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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Tamed Tongue Bible Verse:James 3:5-12 (NASB) "The Tamed Tongue T he tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh." Message:
We have a guest commentary today, a continuing series on the Epistle of James, from Dr. Ken Boa of Atlanta.
There are few natural parallels for the quirks of human behavior. We are not genetically determined or ruled by instinct. Orange trees may vary in the quality and quantity of their output, but they are consistent in the type of fruit they bear. They have no choice—year after year they produce oranges, not lemons or apples.
Unlike plants or creatures of instinct, our lives and the fruit we bear are determined by the choices we make. According to the Scriptures, the most fundamental choice of all is whether we will place our complete trust in Jesus Christ by acknowledging our sins and receiving His gift of new life. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). As believers, we have passed out of the realm of death into life; we have been given a new identity and a new source of power through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
James wrote this letter to his “brethren”—people who had made that crucial choice of placing their faith in Jesus as their Messiah. In Him, they found the freedom to please God with their lives and lips as they let themselves be “tamed” by the Holy Spirit. But they faced the problem that has been shared by every believer to the present day—what we do and say on the outside is not consistent with the new creatures we have become on the inside.
angry faces
We are springs with two sources. One source produces the bitter water of angry, jealous, spiteful, hateful, malicious, sarcastic, slanderous, critical, abusive, self-pitying, cruel, proud words. The other source produces the fresh water of encouraging, comforting, kindhearted, compassionate, considerate, humble, gracious, gentle, patient, loving, respectful, thoughtful, prudent words. The source of the former is the flesh; the source of the latter is the Spirit. We should memorize Paul’s words and bring them to mind each day: “walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. . . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16,25).
To be “tamed” by God is to be under His dominion and authority, directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that Christ lives His life in and through us. Unlike animals, we must choose to be tamed. This involves an ongoing series of choices made in the context of each new day. It is only as we place ourselves under His rule that we will find the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that are the fruit of the Spirit.
Dr. Boa is devoted to a ministry of relational evangelism and discipleship, teaching, writing, and speaking. He holds a B.S. in astronomy from Case Institute of Technology, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from New York University, and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in England. I highly recommend a visit to his website, KenBoa.org, which is filled with free videos, written commentary, newsletters, etc.
Meditation : Prayer : Now to him who by his power within us is able to do far more than we ever dare to ask or imagine — to him be glory in the Church through Jesus Christ for ever and ever,......Amen |
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