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Speach – Eloquent or Truthful?

Proverbs 17:7 KJV
Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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It is interesting to me when I examine the multiple translations available today and how each of them handles this passage. They vary drastically, and each perspective gives a glimpse into the voice of the translator to me.

For example, some focus on the words “excellent speech” or “eloquent speech”, while others focus on the words “truthful speech”. To me, the use of the words eloquent or excellent in this passage are useful when talking about those that the world considers fools in the temporal sense.

For example, the world would consider a man that does not have a high education and that is not wealthy a fool. So of course, for their understanding of what a fool is, it would make sense to talk about a fool not being able to use eloquent or excellent speech.

But for the spiritual, a man can be highly educated and have all of the wealth of the world, but if he has hardened his heart against his fellow man, and against God, and against the offer of grace, and only looks out for himself, he is a fool. This is because that man has placed his trust in those things that will fail him, things that with rot and rust, and that cannot be taken with him when his short time in this body is over. Whatever he piles up while he is here will be turned over to others when he is gone. So it is clear that when talking about a spiritual fool, the words “truthful speech” apply.

And who is a fool? The man who think himself wise but is a fool, or the one who is humble?

I’m not as humble as I should be, but the more that I learn, the more reason that I have to be humbled. No, I don’t want to be a fool in either of these two perspectives – but if I am going to set something as my goal, it is not eloquent speech, it is truthful speech.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 KJV
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

This is how I feel. I don’t feel wise. I feel confident in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but my understanding of the world has been shaken, it has been torn by this change in my life. I’m trying to understand because that is what the mind does, it tries to wrap itself around an idea. But God is too big for my little mind to comprehend – so it is maddening to try to accomplish the impossible.

And this too humbles me, and it has its intended effect – to push me back to faith instead of relying on fulfilling my own complete understanding. And some of the educated will argue that I am following blindly, but do they personally know the depth of every scientific discovery and understand everything about matter, energy, physics, chemistry, biology, and all of the extents of the studies of this physical realm that we can see and touch – or would it be maddening to try to comprehend it all? So how much more maddening would it be to try to understand the unseen in all its completeness?

So, I set my goal as truth – not eloquence or excellence because those are the measured opinions of men around me. I seek truth – both truth about this physical realm and truth about the unseen.

And doesn’t this begin to demonstrate the fullness of this verse? Doesn’t the completion of the verse deal with truthfulness?

Some translations use “ruler” or “prince”, while others use “righteous one” or “noble person”. Again, for me, this speaks to perspective – is this a discussion about the temporal or about the spiritual? Because of the subject matter, I’m more interested in the spiritual discussion.

And if we call ourselves children of God, aren’t we by inheritance princes, rulers, righteous ones, and noble? Or let me clarify – if we claim to be children of God, isn’t that what we are supposed to be?

And since that is true, what is this really saying to me?

It screams – KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Truthful speech.

It’s pretty important.

Without it, I’m a fool.

Because if I’m a child of God, I shouldn’t be a liar.

So instead of talking about things that I don’t fully understand as if my opinion is truth, shouldn’t I stick to the foundational truths? Those things that are solid and proven, and not argue over those things that I don’t yet know. But I will keep seeking and learning and sharing – just not arguing or insisting that I am right. And faithfully one day, like Paul, I will be witness to the power. And one day my words and faith will be proven truthful, or I will be a fool to be pitied by all. There is no middle ground for me, my destination is in the hands of the Lord.

Is your destination in the hands of Jesus Christ this morning, friend?

Do you know Him closely, are you seeking Him in your life daily?

Yes, our time is short. It seems to move faster every day.

TODAY is our day to see Christ move in our lives in powerful ways – to see change within our hearts – to share hope, faith, love, and truth with those in our lives – to see healing and power and change in this world around us – to see a revival in the body of Christ – to see light shining brightly throughout this world of darkness – to see evil and wickedness fleeing from our resistance.

I love you friend.

I plead the blood of Christ over your life today. May no evil touch you or come against you friend. You are sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Walk today as a risen child of God, and let the enemy scatter and run in fear before you.

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The Lord Hears

PSA 4:1-5 ESV
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

…

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds,
and be silent. Selah

Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord .

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Seek His Kingdom

Luke 12:29-31 AMP
And you, do not seek [by meditating and reasoning to inquire into] what you are to eat and what you are to drink;
nor be of anxious (troubled) mind [unsettled, excited, worried, and in suspense];

For all the pagan world is [greedily] seeking these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

…

Only aim at and strive for and seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be supplied to you also.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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Have faith.

Don’t worry.

Don’t waste your time greedily seeking the things of this world, because God knows what you need. Selfish living, chasing only pleasures and wealth is a dangerous trap that will leave one alone, naked, blind, and tormented in the end.

Seek His Kingdom, know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, live a fruitful life of righteous, upright living – following the helpful guidelines that He has provided, loving and serving others – and you will find that He is faithful and your needs are met – both spiritually and physically.

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Hear the Call

Isaiah 12:1-6 NKJV
And in that day you will say:

“O Lord , I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me, …
Your anger is turned away,
and You comfort me.
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah , the Lord ,
is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”

Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.

And in that day you will say:

“Praise the Lord,
call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord ,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout,
O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

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Not Legalism, Not Lawlessness

Psalms 5:8-12 NLT
Lead me in the right path, O lord , or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.
My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery.
O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O lord ; you surround them with your shield of love.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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These enemies, they are spiritual and unseen powers that work through us if we allow them to. So if we have Christ in us, we choose to either let this Holy Spirit of Christ in us, of Love, work through us, bearing these fruits of the spirit – or we choose to live fruitless lives.

The right path, the narrow path, is to follow a path that we cannot walk on our own – in fact, it is against our very nature to walk this path, which is why we must walk with Christ. And to do this, we repent of our sins, we ask for forgiveness, we hope in His promise of salvation, we ask Him to come into our lives as our personal Savior, we seek Him daily in our lives through prayer, through time in the Word, through fellowship with other believers, through keeping His commandments, and through loving and serving others.

Our nature is to either fall into lawlessness, ignoring His commandments and living a life filled with all kinds of focus on self, trapped in things that initially seem only to be harmless pleasures, but that have consequences both seem and unseen –

Or our nature is to fall into religious legalism, ignoring His love and mercy even for those who are His enemy, still focused on self, but using His commandments to judge and accuse and condemn and tear down others instead of loving, and encouraging, and forgiving, and serving, and building up others.

Without Christ guiding us and making the path clear, our futures are not bright.

These spiritual enemies lie. They will tell those in the ditch of legalism to point their fingers at those in lawlessness and attack them and tear them down – not lifting a hand to help them – just kicking them while they are down.

These spiritual enemies lie. They will tell those in the ditch of lawlessness that Christianity is just the religion of those hypocrites that love to kick them and that hate them. They will tell them that Christ is just a bunch of jealous people who don’t want them to be able to enjoy their pleasures since their religious rules don’t allow allow them to.

But being a follower of Christ is not either of those. A follower of Christ has this Holy Spirit alive inside them – guiding and teaching and convicting them to repent of their sin, and to ask for forgiveness for stumbles – and bearing fruits to be shared in love, mercy, and forgiveness towards others.

The conviction is supposed to be a surgical instrument aimed inward at those things that need to be fixed in our own lives, not as a weapon raised against another person. The mercy is supposed to be shared with others, not hoarded for ourselves.

And people that don’t have Christ but who act the opposite, their own choices will be their downfall. Those who do not love God’s ways but love the darkness, those who deny Him in their lives because they love pleasures and self above God will get what they are asking for – separation from God. Those who do not love their neighbor, those who do not show forgiveness, and mercy, and love to others – they have not received forgiveness and mercy and love themselves – they have never known Christ.

Those that live by the sword condemning and accusing others, they will die by the sword of their own words of unforgiveness. The one that hates and condemns his neighbor for the sexual sin of adultery, will stand convicted for his own sexual sin of lustful thoughts towards the other’s wife or daughter. Who can expect to withhold forgiveness and mercy and love towards others, and receive anything themselves?

So if we do not take refuge in you, Lord, if we are in lawlessness, convict us strongly of our evil ways so we will understand our need for Christ in our lives, leading us to a repentant life.

So if we do not take refuge in you, Lord, if we are in legalism and have no love or mercy towards others, make our own sins come crashing down around our heads to humble us and make it clear that we need mercy, so we should show mercy.

Lord, please be gentle with your discipline for those meek and eager to listen and learn – but be strong and bold with a rebuke and with consequences to break through the strong willed and the hard of heart. Break us, Lord, and mold us into a vessel for your use.

To any that read this, my journal for the lesson that I am learning today, please have a blessed day. If this lesson is just for my life, I thank you for taking the time to care about what is going on in my life. If there is a lesson in this for you as well, I am thankful to the Lord that He provides.

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He wins this battle

2 Chronicles 20:6, 9, 12, 15-17 NLT
He prayed, “O lord , God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. But you will not even need to fight.
Take your positions; then stand still and watch the lord ’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the lord is with you!”

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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The Lord has offered us this free gift of grace, made us promises that if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, and believe in Him, that He has already won the battle for us.

And if we are His children, once we cry out to Him in HOPE during our times of trial or suffering or tribulation, He promises that He will be there – and HE WILL RESCUE US.

However, without FAITH, without relying on this gift of the Holy Spirit daily and even moment to moment – how do we expect to defeat an army under our own power? This is why He is so important – we need Christ in us, changing our lives and winning our battles – not a religion on a shelf that we use to try and learn how to be a better person. We need Him fighting and winning these battles, because if we are trying to fight an army by ourselves – the future is not bright.

And if we have Christ in us, if we have this LOVE living in us that changes and cleanses us on the inside, growing and bearing these fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives –

Galatians 5:22-25 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

If we are walking with Christ, letting Him live in us and through us in our daily lives – we are trapped into the vine of life – we are under the care of the Good Shepherd – we are hearing the voice of the one true God – we are unveiled to the love, mercy, and forgiveness that He has for His children.

And His Way is TRUTH – it is BOTH receiving grace, and mercy, and forgiveness, and it is repentance, serving, and loving.

Then, we – the children of God – the ones that He loves and cares for – wewillwatch as He will crush His enemies before Him. Those that are not His, they do not hear His voice of love, mercy, and forgiveness – no, they are not calling to Him to win their battles. No, they are trying to win these battles against God’s will on their own. I know because I was living as His enemy.

And because they are His enemies, because they are not His children – They only hear His voice of wrath, of judgement, of accusation, of condemnation – because they hate His true children and they are blinded by their own sins and darkness and hardened hearts – and all because they will not come to Him and surrender to Him and accept that He has won the battle – and that it is His battle to win.

We are in one side of the battle or the other.

If we are trying to fight this battle on our own, it either looks like a life filled with sin and lawlessness, or it looks like someone trying to earn it through their own actions who is being a religious practicer of law but bearing no love, no fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

It is when we are surrendered to Christ that we are walking this narrow path of HOPE, FAITH, LOVE, and TRUTH. It is when we believe and trust Him when He says that our faith is counted as righteousness – and when we rely on Him to fight and win our battles, it is then that we are on His side and He is working through us, and that we know His love and His power and His honor and His glory – because we see Him in action each day. We see Him loving and serving and touching the lives of others – and we see Him softening our hearts and growing and bearing these fruits of the spirit inside us – and we know that this work is not our own, but it is Him changing us, molding us into a vessel fit for His use.

But if we are the enemy. If we are trying to do this on our own. We have no power. We have no fruit. We only know about a dead an empty religion, that has no love and no power. We only know about a law, a book of rules that shows us our own darkness.

Come out of the darkness. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Believe and follow Him. See past the religions and get tapped into a surrendered life and relationship with Christ alive in your life, friend. Seek Him daily and you will find Him.

I love you, friend.

Have a blessed day.

hballingerLeave a comment

What am I Chasing?

HEB 13:5-6 ESV

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said,

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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What am I chasing?

We can usually tell by our excitement or disappointment over things that are happening in our lives.

The trick for me is to actually sit back and think about my reactions to things that have happened to me each day. How did I react?

What choice did I make when faced with a tough decision?

This begins to tell me what is guiding my thoughts,  actions,  and words.

If I see something wrong and I lash out AT IT in “punishment mode” – that tells me something different than if I choose to respond TO THEM in “loving guidance” mode – and that tells me something different than if I choose to wisely examine the situation,  pray about it,  and follow God’s instructions on how to deal with the situation.

Situation one can mean that I am being led by my emotions – an EMOTIONAL RESPONSE/REACTION to the situation.

Situation two can mean that I am being led by my pride – a SELF CENTERED or IMMATURE “I know what they need to be doing” response/reaction.

Situation three can mean that I am being patient and wise, waiting to be led by the Holy Spirit – a SPIRITUALLY MATURE evaluation of whether or not there is an opportunity for the Lord to use me as a vessel.

If I am going to chase anything,  I should be chasing the Lord.

If I have caught hold of this Holy Spirit, I surely shouldn’t want to let go of Him.

And if I have hold of this Holy Spirit in my life, if my life is being changed before my eyes,  if I am surrendered and following Him wherever He is leading, if He is welcomed into my life as a trusted friend – then what is there to fear?

That I will let go of His hand? That is probably worthy to fear if I was the only one holding on, because my grip at times may be weak – but His grip is strong. His grace is sufficient. My surrender is complete,  His victory is won,  and His promises are true.

So I don’t fear man. I don’t fear the enemy’s stumbling blocks that Christ turns into His stepping stones.

I don’t fear weapons formed against me, because Christ uses them to sharpen my skills with this sword.

I am not perfect,  and I will stumble at times because I am not yet free from this flesh – but my stumbling are not from chasing sin,  they are from running so fast towards the arms of my Savior that I may trip over something in my zeal to be in His arms and in His presence.

So even my stumblings, even my shortcomings,  let them be because I am trusting Him to guide my feet, because my whole heart,  body,  mind and soul is running to Him – is chasing after the way,  the truth, the life, down this narrow path.

I do not like the trials, but I do not fear them,  because they prove my faith.

I do not like the chastening and correction,  but I do not fear it,  because it refines my life and strengthens my walk with God.

And what can man do to me? Hurt this body I wait to be freed from? Yes,  pain and suffering may come, but even that is a blessing to be counted as sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

So help me be content.

Help me trust that God has me exactly where He needs me.

Help me be thankful that He has made me for this purpose.

Help me be mindful and obedient to His will and His teachings and His guidance for my life.
Pray for me friend,  not because I don’t trust God to fulfill His promises – pray for me that I will not forget this mercy and grace and power and honor and glory and blessing of His touch and presence.