“The Matter of Our Words”

"The Matter of Our Words"  

  

   

    "The tongue can no man tame.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8).

    "Set a watch, o Lord, before my mouth.  Keep the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3).

    Nothing more reveals the abject need of humanity for Divine intervention than our capacity to speak.  Created by One called "the Word" in Scripture, our verbal ability separates us from all other physical creatures (John 1:1-3).  This should lead to great and glorious utterance, and if often does.  Our tongue, however, often displays the fallen disposition of our flesh, running away from us in directions that we know lead to destruction even as we speak the foolish word.  

    The Psalmist well recognized his complete inability to govern his speech, presaging James' indictment of a tongue that cannot inherently speak in a manner pleasing to God.  "Set a watch… Keep the door."   Indeed, when the Lord Jesus told His disciples, "Without Me, ye can do nothing", no human capacity more appropriately fits into the indictment of our weakness (John 15:5).  In this day, for example, we require our Lord to motivate, lead, and enable us to speak in a manner that glorifies Him, blesses others, and keeps us out of unnecessary trouble.  Words are central to our existence - "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).  Regardless of how much we believe this truth, however, we cannot independently speak in a manner that fosters life.  We require the power of God to empower words that bless rather than curse, a power that we must consciously seek if we are to speak living rather than deadly utterances.  "I cried unto Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue" (Psalm 66:17).

   We do well to pray for ourselves and for each other concerning the matter of our words in this day.  We also seek the light of God's Word in this most vital matter of our relationship with our Lord and with people.  Moreover, we encourage and challenge each other to present our tongues to the Lord for His watch, His keeping, and His empowering to speak as the voice of His Spirit.  "Death and life" are at stake, as Solomon declared.  Few matters more determine the course and quality of our lives.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

(Psalm 19:14)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

(Colossians 2:8)

    

    

“Emma’s Entrees” -2- "Good Old Memories!"

"Emma's Entrees"    

-2-     

"Good Old Memories!"  

   

    As many of you know, grandchildren provide a wealth of blessed experience and enjoyment.  Over the years, I've written a number of essays about our grandson Jackson's interesting perspective on life ("The Jackson Chronicles").  I haven't penned as many about our granddaughter Emma (age 8), but that will change in the years to come.  She possesses  her own fascinating take on things, and her imagination transports her to places with characters and happenings that she's more than happy to share with interested listeners. So here's the second of "Emma's Entrees".

    Our grandchildren spent the day with us this past Monday, a holiday in our area.  This resulted in a visit to the playground of a local school where Emma and Jackson have long enjoyed to swing, climb on monkey bars, play basketball, and even hit a few golf balls.  Our dear family friend Sheldon joined us for the visit, and as always, we had a great time together.  As usual, Emma asked Granddaddy to push her while swinging, and I was more than happy to oblige.  After a nice session of flying back and forth through the air, as aided by grandfatherly propulsion, Emma happily commented, "You know, I love this place!  It brings back so many good old memories!"

    I immediately texted Emma's comment to our entire family, all of whom had the the same smiling, not at all surprised response.  She may be only 8 years old, but Emma is already a treasure chest of "good old memories".  It's who she is, and it's how she looks at life, people, and experiences.  I know of no one who more possesses the proverbial "twinkle in the eye".  She's a joy to be with, as is Jackson, and yes, I know, they're my grandchildren!  But I'm pretty objective about such things! :)

    Upon arriving home, Emma spent time with Grannie Frannie, playing on our bed as Frances read.  "Grannie Frannie", asked Emma, "Will you and Granddaddy ever move from this house?"  She offered the question quite seriously.  "Well, Emma," responded Frances, "we might, but we also might stay here until we are 100 years old!"  The latter prospect clearly appealed to Emma's desires.  "I sure hope so!" she responded enthusiastically.  "Because this is such a wonderful house, and I have such good memories here!"

   All of this has resulted in my pondering the "good memories" that characterize our walk with the Lord as believers.  Much of the Christian life involves remembering, even as the Psalmist declared, "I will remember the works of the Lord!  Surely I will remember Thy wonders of old!" (Psalm 77:11).  We seek to live our lives in gratitude, that is, in the appreciative recognition of our Lord's already accomplished doings on our behalf.  Such thanksgiving creates an atmosphere of loving devotion in our hearts, even as A.W. Tozer suggested that "thanksgiving is the sweetener of the soul".  Gratitude for gifts given helps strengthen us for faith and faithfulness in the present, and also elicits confident expectation of God's loving future involvement in our lives.  Moreover, one of the two ordinance observed by Christians, the Lord's supper, calls us to the breathtakingly simple observance of recollection: "This do, in remembrance of Me" (I Corinthians 11:24).  Indeed, the better we remember, the more we rejoice.  The more we rejoice, the more we recognize our Lord's present working in our lives.  Such recognition results in the realization of glory to come: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalm 23:6).

   "Good old memories."  Emma has them, obviously in an abundance of grateful recollections of love, family, events, stories, fun, and quite a bit of consideration of the Lord and life.  I am so glad she feels this way, and she and Jackson surely provide the same for us.  Again, the Psalmist's "Surely I will remember Thy wonders of old!" calls us to realize the vital place of remembrance in our walk with the Lord.  Thank you, Emma, for the reminder, and thank You, Lord, for the wonders of old that enable us to see the wonders of now, and to expect the wonders of tomorrow.

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."

(Lamentations 3:21-26).

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

(Colossians 2:8)

    

    

"Human"

"Human"           

   

    It could be said that only one truly human being has ever lived, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased… He that sent Me is with Me, the Father hath not left Me alone, I do always those things that please Him" (Matthew 3:17; John 8:29).

   Only the Lord Jesus fulfilled the standard for humanity established by the God whose way is perfect (II Samuel 22:31).  All others fall short of being human according to the only definition that matters.  Before the flood of God's judgment, for example, the Lord pronounced that humanity had failed to reach its intended being and purpose: "The LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3).  Rather than being spiritually natured as originally intended, Adam and his offspring fell into the fleshliness of being governed by earthly rather than Heavenly substance.  "The first man is of the earth, earthy" (I Corinthians 15:47).  Thus, we are not truly human, again, as God defines humanity.

    The Lord Jesus Christ began a new race of beings, of truly human beings whose nature and substance is rightly composed of Heavenly spirituality.

    "The angel answered and said unto Mary, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).

    "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6).

    Spiritual substance and being constituted the person of the Lord Jesus.  He lived (and lives) as a Heavenly being dwelling in an earthly personality and body.  "The second man is the Lord from heaven" (I Corinthians 15:47).  This is humanity as God created and intends it to be.  Moreover, in all who believe, the same glorious reality reconstitutes our being and substance.  "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, of so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you… That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (Romans 8:9; John 3:6).  We actually become human when we trust in the Lord Jesus, that is, we are born into humanity in accordance with God's eternal purpose for our being and behavior.  No longer are we flesh - "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (emphasis added).  We have flesh, but we are spiritual in our innermost being, person, and selfhood, as united to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This is human as God defines humanity, and as the Lord Jesus perfectly embodies and illustrates - "the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5).

    Thus, the Christian's great calling involves acting in accordance with our being - "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).  God calls us to be human in the sense of realizing our spiritual substance in Christ, and of trusting Him to energize and actualize the "fearfully and wonderfully made" human capacities He created in us (Psalm 139:14).  Our mental, emotional, volitional, and physical capabilities possess incredible potential when empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  They exist for such infusion of Heavenly motivation and enabling: "Yield… your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13).  As we recognize and affirm our high calling to serve as earthly expressions of Heavenly reality, our humanity springs to life in accordance with "the hope of glory, which is Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27).  We become human as our Lord is human, that is, of serving as "the habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22).  The Lord Jesus paved the path of true humanity for us, and by Him we become in both being and behavior that which God made and redeemed us to be, that is, human.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

(Philippians 4:13)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

(Colossians 2:8)