Thursday July 8, 2010

Read James 1:19-26

The power of the tongue is perhaps seen most clearly in moments of anger. When we are angry we blurt out things, often things we didn’t mean to say. Sometimes we apologise and say something like, ‘I didn’t mean that’. But anger doesn’t create words and emotions in us. They are already there. They are shot out in anger from a seed or kernel already in our heart.

This is why James warns us to be quick to listen - so that we have all our facts straight, so that we understand the situation, so that we have not been mislead or based our feelings and thoughts on only a part of the information.

This is also why we are told to be slow to speak. Often we blurt things out, especially in anger. Often we say things that ought not to be said. And when we have, it’s too late. The reality of what’s in our heart is out. That’s why James tells us to be slow to anger. Man’s anger does not lead to the righteous life that our God has called us to.

Rather, we are to get rid of the moral filth (within our hearts and minds) and

the evil around us that is so prevalent. We are to accept the Word of God planted within us.  As we’ve seen last week, the word must be bearing fruit in us. We must be good soil, encouraging growth and fruit bearing in the Word.

Verse 26 shows one area of fruit bearing in our lives that comes from accepting the Word planted in our hearts.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

My words either prove or deny my religion (not interpreted as doing things to please God but as my actions and life flowing out of God’s love for me). If I cannot bridle the tongue, if I cannot keep a tight reign on it then my religion is shown to be utterly worthless. In a sense, with an unbridled tongue, I am like a person pretending to be a millionaire but with Monopoly money.  It’s worthless and I have deceived myself.

Prayer:-

• Pray for our brothers and sisters in Kyrgyzstan as racial riots and ethic fuelled violence has erupted lately. Pray that the believers (who always seem to be attacked and persecuted in these times) are courageous lights for Jesus. Pray that many would come to the faith through their witness. Pray for peace and stability in the region.


• Pray for our Committee of Management as they seek to manage the funds we have. Pray that every family and every person will give generously so that their work will be a joy not a burden. Ask God to grant them wisdom, insight and unity.

Do It Today

Read James 1:27. Determine what you can be doing for orphans and widows in distress. What other neglected groups can you be helping?

Wednesday July 7, 2010

Read James 3:1-12

Controlling our tongue is perhaps the hardest hurdle in the journey of life with Christ. James captures the difficulty in His second verse when He says:-

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

The tongue is only a small part of the body but has great effects. Like a spark to dry tinder our tongues can set fire to our lives. Our tongue makes great boasts. It even sets the course of our lives. That which we talk about and dream about, is the direction we tend to take. Like the eternal fire of hell, the tongue can cause great destruction.  It is relatively impossible to tame. But God has granted us a new heart. He has cleansed us and filled us with His Holy Spirit. Through His power, through His anointing, you and I can start to tame the tongue.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you and I can start to use our tongues for edification, for building up and for giving life.

Each and every single day you and I need help to control our tongue. Pray for this help each and every morning.

Prayer:-

• Pray for the opportunity to use your tongue today to build up, to edify and to bring life to others. Pray that you will not use your tongue negatively.


• Pray that this same desire would spread through your congregation.

Do It Today

Resolve to say nothing negative, degrading, rude or destructive today, ie Resolve to use your tongue only for good for the entire day.

Tuesday July 6, 2010

Read Proverbs 15:1-4

Whoever wrote ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ was an idiot. Words can hurt. Words can cause heart ache.

Words can bring a man to the point of suicide. Words can cause a life time of misery. More damage has been done through the misuse of words than by any bomb or weapon fashioned by mankind.

But words can also bring healing. Words can bring hope and meaning and life. Words can restore a broken relationship and mend a broken heart. Words can build up and edify and cheer a fallen heart. Words are powerful, whether powerfully good or powerfully evil.

The writer of the Proverbs has much to say about the way we use our words. They can turn away wrath or stir up anger. Our tongue can command knowledge or it can gush forth folly. It can be a tree of life or it can crush the Spirit.

As we think about the warning of Jesus in Matthew 12:36-37 let us be careful to use our words wisely, to speak for the edification of others, to bring healing and life. Let us make sure that no unwholesome talk (Ephesians 4:29) comes out of our mouths but only that which edifies others and benefits those who listen. Let us learn to think before we open our mouths. Let us weigh up the consequences of our words so that every word is beneficial and helpful.

Prayer:-

• Pray for the work of Shiloh Church Ministries in India as they seek to comfort, restore hope and bring healing to those displaced by the violence and anti-Christian sentiment in Orissa State, India. Pray that God would use these believers to rebuild lives, to restore hope and to bring salvation to many. Pray for the much needed funds.


• Pray for our brothers training in Myanmar  to preach the gospel. These students need wisdom, financial support and the skills to go out into the world as fearless preachers. Pray that God would provide. Pray that these men (and their families) would not hesitate to bring the Word of Life to the villages they are assigned or sent to.

Do It Today

Prayerfully consider who you might encourage today with your words. Pray about it and do it.

Monday July 5, 2010

Read Luke 6:43-45

Our words reveal who we really are. They are a dead give away to what’s inside of us. Why? For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Jesus makes it clear that my words reveal the real me.  I remember meeting a significant leader in a church organisation who spoke of sexual matters more than anything else in our meetings together. Can you tell what was on his mind and in his heart? Another person I met talked incessantly about his car. Hmm? I wonder what was in his heart? The simple truth is that what we talk about reveals who we are because our mouth flows out of our heart.

Take stock of what’s coming out of your mouth and you may well be surprised.

Jesus uses the example of nature to make His point.  A fig tree bears figs.  A grape tree bears grapes, period. The fruit shows what kind of plant it is. Likewise our mouths show what kind of person we are and what kind of heart we have.  Let me ask you the pertinent question. What are your words saying about you and our heart?

Prayer:-

• Pray for those who preach and teach in your congregation - the minister, lay preachers, Cell leaders, Sonday School teachers and so on. Ask God to change the heart of these men and women as necessary so that the good things out of the goodness of their heart is being brought forth. Pray that these men and women will be close to God, learning from Him and able to teach us what they themselves have first learned.


• Pray for the teachers and preachers in China. They are literally on the firing line. Ask God to give them a holy and righteous life to match their message of salvation. Pray that God would protect them and make them courageous in the face of opposition.

Do It Today

Carry a  note book around with you this week and jot down (in summary) everything you say. On Saturday night, read what you’ve said this week and seek to determine  what your words are revealing about your heart.

Saturday July 3, 2010

Read John 15:1-17

As you prepare yourself for our gathered time of ‘worship’ tomorrow take time to think seriously about what Jesus is saying in John 15.

As you are well aware already, this passage talks about Jesus being the vine, God the vine dresser and us being the branches.

The passage culminates with vs 7-8.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

How do we remain in Christ Jesus? As you read the passage, it’s clear that remaining in Him means walking in obedience, and obedience means loving each other as Jesus has loved us.

Think about tomorrow. As the body of Christ gathers you have the perfect opportunity to love others, to be obedient to Christ. You have the opportunity to share the Word and your life with others, to give to them sacrificially and to give to the Lord.

How will that play itself out for you tomorrow? My guess is that it depends largely on how your prepare yourself for tomorrow today.

Prayer:-

• Pray that tomorrow’s service will be acceptable to the Lord and that all who come, will come with a pure heart and a desire to meet with God.


• Pray for our brothers and sisters in Vietnam and Laos who meet in secret or in fear of the authorities. Pray that God would protect them and use them to grow His kingdom. Pray that we see many more come to the Lord through their witness.

Do It Today

Spend time asking God how He wants to use you tomorrow in church. Ask God how you can serve, who you can serve and what you can bring to worship

Friday July 2, 2010

Read Mark 4:1-20,

I’ve personally witnessed the difference between good soil and bad soil. Having filled 3 vegetable growing tanks with good soil and watched an abundance of  good and luscious fruit and vegies grow, our next growing tank was a disaster. We purchased the soil from a different provider and in 3 days we noticed that the intended area for vegetable growth was inhabited with spiky, sharp weeds. These weeds have come up ever since and have spread to other areas in our garden.  When we think of good soil, we think of the former soil that allowed healthy luscious fruit/vegetables to grow.

As a Christian being good soil  is directly related to the Word of God.

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

The Word of God is sown in our hearts and that Word bears fruit - 30, 60 or even 100 times what was sown. The Word has an impact in our lives and shines out from us.

What could that fruit be in every day life? It is impossible to pin down to any one example. But we can sum it up in concept. If we are good soil then the Word produces in us the fruit of obedience.  As good soil we are obedient to the Word. We do as it says. Like James the half brother of our Lord encourages us, we do not simply read the Word. We read it and do what it says. We do not deceive ourselves. We do not love the world with all its trappings but we love the Word and seek to apply it to ourselves, our own lives, before we worry about anyone else.

Are you good soil?

Prayer:-

Pray for the World Changers as they continue to plan and organise missions among us. Pray for them as they communicate with the missionaries we support. Pray that World

• Changers will be bearing much fruit.


• Pray for Session as we continue our new meeting structure. Pray that as the various ministry and support groups join us we will have rich fellowship, intimate prayer times and deep growth in the Word.

Do It Today

Spend time asking God to show you which areas of your life need to be changed so that you are able to bear fruit 30, 60 or 100 times what was sown.

Thursday July 1, 2010

Read Mark 4:18-19

Worry and anxiety are almost a natural part of life, aren’t they? Worry is so common, even among believers, that we’ve forgotten that it’s actually a sin. Worry/anxiety distracts us from our Christian mission. It deprives us of energy and joy. It veils Christ’s Lordship. It leaves us hopeless and adrift in a world desperately needing hope.

As we consider the third kind of soil we again need to note that this person receives the Word. They may call themselves ‘Christian’. They may, as with the rocky soil, go through certain Christian motions.  They may speak like a Christian, act like a Christian for quite some time.

But look at vs 19 closely.

but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

The weedy soil person puts the concerns of this life above his/her walk with the Lord. There’s always too much to fix, too many things to do, too many exciting alternatives to spending time with the Lord and to do His work. There’s so little time in a day and so many things that have to be done that this person just never gets to God. God is always on the bottom of the list. God is always tacked onto the end of the day. God is…, in reality, ignored. Other things are just too important.

Hear this truth very carefully. If you sense that this is your life or if you feel as though you are rocky soil, you are probably not saved. If you are not bearing fruit (and Jesus makes it clear that the person of rocky or weedy soil doesn’t bear fruit) then you are probably at present hell bound. You need to take a drastic look at your life. You need to repent and believe in Jesus. You need a dramatic reorganisation of your life.

If you were to die tonight as weedy soil, as rocky soil, you would be in desperate straights, probably staring at an eternity separated from God. Do something about it now, before it’s too late.

Now these are harsh words aren’t they? And you may be feeling angry towards me, right? Well think of it as a doctor warning you that you have terminal cancer. Life saving surgery is available but it’s radical. It’s 100% effective and guaranteed to work but you have to take it. If you refuse you will die. Sin, a lack of fruit bearing, being rocky soil or weed soil, is terminal cancer. It will kill you and send you directly to hell. But there is a 100% guaranteed cure. You can take radical surgery.

Surgery begins with believing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and was raised to life for your justification. Surgery involves giving your entire life (every inch of it, including money, assets, time, energy, body, thoughts, eyes and so on) to Christ and choosing to serve Him. In effect, you bind yourself to Christ and commit to doing what He wants you to do, not what you want to do. Surgery means asking God for forgiveness and handing over the controls to Christ.

But rest assured, when you turn to Christ the cancer of sin is fully removed. God cancels your sin and credits righteousness (the perfect righteousness of Christ) to your account. When you turn to Christ, God lavishes you with His forgiveness and love. He adopts you permanently into His family as a beloved son.

Prayer:-

• Pray that God would grow fruit in your life. Pray that you would be in a congregation that bears much fruit. Ask the Lord to convict the people in your congregation about the type of soil that they are and pray for receptive hearts willing to turn to Jesus in repentance and faith as necessary.


• Pray that our brothers and sisters in Myanmar would courageously proclaim the need to repent and believe to all who would listen. Pray that the college students would be strengthened in their resolve and grown in their ability to preach the word without fear or intimidation.

Do It Today

Find a quiet place to sit with God, alone. Read the parable of the soils again.

Spend time asking God to show you what type of soil you are and, if need be, how you can change.