of what God had spoken to her through an angel and displayed
before her throughout the years? Did she pull out God’s strength through a joy
miraculously placed in her heart? She recognized her own salvation at the
announcement of her pregnancy (Luke 1:47);
did she have an even greater revelation at the finality of His death when He
uttered, “It is finished”? (John 19:30) By
His grace and mercy, did God allow her a glimpse of eternity, removing the veil
of time so she could see her son sitting at the right hand of her Father? (Acts 2:33)
(photo from greinermanmemorials.com)
We
don’t know. Imagine what we will, we don’t know.
What
do you cling to and clutch to your heart that connects you with your Savior? Or
what is it you run from? (I suppose Mary could have thrown that crown of
thorns in anger and run from the bloody scene that had just unfolded before her.)
Perhaps,
it’s not something tangible, but a memory. Maybe the memory is so vague you
can’t even put your finger on it. Or maybe this is an easy question, the memory
or point of contact is illuminated in your mind as you read this.
Whatever
it is, it’s something that penetrated your heart; whether the pierce was a
prick like that from a thorn, or broke your heart wide open; you let Jesus peek
into the places there where no one else is welcome - your secret place. Could
it make a difference if you shared your treasure with someone else; if you told
them how Jesus brought His Light to your darkness?
If
you’ve never asked Jesus into that private place, perhaps it just feels like
your heart has been beaten up, broken, cracked and stomped on; crushed till
it’s unrecognizable, dark and lifeless. That’s how it will remain until you
allow the Light of Jesus Christ to redeem you; to bring life from lifelessness.
The
whole point to the Christmas story is that Jesus took on flesh to be like us,
so that we could find life in His Spirit and be like Him.
Find
a quiet place and think on this. Ask Him to show you your heart, if it’s filled
with His Light – share it! If it’s still filled with pain and sorrow and anger
and grief, it’s time to invite Him in to help you find the courage to forgive
those who’ve hurt and betrayed you, and the courage to accept His forgiveness
for your sin (“…for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” -Romans 3:23-24/If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9 NIV)
Yes,
it will mean allowing yourself to become vulnerable. But, He’s not going to
blab your secrets to the world. It’s all between you and Him…… if you’re not
quite sure how to pray, ask Him. He’ll meet you right where you’re at.
His
Word (the Bible) is filled with promises for those who believe Him. Find your
promises today.
