The Power of the Tongue

Scripture: James 3: 1-7

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider that a great forest is set on fire by a spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.

Scripture Commentary

What you say and what you don’t say are both important. Proper speech is not only saying the right words at the right time. But it is also controlling your desire to say what you shouldn’t. Before you speak, ask, “Is what I want to say true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”

Hold on to the Everlasting

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

1 Peter 23-25

Commentary:

We were in the world living what we believed was a good life, doing what we wanted to do. We were in some cases lost because we were not living as God intended. But through the Grace of God we were reborn. That seed in us that was in sand is now planted in Our Lord Jesus Christ, in good spiritual soil. Now, with God’s love, we can take our eyes off of ourselves and see and do for others. God loves us so much, that he sacrificed his son for us. We are no longer a slave to sin. Peter reminds us in these verses that everything in this life – possessions, accomplishments, and even people – will eventually fade and disappear. Only the word of God is permanent. Stop grasping the temporary things and focus on Jesus Christ.

Don’t Be a Slave to Sin

In the same way, count yourselves dead in sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 6: 11-14

Commentary:

“Count yourselves dead to sin” means that we should regard our old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin. Because of our union and identification with Christ, we are not longer obligated to carry out those old motives, desires, and goals. So let us consider ourselves to be what God has in fact made us. When we were under the law, sin was our master – the law does not justify us or help us overcome sin. We have a new start, and the Holy Spirit will help us become, in our daily experience, what Christ has declared us to be. Without Jesus we would have no choice, we would have to apprentice ourselves to sin. The results would be guilt, suffering, and separation from God. Thanks to Jesus, we can now choose God as our master.

Jesus Freed Us

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions, that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9: 13

Commentary:

When Jesus went to the cross and died and was raised from the grave. The need for sacrificing animals was removed. As well as the need for someone to ask the Father to forgive our sins. In the Old Testament this was done once a year by the high priest for the people. But Christ, through his death, freed us from the slavery of sin forever. His sacrifice is infinitely more effective than animal sacrifices. With the dead of Christ there is no point in returning to the sacrificial rituals. Christ shed his blood for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to experience spiritual death and eternal separation from God. Jesus is our source of life, not death. With what Jesus did for us, death has no hold on us. We are free.

Faith Has Greater Worth Than Gold

Scripture: 1 Peter 1: 3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Scripture Commentary: Our faith has greater wealth than gold!

Do you need encouragement? Peter’s words offer joy and hope in times of trouble, and he bases his confidence on what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Our faith has greater wealth than gold!

We’re called into a living hope of eternal life. Our hope is not only for the future. Never-ending life commences when we trust Christ and join God’s family. No matter what pain or trial we face in this life, we know that it is not our final experience.

Christians can look forward to a family inheritance in the eternal city of God. God has reserved the inheritance; it will never fade or decay; it will have no stain of sin. The best part is that you have an inheritance if you have trusted Christ as your Savior. Place yourself in the Hands of Jesus Christ and see His glory.

Read the Entire Chapter:
1 Peter Chapter 1

Recognize God’s Work in You

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the last of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

1 Corinthians 15: 2-9

Commentary:

Churches contain people who do not yet believe. Some are moving in the direction of belief, and others are simply pretending. The Good News about Jesus Christ will save us if we firmly believe it and faithfully follow it. Paul had been an enemy of the Christian Church even to the point of capturing and persecuting believers. Thus he felt unworthy to be called an apostle of Christ. He knew that he had worked hard and accomplished much. But only because God had poured kindness and grace upon him. True humility is not convincing yourself that you are worthless, but recognizing God’s work in you. Because Christ rose from the dead as he promised, we know that what he said is true – he is God. Because he rose, our sins are forgiven, as he forgave Paul’s he will forgive yours. Put yourself in the hands of Christ and trust him.

To Know the Gospel is Different From Living it

Today

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do, but doesn’t do it, sins.

James 4: 13-17

Commentary:

It is good to have goals, but goals will disappoint us if we leave God out of them. Do not make plans as though God does not exist, the future is in his hands. Christians make great claims but are often guilty of belying them with their actions. Professing to trust God and to being his people, they cling tightly to the world and its values. Possessing all the right answers, they contradict the gospel with their lives. It is not enough to talk the Christian faith, we must live it. What good is it if we claim to have faith but have no deeds? Genuine faith will inevitably produce good deeds.

Spread the Good Truth

Scripture: Matthew 28: 11-15

The Guard’s Report

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Scripture Commentary: Jesus Lives

Jesus’ resurrection was already causing a great stir in Jerusalem. A group of women were moving quickly through the streets, looking for the disciples to tell them the amazing news that Jesus was alive. At the same time a group of religious leaders were plotting how to cover up the resurrection. They were bribing the guards to give a false report.

Today there is still a great stir over the resurrection, and there are still only two choices; to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or to deny, ignore, or explain away the truth.

God gave Jesus authority over heaven and earth. With this same authority, Jesus still commands us to tell others the Good news and make them disciples of the kingdom.

Matthew Chapter 28

Spiritual Wealth

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, holiness, faith, love, patience, and meekness.

1 Timothy 6: 7-11

Commentary:

When we look at TV or read an account of a great Egyptology find of artifacts of an Egyptian civilization we don’t always take into account the fact that the Egyptians thought they were taking the treasures they buried into the afterlife with them. We today can act the same way. We come into this world because God loves us, and we can go throughout life showing God how we love Him. One day we are going to leave here, so why not leave working for Our Lord Jesus Christ?

God gave Jesus as a sacrifice for us. Why be foolish, disregarding this fact, and live a life of foolishness, lust, and destruction? Put God in your life, let Him be in control, and Jesus will help you. We have needs to live here on Earth, but make sure you are pursuing needs and not wants. Money and materialistic values are not the path to true happiness, they are temporary. Being with Jesus is eternal. Even if we don’t have material wealth, we have spiritual riches from the fountain of God’s love and mercy.

Who is Weak in Faith, and Who is Strong?

Scripture: Romans 14: 1-4

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Scripture Commentary: it is important to take a self inventory to discover where our faith is weak and where our faith is strong

Who is weak in faith, and who is strong?

We are all weak in some areas and strong in others. Our faith is strong in one area if we can survive contact with sinners without falling into their patterns. It is weak in an area if we must avoid certain activities, people, or places in order to protect our spiritual life.

It is important to take a self inventory in order to find out our strengths and weaknesses. Whenever in doubt, we should ask, “Can I do that without sinning? Can I influence others for good, rather than being influenced by them?”

In areas of strength we should not fear being defiled by the world, instead we should go and serve God. In areas of weakness, we need to be cautious. If we have a strong faith but shelter it, we are not doing Christ’s work in the world. If we have a weak faith but expose it, we are being extremely foolish.

Ask yourself, “Am I so strong, I need only myself, or is Jesus my salvation, my Lord?”

Read the Entire Chapter:
Romans Chapter 14