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As I was
reading Acts 4th Chapter, verses 23 – 35, it mentions
the believers’ prayer, where they raised their voices
together in prayer to God and after their prayer, that the
place of the meeting was shaken. A thought that came into my
mind was, “Lord why aren’t more of such works happening today as
believers call upon the Lord?”
The simple answer is: WE ARE NOT UNITED.
Often, we
ourselves are the hindrances to our own blessings. The more and
more we hear about Jesus, to walk humble, contrite, and in
perfect submission, we prefer to do the other way round. We love
to exalt ourselves and not ready to submit as to the PERFECT
WILL OF GOD. We do not realize the damage we cause to our own
selves, knowing well the power of the one and only living God
who has repeatedly worked wonders. Our Lord expects from us:
FAITHFULNESS, COMPLETE OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD TRUSTING HIM AND TO
WAIT UPON HIM (PATIENCE). But how much do we practice this in
our daily lives. If someone has to talk one wrong word to
us, we are quick to hit back, take revenge, by speaking two
words and thereby trying everything to damage the other person
in everyway that we can. Yes, I am talking about our tongue, our
speech.
A Greek
philosopher once asked His servant to cook the best dish
possible. The servant, who was very wise, prepared a dish of
tongue, saying, “It’s the best of all dishes for it reminds us
that we may use the tongue to bless and express happiness,
dispel sorrow, remove despair and spread cheer”. Later the
servant was asked to cook the worst dish possible. Again, he
prepared a dish of tongue, saying, “It’s the worst dish, for it
reminds us that we may use the tongue to curse and break hearts,
destroy reputations, create strife, and set nations at war.”
Again, I would
like to mention an incident that happened recently on the 5th
May 2007, just 2 days as I was getting prepared to go to
Philippines for revivals along with my family. Since the brakes
of the bicycle that our 2 children ride was not working, I took
this cycle to the shop to fix it. Being close to go to
Philippines, I was more concerned of using the maximum time to
sit in the presence of the Lord. However, this mechanic could
not fix this simple brake problem for 2 days. At the end of the
2nd day, since I spent almost 6 hours sitting with
the mechanic idly doing nothing, I became very upset with this
man and brought back the bicycle home. As I reached home, a
gentle voice spoke: “WHAT EXAMPLE DID YOU SET THERE?” I
replied, “Lord, but my 2 days got wasted as a result”. I started
reasoning with the Lord but I was strongly told to go back and
set terms right with this mechanic before going to the
Philippines. Yes, as much as we wanted the Philippines trip to
be blessed, I also wanted God to bless me every moment of our
daily lives and so, next day early morning, 7 am, I went to this
man and asked pardon, hugged him to show God’s love.
Yes, little do
we realize and think, how much our words, affect others? Does it
do good or bad?
In Proverbs 12:
18, Solomon wrote: “The tongue of the wise promotes health”. The
tongue is not in control but the person behind it is. If you
want your tongue to build people up and not tear them down, ask
God to make you wise and be mindful and careful to avoid any
such words henceforth.
WISDOM IS
KNOWING WHEN TO SPEAK YOUR MIND AND WHEN TO MIND YOUR SPEECH.
Of the many
dangerous damages we cause to others, some are gossip,
slandering, judging. And then without looking on ourselves, we
pray so loudly for our daily needs and to be blessed that
instead of blessings, it’s just the opposite that we bring upon
ourselves. We often love damage control exercises and fail to
look upon ourselves as where we stand; using an authority that
God has not given us. Matthew 7: 1 says, “Do not judge, or
you too will be judged”.
Let us remind
ourselves that anything that we do, that is not according to the
Bible is sin and SIN HAS ITS CONSEQUENCES. A PRICE HAS TO BE
PAID. The spread of any deadly disease is similar to the
spread of a spiritual sickness that sometimes strikes churches –
the disease of gossip and unedifying words Ephesians 4: 29
– 32 says: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness,
rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of
malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ God forgave you”.
Let’s check if
we are a cause of strife or building up believers, or churches.
Each of us should be careful not to spread the sickness of
gossip. Don’t spread gossip but dispose of it by silence.
Instead, let’s use our words to strengthen and encourage one
another. To silence gossip, refuse to repeat it. Do your part
to silence gossip – don’t repeat it. Gossip soon dies if it is
not repeated.
James 4:11,
says, “Do not speak evil of one another”.
Galatians 5: 19
– 21 speaks of the sinful nature and that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God. One of the sinful act
and nature is: FACTIONS (It means: dissensions, forming groups
contrary to the Word of the Lord) Today, even after having heard
so much about the Lord we get so involved with all these sorts
of groups.
DO WE STAND
TODAY FOR MAN OR WITH GOD AND FOR GOD ALONE?
Let each one of
us ask ourselves: WHERE DO I STAND TODAY? HOW FAR HAVE
I GONE?
IF WE
HAVE IN ANY WAY GONE FAR AWAY FROM THE WAYS OF THE ALMIGHTY IN
OUR DAILY LIVES, THEN, CHECK OUR WAYS!! COME BACK!! CHANGE OUR
WAYS!! CHANGE OUR ATTITUDE!! DO NOT ALLOW OUR HEARTS TO BE
HARDENED AND CAUSE A RUIN TO OURSELVES.
It’s time to think – GOOD OR BAD – WHERE DO I STAND TODAY?
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