Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. -James 3:5-6 (NIV)

Remember the old childhood saying that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?” That’s what came to mind when my son, who’s in kindergarten, told me a girl in his class hurt his feelings with her words.

And the other day, when I was reprimanding him for a poor conduct report from school, he angrily looked at me and told me he wanted a new dad. Ouch.

I spoke with him about the power of words. They can maim. They can kill. They leave scars. But most importantly, when viewed through the eyes of compassion, hurtful words reflect the speaker’s hurt and brokenness.

Regardless, we have a choice before we utter such words, because they actually do hurt when spoken and received. Words will only not hurt us when we remind ourselves of our identity in Christ, forgiven and free. But we get hurt when we forget that and get caught up in the escalation of the flesh and pride and anger.

So yes, sticks and stones will break our bones. But, words will only hurt us when we set aside our spiritual armor and identity in Christ, and live in the flesh. Thank you, Lord, for helping us live above our circumstances!

But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. -2 Samuel 11:9 (NIV)

Sometimes, when circumstances are out of the ordinary, we have to change our routines. If we’re listening, we may hear the Holy Spirit telling us something isn’t right, and we may not want to proceed in the usual manner…like taking a detour around hazardous terrain, even though it would be the shortest route.

Well, we all know that God doesn’t always give us the shortest route, but the best route, and we can trust He will work things out for His children.

David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

The famous example of this is King David, who didn’t go out with his army to battle. His men won–they destroyed their enemies–but David decided to stay back in Jerusalem.

David was walking up on his palace roof one evening and saw a beautiful woman bathing, and had someone find out for him that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his own soldiers. So, he had messengers bring her to the palace, and he slept with her.

Bathsheba, who was on her cycle at the time, sent word to King David later that she was pregnant! So, David has Uriah pulled from the battlefield under the pretenses of wanting a battle report. David then tells Uriah to go home to his wife, hoping that a battle-weary soldier would want to sleep with his wife.

Uriah doesn’t, but instead sleeps at the door of the palace with the rest of the king’s servants. He explains that since the rest of the soldiers, as well as the ark, are out in the open country, how could he go to his house and do such a thing?

More than likely, Uriah would love to be with his wife, but something is amiss…and he won’t partake in it.

David is getting desperate. He invites Uriah to dinner and got him drunk. But even when drunk, Uriah slept at the palace steps on his mat. David eventually gets called out, and must face the Lord for his sins.

##Um, where’s the encouraging part of this story?

The concepts of the story are what we can apply. When we know of active, unrepentant sin, and someone will compound it by trying to cover it up with us as an accomplice or scapegoat, we are not to add to it, but walk upright no matter what heat comes our way. No matter who brings that heat.

For children of God, we have to be careful when deceivers try to use scripture to convince us we need to take a path that will further their schemes, but not honor God. As in all things, ask the Holy Spirit if the path you’re taking–and about to take–will honor the Lord. If not, ask and the Spirit, like GPS, will guide you through an alternate route that will.

And no matter how bumpy the ride, God is with you all the way.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. -Psalm 103:13 (NIV)

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

As Christians, any discussion of fathers naturally reminds us of our heavenly Father, the Father and Lord of all! And every day of our lives are Father’s Day celebrations of Him.

And for fathers down here, we are to model godliness to our children.

God-fearing fathers have a tough road to walk, in a different way than the tough road traversed by mothers.

(A quick note: As John Gill’s Exposition on the Bible explains, “fear” is better translated as reverence and respect.)

Like many working mothers, working fathers have a morning commute, a long day at work, an evening commute, and then have to magically invigorate themselves to be there for their children when they get home.

Other dads may be stay at home dads, whose work is grueling in a very different way: Keeping up with ever more energetic kids, who want to do more and more with a dad who is only getting older and more tired!

Some fathers, sadly, are not present at all for their children, whether it’s physically, emotionally, spiritually, or all of the above.

All of these fathers have the same responsibility as all parents, and that is to raise their children up in a godly way, which includes word and deed. And while some fathers may sadly not do this, the ones who do are often underappreciated and discounted.

Seven points on fatherly to-dos are gleaned from Deuteronomy 6, and are discussed in detail in a ParentLife article:

1. Fathers are to initiate action.
2. Fathers are to teach.
3. Fathers are to discipline.
4. Fathers are to communicate.
5. Fathers are to be available.
6. Fathers are to be aware.
7. Fathers are to be involved.

Read the whole article, “Seven Steps for Effective Fathering,” for insight into godly fathering »

As our Father in heaven lovingly adopted and guides us by grace under his wing, we are to do the same with the children He has loaned to us!

God-fearing dads, hats off to you. You may think you fail spectacularly from time to time, as does any parent, but know that you are freely forgiven so you can continue to honor the Lord in your stewardship of the beautiful children He has on loan to you. Even when people don’t recognize your contributions, the Lord sees them, as do your children, and that is what matters. You are making memories they will remember for decades. As a fellow father, I say: Let us strive to love our sons as our Father in heaven loves us. Father on.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. -2 Corinthians 3:18

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:2

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:6

Ever been through a painful ordeal, whether momentary or drawn out, where you wondered what the point of it was? Ever feel trapped in despair and hopelessness? Do you ask, was it just plain suffering, with no benefit? Sometimes, it can certainly seem that way.

God has a plan for your life. And Jesus assured us that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). But it is important that we identify this inevitable trouble, and how to properly endure it, to His glory.

In the “Boundaries” series of books by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, they explain the difference between godly and ungodly suffering. And boy, was it eye-opening. Too many Christians—me included—go through ungodly longsuffering, thinking they are doing it for the Lord. What I learned was that, through godly suffering in interpersonal relations, both parties could grow and mature.

Sometimes, pain we experience is a warning to us that a correction needs to be made…maybe a direction or behavior needs to change. Or, it could be an indicator of something to face, rather than avoid.

If you are compliant by silently letting another person wrong you, you’re experiencing ungodly suffering…and it will happen again and again. If you take the discomfort of speaking up and speaking the truth about another person’s wronging you, you will experience godly suffering as you grow in learning to speak the truth and not stuff your feelings. The other person will be faced with the truth, and can then choose how to proceed with the truth.

By doing this, we are taking steps where God wants us to walk: toward Christlikeness. This is part of the Refiner’s Fire, where He walks us through the heat, and purifies us as we pass through it. And as we do that, our walk becomes straighter, and our perspective ever clearer than before.

When we grow and mature from experiencing godly suffering, He is glorified. And what a wonderful, loving God we have to do this for us!

Today’s soundtrack

Sidewalk Prophets’ “Help Me Find It” echoes our cries to the Lord to show us the way, especially when we see no way.

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” -Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭36-37‬ (NKJV)

The bible has plenty to say about the spoken word, doesn’t it? That’s because of the power words have when they leave your lips. They take on a power and life of their own…God invented them to do just that.

We have a serious responsibility to steward our mouths and what comes out of them.

A cute graphic I saw circulated on Facebook said to T.H.I.N.K. before speaking, and to ask yourself, is what I’m about to say:

• True?
• Helpful?
• Inspiring?
• Necessary?
• Kind?

It’s amazing how little restraint we have in hindsight. Some will answer no to the above questions, with selfish justifications. But the truth is, no one else made us utter unhelpful or hurtful words. We chose to let them loose. We can even unleash harm upon ourselves with our own words.

It is use of our free will to hurt or heal with our words, and evidence of how we wish to use God’s gift in our walk. Let us, if we must, pause before uttering something Jesus would not. We might be amazed at how much more positive situations suddenly become in our everyday lives.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. -Matthew 7:14

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” -Isaiah 30:28

The revelations in my life continue, and I hope, fellow true believer, that they may help you or someone you know.

So, God’s searing light of truth continues to expose everything in the landscape of my life. The light is so intense and pervasive that there is no room for shadow! Everything is exposed.

And when this light is on, no matter where you look, you are faced with the truth. You have to face it, because you’re in it. You have nowhere to hide when surrounded by the truth. Confrontation is the only choice.

The longer you deny this truth, the more conviction weighs on you, because denial is the opposite of how to walk with God.

I was convicted the other morning like a ton of bricks hitting me. God’s morning sun burned beautifully through the morning mist right into my heart, and He said to me: You know how you thank me in believing prayer for making a way when you see no way? And how you ask me to show you the way? Here it is.

The way He made was a razor-thin tightrope, stretching from my feet on the ground all the way to my answered prayers, which glowed brilliantly in the distance.

The thing about tightropes is, you can’t kinda walk on them. You have to be committed. You have to walk with both feet, one in front of the other. And guess what? You’ll never make it to the other side if you don’t walk it properly.

That tightrope walk is one of no compromises. No compromises in any part of your life…especially ones involving any of His children. To compromise is to choose not to honor Him. This means hard truths must be spoken and faced. To continue in denial is to continue stumbling; to not love others enough to help them yourself as His hands and feet; and to deny your and others’ spiritual growth, but stunting them instead.

Our lives are to be a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God, a song of praise over the span of a life lived to His glory and credit. I choose to walk that thin beam of light through the darkness, eyes straight ahead on Him and His promises.

In the very first post in this blog, I quoted Oswald Chambers, who said “When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing.” Follow that sliver of light through the darkness.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. -Galatians 6:7

If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad…. Why, then, did God give [humans] free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Seeds are small, but powerful, things. They contain so much potential for future growth and seasons of plenty…or desolate seasons of destruction and pain.

Take the mustard seed, one of the smallest in the Middle East: tiny and unassuming. But as Jesus puts it, even with faith the size of a mustard seed, one could move mountains (Luke 17:6). The power of that gift from God is the beginning of an outgrowth of His influence in a believer’s life, but also in the lives of those with whom the believer comes into contact. And resulting from that, impossibilities become possibilities. From that tiny seed comes exponential growth, begetting more growth.

One could also sow sinful seeds of negativity, fear, doubt, self-pity, and self-hatred. And sowing such self-fulfilling prophecies can reap more of the same. Ever notice how negative people seem to go from one disappointment to another? There is also the sinful seed of selfish pursuits. The fruit from this may blossom quickly, but leaves a bad aftertaste, and spoils just as quickly.

Planting God-fearing seeds can take work. They may not make you popular for choosing to plant them. But they are well worth the time and stewardship to nurture and grow.

Some great guidelines for living the Christian life are Dr. Charles Stanley’s 30 Life Principles, and the sixth one says: You reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.

Here’s an excerpt from it:

To mock God is to turn up one’s nose at Him, to hope to outwit Him—a foolish thought, as 2 Corinthians 5:10 reveals: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

If you were required to appear before the judgment seat of Christ in the next five minutes, what kind of crops would you have to show?

Read the whole Life Principle »

Do you want to sow long-term seeds deep in the rich soil of His joy and righteousness? Seeds that honor and glorify the Lord, or ones in shallow, worldly soil that serve you in the short term?

The best, most fruitful crops take time and discipline to grow. Make sure your seeds are rooted in His soil, and you will reap His plenty.