My Daily Pause

The tongue is as powerful as a ship’s rudder

The right word spoken at the right time
is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl.

A wise warning to someone who will listen
is as valuable as gold earrings or fine gold jewelry. – Proverbs 25:11-12 NCV

Nothing can change a situation faster than words. Even the words I select in this post will determine your decision to finish reading it.

Like the Proverb writer, we love to be around those that always seem to know just the right words to say. Right or wrong, we choose our leaders, form opinions and make life altering decisions based on the words of others.

But we can be like that for them!

Not all of us need to be great orators, but training our tongue is a God given duty. It is how we are able to carry out the great commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) Look at what James said about the power of the tongue: James 3:2-10. When offering God to others, let’s make sure our words right ones spoken at the right time.

The Gossips – 1948 – Norman Rockwell

A wicked messenger brings nothing but trouble,
but a trustworthy one makes everything right.  – Proverbs 13:17 NCV

Trustworthy messengers are still a scarce resource in today’s world. Relaying information via word of mouth accurately is difficult – even when the messenger’s intentions are good. There is even a party game where one will whisper a message into the first person’s ear and then the group passes it around the room to see if the last person can get it right.

They usually fail.

We deal with that problem every day. Sadly, we are used to handling every bit of information through a filter:

• What is the news source?
• Who is giving the advice?
• Does this report make sense?

If we have to ask these things in the day-to-day routine, what about important matters?

Who is teaching in your church?

If a false messenger can ruin a nation, what can it do to your salvation? The noble Bereans checked out Paul and Silas as they taught to find out “whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

That’s a good example to follow when a person starts a sentence with “The Bible says …”

When you hear that, always take the time to check it out for yourself.

There is a verse in Romans 3 we all know:

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… – Romans 3:23

But that is not even a complete sentence. We know it is telling us that all people have sinned, regardless of who we are. We can see that the Jews had it in their head that they were righteous enough just by being Jews. Paul shows us in Romans 3 that there is much more to it.

If we are not careful we are going to drift away from God, just like the Jews did.

It was predicted in the Psalms this would happen (as quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-18.) In fact, they were so far gone they completely missed that the Messiah came and went.

Since we are all the same in God’s eyes, we all share the same potential to drift away if we do not practice the righteousness of God. The danger is thinking we are okay, when in fact we have drifted away because our faith is not the obedient kind like Paul describes in Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26.

When Paul said we are all sinners, he was not giving us an excuse – he was giving us a warning. This was not permission to shrug and and say, “Oh well.”  Many are calling themselves Christians because they completed some steps, but they continued on in their worldly ways.

It is time to stop making excuses.

The Creator left his signature on everything – even us!

Why are those that claim to be atheist so vocal about it?

They form societies.

They enter debates.

They even work overtime to prove it through their so-called “science.” (Which they have never been able to do, by the way.)

If they do not believe in God, why do they care about those of us that do?

Because they know the truth!

It is dishonest to believe this world exists only because of some cosmic accident.

Those that desire to prove God doesn’t exist are looking for anything at all to make it happen. They will never do it, though – all creation serves as the signature of the Creator!

Look at what Paul wrote:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. – Romans 1:19-20

Paul shows us that ignoring the evidence of God’s existence is neither new or innovative.

The writings of Plato, Xenophon, Cicero and others prove ^[1] that there is and always have been enough evidence and logic to conclude that we have a Creator. They might not have known the Gospel, but men have always had enough evidence to believe when it was brought to them.

So like Paul said, the world has no excuse.

Get on the defense

The danger in all of this for us is that we might unwittingly choose to fall into the trap of doubt. Through repetition, arrogance and peer pressure, the actively atheist community will continue to chip away at the general belief in God. We unwittingly contribute to their effort when we are slow to defend Him.

I recently saw a clip of Bono, the lead singer of U2, answer an interviewer’s questions about his belief in God and Jesus as our risen savior. While he is wrong on some doctrinal matters in that interview, I was thoroughly impressed with his boldness. He just came right out and looked into the man’s eyes and said “yes I believe Jesus rose from the dead. I believe in his miracles.”

We need to be bold like that.

We might not ever be as influential as Bono, but I’m sure we all have a few people we can influence through that same kind of boldness.

Ants are small, but get their work done.

 There are four things on earth that are small,
but they are very wise:

Ants are not very strong,
but they store up food in the summer.

Rock badgers are not very powerful,
but they can live among the rocks.

Locusts have no king,
but they all go forward in formation.

Lizards can be caught in the hand,
but they are found even in kings’ palaces. – Proverbs 30:24-28 NCV

You Have It – The Ability to do Great Things

The Proverb writer listed some very small creatures endowed by their creator with great strength and  instinctive wisdom.

These creatures are not pretty. They are not specimens of strength, but look at what they do have:

• Wisdom of planning and follow through
• Proper conduct and discipline
• Industry and stamina to get the work done
• Application of their resources to survival.

If God gave all of these creatures the building blocks to do great things, why wouldn’t he have done it for us?

Further, he gave mankind something he did not give the creatures:

His Word!

Think about what mankind could accomplish by using what God reveals to us about life and success and survival.

Think about the power of hope he has given us.

We often trust too much in ourselves rather than investigate the plan and design that God has laid out. Many of us even choose not to act on God’s plan when we know about it! Sadly, many even choose to work against the plans God gave us.

Success can be defined in many ways, but in the end, it will not be defined without God’s involvement.

What are you doing to insure you’re in sync with God’s plan? ( 2 Timothy 2:15)