Watch the Salt!

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. (6) Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4.5-6

How do we walk in wisdom and how do we redeem the time? And who are “them that are without”? Walking in wisdom indicates that we think about where we walk, how we walk, and why we walk there. You’ve probably heard the expression, “He walks like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” You can be sure that cat knows where his tail is all the time in relationship to the rocking chairs. Since we know others are watching, it makes good sense to walk in a way that does not do damage to the kingdom of God. We need to make good use of the time God gives us. Whatever time we waste can never be reclaimed. Parents often challenge their children with the command, “Don’t waste your time”, but do we fall into the trap of wasting precious time because we do not allow the Holy Spirit to direct our every step?

This next verse may be more powerful than we realize. Our speech needs two things: (1) to be always be spoken with grace, and (2) to be seasoned with salt. When we speak with grace, we guard the character of our words, realizing the value they may have to others. This phrase “seasoned with salt” takes our speech to a different level. When you put salt on something, it changes everything. When I realize that my speech has the potential to change everything, I certainly want what I say to be glorifying to God. How ought we to respond to every man? In a Christ-honoring, God-glorifying way. That will keep us busy today. Just my thoughts …

Submit – Resist – Draw Near! It Works!

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” James 4.7-8

There are three very powerful words used here that are significant for us: (1) submit, (2) resist, and (3) draw nigh. The one thing that marks James’ epistle apart from the others in one sense is its practicality. He cuts right to the chase on so many issues that are prevalent in the believer’s walk with the Lord.

Submit – in the simplest possible terms, quit arguing with God. Either He knows what is best or He doesn’t. If He doesn’t, then don’t submit. But if (since) He does, then we need to stop arguing with Him and give full voluntary submission. Until I do that, I can’t do the next thing James mentions with any degree of success. Everyone of us wants the devil to flee from us, but we must first resist him. That is only possible once I have submitted myself to the Lord. When Satan flees from us, it is not a once-for-all event. He will be back. We will need to keep on resisting him and that requires that we keep on submitting to God.

Draw nigh to God … this needs to be a daily experience for us. How do we do this? We take down the barriers that separate us from God. This goes back to the concept of submitting to God. When I am not arguing with God, I can allow those barriers to go away and I can draw near to Him. When He draws near to me, I become aware of His presence. It is not a “mystical” something. It is the very sense of His presence. Psalm 16.11 reminds us: “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” Let’s listen to James. Let’s do what he says. Let’s enjoy the benefits of submitting, resisting, and drawing near. Just my thoughts …

Selah – Think About It!

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah” Psalm 68.19

David speaks such great truth in this verse. When was the last time you said (to yourself or someone else): “Blessed be the Lord … ”? Do we even think like that? Why would David even make such a statement? The next phrase gives us his reason: “who daily loadeth us with benefits … ” When was the last time you stopped to try and count the Lord’s benefits? Take a moment right now and ask yourself, “Which of the Lord’s benefits as I most thankful for?” If you are like me, it is difficult to name just one. It is difficult for me to get beyond the generous gift of salvation. That benefit alone is enough for me to cry out “Blessed be the Lord … ”

Then David speaks specifically about “the God of our salvation.” At the point of oversimplifying truth, you and I need to see God first and foremost as “the God of our salvation.” If your days are anything like mine, it is so easy to simply view God as our divine errand boy. We don’t set out to do that, but when the going gets tough, we may bombard the throne of grace with “God, I need this now.” Or “God can you do this now?” our focus can shift to our needs instead of on the God who meets our needs.

When Bible scholar Dr. John Phillips was alive, I heard him speak several times and was always refreshed with his treatment of the psalms. I remember him clearly calling attention to this little word Selah. He would say in his distinctive manner, “That means, stop and think about that.” So here we read, “even the God of our salvation. Selah” Let that sink in. Just my thoughts …

With Thanksgiving? Really?

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4.6

The word careful here means anxious. Paul is reminding the Philippian believers that they do not need to be anxious about anything. If that is true for the Philippian believers, it is true for us as well. Don’t most of us get anxious about the things in our lives that we cannot control? What does that anxious feeling change? Absolutely nothing. So we have wasted energy and refused to exercise our faith in the only One who could control things.

What is Paul’s alternative to being anxious about things? Here it is: “in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Don’t miss the words “in everything”. There isn’t any part of your life about which God does not care. So everything means everything. Now notice the steps Paul mentions: (1) prayer, (2) supplication, and (3) thanksgiving. When you and I begin with prayer, everything changes. Prayer invokes a power that cannot be accessed any other way. We are saying to God, “I need you. I can’t handle this on my own.” Supplication is that part of prayer when we pray for others. How many times have we said to someone, “God’s Got This”? How many times have we reminded ourselves, “God’s Got This”?

The final element is to submit our anxious moments to God with thanksgiving. I suspect some are thinking about some life circumstance right now and thinking, “I am supposed to give thanks for this?” Only if you want God’s help. Only if you believe God knows best. Only if you trust God to always do what is best. Only then can you bring those anxious moments to Him and not be anxious. Just my thoughts …

Watch It!

“He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” Proverbs 13.3

When I was growing up, there were two maxims that were repeated to me over and over: (1) Children are to be seen and not heard, and (2) speak when spoken to. I know those two thoughts don’t fit every occasion, but as a child I soon learned there was a time to speak and a time to be quiet.

We have all been around people who were so in love with the sound of their voice they didn’t know when not to talk. I believe that is the type of person Solomon is describing in the last phrase of this verse. It is so easy to destroy relationships with hasty words that should never have been spoken. Can you remember a time when you said something and wished you could take it back, but it was too late? I certainly can.

Let’s focus for a moment on this phrase: “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life … ” When speaking of keeping your life, we are talking about your influence, your ability to interact with people. So, what does it mean to keep your mouth? When one keeps his mouth, he guards every word that comes out of his mouth. That means that we think about every word before we say it. Such an attitude requires constant focus. It requires that we give up the idea of simply saying whatever feels good and hope no body gets offended. It requires that the Holy Spirit approve my conversation, word by word. So here is the challenge for us all today. Let’s covenant with God to keep our mouth so that we can keep our life and thus keep our influence. Just my thoughts …

Clean Heart – Right Spirit!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51.10

David’s circumstances here certainly caused him to cry out to God for a clean heart. He had sinned with Bathsheba and Nathan, God’s prophet, had confronted him with his sin and David was broken before God. The critical thing to notice here is that even though David’s sin was heinous, he did not lose his relationship with God. He was even guilty of having Bathsheba’s husband murdered. If we are going to categorize sin, murder and adultery rank pretty high on the list. But David’s relationship with God was not broken, only his fellowship.

You and I can be thankful for the promise of eternal life. Once we come into the family of God, we have established a relationship with God that cannot be broken. Just as in our human families, there is nothing a child can do not to be our child, no matter what their behavior, the same is true in the family of God. But there are frequent times in families when the relationship is strained because of some particular behavior. Hence David prays, “renew a right spirit within me.” David has come to God with a repentant spirit. That is what God was looking for. In our own families when there is a strained relationship, we want to know if the guilty party has a repentant spirit. When they do, we are ready to forgive and move on.

Since the life you and I live each day is a delicate balance between pleasing self and glorifying God, our constant prayer needs to be that God will enable us to live a life that is above reproach and the only way we can do that is through the power of His Holy Spirit. Just my thoughts …

He’s On YOUR Side!

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8.31

You and I live in a world that brings a lot of “things” into our lives daily. We can make the choice to let these “things” overtake us or we can realize the truth of the verse above: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “You and God make a majority.” But what does that mean to you? Do you believe that your God is enough? It is one thing to say that I love God, but it is quite another thing to say that God is enough to handle my needs.

It is a given that Satan is against us. So in light of Satan’s constant daily attacks, how can the truth of this verse help us? Let’s see: (1) realize that Satan is not omniscient – only God is. (2) Realize that Satan is not omnipotent – only God is. (3) Realize that Satan is not omnipresent – only God is. Are you beginning to see the truth of our verse? Not only is God for us. He is all that we need for us. The only way Satan has any opportunity to be successful in his attacks on us is for us to allow him to succeed. What do I mean? The only place that Satan has any influence on us is in our minds. We win or lose the battle in our mind. Here are Paul’s words in Philippians 4.6-8: “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Can you see the significance of your thought life? Don’t give Satan free reign in your thought life. Remember, “If God be for us, who can be against us? ” Just my thoughts …

Grace … What a Teacher!

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Titus 2.11-12

“ … the grace of God … (is) teaching us … ” There is no better teacher than grace. There is no greater truth than grace. So, we need to listen when grace speaks. So what is grace teaching us? (1) To deny ungodliness in our lives. In our heads we know that we need to do that. Sometimes in our hearts we are not so sure. We seem to entertain thoughts of ungodliness at Satan’s suggestion. Grace says don’t. (2) We are to deny worldly lusts. Again, this is something we know in our heads but there are times when our hearts are drawn (for whatever reason) to worldly lust. Again, grace is teaching us don’t. Then grace says (3) to live soberly. The word sober here means serious, sensible, and solemn. In light of eternity, how can we choose to live any other way? Then grace says (4) to live righteously. Righteous living is right living. Most of us don’t have a problem determining right from wrong but there are times when we do struggle with choosing right rather than wrong. Grace says live righteously. Finally, grace says (5) to live godly. When you see someone who is living for God, you can tell by his or her choices, attitude, responses and behavior. When others look at your life, what do they see? What can they tell from your choices, attitude, responses and behavior? I want others to be able to see the fruit of God’s work in my life by the choices I make, the attitude I display, the responses I display to any given situation, and my behavior toward others. Do I always get it right? Absolutely not! Do I always want to get it right? Absolutely! By the way, why is this so important? Because we are living “in this present world” and they need to see God at work in us. Let’s work on this together! Just my thoughts …

Don’t Trick Yourself!

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (8) For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6.7-8

Sowing and reaping is a principle that is unchangeable. We are cautioned here against “sowing to the flesh”. What does it mean to sow to the flesh? It seems that so many of God’s children think they can live any way they want – sow whatever crop they want – and then pray for a crop failure. The doctrine of eternal security is not a license to live anyway we choose. The truth that we are saved eternally does not give us permission to simply “sow to the flesh”. “ … whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The principle doesn’t change because we are saved eternally. The concept that Paul is espousing here is that when we live in such a reckless manner, we are mocking God and God will not be mocked. His caution to us is “Be not deceived; God is not mocked … ”

The way to a life of spiritual enrichment is to “sow to the Spirit”. Sowing is a deliberate step to accomplish a specific purpose. Our daily purpose should be to have our lives so enriched by God’s Holy Spirit that everything we say and do would bring glory to our Heavenly Father. That would certainly qualify as sowing to the Spirit. Such a daily lifestyle does not occur accidentally. It comes because we purpose to do it. Let me challenge each one of us to such a lifestyle – one whose sole purpose is to glorify God by sowing to the Spirit. We will be blessed. The world will notice. And God will be glorified. Just my thoughts …

Mercy and Refuge! We All Need Them!

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Psalm 57.1

I like this translation: “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” I believe each one of us has experienced “storms of destruction” and when those storms come, we are in desperate need of refuge. The words of the psalmist are a great encouragement to me. He knows he can call on the mercy of His Heavenly Father. Notice his words here: “for in you my soul takes refuge … ” and where was that refuge? “in the shadow of your wings … ” The imagery here is important. A mother hen takes her baby chicks under the shadow of her wings for protection anytime danger is imminent. How long are they permitted to stay there? Until the danger is past! How long are you and I protected “in the shadow of (His) wings”? Until the danger is past! It doesn’t matter what kind of danger it is or how long it lasts.

“ … I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” What do we learn from this verse? We have a merciful God. We can find refuge in the place of protection provided for us by this merciful God. And knowing that storms are going to come, we can also know that they will “come … to pass.” As your life unfolds before you and you see storms of destruction on your horizon, take comfort in your merciful God and the knowledge that He has a place of refuge for you in the shadow of His wings and you can stay as long as you need. Just my thoughts …