Psalm 19:4 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
God dealt with my heart this morning through this verse. How often are my words and thoughts-meditations acceptable in His sight. He is my redeemer, my strength and my Lord. He is my everything. Yet I often think and speak without taking into consideration what He thinks about my words or thoughts.
How would I talk if he were in the room? If I knew that He were sitting here right now reading my thoughts what would I be thinking. I for one will tell you that it would affect both my words and my thoughts.
Now I know that He already hears both my words and my thoughts. I know this in fact but I do not live it experimentally. I know that having someone else in the room can affect the words I will use. I will be far less critical if I am around others. I will be less judgmental if certain people are there. The church people can cause me to speak differently.
I tell others not to think certain thoughts. I tell them not to allow the devil to discourage them but then I often do the opposite of what I tell them. I think discouraging, worrisome thoughts. I have doubts and fears that I do not express but if I really, really thought that He was watching or listening or reading my thoughts I think that I would think and speak differently,.
Today I make it my prayer to control my thoughts. I can get so angry in my mind and heart about certain things but not today. I can worry about any and everything but not today! I am going to ask God to help me today to think and speak with a gentleness, sweetness, and faith that I usually do not have.
I want my thoughts and my words to be acceptable and pleasing to my great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Psalm 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
What a recommendation for getting into His Word and getting His Word into you! Men would mess you up. The destroyer is just down that path.
How can you keep your life straight and safe? Notice he says by the word of they lips, by what God said I am kept from the paths of the destroyer.
Do you wonder how you can protect your marriage in such a way that the destroyer can’t get in? Do you wonder how to keep your children from getting messed up by sin?
There is nothing magic about the Bible. You can wear it around your neck or put it on the dash of your car but it will do nothing for you. But if you will read it and do it then God will direct your path and keep you from the destroyer.
Do you remember that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy-that is the devil John 10:10! God has words that changes lives. He has words that that will keep you safe, secure, happy, and successful, spiritually!
I have a suggestion. Let’s get to the verse. Do you listen to His Words? Do you seek God’s will? Do you listen to learn what to do!
I want you to be able to say; though I lived among men that gave bad advice and in a world that so many got hurt I was able to avoid the paths of the destroyer.
God’s Word will make a difference in your life! Get under sound of Bible preaching! Read the Bible. Listen and apply. God’s word will keep you from the paths that would destroy you or get you destroyed.
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Authorities have expelled five Christian missionaries from Morocco on the grounds that they were illegally inciting Muslims to convert, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
The missionaries were caught Saturday during an assembly with Moroccan Muslims in Casablanca, the North African kingdom’s economic capital, and have been sent to Spain by boat, the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.
“Numerous pieces of evangelical propaganda material were also seized,” including video cassettes in Arabic that advocated conversion to Christianity, the statement said.
A senior Interior Ministry official said the missionaries were four Spaniards and a German woman. He insisted Morocco has nothing against the Christian faith, but that authorities felt the missionaries had gone too far. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with Interior Ministry rules, said the missionaries were expelled without being officially arrested or charged. He could not specify the Christian denomination to which they belonged.
Several Evangelical Christians have been charged or detained in recent months in neighboring Algeria, and authorities throughout North Africa have become increasingly wary of an apparent push by some Protestant churches in this overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim region.
Christianity and Judaism are freely practiced in dozens of churches, temples and synagogues throughout Morocco, but proselytizing to convert Muslims is considered illegal.
A tourism haven and a strong Western ally, Morocco has a reputation for tolerance. At the same time, the country’s King Mohammed VI is also “Amir al-Mouminine,” or commander of the believers and protector of the Muslim faith.
Morocco appears to have hardened its stance on moral issues in recent weeks. A Shiite Muslim school was closed earlier this month on suspicion it was trying to convert pupils, and Rabat severed its diplomatic relations with Iran, accusing the Shiite Islamic republic of trying to undermine Morocco’s Sunni unity.
The Interior Ministry also recently issued a statement asserting it would not hesitate to crack down on media or activists that threatened the country’s religious or moral values. The statement was viewed as targeting Shiites, as well as some newspapers that recently called for more rights for homosexuals.
We had a wonderful night last night in our Youth Service. I am very proud of the teenagers for their understanding of how awesome it is to serve God! They took their responsibilities very seriously and did a great job.
I just saw on Jennifer Armstrong’s Facebook account a project that Hollis, Rhyne and Jennifer’s son, has been working on. It is so exciting to see that the children and teenagers are getting it! I think this should be a great cause of rejoicing for all those who work with our children. It is going to be amazing to see all that God has for Hollis and all the kids of vision in the years to come. God is looking for people with a perfect heart towards Him to show himself strong. It appears that He may be able to find one in this young man!
How can I say thank you! Betty and I are in Arequipa, Peru dealing with some family issues. Our daughter, Joy, is hurting and really needs your prayers.
The men of our church gathered around the altar and prayed for us. When I got this picture I was so blessed to think of the kindness of our men and the entire church. I am grateful to God and to all of you for your repeated kindnesses to us.
God bless you. Thanks for all the notes via email and facebook.
I was so excited when I saw the following pictures. The guys are working at getting a choir started. Scott Newton is getting everyone together and I believe that we are going to have a choir soon. I have dreamed about this since we started the church. God is so good and I am blessed to work with the greatest people in the world.
I got the following in an email from Trent Cornwell just a few minutes ago. Check out Brother Tony Howeth and his son Ethan!
I am very proud of the teens.
This was one of my favorite moments. He preached with the passion of his father, you could see expository
style of Bro Austin, and his microphone popped as his youth pastors mic does.. lol
Bro Tony I know you are very proud and you should be.
Psalm 5:11-12 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
What a passage we have here! David makes several great statements that are true about all of us. We are His people! We have been bought by His shed blood on Calvary! You will notice that all of the things David says in this verse apply to us as true believers.
First, let’s review the conditions of the promise
First he said those that put their trust in Him! I do that. I believe Him. I trusted Him for my salvation. I trust Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to meet my needs every day! Do you?
The second condition was those that love His name! I do! I love Him. I love His name, His honor, His glory, His service! I love everything about Him as best I know how to.
By the way I trust Him and love Him because He first loved me 1John 4:19 and because He is trust worthy 2Timothy 2:13! Isn’t it wonderful just knowing that He has saved us and given us eternal life.
What is our reaction to all that He does for us?
David said for us to rejoice, shout for joy, and be joyful in Him! That is a very expected response. Are you rejoicing in Him, singing and shouting for joy, and joyful. Let’s get back to the reason and purpose of our lives and enjoy this relationship that we have with Him.
What is He doing for us in these verses?
First, He is defending us! Satan can not get to you! Sin can not destroy you. No enemy will have power against you! He is defending you. I often worry about things. Do you? I get fearful over the economy, my family’s needs, the ministry, if God is pleased with me, a thousand things! But look what David said, it is God Himself who is defending us!
Secondly, He blesses us and puts a shield of favor around us! Then this part of the promise is the best part of all. Did you pay attention to what David said. He blesses us and puts favor all around us! He has done that for me. He saved me. He has blessed my family and even now is doing so. He has blessed me in more ways than I could ever number. God is good to us. Every where I turn I am blessed. I am thankful. Are you?
We are surrounded by His favor. Wow, no one has been blessed like the very children of God!
Job 42:1-3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
Finally we are coming to the end of Job. God has been talking now after listening to all that the men had to say to each other. Now Job responds to what God has to say. Job recognizes that God is everything, can do everything, nothing can be hidden from Him, etc.
Job realizes that he has spoken out of turn. He knows that he has talked too much and that tried to lift himself to a higher position than he deserved. I know the feeling very well. Some where along the way we begin to think that we are something and that we know something. We begin to believe our own press releases. Now Job knows that he has been wrong.
However the thought I want to leave you with today is this. No thoughts can be hidden from God. He knows everything you are thinking. He knows what is in your heart. It is not just your actions that matter but what you are thinking.
He knows when we doubt Him. He knows when we lust in our heart. He knows when we hold anger and bitterness in our heart. We can say that we do not but He knows. We can’t hide our thoughts from Him.
He is in our heads. We can put on a face, a front for others but not for Him. He sees us and knows us as we are, exactly. It should be the desire of our heart to only think what pleases him. Psalm 19:14
What goes on in your head right now about the economy? How much are you doubting God due to the circumstances you are facing? What do you think that is sin?
If He knows what you are thinking do you suppose that you should learn to think right things. Philippians 4:8
Job 31:24-25 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
Job is ending his words for the most part! He is reminding his “friends” that he has lived right! He is not ashamed of what he has done. He continues defending himself to the very end. On the whole is right in everything that he says. Read the whole book to see how he knows that God has blessed him and he does not sin with his lips.
I want to focus today on these statements. He never made gold his hope or confidence. He never rejoiced or bragged about how much money he had made. In later verses he says that he used what he had to bless others.
I want to ask you to question yourself right now. How much are you trusting in your money, your job, your retirement fund or whatever. Job has lost everything and is quick to say-well I never put my hope or trust in that stuff anyway. He says I never got excited about owning all that stuff either.
There is a lesson in all of this for us. Our country is going through a crisis. Things are not going well for many. Their worlds are crumbling but the reason is that we have placed our hope, confidence, or trust in the wrong things. The Lord God of Heaven, Jesus Christ is to be our hope, our all.
If we seek Him first He will add all these other things that we need to us Matthew 6:33. I do not want to beat you up. I want this to bless you. Put your trust in Him. He has promised us abundant life John 10:10. But abundant life and all that we need is not found in things. Man’s life isn’t how many things that he has Luke 12:15.
Today, though your job maybe in danger and the news forcasters have you terrified, turn your heart to Him and trust Him. He will never leave your or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
You do not need gold or things to trust in! You have something or rather someone far superior in the Lord Jesus Christ!
