Daily Bible Study for Monday September
19, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around The Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version,
that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I
will keep it with the New King James Version.
One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my
own writing. I am adding red to the letters when
it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.
Bible
Gateway Verse of the Day
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt word proceed
out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may
impart grace to the hearers.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: May The Words of My
Mouth By: Christy Nockels/Janna Lang (You
Tube)
Psalm 59
Filthy Speech – Prideful Boasting
David was a target for enemy attack on a continual basis.
Sounds like the life of any Christian today too, doesn’t it? Saul was after
him, and there were enemies on every side. Once again, we see David – this man
after God’s own heart crying out to the Lord for help and deliverance from his
many enemies. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for being everything we need at all times! From A to
Z, You are the beginning and the end in this life and the next for us – Your beloved
children! Father, every day as we open Your precious word, we are as little
children opening gifts under the Christmas tree. We are always in need of
learning and growing no matter how long we have walked with You. Father, I ask
You today to use me to speak to Your children. Father, bring people from all
over the globe to receive Your message of love, correction and encouragement.
Cause this message to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or
my flesh. Make Your purpose in this study clear to us. Help us see how to apply
it to our lives in practical ways for such a time as this. Thank You for always
watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we trust in it and do
it. Lord, we purpose in our hearts to be doers of Your word and not hearers
only. We thank You in advance for the answers to this prayer. We believe we
receive it and give You all the glory, honor and praise that is due to Your
holy name in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
We can see a long list of the ways God is for us in this
chapter. David lists what God is to him as he details the attacks of his
enemies to his God and Savior. Let’s look at what he knew God to be for him…
My defense
My mercy
Shield
Powerful
Merciful
Ruler
Refuge
Deliverer
Savior
Helper
God of Hosts (great multitude)
God of Israel (His people)
Friends, we have a mighty God, amen?!!! Knowing who God is
and what He can do is the most important thing for us to remember continually
as we face the battles this life will surely bring. Without knowledge of who
the Lord really is and what He is capable of doing for us, we are left weak and
wandering, like a lost soul in the desert. But we are not lost! We are His
saved, redeemed and healed children – hallelujah!
When we look at what David is stating about the enemies
coming against him, the focus in on the words of their mouths. How many know
that attacks from the lips of those who hate us are far more powerful than the
swords and knives that can be used to piece our flesh – amen. In today’s
chapter, Davis is indicating that people were coming against him for no reason.
In other words, he had not done anything to them to provoke them or cause them
to want to retaliate. He was innocent of any guilt in the matters he was facing
with the people involved. It must have been terribly painful for him when we
stop and think about it. How many of us have experienced piercing words from
people - words that were burned into our hearts and minds for decades?
The old phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but
names will never hurt me” is a lie! We need to switch that around. We could say
it this way, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but your unkind words will hurt
me the most.” The words of an enemy can be piercing indeed. David said the
words coming out of the mouths of the people were like the “barking of a dog
all over town.” Have you ever listened to a dog bark incessantly for a long
period of time? It made your spine just crawl with irritation, didn’t it? All you
wanted was for him to be quiet! That must be what David felt like as he encountered
the people involved in his circumstances back then. It is no different today. People
can go on and on and it can grate on our last nerve.
As David described the things they were saying, he said it
was like a crude “belching” sound. That is harsh. But most of us have
encountered folks like this, haven’t we? The mere sound of their talking was
like a person rudely belching out loud with no concern for courtesy toward
others. The tongue of a man is the most powerful muscle in our body for
creating tremendous damage – both to oneself as well as to others. Like James
said….
James 3:5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how
great a forest a little fire kindles!
We can set a big fire in motion by saying the wrong things.
We can send sharp “arrows” right into the hearts of others when we speak lies,
or hurting insults to people. David was obviously experiencing a great deal of
this. He was not receiving the blows of physical swords. No, he was being shot
through the heart with the swords of some hateful words. Those are the things
that can cut to the deepest part of a person, whether they show it or not. And
those things can take a long time for many to get over. One has to be very
forgiving when this happens lest they get caught up in bitterness and
unforgiveness.
People who are “loud mouths” and liars, pridefully boasting
in themselves or their plans can bring a lot of discomfort to everyone around
them. Let’s look at what the scriptures say here…
James 4:13-16
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas
you do not know what will happen tomorrow.
For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead
you ought to say, “If
the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But
now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
In the above scripture, James
was actually talking to the church. There were obviously people boasting.
Unbelievers have not been the only ones guilty of fowl speech. Sadly, it has
been quite prevalent within the body of Christ. Most have us have stumbled in
this area in one way or another. We have said hurtful things to people and we
have been prideful and boasting about what we were going to do when and how,
and so forth. But according to the word of God, this is evil behavior. For the born
again Christian, it is absolutely uncalled for!
How do we even know what will
actually happen during a given day? Much less, how can we know what tomorrow
will bring? So how can we say we will do this or that without even knowing 100%
that those things will comes to pass? Only God knows the future. That’s why
Jesus told us to take no thought for the next day because in it there would be
its own trouble. Little do any of us know what will occur. Yes, we can make
plans, but it is the Lord who directs our steps in the end.
We have talked about it
before, but it bears repeating – what we say really matters. If only we
realized more about the power of the tongue and what happens when we spew out
evil or unkind words. They set something in motion. When God speaks, things
happen. He made us in His image. As a result, the same thing occurs when we
speak – things happen. Blessings or curses…
James 3:1-12
3 My brethren, let not many of you become
teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For
we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to
bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits
in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look
also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they
are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even
so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And
the tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the
whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by
hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of
reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But
no man can tame the tongue. It is an
unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we
bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the
similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does
a spring send forth fresh water and
bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my
brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both
salt water and fresh.
Proverbs 6:2
You are snared by
the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth.
I remember going to a weekly
study given by Beth Moore some years ago on the power of the tongue. Looking
back, I desire that I would have studied it further. So much of what we say
needs to be curbed! So much of what we say is not necessary. Most conversation
is idle chatter and brings nothing meaningful. People think they have to talk
just to talk. But Jesus didn’t do that, did He? When He spoke – like the
Father, it was to cause something to happen. It was to bless, to heal, to
enlighten, convict; His words always had a specific meaning and purpose. He
never said anything to hurt anyone.
Remember the old Disney movie “Bambi?”
It was a darling children’s cartoon movie that I watched many times when my
daughters were very young. One thing that always stuck with me was Bambi’s cute
little voice saying, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at
all.” My girls and I would recite those words back and forth to each other. I
was not anywhere near as close to the Lord then as I am now – glory to His
name! But even then, I wanted my children to say only kind and good things to each
other as well as others. They were not allowed to use words like, “dumb” or “stupid”
or “hate.” The reason for that is this. Most sentences with those words
included would usually prove to be hurtful to another person. We didn’t want
any of that.
I know that I myself have been
very guilty of saying hurtful things to people in the past. One of the problems
we can have is just speaking to soon. If we would just stop and think about
what we are getting ready to say and ask ourselves the question, “Is this
really necessary to say?” Another question could be, “What effect will these
words have on the person I am saying them to?” By doing this, most of us could
avoid setting those forest fires and shooting fiery darts of pain into the
hearts of others – amen?!
Proverbs 10:19
In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who
restrains his lips is wise.
Proverbs 17:27
He who has knowledge spares
his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
Look at what Jesus said about our words…
Matthew 12:36-37
36 But I say to you
that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day
of judgment. 37 For by your words
you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The meaning of speaking is to
accomplish something. As God’s children – His offspring through Jesus Christ,
we ought to be speaking like Him. Jesus said this…
John 14:10
Do you not believe that I am in
the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak
on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
John 12:50
And I know that His command is
everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Who knows but the Lord about the people who
were bashing David with cruel words if they were not people from his own inner
courts? Unfortunately, our enemies who seek to hurt us with words can be the members
of ones’ own house, both in the natural as well as in the church. Saints, it should
never be said of us. We are to speak words with love that build others up and
encourage them…
Proverbs 15:23
A man has joy by the answer of
his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
Saying the right thing to a person at the
right time is what we as Christians must always aim for; like apples of silver
in settings of gold! Anything that is otherwise should be cut off – first in
our hearts, and then from coming out of our mouths. Look at this verse…
Isaiah 50:4a
“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I
should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.
And the prayer of all our hearts should be
this for every single day of our lives…
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and
my Redeemer.
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep
watch over the door of my lips.
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to
the bones.
God’s words are pure…
Psalm 12:6
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified
seven times.
Finally, we must be speaking at all times in a spirit of love – no matter
what! Look at this…
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
13 Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass
or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so
that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but
have not love, it profits me nothing.
God used Paul to communicate a
strong message on one of the most important subjects we can learn – the purpose
of our words and actions. Without love, we would sound like the “barking,
belching, sword shootin’, flame throwing enemies that David was talking about
in our chapter today – amen?! Without love, we are nothing but noise like that
of a “junk yard dog!” What Christian would desire to have that said of them?
Hopefully none. Friends, it is time for the church to stop all this attending
meetings and taking notes and then going back to the same old behavior as
before they went to the meeting.
The church is a place for us
to be fed so we can grow up to be healthy and strong children of God. He wants
to use us as an asset to the kingdom, but He can’t if we remain babies crawling
around on our bellies, unable to handle the more mature things that are
required for soldiers in the Lord’s army. We have to apply the word to our
lives every day. We need to work His word by meditating on it, speaking it out
loud over ourselves and then living it – putting what we have learned into real
time practical applications in our everyday lives. Glory to God.
No baby was every intended to
stay a baby. No new Christian was ever intended to remain an infant Christian.
And no Christian should have any filthy speech or prideful boasting coming out
of their mouths – ever. Let’s do what the Bible says to do and walk in love
toward our fellow man. Let’s remember that everyone is walking through a
different journey. We need to be kind and tender hearted with one another…
Ephesians 4:32
And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
When we do get hurt by others, there is one thing we ought to know by
now if we have been reading our Bibles on a regular basis. God is able to help
us, heal us and comfort us on every level. He can give us the wisdom we need
for handling every battle so we can come out on top, regardless of what anyone
else is saying or doing to us. And the most important role we have when this
happens is to forgive them! Look at the words we used from today’s chapter at
the beginning of this study. Meditate on them when you think of the Lord. Remember
who He is at all times and what He can help you with – everything! Then we,
like David, can be singing His praises out loud for all the wonderful mercy He
has shown us. The Lord does far more for us every day and night than we will
ever know in this life – praise His name forever!
Questions:
What does it do for your heart when you read the words David
used to describe the Lord and His help?
How can you be sure to remember the many ways God can help
you?
What must we do when someone says something hurtful to us?
What will you do as a result of this study to make sure that
your words are only good for others?
Who can you share this study with?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God is well able to help us in any
trouble
Christians should never speak
negative or hurtful words
When others say hurtful things to us
we must be quick to forgive them
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Your word that always brings light
into the darkness. Father, I ask You to forgive me for any words that I have spoken
to hurt others. Show me who I need to apologize to. Help me to remember how
good You are and to only say what You would have me say in any given situation.
Lord, thank You for helping me to be more like Jesus every day – both in what I
say and in what I do. I live to bring You glory. Thank You for the answer to
this prayer in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
What are
your words like when they leave your mouth?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
1 Corinthians 13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And
though I have the gift of prophecy,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so
that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but
have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does
not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does
not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But
whether there are prophecies,
they will fail; whether there are tongues,
they will cease; whether there is
knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we
know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when
that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When
I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For
now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but
then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And
now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
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