Day 23 - The Complaining Tongue

Day 23 - The Complaining Tongue

"I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord; I pour out my complaint to Him; I declare my trouble before Him" Psalm 142:1-2

The daughters of Zelophehad had a problem. When their father died in the wilderness before the Israelites came to the Promised Land. Zelophehad had no sons, brothers, or male heirs to inherit his land; his five daughters had no husbands, brothers or sons either. The law did not allow for women to possess land at the time so Zelophehad's five daughters called a congressional hearing and took their concerns directly to Moses to appeal (Numbers 27).

Moses took the cause to God on behalf of the daughters and God agreed with the women--they were given possession of the land. What do you think would have happened if the daughters had just stayed where they were and complained amongst themselves or the villagers? Most likely they wouldn't have obtained the inheritance.

Complaining is whining or pleading a disappointment to people who cannot directly resolve the matter. How many times have you or a friend complained about a situation but the person to whom you complained had no power to change it? Most likely, you or the person joined in to commiserate. I have been there!

At work, I get a lot of people coming to my office to complain about a supervisor, a leader, a policy, etc. Many of the complaints are legitimate. If the person doesn't know me well I let them "plead their case". I then ask if they have taken the issue directly to (fill in the blank) to resolve the matter. 90% of the time, they haven't gone to the source. I encourage them to go and state the issue professionally and factually. I also let them know that it is no longer up for discussion with me as I cannot do anything to change the situation.

Only about 3 out of ten people actually go to the person who can offer a solution! I realize that many people just like to complain but they won't take responsibility for getting resolution. They have tried to re-approach me on the same subject but they do 'get the hand' and either move along or change the subject.

Do you complain? I do, sometimes I believe I am "venting" just blowing off steam and not really looking for an answer. About 10% of the time this is true and the other 90% of the time it is complaining! I want validation, I want to know I am right! Tell me I would win, please!!! God says that this is futile.

When we don't go to the source and take our troubles to God, we tell Him that we don't believe His promise to care for us and carry our burdens. When we don't give an offender the opportunity to right a wrong we carry resentment--negative energy--and the person walks around clueless! Think of times when someone confronted you responsibly--did you smack them down? No, you sincerely apologized and moved on.

Now, there are times when we have a situation we should trust to a close friend or partner. Someone to check out motives or interpretation; ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. There is a website that is dedicated to eliminating whining and complaining. The man gives purple rubberbands you wear on your wrist, when you catch yourself complaining you either move the band from one wrist to the other or you "snap" the band as a reminder to zip it!

www.acomplaintfreeworld.com

I tried it and it works! I am going to commit to move my "Love & Peace" band I wear everyday when I complain as a reminder--won't you try it for just one day? It could change your or someone elses life. God bless and love, Sister Lisa

AFFIRMATION: God, you work everything out for the good of those who love you; I love you Lord and therefore I won't complain. Amen.

Morning Prayer To Our Master Potter

God bless you and keep you on this wonderful Sabbath day! Taming the Tongue, Day 23 will be posted in the afternoon today. Just wanted to share a moment of praying and gratitiude with all of you this morning.

God is so faithful and gracious, when we zip the lip, tame the tongue and listen--He whispers in our ear and shows us the signs and wonders we need to carry through for today. That is all we need, just today. In fact, that is what He promised us. "Give Him all the pieces of your life and He will make you whole." I saw that on a local church sign.

It had me meditating on our Potter, He is the Master Potter and we are His clay. When our vessel was shattered when we were born unto God, He needs all the pieces to put us together wholly (holy)! If just one small shard is missing, the love, the Spirit, the new wine will leak out and the world will deplete us once again.

Look around, search your soul, check your heart, free your mind--is there anything, one small, little issue or habit or sin or regret that is lurking somewhere? Something you can do better than God--your finances, spouse, children, world hunger? When you find it He says to come to His throne boldly with confidence. He has the power to cleanse us from all sin and to wash us white as snow. Praises be to God!

When you take that step, you physically look for, pick-up, examine and hand Him the pieces of your vessel; He will make you holy, whole, meat for the Masters use! Hallelujah!!

"The Potter wants to put you back together again!!! Dreams and visions shattered, all broken inside? You don't have to stay in the shape you are in...you who are broken, stop by the Potter's House; He'll heal the fragments of your broken life...He wants to put you back together again." Thank you to Tremaine, Walter Hawkins and Stanley Turrentine for a wonderful prophetic song!

Bless you brothers and sisters and please spend your rest day in His care today, give Him honor and praise and glory. Lift Him Up!! Love to you, Sister Lisa

Day 22 - The Cursing Tongue

Day 22 - The Cursing Tongue

"Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not be so." James 3:10

Do you suffer from the need or the habit of cursing? I am by no means perfect in this area but I have worked hard to allow the Holy Spirit to tame my tongue in this regard. My ears prickle when I hear cursing. It may be my love of words that causes me to think "there is a better way to express that" when I hear someone cursing.

James says, "No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in similitude of God." 3:8-9

Using obscene language is unbecoming for a child of God. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." Luke 6:45

It is a HEART CONDITION! Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts, to cleanse our heart, to take that stony heart out and replace it with a moldable, teachable, soft and loving heart. Purify our hearts Lord, purge all uncleanness from it that we may speak with glory and love and honor you.

We must cast down imaginations, wicked thoughts, and evil as it comes to our mind. When we do this, we make room to invite the mind of Christ to reside in us and speak only those words that were given by our Heavenly Father. Blessing and cursing, life and death are in the power of the tongue and God gives us a choice. Choose to share life and blessing from your heart through your tongue. He says that both our children and ourselves will live eternal life.

Affirmation: God I give you full command of my tongue. Through your direction and grace I will only speak words that bring honor to Your Holy Name. Amen, Sister Lisa

Great to be back--been a challenging week. Home is good--thank you Jesus for traveling mercies!

Day 21 - The Self-Absorbed Tongue

Day 21 - The Self-Absorbed Tongue

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil 2:4

Haman, in the book of Esther, was a self-absorbed person. He boasted of his wealth, sons, all the honors he had received and how high and mighty he had ascended. In the entire book of Esther, Haman only speaks of himself. Some people are like Haman--all of their conversations are centered around themselves, their drama, their lives, their wins, their losses, their issues, their awards, their failures, etc. etc. etc.!

Okay, GUILTY! I know I struggle with this and I do try to recognize when it is "happening" and shut my mouth of ask a question and listen to the other person. Getting better, but I still have a lot of growing to do in this area. For me, it stems from insecurity. If I talk about myself, I know what I am talking about, I am the "expert" and pretty much know I won't make a mistake.

Isn't that crazy thinking? Yes, Lord I need the mind of Christ. I need to give (my attention) to receive (from others) who that person truly is so that I may weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice! Through my work in recovery, I am learning to identify and not compare. I am also learning to identify and not have to tell others...big step for me!

I've been accused of over sharing---again, not that I am so trusting; just the opposite. I figure if I share then no one will ask me difficult questions or challenge me to reveal hurts and truths I have deep inside of my heart. Hmmmm, how do I change this? Let's look at God's Word because He is Jehovah Jireh, our Great Provider:

"My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:19

Always has an answer, God has supplied all my needs-my need to be heard, to be validated, to be confident--through Christ Jesus! That frees me to listen, encourage and care about others. To lead them to the Word where they can profess and hear for themselves the gift of grace that God has freely given.

God is the Great Healer...He will remove our stony hearts, our wicked thoughts, our selfish ways. He who gave so freely wants us to give our time, our ears, our love to others.

Affirmation: Lord, let me think of others before myself. Open my ears to listen and change my heart toward caring for another. I have everything I need; let me be a giver and not a taker Lord. Amen, Sis Lisa

Update for Friday

Greetings from Denver PA (nah, this picture is not Denver, it is home--San Diego in November!)

I am traveling on business and will post day 22 later Friday evening. Pray you are following along with the series; we only have 8 days left! At the end of this study I'll post checklists and Bible verses for your reference.

What about the next study? What do you want to dig into? A specific book, person, topic, doctrine, timeline? Please post comments by Saturday on your ideas so I can prep for next week. I am enjoying the study and have learned so much, lots of prayer and lots of self-discipline needed to move toward God's standard.

Miss my honey, my guys and my gerry! Will be home Friday evening. Love to hear from you, be blessed with peace, joy, and love. Sis Lisa

Day 20 - The Judgmental Tongue

Day 20 – The Judgmental Tongue

“Do not judge or you will be judged; for the same way you judge others, you will be judged.” Matt 7:1-2

Jesus had no tolerance for the Pharisees. They were skilled at judging others and they were miserable! They were always looking for something to nitpick and blame another for violating the Law or a man-made tradition. They criticized the disciples for not washing their hands and admonished Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Here is Jesus’ response:

“You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.” John 8:15-16

Judgmental people criticize and find fault with other people’s behavior and actions. Most judgers judge people by their actions but the judgers judge themselves by their intentions. Until I read this, I never pondered this truth. How easy it is for me to “watch” someone and criticize him or her but find no fault in myself because “my heart” had good intentions though my actions didn’t show that to others! Lord, please forgive me.

People judge others based on their own beliefs and history. We may judge others based on rumors that have no basis in fact. Here is a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin, “I will speak ill of no man, not even in the matter of truth, but rather excuse the faults I hear, and, upon proper occasions, speak all the good I know of others.”

So we go back to my mom’s advice ‘if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.’ We must be mindful of how we speak of others and to others. We must not engage in speech that will inflame, tell half-truths nor build someone up in love.

In Matthew, God talks about judging others and He wonders why we choose to do that rather than look at ourselves. “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye’ the whole time with a log sticking out of your own? You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matt 7:3-5

The better way is to look at ourselves and judge ourselves by God’s standard, His Word. If we do see others are walking without God or Christians walking contrary to His standards we ought to pray for that person. If the person is close to you and you care enough to confront them, do so in love and encouragement. And then pray!

This type of bondage is only broken by prayer and fasting-I am speaking of my bondage to being judgmental of others and also to myself! Lord, forgive me for my judgmental thoughts, speech and actions. Renew in me a right spirit Lord; give me power to put on the mind of Christ and to walk in the gospel of peace. Cleanse me of my insecurities and help my unbelief. Remind me of the power that lives and works in me—the Holy Spirit. Keep me focused on my own eye when comparing your Word and my life. In all other matters let me talk, walk, think and believe in love, grace and mercy. Let me fast in secret Lord, deny my flesh of comfort to focus on Your Word, Your Promises, Your Healing Power. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Your humbling servant, Sister Lisa

God is Sovereign

God is a Mighty Fortress, He is Almighty, the Great I AM, He is all, knows all, creates all, destroys all, builds up all and He is Everywhere and Somewhere all the same. What an Awesome Wonder is Our Mighty God.



Please pray for the White Family in Madison Wisconsin. My workmate, Laurie White, passed away unexpectedly and suddenly this morning. She was in good health, very fit, lovely, and most important a believer in Christ. She had a knee injury and was scheduled to have surgery to repair a ligament. Last night, a blood clot broke in her leg and she was gone at 6:00 am today. 47 young years. She is the second company employee/family member to die this way in a month. My friend's husband, 52, had the same thing happen unexpectedly.

Laurie leaves to mourn her two young children, Chandler and Hayden (17 & 13) and a husband, Bob. She also leaves a company who loved her and grew to know her over 20 years--she came to our company out of high school. We are all struck by the suddeness; this is a loss that is difficult for me as many of you know I have lost three other great friends at a young age...



God is Mighty, He has the Master Plan. I must remain faithful and believe that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and who are in Christ Jesus. Yesterday an awesome and wonderful day, so many blessings to be grateful for in my life. I was in an accident and survived with nary a scratch! So I have been given back to my earthly family and Laurie, is in heaven and her family is grieving.



Today, I must tell you all that I love you with the deepest part of my heart. You have all breathed so much love, healing, truth, peace, encouragement, laughter, tears, joy, pain, giggles, silliness, seriousness, anxiety...all the range of emotions of life! What a blessed and FEELING life I have had up to today...thank you, thank you, thank you.



If I learn anything from death is it is just a beginning to eternal life; the choice is yours where you spend it. I am grateful that Laurie lived for her family and Christ. She got joy out of life and spent her time with family and friends--what a legacy she has left for her men. Knowing her, I don't believe she lived a life of one regret. So let's take that as our gift from Laurie--determine TODAY, to live today without one regret, no should haves, no could haves, no it doesn't matters, no someone else will help, no I don't have time, no I am too tired, no I don't want to be around people, no I'll do it later...



Please, do it now and don't delay. Jesus says He comes like a thief in the night and we always want to be ready for the time and day. Let Him come to find you doing His Will, loving your brother and sister as you love yourself; as Christ loved the Church so He gave His life for Her. That He would present her spotless, blameless before our Heavenly Father.



Do not fear, do not be afraid to step-out and shine the light of Christ on your children, your siblings, your coworkers, your parents, your friends, your enemies. I went to our executive offices today to give a few of the Corporate Officers a hug and prayer--they knew Laurie too. Reach out and give the love of Christ. PRAY PRAY PRAY without ceasing.



Bless you all and know you are truly in my prayers and thank you for my covering--His angels are at work. Amen, Sister Lisa