BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY

"The tongue also is a fire."  Jas 3:6 NIV

     On a windy day in March 1997, a father and son visited Valley Forge National Historic Park, where George Washington stationed the Revolutionary Army during the difficult winter of 1777-1778. The man and his son had something much less historic in mind: They wanted to launch a model rocket. At first they tried using electric ignition wires to light the fuse, but to avail. So they tried lighting the fuse with a common sparkler, the kind frequently seen at annual holiday celebrations. That's when the trouble began. Sparks ignited a grass fire and the winds quickly spread the blaze where Revolutionary War soldiers had trained, and coming within a half-mile of George Washington's headquarters. The value of what they put at risk was incalculable. It took thirty units from twelve fire departments over an hour to bring the blaze under control. In the end some thirty acres were charred, and the man with the sparkler was charged with destruction of government property and improper use of fireworks. The Bible says, "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" (vv. 5-6 NIV). "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep...the door of my lips" (Ps 141:3 NKJV). "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil" (1 Pe 3:10 NKJV). "The lips of the godly speak helpful words" (See Pr 10:21). So make sure your words help, not hurt; build up, not tear down. In other words, be careful what you say!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY

MIDWAY CHURCH

3915 CARROLLTON-VILLA RICA HWY.

VILLA RICA, GA 30180

1-770-832-9605

MIDWAYCHURCH.COM

FACEBOOK.COM/DISCOVERMIDWAY

TWITTER.COM/MIDWAY_CHURCH

 

TRUST YOUR ADVOCATE, NOT YOUR ACCUSER (2)

"Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one."  Ro 8:33 NCV

     Paul writes: "Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. Who can say God's people are guilty? No one, because Jesus Christ died, but he was also raised from the dead, and now he is on God's right side, appealing to God for us" (vv. 33-34 NCV). The accusations of Satan splutter and fall like a deflated balloon. Then why, pray tell, do we still hear them? Why do we, as Christians, still feel guilt? Not all guilt is bad. God uses appropriate doses of guilt to awaken us to sin. We know guilt is God-given when it causes "indignation...alarm...longing...concern...readiness to see justice done" (2 Co 7:11 NIV). God's guilt brings enough regret to change us. Satan's guilt on the other hand, brings enough regret to enslave us. Don't let him lock his shackles on you! Remember: "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). When God looks at you, He sees Jesus first. In the Chinese language the word for righteousness is a combination of two characters: the figure of a lamb and a person. The lamb is on top, covering the person. Whenever God looks down at you, this is what He sees: the perfect Lamb of God covering you. Only once in Scripture is it recorded that Jesus wrote something. And He wrote it on the ground, saying to an accused sinner He'd just forgiven, "You are free from condemnation. Go, and sin no more" (See Jn 8:10-11). So the word for you today is: Trust your advocate, and not your accuser!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY

MIDWAY CHURCH

3915 CARROLLTON-VILLA RICA HWY.

VILLA RICA, GA 30180

1-770-832-9605

MIDWAYCHURCH.COM

FACEBOOK.COM/DISCOVERMIDWAY

TWITTER.COM/MIDWAY_CHURCH

TRUST YOUR ADVOCATE, NOT YOUR ACCUSER (1)

"The accuser ... has been thrown down."  Rev 12:10 NLT

     The apostle John wrote: "I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens... 'For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth-the one who accuses them before our God day and night" (v. 10 NLT). Satan only has one aim: "To steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (Jn 10:10). He'll steal your peace, kill your dreams, and destroy your future. And he has deputized a horde of silver-tongued demons to help him. He enlists people to peddle his poison. Friends dredge up your past. Preachers proclaim all guilt and no grace. And some parents distribute it twenty-four hours a day. Long into adulthood you still hear their voices: "Why can't you grow up?" "When are you going to make me proud?" So what's the answer? Jesus! He's "in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us" (Ro 8:34 TM). Let that sink in for a moment. In the presence of God, in defiance of Satan, Jesus Christ rises to your defense. He takes on the role of a priest. "And since we have a great priest over God's house, let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience" (Heb 10:21-22 NCV). A clean conscience. A clean record. A clean heart. Free from accusation--free from condemnation. Not just from our past mistakes, but from our future ones. "Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for [our] sins with his blood" (Heb 7:25 TLB). So don't listen to your accuser--trust your advocate.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY

MIDWAY CHURCH 

MIDWAYCHURCH.COM  

SING!

"You shall have a song...in the night." Isa 30:29 NKJV

     Why does the Bible say, "It is good to sing praises to our God" (Ps 147:1 NKJV)? Because when you express the promises of God's Word in song, your faith is strengthened. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit a businessman named J. C. Penney particularly hard, endangering his very health. Anxious and desperate because of his huge financial losses, Penney sank so low he felt he had nothing left to live for. Even his family and friends shunned him. In the hospital one night, he grew so demoralized that he expected to die before morning! Then he heard singing coming from the hospital chapel. The words of the song were: "Be not dismayed what'er betide, God will take care of you. Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you." Entering the chapel, he listened to the song, the Scripture reading, and the prayer. He wrote: "Suddenly--something happened. I can't explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I'd been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm, brilliant sunlight." From that day on, J. C. Penney was never again plagued with worry. He described those moments in the chapel as "the most dramatic and glorious twenty minutes of my life." And when he died at ninety-five, he left behind 1,660 department stores bearing his name. When nothing else works, the praises of God set to music can lift you out of a spiritual funk. That's why the Bible says, "It is good to sing praises to our God." Try it and see for yourself. It works!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL
THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY
MIDWAY CHURCH