1 Peter 3:10 For he that will LOVE life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil; and his lips that they speak not guile.
Oh Friends, it’s another day in the life, with the wind in somewhat of a hurry to get by my area, the past 20 hours or so. Where it’s been rushing to, only the Lord knows, but I certainly hope that it takes its time today, so stuff won’t be blown all over the place. (smile) And I want to apologize for a typo in yesterday’s Bit. Where the reference is James 2:26-27, it should be James 1:26-27. Please forgive the ole fella, for it seems he is only human after all. (smile) But it annoys me when I discover mistakes in the Bit later on, especially after having read them at least twice before sending them out. I take writing the Bits very seriously, and I don’t want someone quoting the wrong reference from it and thus doing damage to the Word. That means we also have to be very careful about what we write as well as what we speak. Yesterday we looked at some of the scripture dealing with the powerful but undisciplined tongue. Today we’ll continue looking at a few more. And first up is an entire passage from James that spells it out beautifully. Many of you will be familiar with it, but we’ll all certainly benefit from hearing it again. ‘For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude (likeness) of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.’ (James 3:7-12) Oh my people, those words of James are so true that they’re frightening! Very few of us have indeed been able to tame our tongues, and often what comes out of our mouths is so disgusting that it’s indeed poisonous. Bruh David says of the wicked in Psalm 140, a prayer for deliverance from evil men; ‘They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ (snakes) poison is under their lips. Selah.’ (Ps.140:3) And all of us know people, including believers, whose tongues are so sharp and poisonous that we quiver in shame and fear when they open their mouths. Then in Psalm 5, a prayer for protection, Bruh David shows us another aspect of the tongue: ‘For there is no faithfulness (uprightness) in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (an open tomb); they flatter with their tongue.’ (Ps.5:9) Yes my Friends, if the tongue isn’t spewing forth bilious words, then it’s putting out sweet, sugar-coated words of flattery, which are often insincere and poisonous too. Now neither of those things should be numbered amongst our attributes. And unfortunately, as James points out, we also bless God with our tongues, then turn right around and curse man, who’s made in God’s image and likeness, with that same unruly, undisciplined tongue. This ought not to be so, my brethren; for you can’t have sweet and salty, or bitter and tasty stuff coming from the same place. But mankind is certainly a different kind of animal yes Friends! Our God outdid Himself when He made us. It seems like the signals in our brains get mixed up quite easily, and then we oftimes behave like a runaway freight train, out of control, saying and doing things we know we shouldn’t do or say. And sadly, my people, that kind of behaviour only leads to negative emotions and reactions like anger, violence, bitterness, hatred, strife, and eventually out and out war. Just look around our world today nuh, at the numerous theatres of strife that are currently in force. Many of them have been caused by inappropriate language, some of it even spoken centuries ago, such is the vengeful, unforgiving mentality of man. But Friends, the biggest and saddest fact is that NONE of them will be settled without peaceful, sensible words being spoken and acknowledged by all sides. Yuh know it’s definitely amazing the great conflagrations and total destruction a small organ like out tongues can cause! But by the same token, it can also engender strong feelings of peace and LOVE. Oh my people, as I keep saying, life isn’t rocket science, just basic common sense, of people living decently together. So why do we cause destructive situations that only breed strife and war eh, when we can just as easily use our tongues to bring about the much more productive and positive benefits of peace and LOVE? It’s not always easy, especially when others go out of their way to rile us up. And with this quick and easy age of communication, we’re now hearing every day about somebody, or bodies, getting in trouble for their untimely words. When are we going to learn eh mih breddren, that if we don’t have anything good or sensible to say, that we should just shut up? However Friends, that’s one of the reasons Jesus gave us the Comforter, His Holy Spirit; to aid and abet us along life’s rough and rugged road, and if we use Him the way we ought, we’ll eventually gain victory over that deadly, evil, flattering, unruly, undisciplined, poisonous tongue of ours. Wow! What a small organ with so many negative attributes! My people, like everything else in life that’s worth doing, we just have to dig down deep and keep working seriously at it. So let’s have hope and faith, and pray that we’ll be the conquerors we were meant to be. Tomorrow, God willing, some more of what it takes to live a good, long, prosperous life. Till then, may we all walk in peace and harmony, enjoying the many blessings of our heavenly Father. Much LOVE!…before talking…let’s first stop and think…then ask Jesus to guide our tongues…
Oh Friends, it’s another day in the life, with the wind in somewhat of a hurry to get by my area, the past 20 hours or so. Where it’s been rushing to, only the Lord knows, but I certainly hope that it takes its time today, so stuff won’t be blown all over the place. (smile) And I want to apologize for a typo in yesterday’s Bit. Where the reference is James 2:26-27, it should be James 1:26-27. Please forgive the ole fella, for it seems he is only human after all. (smile) But it annoys me when I discover mistakes in the Bit later on, especially after having read them at least twice before sending them out. I take writing the Bits very seriously, and I don’t want someone quoting the wrong reference from it and thus doing damage to the Word. That means we also have to be very careful about what we write as well as what we speak. Yesterday we looked at some of the scripture dealing with the powerful but undisciplined tongue. Today we’ll continue looking at a few more. And first up is an entire passage from James that spells it out beautifully. Many of you will be familiar with it, but we’ll all certainly benefit from hearing it again. ‘For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude (likeness) of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.’ (James 3:7-12) Oh my people, those words of James are so true that they’re frightening! Very few of us have indeed been able to tame our tongues, and often what comes out of our mouths is so disgusting that it’s indeed poisonous. Bruh David says of the wicked in Psalm 140, a prayer for deliverance from evil men; ‘They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ (snakes) poison is under their lips. Selah.’ (Ps.140:3) And all of us know people, including believers, whose tongues are so sharp and poisonous that we quiver in shame and fear when they open their mouths. Then in Psalm 5, a prayer for protection, Bruh David shows us another aspect of the tongue: ‘For there is no faithfulness (uprightness) in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (an open tomb); they flatter with their tongue.’ (Ps.5:9) Yes my Friends, if the tongue isn’t spewing forth bilious words, then it’s putting out sweet, sugar-coated words of flattery, which are often insincere and poisonous too. Now neither of those things should be numbered amongst our attributes. And unfortunately, as James points out, we also bless God with our tongues, then turn right around and curse man, who’s made in God’s image and likeness, with that same unruly, undisciplined tongue. This ought not to be so, my brethren; for you can’t have sweet and salty, or bitter and tasty stuff coming from the same place. But mankind is certainly a different kind of animal yes Friends! Our God outdid Himself when He made us. It seems like the signals in our brains get mixed up quite easily, and then we oftimes behave like a runaway freight train, out of control, saying and doing things we know we shouldn’t do or say. And sadly, my people, that kind of behaviour only leads to negative emotions and reactions like anger, violence, bitterness, hatred, strife, and eventually out and out war. Just look around our world today nuh, at the numerous theatres of strife that are currently in force. Many of them have been caused by inappropriate language, some of it even spoken centuries ago, such is the vengeful, unforgiving mentality of man. But Friends, the biggest and saddest fact is that NONE of them will be settled without peaceful, sensible words being spoken and acknowledged by all sides. Yuh know it’s definitely amazing the great conflagrations and total destruction a small organ like out tongues can cause! But by the same token, it can also engender strong feelings of peace and LOVE. Oh my people, as I keep saying, life isn’t rocket science, just basic common sense, of people living decently together. So why do we cause destructive situations that only breed strife and war eh, when we can just as easily use our tongues to bring about the much more productive and positive benefits of peace and LOVE? It’s not always easy, especially when others go out of their way to rile us up. And with this quick and easy age of communication, we’re now hearing every day about somebody, or bodies, getting in trouble for their untimely words. When are we going to learn eh mih breddren, that if we don’t have anything good or sensible to say, that we should just shut up? However Friends, that’s one of the reasons Jesus gave us the Comforter, His Holy Spirit; to aid and abet us along life’s rough and rugged road, and if we use Him the way we ought, we’ll eventually gain victory over that deadly, evil, flattering, unruly, undisciplined, poisonous tongue of ours. Wow! What a small organ with so many negative attributes! My people, like everything else in life that’s worth doing, we just have to dig down deep and keep working seriously at it. So let’s have hope and faith, and pray that we’ll be the conquerors we were meant to be. Tomorrow, God willing, some more of what it takes to live a good, long, prosperous life. Till then, may we all walk in peace and harmony, enjoying the many blessings of our heavenly Father. Much LOVE!…before talking…let’s first stop and think…then ask Jesus to guide our tongues…
SCRIP-BITS 