HASTY WORDS
Psalm 31:22, "I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee."
How easy it is to say things in haste! We spout off before we think. And usually when we speak hastily it is out of reaction. We often don’t even believe the words we say! But sad to say, we have said them, and words have power! They have power to hurt our husband and hurt our children. Charles Spurgeon says, "Hasty words are but for a moment on the tongue, but they often lie for years on the conscience."
I remember with shame an incident that happened in the early days of our marriage. I felt hurt by words my husband spoke to me and hastily retorted, "You should have married someone else!" Fortunately I have a husband who doesn’t let things go uncovered. He came to me a little while later and said, "Do you believe in the power of words?" "Yes," I muttered. "Well, you better take back what you said," he stated firmly. I realized he was right and I had to retract and confess my hasty words.
Hasty words are often words of doubt because we have not given time for faith to grow or to wait for God to move. We often have to wait for God. David cries out that he is cut off from the Lord, but he soon finds that they were hasty words as God had heard his cry all along. We must give God time to answer. His timing and His way is always the best way.
I cringe when I hear folk speaking derogatively against the Lord because things are not going the way they want. Again Spurgeon says, "Unbelief will have a corner of the heart of the firmest believer, and out of that corner it will vent many spiteful things against the Lord if the course of providence be not quite so smooth as nature might desire. Forever be such dark suspicions banished from our minds."
Proverbs 29:20 is also a challenging Scripture, "Seest thou a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than him."
And Ecclesiastes 5:2, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." How true it is that the more words we speak the more opportunity to sin. (Read Proverbs 10:19; 17:28)
So, how do we stop these hasty words? James 1:19 says, "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." Yes, we want to be "slow to speak" but how do we do it? I believe we have to get into the habit of doing it. Each time that someone (especially husband or children) rubs you up the wrong way, shut your mouth. Wait before you speak. If you can’t think of anything positive to say, don’t say anything. That’s what Jesus did. When they accused him, He answered nothing. He didn’t even open his mouth. (Matthew 27:13-14) Is that the hardest thing you’ve ever tried to do? You can do it if you will to do it. And especially as you pray about it and ask the Lord to help you.
Yes, you will fail. But keep working on making it a habit of your life. Some people say it takes 30 days to break a habit. Some say it takes 21 days to establish a habit. However, some habits may take a lot longer. Never despair. Keep trying and keep looking to the Lord who is your source. He lives in you and He is full of self control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Continually ask the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and your tongue. He will work His grace in you.
Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life."
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
"Lord, please help me not to be hasty in my words. Help me to trust you in each situation rather than reacting out of my emotions. Amen."
AFFIRMATION:
My words determine the course of my life and my family.
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I wonder why I have a blog, I don’t have any family that reads it and I can only think of one friend who may read it. I guess I just like putting up info that somehow may evade people normally. KWIM? Why put up personal stuff when it is for a bunch of strangers who really don’t care. I haven’t posted in awhile we have had lots going on around here lately. A good friend of ours that we have know around 11 years got saved big time last week. For me it was a slow gradual change but for him it was instant and very exciting. Also our youngest little guy who will be 5 soon accepted Christ on the 20th of January!
This week I will be doing our taxes which normally would be easy but I have a MK business that all the inventory must be counted and then entered into my software program so that reports can be done etc. Yuck, wish it could just be for the personal stuff as that is so very easy.
The following is from www.exposingsatanism.org
Jeremiah 10:2-4 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
This one will most certainly draw a lot of fire from fellow believers. However, the truth must be told!!! First, I must say that, NO, I am not a Jehovah’s Witness. If you want to attach a denomination to me it would be Baptist. However, I am just a child of the King, Jesus Christ.The Christmas celebration as we know it today, is clearly pagan in origin, that is it has Satan’s prints all over it. When researching it anyone can see it is clearly not a Christian holiday. What bothers me is so many preachers know what it is and still do nothing about it. They stand in the pulpit year after year and do not tell the "flock", that it is one of the pagans most sacred days. Why is this? Do these men of God not know about it? The reason is the "flock" would not accept it and would run the preacher off!! They will let the "flock" drown in sin at risk of loosing their pay check and position. It boils down to no GUTS!! I get mail daily from pagans and once in awhile they will slip in the fact that the church celebrates their holiday, and they are correct!!! Its time for Gods people to get some backbone and stop the non-sense. We best do something or God will.
Some will argue that as long as one knows that its is Jesus that we celebrate, it is ok. How wrong that thinking is. We see in the old testament time and time again, that when Gods people incorporated paganism in worship, God brought judgment to the nation. It is no different today. The Roman Catholic church in is desire to convert the heathen, mingled the ways of the pagan’s (witchcraft), into the church. Easter is another one that has paganism mingled with Jesus.
Below are links to sites with well researched info. I am not the author of these pages, but agree that Christmas as it is, should not be in the church or a born again Christians life.
Here is a ruling by a judge. He says there is more secular purpose to Christmas then religious. What a shame..
Christian news
Should a Christian Celebrate Christmas?
Well we have had a very unusual 10 days around here. There as been a foot of snow which is HIGHLY unusual. Mostly it’s a foot of rain that we get. Then after a lot of snow Saturday night we started getting freezing rain which is not fun. The trees around here don’t like all of the heaviness of the snow and freezing rain on top and have been dropping branches, falling over and snapping off like crazy. We have had numerous branches falling on our roof which is oh so scary because a couple of years ago we had three trees fall on our home. So the branches are still loud and scarry but not as damaging. My sweet DH put a second story addition onto our home after the initial trees fell. It still isn’t a finished attic but it is an attic that gives us protection from branches falling on the roof. We do feel more secure knowing that the branches are going to fall onto our beds. It is snowing now and we are expected to get 2-6 more inches of snow. This is what winters in Klamath Falls feel like, not up here in the NW part of Oregon!
The sweet children plan on building an igloo today. Since I am such a nonprocessed food person I made my own hot chocolate mix. I used powdered milk, cocoa mix and sugar. All recipes call for non dairy creamer but the name in and of itself I can’t stand. It is full of chemicals that are NOT natural so I just stick to powdered milk. You can follow a recipe but I don’t I just pour and mix. The teenage daughter and her friend thought it was the best hot chocolate mix they have ever had. And it was totally healthy for them! Have a wonderful day as I’m sure we will and a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
HOME DESTROYERS
Part 1
1 Timothy 6:8, “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”
Reading through Proverbs recently I noticed that it mentions five things that destroy the home. I prefer not to write about negative things, but, on the other hand, we can’t wipe any of God’s Word under the mat. And God’s negatives always turn to positives. When we read His warning signs which mean, ROAD BLOCK, WRONG WAY-GO BACK or DEAD END we know that it is not the road to take, even though it looks beautiful and such an easy road. We must swerve back on the road God has planned for us from the beginning of time. God has never changed his plans. His ways are still the only ones that work effectively. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
Let’s look at some of these WRONG WAY signs.
1. GREEDINESS
Proverbs 15:27, “He that is greedy of gain troubles his own house.”
No wonder one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house… thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife… nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20: 17) When we see friends with things that we don’t have it is easy to hanker after them too. Most people like to be like everyone else and have everything that their associates have.
How can this negatively affect the home?
a) By becoming despondent and full of self-pity because we can’t afford what we want. This takes away our joy of living and being “content with such things as we have.” (Hebrews 3:5-6)
b) As we crave a better house and more things to put in the house we start to plan how we can get these things. Ideas take shape. That’s it! I could do what everyone else is doing who has more things. I could go out and get a job! Yes, that’s the answer. But is it? To go out and get a job you have to leave the home behind. You have to vacate the very place where God wants you to be—in the heart of the home. (Psalm 1228:3) You have to put your children in daycare or leave them with someone else. God didn’t give your children to you to give them to someone else to look after! He gives the responsibility to you. You are the only one who can truly nurture and nourish your baby and children.
c) The home becomes a show piece of material riches rather than filling it with the true riches of children. When you get your eyes on material riches, children become a nuisance.
May God save us from a greedy spirit.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
Prayer:
“Father, I pray that you will take every spirit of greediness from me. Give me a contented spirit. Help me to enjoy the riches you have given me – my precious children and the (little) house you have provided for me. I thank you for the blessing of food and clothing. Amen”
Affirmation:
Content in my home, that’s for me,With coveting gone, I’m now free!
Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.
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blessed mama