My Daughter's Peace

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Some time ago, our Lord placed it upon my heart to share a scripture with my then 6 year-old daughter:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Universal Challenges
I explained to my daughter that, whether we're a child or an adult, we all face problems that can get the best of us at times. All of us succumb to “being anxious” now and again. “It's not a kid thing,” I shared with my daughter, “it's a people thing.”

My daughter was comforted to know that she wasn't the only one who sometimes faces these things. Funny how satan works that way - telling us that we're the only ones who are challenged by this or that. God says different, though. God makes it clear to us that there is one adversary - satan - there is one Saviour - Christ Jesus - and there is one kind of person - people like us.

1 + 1 + 1 = Peace
I asked my daughter what 1 + 2 equaled. "Three, Dad," she replied proudly. "Will the answer ever be four....or five.....or two?" I asked her, and she replied to each question with a smile and a confident "No!"

I then explained to my daughter that God's Word is much the same way; it adds up to the same answer every time, if we'll only practice it as God says.

"When we look at this scripture we find out that 1 + 1 + 1 = peace, my daughter," I said. With her eyes wide and her interest piqued, she asked "How Dad?"

God's Sure Equation for Peace
When it comes to Philippians 4:6-7, 1 + 1 + 1 = peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we:

(1) Refuse to be anxious about a certain thing
+
(1) pray to God, giving Him thanks from our hearts for the things He's already done in our hearts and lives
+
(1) make our request for His help
=
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sounds good, right? But does it work?

God's Promises Put To The Test
My daughter and I had a 3-step plan from God for peace in the midst of any situation, and we were ready to put it to the test. Once my daughter had memorized the 3 parts to God's equation for peace, she put it into action.

The next time my daughter was upset, I reminded her of the scripture. She stopped and said, "Can you help me remember, Dad?" I simply asked her to tell me what the scripture said, and she repeated it to me, and then prayed to God.

I listened as she tearfully prayed, "Father, I don't want to be sad or angry. Thank you for my new bike. Please help me not to be sad or angry."

Then she leaned up against me and was quiet for a some time. "Do you feel the peace?," I asked. "I feel it, Dad," she said quietly as though she was somewhat amazed that it had actually worked. "I'm not upset anymore."

Like You're Getting Tired.....
After a few days of successfully using this scripture in her life, my daughter came to me with a wonderful revelation.

"Dad," she said, "Every time when I pray to God to help me, it's like I get tired at the end." I didn't understand at first, but then I watched as she illustrated for me.

My daughter lowered her shoulders and deeply exhaled. "Like that, Dad," she said. The light bulb came on inside of me, and I smiled and said "Do you know what that feeling is, my daughter?"

"It’s the peace, isn‘t it, Daddy?," she asked, and I nodded with a lump in my throat.

Simplicity
It's funny how easy it is for us humans to complicate the simplicity of God's Word. In our well-intentioned efforts to greater understand what His Word is saying, we sometimes miss that its greatest power is in its simplicity.

The Apostle Paul urges us to remember and remain in the simplicity that is in Christ. He also tells us that when we believe that Word of God, it works. My daughter's peace has put an exclamation point on those truths for me. She's learning the Word, believing it, applying in her life, and it's working just like God said it would.

How to describe the sweetness of the peace she receives from Him when she prays?

Well, it transcends all understanding.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Matthew 11:25

Relative

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My grandpa used to say,

“All things are relative.

It just depends on which side of the locked bathroom door you’re on.

If you’re on the outside, things are a little less relative."

Relativity is a funny thing, in a relative way. Relativity (what seems important to us) changes all the time. The are so many factors that affect whether something seems relative to us at any moment, and the next moment that which was relative may now seem not to be relative due to some newly emerging issue which now seems more relative.

Relativity is so personal and so based upon what I think about things (regardless of what you may think, feel or need). That’s how I know that it’s a concept that’s not of God, because it’s a “me” thing and not a “God” thing or a “thinking of others” thing.

God, however, uses our ever-changing sense of relativity to keep us in check, even when we think that we’re on a roll, spiritually speaking. This happened to me some years ago.

While having breakfast at a local establishment, two senior citizen ladies were dining several tables away from my children and I. Our family was having breakfast before going to G-ball and T-ball games for my kids, so we were all in baseball uniforms or t-shirts and jeans.

God has blessed me in helping me to lose many pounds over the past 15 years - from nearly 300 pounds when I didn’t know Christ down to my current weight. Now understand that I’ve haven’t been walking around thinking I’m a fashion model or something :-). I still have another 40 pounds or so that I’d like to lose, so I’m not a toothpick yet and - even when I get to that weight, Lord willing - I’d like to think that I will remember that it was God who healed me and not me who accomplished anything by myself.

This glorious weight loss testimony, however, was lost on these 2 older women sitting nearby, neither of whom had ever met me. Quite loudly, one woman said to the other, “Look at that! Some people in this town are unbelievable. They're walking around with their stomachs hanging out.” My kids never heard a word of it, busy with their scrambled eggs and all. But I’m sure most of the rest of the lobby heard it.

It was obvious from both the volume and bitterness of the 2 ladies comments that my feelings were not a relative issue to them. But were their feelings relative to me?

How should I respond? My back was to the ladies’ table, so this enabled me to take a few minutes before we got up to leave to commune with our Father about what had happened.

The Lord showed me a vision of me going over to the ladies and quietly kneeling down and humbly sharing the testimony of my healing and subsequent weight loss to this point. In the vision, the 2 women were apologetic, embarrassed and remorseful. “I know that if you’d known all of this”, I saw and heard myself saying in the vision, “That you wouldn’t have said what you said, and I just wanted you to know that I understand”.

Sounds great, right? But there was something about that vision that bothered me. It was the fact that I could stand up and go talk to the ladies, share my story, and make the Truth of my circumstance known to them, and then my feelings would be relative to them. Perhaps we could even have forged a bond through the experience. But - at what cost?

I realized what God wanted to teach me through that vision was that I didn’t need to make my case to those ladies, even through a sincerely humble sharing of my story like the one God showed me in the vision. Those ladies didn’t know my story, but to reveal it to them would have only made them feel bad, and that wasn’t what God - or I - wanted to see happen.

What God wanted me to do was to give Him glory in that very moment for how he had blessed me physically; to worship Him and glorify Him at that moment in response to satan’s attempt to distract me from the wonder of what God has already done for me. To say even one more time, “Father, thank You for seeing what the doctors didn’t, for touching my body and healing me, and for bringing about this weight loss to Your glory." And so I did just that. I thanked Him. I worshipped Him for Who He is. And His glory rested upon me.

In the course of a few short minutes - by stopping and taking a moment to speak directly to my Father and ask Him for understanding - I was transformed by His power from someone who didn’t know how to respond to “an attack," to someone who really wanted those 2 ladies to know that I loved them.

As I stood up and made my way out of the restaurant with my children, I kept looking at the 2 ladies. I wanted them - in such a urgent way - to make eye contact with me so that I could just say “Hi” in a way that let them know I loved them. They didn’t look up, though, and the Lord hadn’t given me liberty to speak to them first, so I went on past them, loving them all the same.

I have been hurt. I have hurt other people. You have known both, too. Jesus wants the wounds in all of our hearts - even those of people whom we have never met or those who innocently attack us - to be healed. He wants our covetousness to be transformed into love. He wants our fear to be defeated and converted into faith. He wants our anger to dissipate into zeal. He wants us all to know the love of our Father, who adores us without ceasing. He wants us all to know Father’s presence, and the healing that is there.

Our Father God has caused me to want these things by teaching me daily and, when I obey Him, I am seeing love and faith and zeal come to pass to His glory.

Grandpa was on to something about things being relative, I guess. But it’s no good to be locked in the bathroom with all its perks all the while knowing that others are outside suffering. Neither is it any good to be locked out of the bathroom, feeling alone and abandoned, feeling as though some have been blessed while we have not.

There’s only one thing that’s good. What’s good is to be free through the power of our Father God. It’s good to be free to come and go as we move through this life at His bidding, and to ever remain in the glorious light of His presence.

Our Father. Our Father. That’s the only “relative” we need. Our Father.


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Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

NOTE: This posting is a copyrighted writing by the author, published on this blog with their express consent. You may not re-publish this writing (including in blogs or e-mailings) without the express, written consent of the author. You may obtain such permission by contacting Nameless Faceless Love via e-mail.

The Evangelistic Bride

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Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
1 Peter 3:1-4

God's Word makes it perfectly clear that there is another wife and another husband in His will; another Bride and another Bridegroom; a symbolic, spiritual marriage between the Body of Christ and the Saviour Himself:

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Romans 7:4

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:7-8

So many of us who profess to be disciples of Christ are praying for "revival." We note well-known revivals of the past as we pray for present ones - the Welsh Revival, Azuza Street, Toronto Airport, Brownsville. These revivals have all come, made a great impact, and have gone and, though many have tried to replicate their results by seeking to do exactly the same things as people involved with these revivals, they have never been replicated in such a manner.

This tells us that those events were an out-pouring from heaven sent by God, not something that was produced by man. Will God send down revival like this in the future? It seems reasonable to assume so. But, in that revivals of these types have not produced the great harvest of disciples for which so many are praying in these days, we must ask ourselves a frank question; What will produce the great latter day harvest of disciples for which so many are praying?

In that the Husband and Bridegroom has made it perfectly clear that He desires to pour out a blessing from above, might His bride, the Body of Christ, make note of 1 Peter 3:1-4 as direction on how we must change so that we can serve Him and His missing children as part of His great, latter day harvest?

In Noah's day, the earth was flooded because a 2 things; there was a great out-pouring from heaven, and the wells upon the earth opened up and began sending forth water, as well.

When we read 1 Peter 3:1-4 in light of the Bride, Christ's Body, submitting to our Husband, Christ Jesus, we see a revelation of how the "wells of the earth" can open up to produce a great flood of disciples in these latter days.

When Christ's Body begins to be truly submissive to Christ Jesus, those who do not believe will be won over without words through seeing the purity and reverence for Christ in our lives.

When we, Christ's Body, begin to turn away from the pretty things with which we have adorned the Church in the Western World (be it institutional, house church, or otherwise) in the past - the desire to organize and expand as though building an empire, the rush to be a visible part of the latest Christian "movement," the spiritual, intellectual and monetary arrogance toward our Brethren in the Third World, the slick presentations of His simple, Holy Gospel - and we begin to seek to manifest a gentle and quiet Spirit from within that God considers so valuable, the lost will see Christ Jesus lifted up and turn to Him in great numbers.

In the days of Acts, God's people met in both the temple (today's institutional churches) and in the homes. Because of the purity, reverence, and simplicity of believers in the days immediately after Christ's ascension to be with our Father, there was a place for both of these in the faith community. In much the same way, there is a place for both the vocal proclamation of the Gospel in the temple and from house to house and in the highways and the hedges, and also in the pure, reverent, simple living out of the Gospel in disciples' daily lives.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15)?
Without a doubt.

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15)?
Most assuredly, it is the commandment of Christ Himself.

But these "outward" and "public" ministries must be coupled with the daily, unfeigned, intimate work of the gentle, quiet Spirit of God in the hearts of disciples of Christ.

When all these things - the outward and the inward - begin to take place simultaneously, the lost will respond to evangelism and discipleship as they never have before. When the meek and quiet Spirit of the messengers rightly aligns with the purported promise of the big event, those who who have been desperately searching for a Saviour will be won over to Him without words in greater numbers than ever before.

And whether God accomplishes this by having us use words or not, the end result will be as it should be; He and He alone will receive all the glory.

Nameless, Faceless, and God Gets the Glory.

Perhaps For A Moment Just Like This

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Esther was a beautiful, young Jewish girl, living a normal Jewish life when she was selected as a potential new queen for the king. When the time came for him to select his new queen, he noticed her beauty and chose Esther, not knowing she was a Jew.

Granted, Esther was just a young teenage girl, but she must have wondered at some point “Why me? Why was I chosen?”. She must have known that her beauty played into it, but she must also have known that, had the king known that she was a Jew, he probably would never have married her.

Esther would have found it difficult to fully appreciate and enjoy her queenship as a result, you see. She was just a young woman. She did not seek out the throne of the queen. It was thrust upon her, seemingly by forces beyond her control. There was no way that Esther could have known the terrifying circumstance that had caused God Himself to choose her and exalt her to her current position.....

A Plot Is Hatched
Fortunately, Esther’s uncle Mordecai was nearby and was a wise man of God, and he counseled Esther regularly during her reign. This was providential, because an evil man named Haman (the king’s right hand man) who hated the Jews - and especially Mordecai - had devised a plan to destroy all of the Jews in the kingdom.

Haman told King Ahasuerus that there were a people in his kingdom that did not follow his laws, and that they should be destroyed. He convinced the king to decree that these “Jews” were to be killed at a certain date.

A Dangerous Assignment
Now when Mordecai heard of these things, he began to mourn, and eventually had opportunity to send word to Esther about what Haman had purposed to do to their people. Mordecai sent word to her that she should go unto the king and ask the king to stop this from happening.

Esther, however, was deathly afraid of doing that. She sent word to Mordecai, saying “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.”

When Mordecai heard of Esther’s hesitancy to go to the king to save her people, he sent word back to her, saying Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther acknowledged the wisdom of Mordecai’s words, took action, and her people were saved through the courage and bravery of Queen Esther. Were it not for the willingness of a young Jewish woman to face death, we would never have heard of a man named Jesus, never have had the opportunity for forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, never have received God’s New Testament Word through men of God named Peter and John and Paul.

She was scared to act, scared to die, but when Esther heard Mordecai’s last words to her, it spurred her to respond with faith and fearlessness to the call of God:

Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

A Rainy Assignment
Some 50 years ago, a nameless, faceless man had come to know Christ as his Saviour and Lord. Soon after, he had invited a couple of his closest friends to a church service so that they could learn about Jesus, too. Both of his friends received Christ as their Saviour and Lord that night.

On their way home, it began raining torrentially, so powerfully that they eventually could not see beyond the hood of the man’s truck. So the men pulled over to the side of the road and began to chat until the rain had passed. That’s when our Lord dropped a bombshell on that man.

“Tell the rain to stop” the Lord spoke inside of his heart. The man just kept talking to his friends as though he hadn’t heard the Lord. “Tell the rain to stop,” the Lord spoke a second time, and the man tried to ignore Him again. But the third time the Lord spoke to the man, He changed his “tone of voice”.

The Lord said somberly, “Tell the rain to stop.”

In recounting the events of that evening, that nameless, faceless man said he knew from the Lord’s “tone of voice” that he would never have this opportunity again. He felt the urgency of the Lord, and he knew that he must respond to Him.

He hem-hawed around for a couple minutes trying to find the words to explain to his two friends what he was about to say, but he finally gave up and simply said, “Look, the Lord told me to tell the rain to stop, and I have to do it.”

With that, he said, “Peace be still, in the name of Jesus.”

At the moment that man spoke the name of Jesus, not one more drop of rain touched the truck. Instantaneously, there was not a single cloud in the sky. The men sat in that truck by the side of the road and cried for hours and hours.

That man had been scared silly to do what the Lord had told him to do. But he became aware of the urgency of the Lord directing him to act in obedience. He became aware that he had to respond to His command. He became aware that, perhaps for a moment just like that, God had called him to the kingdom.

Who Knows?
Is God asking you to do something right now that you’re afraid to do? Are you wondering why you are in this situation in the first place? Are you wishing that someone else would take responsibility? Are you wondering “Why me?”.

Who knows whether or not God placed you in the spot you’re in for a moment just like this? Who knows what miraculous result might come about when you respond to God with faith and fearlessness? Who knows what God can do when we say “Yes” in spite of frightening outward appearances, past failures or personal insecurities?

When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our faith, for His Word tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our hope, for His Word tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our love, for His Word tells us that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

My friends, sometimes God’s very best blessings are found in the darkest of circumstances.

I will pray for you what I pray for myself, my friends, that we would be of good courage because of our God, that we would realize that fear's attempts to bind us must come so that His courage within us can be made manifest, and that we would respond to fear in faith, knowing that the victory over fear has already been accomplished by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

NOTE: This posting is a copyrighted writing by the author, published on this blog with their express consent. You may not re-publish this writing (including in blogs or e-mailings) without the express, written consent of the author. You may obtain such permission by contacting Nameless Faceless Love via e-mail.

Bart Starr and The Dimes

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This post is short and sweet. Simple. Powerful. It's a story about legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr and a tradition that he established with his children.

He probably understood that the tradition was an investment in the confidence, self-esteem and very core of his children's lives. But I wonder if he knew before this incident that it was an investment in his own life, as well.

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.
Luke 6:38 (NLT)

Read. Consider. Live for Him.

When a considerably older Bart Starr was quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, he had a way of letting his kids know how much he appreciated it whenever they did something well. He’d give them a dime. If they did something extra well, he’d give them two dimes. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money in terms of today’s values, but you have to remember that Starr retired over 30 years ago.

One day, when the Packers were playing the Bears in Chicago, he had a terrible game - one of the worst he’d ever had. He couldn’t seem to find his receivers, he got mixed up on a couple of plays, and, in reality, he probably lost the game for the Packers. To make matters worse, the game was televised, and the commentators were unmerciful. They began to say very uncomplimentary things about him - mostly having to do with speculation that he was getting too old to play anymore.

So, when the team flew back to Green Bay that night, he was about as low as he could get. He was even beginning to believe, himself, that maybe they were right. Maybe he should stop playing. But then something happened that changed his feelings completely.

He arrived home at about 3:00 a.m., long after everyone had gone to bed and was asleep. When he started to go bed, he spotted something on his pillow. Lifting it up and taking it to the light, he saw a note from his son. It read, “Dear Dad. I think you’re the greatest quarterback who’s ever been, and the greatest dad too!”

Down at the bottom of the note, carefully taped in place, there was not just one dime, and not just two dimes, but three shiny dimes.

Corrupt Communication

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This post is from a dear Sister in the Midwest. It is a no-gloss, genuine writing about a matter with which many believers struggle; corrupt communication. In other words, talking and thinking badly about other people.

We are thankful for people like this believer who are ready and willing at our Lord's prompting to share the intimate - and sometimes not so flattering - details of the actual journey with Christ.

Because of their humility, we are encouraged that we are not alone in our journey, and find hope in the answers they have received from God as they sought to deal with issues in their lives that many of us face.

Another Sister in Christ, Patsy Clairmont, talks about how she felt like her "clay vessel" was all cracked. Then one day, she says, our Lord acknowledged that there were cracks in her vessel, but then asked her, "Where do people see My light shining from when they look at you, Patsy?"

The answer was clear and life-changing; people could see His light in her because it was shining out to them through the cracks.

Because of believers like the author of this post, who share some of the "cracks" in their vessel and how God heals those up even as He allows His Light to shine through them, we are all better for having learned from God through them.

Lately I have been quite stressed -- I mean really stressed about some things going on in my life and on my job. I know all the bible verses to lean on and what I should do, but just like Peter was on the night that Jesus was arrested, I was just in a rotten state of mind. Somehow we know what we should do, but we let our emotions take over and cause us to take a slight detour into the wilderness. I know how Peter must have felt because he even began to curse out the little girl. I didn't curse out any children, but I have to admit that I have probably cursed more in the past few weeks than I have in a long time. I even remember saying to [someone] yesterday that I was out of control and needed to get some alone time on the sidelines with the Lord because I knew that I was spinning out of control.

Each morning I have prayed forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to help me to "keep my cool today". But it is short lived. I have been having a short fuse and it didn't take much to set it off. Everything and everybody got on my nerves -- even the dog!

I cherish the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need Him every day and depend upon Him to keep me on track. He is my very best friend. One of the secrets of this journey that I have learned is that you must have alone time with the Holy Spirit or your life will be shipwrecked. You will find yourself crashing into the rocks through every storm if you don't have that relationship with Him. It is vital that you set aside time with Him every day to get the game plan for the day.

The bible says that in the presence of God there is joy and peace. I can always tell when I am not in His presence because my life is out of balance. Something is not quite right. It's like having on two left shoes. When I am in His presence, even when my life is upside down, He gives me a peace to get through it. But He withdraws His Presence when I choose to be ugly and let my fleshly thoughts rule me. When I am being prideful and self-centered, I feel a heaviness and everything seems to go wrong. I just feel ugly.

The bible says in Hosea 5:5 - "I will go and return to My place till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early."

When I say that the Holy Spirit withdraws His presence, I am not saying that He leaves us or forsakes us. He promised to never do that in His Word. But the presence of His joy and peace is lifted from our lives when we choose not to be obedient to His Word, or do things that are sinful. Its like when one of the partners of a marriage becomes offended at something the other partner said or did. It doesn't end the marriage, but there is a strain there. The atmosphere changes. That's what it is like when we offend the Holy Spirit. It strains our relationship with Him because He is offended. But what great joy! Because the bible says He is open to be reconciled with us if we will acknowledge our wrong doing and seek Him for forgiveness.

Well, the Holy Spirit woke me up this morning because He was offended at my speech and behavior these days. I have had accusatory and unflattering conversations about others, I have allowed my anger to cause me to lose balance, and I have not used my words to edify others. I’ve really been the Grinch to put it mildly.

The Holy Spirit told me this morning, “You have offended Me”. When you called your boss those names and you talked about your coworkers….and He went on and on and on down the list. I said in my defense, “Well, what I said was true!”. Then the Holy Spirit said, “Yes, but I heard you and you have spoken destructive words about people who are precious to Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit said to me, “Words are important to Me. Your conversations matter to Me. When you engage in corrupt behavior and corrupt communication, it grieves and offends Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to open my Amplified Bible Ephesians 4:29-32, which reads:

“Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word, nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it….

As I squirmed and swallowed hard, knowing that I had really blown it just in the first verse…the passage continued to read,

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him}, by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

Then I sat back and said to the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit, you know that I am not trying to hear this, but I know this is you because I am guilty. Let’s read on…”

Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive and blasphemous language) be banished from you with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind)…

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! I have done all of these things in the past few weeks. Read on…

“And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely] as God in Christ forgave you.”

Then I said, “Holy Spirit, I know this is you because in my flesh I don’t want to do these things but I know that you are holy and to be holy goes against what my flesh desires.” Then I repented for every offense.

One of the biggest things I learned out of this was the unending grace of God being extended to me a helpless sinner. I was busted and was guilty of every charge set before me this morning. Yet, God dealt with me gently, with love and compassion, which is far less than I dealt with those that had offended me.

But don’t be fooled. God dealt mercifully with me today. If I had chosen to stay on the path I was on, He would have given me more chances to turn around and eventually would have taken me across His knee and spanked me really good! The bible teaches us that God chastens those that are His and those that He loves.

One of the last things I did this morning was to thank the Holy Spirit for correcting me. You see, if the Holy Spirit is correcting you, then you can know for sure that you are His. But if you are living a life where there is never any conviction of sin, something is definitely wrong and maybe you aren’t really saved. Something to think about.

Anyway, I wanted to share this message with you to encourage you in your walk with the Lord.