Prayer

Let the Holy Spirit guide your speech

“Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalm 34:13).

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit” (Proverbs 15:4).

As you walk with God, He is concerned about the words that come out of your mouth–the things that you share, confess, affirm, and speak into the lives of others. It is a good thing to ask the Holy Spirit to be the guardian of your speech. The Bible tells us that we should be more involved with listening than we are with speaking (James 1:19).

It is freeing to know that God doesn’t ask you to speak all the time, talk about anything, and have an opinion about everything. God does, however, gives you great encouragement to speak things that are good, things that build others up, things that are bathed in grace, and things that come from His heart directly to yours.

Have you seen anyone speak discouragement and pain into someone, a spouse, a child, a friend, a coworker? “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). That person will bring destruction into their own life because of it.

Our words can justify us or condemn us (Matthew 12:37). They can bring us joy. (Proverbs 15:23), or corrupt and dishonor (Matthew 15 :11). What we say can either build up or break down the soul of whomever we are speaking to (Proverbs 15:4). The consequences of what we speak are so great that our words can leads us to ruin or save our lives (Proverbs 13:13)

Everyone has a choice about what he or she says, and there are rewards for making the right one. “Whoever guard his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23). “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

Let the Holy Spirit be the guardian of your speech and you will never speak ill of anyone again. Won’t you lift someone up with encouraging words today? God bless you!


Because Christ died, I can have victory over sin

“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvelous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory” (Psalm 98:1).

A mother once overheard her five-year-old daughter singing the popular hymn Victory in Jesus. The little girl finished the hymn with a slight change in the ending, “He loved me ‘ere I knew Him, and all my love is through Him”

When the mother heard the words “through Him,” something registered deep within her heart. Suddenly she realized that she is inadequate, and incapable of doing good. By her nature, like the rest of us, she has and continue to flirt with sin. But because Christ died on Calvary she can do all things through Him. So, in her own words she shares the following

English: Resurrection of Christ

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All my love is through Him, who is the very essence of love. This truth sets me free. I cannot love but He can. I cannot be patient, but He can. I cannot be kind, even if I want to. I cannot help but envy. I can neither swallow my pride nor control my anger. I cannot forgive or trust again and I cannot keep on giving–but Jesus can. Jesus can and does love others. Through Him it is possible for me. And that is victory.

Do you hunger and thirst after Righteousness?

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

As you navigate your Christian journey, you’ll face trial and tribulation; partly because you love Jesus and partly because the enemy is upset that he has lost a prized possession. He will use every trick in the book to win you back, and if you are not careful, you will be right back where you had started—living in sin.

It is very easy to get distracted in today’s world. Lifestyles are presented in magazines and on television that seem so appealing. And the enemy will entice you with “the good life”—money, cars, clothes; glitz and glamour. But if you know who you are and what is your purpose in Christ, the tempting pursuit of such things will not attract or entice you.

However, as you press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. You’ll need fuel to sustain you on your journey. That fuel can only come from your inner hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God. The more resolute you are in your quest for the prize, the more you’ll seek to know Him .

Your daily hunger after God brings great joy to His heart. He celebrates your every step of obedience to His Word, your every response of faith to His leading, and your every expression of wonder for His ways with you. He delights in your pursuit to know Him more, in your desires to enjoy Him more, and in your longings to love Him more.

As you hunger after Him, you will find that His banqueting table is always full, that His portions are more than generous, and that His hospitality is beyond compare.

To hunger after Him means that you will never go away empty or dissatisfied. In Him are a thousand delights, a limitless supply of eternal joys, and an endless amount of spiritual blessings.

Beloved brothers and sisters, I hope when everything has been said and done, you will say with confidence, as the apostle Paul did:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

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Jesus is the only Mediator you’ll need

“There is one God, and one mediator, between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus“(1 Timothy 2:5).

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...

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A mediator takes the hand of one party and places it into the hand of another party. A mediator is someone who has one primary aim, and that is to bring peace to a broken relationship.

Most of us are aware of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, between Israel and Palestine. We also know that over the years the United States have delegated several peace mediators to sit down with both parties to try to work out a compromise; but to date no one has been able to take the hand of one party and place it into the hand of the other.

Jesus Christ is your representative to God, and He is God’s representative to you. He does not have any hidden agenda—He has your best interest at heart, and He is a genuine mediator. As your mediator He presents your need of mercy to God, and as God’s mediator He extends God’s grace to you. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Jesus Christ is the only mediator that you will ever need, for He is the One whose sacrifice on the cross at Calvary for sin completely satisfied the demands of God’s justice and holiness. The only one that you should allow to come between you and God is His Son, Jesus Christ. “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).


What’s the benefit for enduring hardship for Christ?

Holy Spirit Stained Glass

“If we endure hardship in His name, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us” (2 Timothy 2:12)

There are many blessings that belong to those who endure hardship while carrying out the work of Jesus Christ. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). Some of those blessings are for now and others are for later. The grace and joy that are yours in the Holy Spirit are an important part of your present blessings. As wonderful and precious as these blessings are, the future blessings are quite astonishing.

So, as you press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, brace yourself to suffer affliction from those who oppose Christ. Affliction is a very real part of every believer’s journey here on earth. Affliction includes anything that brings difficulty, tribulation, persecution, or trouble because of your love for Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that the early believers celebrated when they were persecuted for their faith. That response is possible because there is an amazing grace that God gives you when you walk through affliction of any kind.

It is a grace that provides you with an inner joy even during the hardest of times. This joy is produced by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who puts within you everything you need to endure. The apostle Paul say best in 1 Thessalonians 1:6: “And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit:

Beloved, as you continue to faithfully serve, irrespective of your circumstance, the One who reigns over all, you will one day join Him and reign with Him when He returns to establish His kingdom here on earth. Think of it, you will actually reign with the One who now reigns over you.

What a glorious future is ahead of you. No wonder the Bible declares, “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later” (Romans 8:18).

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