Are We Hung by Our Own Tongue?

I was watching Andrew Wommack's television broadcast awhile back with Bill. 
Andrew was teaching from Proverbs 18:21,"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Andrew's question was this, "What if the words we speak actually caused someone to live or to die?" How would it change your life?" Immediately, I felt as if I had been struck by an unseen stone somewhere inside my head and my heart. I know I sometimes speak words that would cause death and now I was being convicted by the Holy Spirit. It isn't a good feeling to know I have fallen short and my heavenly Father is bringing it to my attention in an unmistakable manner.
You see, this is an area in which I struggle every day.
Speaking only good about others is not my strongest character trait. I am being kind and not calling myself a slanderer or a gossip. I don't mean to be either of these things. However, if others are speaking unkindly about someone, I usually find myself joining the conversation.
God brought this to my attention through the question spoken by Andrew Wommack.
This isn't the first time he has brought this to my attention, but it is the first time I felt as if I had been struck by an unseen stone from the inside out. No matter how much I desire to not gossip or speak unkindly of others, I am still doing it. That is what brought this sense of being struck, or convicted. I cannot do it anymore. Through the Holy Spirit, I have been corrected and in the aftermath of that correction I am meditating on Proverbs 18:21 and thinking about my words as having the actual ability to cause life or death. Proverbs 18:21 is my tool to combat this area of weakness within myself.
Additionally, I've been given another tool to use, Psalm 15. 
This tool reached me through a bible study of Lisa TerKeurst's book, What Happens When Women Walk in Faith. Psalm 15 was part of the personal Bible study for the "Famine" chapter's first lesson. Psalm 15 says,

"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous,
who speaks truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman,
who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath even when it hurts, 

The bold print is my addition.
These are the phrases that sank into my head and heart as I read the psalm. These are the phrases that I KNOW are my second tool to use in my battle to keep my tongue speaking words of life. I do not believe this psalm just happened to be part of a bible study that just happened to coincide with the conviction that I received from God through the Holy Spirit. In faith, I choose to believe that I am being given another tool by the Lord to continue meditating upon so that I may dwell in His sanctuary and live on His holy hill.
This is part of God's plan for me. 
I am being shaped and molded into a better vessel to be used by the Lord. I am a branch having the weak and dead areas pruned from it so that I may flourish and grow stronger. You see, my heart's desire is to be the best me I can be for Jesus and to stay squarely in the middle of God's plan for me. To do this, I have to accept truths about myself that hurt. The sting will lessen as I persevere and grow, and now I have two tools to use in my battle to keep my tongue speaking life. Amen?

Ephesians 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
John 15:1-2
1“ I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Romans 9:20-21
20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

For additional reading and bible verses on this topic go to:
https://joyfilledwoman.blogspot.com/2014/08/dont-get-hung-by-your-tongue.html 

Verse of the Week - Isaiah 64:8 - Week of 2 February, 2015

I discovered this picture courtesy of Microsoft Word clip art files.

About 2009 I watched Joyce Meyer teach a great lesson using an unworked piece of clay.
First, she took the piece of unworked clay and emphasized its hardness by banging it on her podium. Next, she began to work it as she talked about how the Lord shapes and molds each of us. The clay became softer and more pliable as she continued to shape and mold it. As she continued, she flattened the clay and cut it with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. The newly trimmed clay "man" had been transformed from a hard piece of clay into a transformed child of God. Her lesson imprinted itself permanently into my memory.

I Am the Lord's Clay.
The Lord made it extremely clear to me several years ago that I am his clay. He revealed this to me after I talked back to him in anger and was rebuked through scripture. See Romans 9:20-21

After reading several scriptures about clay, my personal revelation became clear. I am his clay to shape and mold in accordance with his plan for me. However, I have to be willing to let him change me.

Still Willing
Today, I remain willing to have him shape me and mold me into the woman he wants me to be. At church today, our pastor included this scripture with his sermon and I knew that the Lord was reminding me that I am still his clay.

Shape Me and Mold Me Lord: Part Two

Pots of Clay

The Lord led me to study "clay" about four years ago. This post is the second in a series of three articles about the instruction that I received, and continue to receive, from studying the scriptures relating to the "clay of God" and how He, the potter, relates to us.

Lamentations 4:2

How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter's hands!

To understand Lamentations, I had to know more about the context of this book. Jerusalem, capitol of Judah had fallen to the Babylonians. The Temple was destroyed. Jeremiah had warned the Israelites, or Judeans, that disaster was going to overtake them if they continued to worship and follow the gods of their neighbors. Jeremiah had also warned them to submit to Babylon, instead of seeking
Egypt's help to overthrow the Babylonian rule. (Read Jeremiah, A Faithful Follower) In Chapter 4 of Lamentations,  the Israelites are trying to have hope that even with this disaster, brought on by sin, God is working for his people if they will rely on him.

The Potter's Hands 

 The precious sons of Zion stopped acknowledging God as the one true God, the Master Potter who created man with his hands. God wants to be in a loving relationship with his people. However, in the face of fullblown rebellion, he sent prophets to warn the nation to return to him. Instead, the nation continued importing goods and religion from their more sophisticated and powerful neighbors

Warned to Repent

Israel had been warned to repent and had ignored the warnings. Willfully determined to live outside the covenant, Israel continued to sin. The price of sin was heavy. To be forgiven, the entire population would need to confess. Then, sin offerings could be given. Unlike the Judeans, Christ paid our price for sin. We are under the new covenant that the prophets kept telling the tribe of Israel about.

His Precious Pots

I like the word precious in this verse. We have great value to God. He does not want to lose the work of his hands. He established a new covenant with his people because he values us, the work of his hands. We are precious enough, that God sent his son, Jesus to us. Jesus was the sin offering for all of God's precious, pots of clay.

Daniel 2:31-45

King Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream about a statue. The king's astrologers, magicians and enchanters told him no one could interpret the dream "except the gods, and they do not live among men." (2:10)  God revealed the mystery to Daniel so he could interpret the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar.

Clay in Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

"...its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay...a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them."

Daniel's Interpretation From God

"Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom...Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. and just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. God of Heaven will set up a kingdom...it will crush all those kingdoms...but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning ...of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands..."

God has a plan. He is going to set up a kingdom that will endure forever.

A Command from Jesus - Quiet! Settle down!

A Stressful Weekend

Labor Day weekend has been fairly stressful this year. I allowed myself to become mentally and emotionally wrapped up with an issue that arose Thursday evening. Last night, my husband and I sat down and prayed together. My inner turmoil calmed down gradually throughout the prayer. However, I awoke at 3:30 AM wide awake. Knowing that sleep wasn't going to return, I arose and checked my email.

A Personal Revelation

I opened up yesterday's Girlfriends in God devotional, Be Still and Know from Sharon Jaynes and started reading. 

"Like the men caught on the stormy Sea of Galilee, I felt I had been reeling in the waves for years - never in danger of truly sinking – just reeling from one rolling wave of work and deadlines to the next. But on this particular morning, I began to see the cast of characters in this Galilean scene in a different light. I was definitely in the scene, but I wasn’t in the boat at all. I was the storm.

I love how Eugene Peterson describes Jesus’ words to the wind and the waves as his friend stirred him from his sleep to calm the squall: “’Quiet! Settle down!’ The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.”(Mark 4:39 The Message)...And all the while God has been whispering to me, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NASB). “It’s not that hard. Settle down. Be quiet.”

Now, I am sitting here knowing that God spoke to me through Sharon's devotional. Oh how I wish I had started yesterday out with that message instead of the mental merry-go-round my mind couldn't seem to stay off of for more than an hour or two.

I Was the Storm...Inwardly

I was the storm. How those words struck home with me. All weekend, I was the storm, not outwardly, but inwardly. Jesus finally had enough and told me this morning,"Quiet! Settle down!"

This isn't the first time he has had to bring this home to me. I am reminded of a devotional I read several years ago that said,

"sometimes you just have to sit in park for awhile, before you put yourself in gear and move ahead."

Brothers and sisters, I am going to follow Jesus's command to be quiet and settle down. God wants me to cease striving and know that He is God. He will hold me in his hand and set me to his purposes.

You can find Sharon's devotional at:
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/girlfriends/be-still-and-know-girlfriends-in-god-september-2-2013.html

Update: 9/7/2013 

My mom shared a photo with an accompanying message from J.I. Packer, onto my Facebook page today. This is what is said:

“Wait on the Lord" is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting. He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time. When in doubt, continue to wait on God. When action is needed, light will come." ― J.I. Packer

My heavenly Father has my godly, faithful Mom reminding me of the personal revelation I received four days ago. I'm sure you think this is just a coincidence. There are no coincidences in God's plan for me.

Talking Back to God

I was mad at God.
Struggling with my emotions and desires for a fleshly man were wearing me out. Prayer didn't seem to be working. Finally, I became angry and said out loud,

" Why did you make me like this if I'm supposed to abstain from a physical relationship until marriage? Why aren't you helping me with this? I'm angry at you!"

Just saying those words out loud seemed to help relieve the internal pressure I had been feeling.

Quietly I listened for any sign of an answer from God.
Silence...more silence...no answer. Okay, I wasn't going to get an answer. I wrote down the date and my actions in my journal before going to bed. As I stared up at the dark ceiling I thought,
"Living alone, in widowhood, isn't so great at the moment."
Tears welled up in my eyes as I gave in to feeling sorry for myself.

The next morning, I followed my usual routine.
Shower, coffee, pray for guidance, meditate (or listen) for guidance, read the Bible, meditate, eat breakfast, write down any thoughts that occurred during my meditation time in my journal, and finally get dressed for work.

During my meditation time, I listened for any hint of a still, quiet voice, but only heard silence. However, I felt like a new woman. My emotional distress was gone. It didn't occur to me that the absence of my emotional turmoil might be an answer to my outburst to the Father the night before. I didn't see it as answered prayer. Not yet.

About two weeks later 
During my usual morning meditation, I heard a single word whispered by the Holy Spirit into the silence of my mind, "clay."
Silently, I said,"What?"
I heard the whispered word again, "clay."

Now, I am going to tell you that I would not tell myself to read verses about clay in a million years!
Obediently, I opened up the index in the back of my bible and found the listed scriptures for clay. Slowly, I began to find and read each verse listed under the word clay. I read verses in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Leviticus, Daniel, and Romans. Now I'm going to back up a little bit and tell you how I read bible verses.

When I read a verse of scripture, I also read the verses around the scripture.
Reading verses this way helps to ensure I'm understanding each verse in the correct context. Occasionally, I'll read the entire chapter. The Lord knows this about his daughter, Sallee. Anyway, I'll get back to my testimony.

The verses in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Leviticus had already informed me that God formed me and  made me according to his own purposes.
I had to acknowledge that He is my creator and has a design for me. Romans 9:21 reinforced that information again. I'm stubborn, but the message from the Father was coming through loud and clear!

After reading Romans 9:21, I continued to read verse 22:

        But who are you, oh man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who   formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?"

Those words jumped up off the page and smacked me in the face.
I felt numb; convicted with my own words from two weeks earlier. My Father, God, had just disciplined me with my own words.

Since I had yelled at God out loud, I apologized to God out loud.
"Oh Father, I am so sorry! You have answered my prayer, you have given me ways to serve you, and I have been so blind. Thank-you for taking away the emotional stress and the impulses of my physical body. Thank-you for letting me be your servant.Amen."

I know that this story may not make sense to you.
This testimony is based upon my faith as a spirit-led, victorious follower of Jesus Christ who believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Jesus made a promise to all of his followers in John 14:16-20,

 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Sallee Believes

• I believe that God sent his only son, Jesus, to earth from heaven.
• I believe Jesus died on a cross, taking all sin upon himself (including mine), and ascended to heaven so I could have eternal life.
• I believe Jesus ascended to heaven and The Holy Spirit descended from heaven to become a part of the apostles, the disciples, and all who follow Jesus.  
• I believe The Holy Spirit resides in us.
• I believe The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit are one.

This is why I talk with God, the Father. This is why I pray and  listen for guidance.  This is why I know when I am being corrected.

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