Words Hurt

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…Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.’ Hebrews 10:24 NIV

There are an awful lot of people around on this planet. You've probably noticed one or two of them. When we come into close contact with one another the way we interact can leave us feeling good or bad about ourselves. We may think that the way we speak to each other isn’t a big deal but the Bible, uh... disagrees with us: ‘The tongue has the power of life and death’ (Proverbs 18:21 NIV). Starting to question something you said to someone this week now? Life and death may sound a bit extreme, but words have an extreme impact - certain things that people say can stay with you for a long time.
Words are how we come into close contact with one another. God created other people because He said it wasn’t good for man to be alone (cue Eve). But just being around each other isn’t enough. God calls us to be loving, and that involves thinking about how we speak to one another. Are we encouraging? Are we kind? You might think that it’s no big deal to casually rip your friends - just banter, right? Banter better. We’re better than that sort of joke that’s really a cheap mask for abuse. We should be helping our friends to be the best that they can be, because this being a human thing is difficult enough without harsh words.
 
What Now?
Time out. Today let’s pray through our messages - stuff we’ve sent and stuff we’ve received. Get out your phone, and ask God to show you specific messages or people to pray about. Then spend some time ‘receiving’ from Him what He might want to say to you.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

 

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Luke 11:9-10

Ever get the impression God wants you to ask?

Ask, seek, knock - take the first letter of each of Jesus' imperatives, and what do your have? A-s-k. Then why don't we do it more?

Once upon a time there was a man who had an out of town friend show up at midnight. After all the boisterous welcoming and hugging were through, the host suddenly realized he had nothing to feed his famished friend (grocery shopping wasn't till Friday). Thank God for the neighbours. but as rang and rang the doorbell next door, he couldn't seem to rouse the family. Finally an upstairs window scraped open. After his neighbour's necessary apologies and explanation, the man upstairs grumbled that it was too late to look for food in his pantry, the were asleep, all the fuss might wake them up. But the need host refused to budge."I've got to have some bread for my visitor, please!" How long that kept up nobody knows. What Jesus' parable makes clear is that the man upstairs finally yielded to his persistent neighbour and gave him all the food he needed. The End.

The parable's punch line? Ask. Ask for what? Jesus is ready with the answer: "If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Luke 11:13 NLT). Ask for the Holy Spirit!

Asking for the Holy Spirit would be like asking your parents for a major credit card in their name with unlimited purchasing privileges. Get the card, and you've access to unimaginable blessings. (Of course, no wise, thinking parent is going to give an unlimited credit card to their children!) But ask your heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit, and it's even better than a credit card with unlimited credit. For God will bring every other gift you've ever needed (or deeply wanted) in tow. "With the reception of this Gift [the Holy Spirit], all other gifts would be ours" (My Life Today, p.57).

What kind of a parent would do that? Our heavenly Father, says Jesus. Apparently the gift of the spirit is so monumentally significant in the eyes of heaven that when we have Him we have the one Being in the universe who can access for us the treasury of God's kingdom.

from The Chosen by Dwight K. Nelson

Plug into the Power of Prayer

Prayer: It's like an Oasis in the middle of a desert.
A refreshing drink after a thirst.
A quiet place where you can retreat from the stresses and distractions of everyday life.
A pause from a long hard day's work.
A chance to reflect on the day and share your thoughts with another.
An intimate conversation with God, where you can open your heart and converse with him as you would with a friend.
A famous author once said, "prayer is like breath to the soul". Just like the necessity to eat and sleep, so is the importance of having a prayer life (spending time with God in prayer).
Personally, I cant imagine why you would ever want to go a week within it.

THE TREASURE WITHIN YOU

‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels…’
2 Corinthians 4:7

God has given you talents and He wants you to use them. They may lie dormant under layers of failure, fear, or low self-esteem. You may be aware of them, yet not know how to put them to work. Maybe you’ve been going from relationship to relationship hoping to find someone who will acknowledge what’s within you and draw it out. If so, read this: ‘But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.’ Only the God who placed your talents within you knows where they’re hidden and how to release them. Delayed destiny is the devil’s delight. By not allowing God to develop your talents you play into satan’s hands, living far below your potential. The fact is; you have so much treasure buried within you that the enemy is out to steal it. You never have to wonder about satan’s motives. Jesus said he comes ‘…to steal, kill and destroy…’ (John 10:10 TLB). You don’t try to rob somebody unless they have something worth taking, right? Your talents may be raw and undeveloped, or buried under years of self-doubt, unconfessed sin, bad habits, regret and despair. But God can take something that looks like nothing, and create something wonderful with it. Just think: He made the earth from nothing—so imagine what He can do when He has something to start with! Today get down on your knees and pray, ‘Father, help me to recognise and maximise the talents You have placed within me, and use them for Your glory.’ That’s a prayer God will answer!