When you open your mouth

When you open your mouth, is it like a spring of fresh water ~ or a polluted mud hole?  The words of our mouth are very powerful, and can build up or tear down.  God used His mouth to create the world and everything in it, and said it was very good (Genesis 1:31, NKJV).  Jesus said it is what comes from the heart, out of our mouths, that defiles us.  (Matthew 15:18, NKJV)  I was reading from James 3:1-12 this morning, and wanted to share what I found with you. It’s my prayer that when I open my mouth, good things will come out of it!

1. Our mouth sets the course of our lives.  With it, we can do great things – or destroy our lives and others’.  We should continually speak blessings over ourselves, our family, and others.   James 3:4 (The Message) says, “We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.  A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it.”

2. Careless words are destructive.  Often we don’t mean to hurt others with what we say, but we do.  “It only takes a spark, remember to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”  (James 3:5-6, The Message)

We want our words to be as “apples of gold in pictures of silver.” encouraging and edifying others.  (Proverbs 25:11, KJV; 1 Thessalonians 5:11, The Message)  When we say things that we shouldn’t have, we should repent quickly and apologize to those who we hurt.  Sincere apologies can help restore relationships, but once spoken, the words can never be taken back – so we should work on preventative measures daily!

3.  It’s impossible to tame our tongues ourselves. We need God’s help to control our mouths!  I don’t know about you, but my mouth has always been one of my biggest problems. I think Joyce Meyer must have written the book Me and My Big Mouth in dedication to me!  http://www.amazon.com/Me-My-Big-Mouth-Answer/dp/0446691070. 

James 3:7-10 says, “This is scary. You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue -  it’s never been done.  The tongue runs wild,  a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women He made in His image.  Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!” 

We aren’t able to control our tongues in our own strength, but God is. He’s the one who made our mouths. (Exodus 4:11)   The power of His Spirit will give us a  mouth of power, love, discipline, and self-control, to bless and encourage others. (2 Timothy 1:7, Amplified Bible) 

4.  Dedicate the mouth to God, and ask Him to sanctify it.  Here is a passage in Isaiah 6:1-10 when the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the Lord:

“In the year that King Uzziah died,  I had a vision of the LORD. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. ²Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, ³as they shouted, “Holy, holy, holy, LORD All-Powerful!  The earth is filled with your glory.”   ⁴As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵Then I cried out, “I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD All-Powerful.”   ⁶One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. ⁷It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.”

Ask the Lord to touch your lips, and let the words coming out of them to be like refreshing springs of water, rather than polluted waters (James 3:12, The Message). Then, when you open your mouth, it will be a blessing – to God, to you, and to others.

Blog and Website move – my new address

We’re getting ready to go! My blog and my webiste are moving to http://www.bethjones.net.  Kelly with FreshNets has done a GREAT job on the new Wordpress design. My blogs, website, and podcasts will all be at ONE website for your convenience!

I wanted to keep my blog’s cute header graphic, and Kelly has been an answered prayer to this new website design! I LOVE my new site, and hope you will, too! I am SOOOO excited! God is so good!

We are still working on the website this week, so I appreciate your patience during the transition. Stay tuned for new upcoming blogs, articles, and podcasts to encourage your heart.

The Lord bless you!

The cardinal: a picture of Christ’s redemption

Female cardinal

I am not a morning person, so one of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 27:14, “He who blesses his friend with a a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It will be counted a curse to him.” (People who cheerily say “Good morning!” annoy me, lol.) Just let me spend a little time with God, get some caffeine, put on my face, check email, and I might be reasonably awake by 10 a.m.

This morning was different, though. I awoke at 5 a.m, and did not go back to sleep. I prayed a little while and sat in the twilight in our den, listening to my Ipod to Cindy Rushton’s Ultimate Homeschool Expo.

Soon Ray woke up and came into the den. He’s off work for the next few days, and it was nice for just the two of us to talk alone for awhile. After breakfast, I began washing the few dishes left from last night, and noticed outside the kitchen window a female cardinal on our back deck. I stopped to admire it and to thank God for this blessing.

The female is a neutral brown-beige color, with a little red in its plumage and on its beak. But the beautiful male counterpart is bright red, with a black face mask, and soft brushes of black on its wings and tail. It is my favorite bird, and each time I see one, I feel it is God giving me a special little gift and telling me that He loves me.

Male red cardinal

The cardinal has been christened the Christmas bird for its glorious color, and is a symbol of beauty and Christ’s redemption.

Ephesians 1:3-7 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

To redeem means “to pay off, to set free, rescue, or ransom.” Christ has paid off the debt of our sins, rescued us from hell and death, and set us free by the power of His blood at the Cross, so we can live eternally with God the Father.

Now that’s good news this morning!

Marriage 911

Is your marriage in trouble? Call the “ambulance,” Marriage 911!

Marriage is very much on my mind this week, probably because some major computer problems and our car being in the shop again for repairs have created a little bit of “intense domestic fellowship.” This morning I listened to Malia Russell’s mp3 download, Marriage 911. In this inspiring teaching, Malia transparently shares about her marriage struggles, and how God taught her how to apply the principles of His word to become a godly wife and how to improve her marriage, which is now very blessed.

You can also purchase her other products for very reasonable prices, with topics ranging from 30 day freezer gourmet cooking to home organization, here.

Malia is a fulfilled wife and homeschooling mom, an excellent writer, and a great speaker. Her website offers encouraging, Biblical articles that are a real pleasure to read. She also has free downloads, in addition to their store’s products for sale. Be sure to also check out her blog, Homeschool Blogger.

Respecting our husbands

You can read a great book on marriage by Nina Roesner. It was written after listening to literally thousands of stories about struggles overcome and successes won through the Daughters of Sarah program. Based on the true lives of women whose marriages have been turned around by the Daughters of Sarah program, this book will give you real life, practical examples of ways to honor and respect your husband…which will result in a better, happier, more fulfilling marriage for you both!

Respect is what our husbands truly desire from us. Webster’s Dictionary defines respect as “an act of giving particular attention; consideration; high or special regard; esteem; deference.”

Ephesians 5:33b says, “And the wife shall respect her husband.”

Why is it so hard sometimes to respect our husbands? It is explained in Genesis 3:16, “To the woman God said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

The New Living Translation of this passage says, “And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” Our sinful nature is the reason we have a hard time with respecting our husbands.

Do you relate? I do. I believe a lot of women today struggle with submission and respect of their husbands. Society reinforces disrespect of men with the disdainful attitude toward husbands and fathers that they are idiots, such as in The Simpsons cartoons.

http://www.thesimpsons.com/characters/.

We need to respect and honor our husbands the way they deserve, according to God’s word – not postmodern culture.

Respecting our husbands doesn’t mean we become a doormat, having no voice or say. It doesn’t mean being controlled, dominated, or abused. It is simply honoring their God-ordained position. Respect ministers to our husbands’ souls. It encourages and strengthens them in their daily walk with God and in the workplace – often a very difficult place to be for a Christian man today.

When we respect our husbands, we are obeying God. He will bless and reward us for it. Our marriages will thrive when we honor our husbands.

The stories in Nina’s book The Respect Dare will encourage you in your marriage. You can also sign up for Nina’s great marriage tips here.

Tip of the Iceberg: You have gifts inside of you that God wants to use!

A delicious gift of fine chocolates.

Think about your husband bringing you home a surprise gift of delicious, fine chocolates. You untie the beautiful blue bow, and open it, finding creamy chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, chocolates with almonds, cream-filled chocolates, dark chocolates….all the chocolate you could want, ready for you to eat to your heart’s content.

They smell wonderful, and make your mouth water. But you do not even say thank you. Instead, you take the gift, wrap it back up, and put it in the back of your bedroom closet, never letting them see daylight again….and they finally go bad! Would that be a very respectful way to treat your husband? No, he wants you to use the gift he’s given you ~ and enjoy them, to delight in them. It gives him immense pleasure to see you unwrapping a chocolate bar and biting into it, savoring the taste…and enjoying the chocolate with you!

This is the way it is with our spiritual gifts. God has put spiritual gifts inside of us to further His kingdom and for His glory. Yes, your gifts are like fine chocolates, wonderful gifts for you to unwrap, for you, God, and others to enjoy. They are for the glory of Jesus, and will further God’s kingdom on earth. We don’t need to hide them, but to use them. What are the spiritual gifts, and where are they listed in the Bible? Maybe you are not familiar with the spiritual gifts, and don’t know they function or how to operate in them. Maybe you’ve never used your gifts before, but would like to begin.

My new podcast, The Spiritual Gifts, answers these questions from the Bible and encourages you to use the great gifts God has put inside of you. God wants to use you in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine. Just as the tip of an iceberg only reveals the visible part of the ice, and what is underneath the surface of the water is an enormous iceberg, so it is with our spiritual gifts. We have not even yet begun to tap into our potential in Christ. God wants to draw these incredible gifts out of you and me, for His glorious purposes, to reach a lost and dying world.

You can listen to my podcast at MyPodcast.com, and subscribe with Itunes or your feed reader. http://bethjones.mypodcast.com/.

A fresh look – new website design

A fresh new look

I am so VERY excited, because this morning I hired a website designer to redesign my website, http://www.bethjones.net/cms. God has provided as He always does – He is so GOOD! Praise You, Lord Jesus!

My site will have a fresh, new look with a Wordpress design, using my Tablet Of My Heart blog’s header/graphic! All of my blog’s content will be imported into the new site. This way, both my website and my blog will be at ONE convenient site for my readers! I also am going to new website hosting, and am excited about that change.

I will keep you updated as much as possible, giving you the new address for the website. The transition should take about a week, but I wanted to let readers know ahead of time. Lately, I’ve been really busy with different projects and holding off on adding new content to my current website, knowing that soon I’d be moving to a new place.

Once everything is complete, I have plans to record more podcasts and Blog Talk Radio shows, and write blogs and lots of articles to offer you for your enjoyment. This week I also am editing a book I wrote on prayer, that will be available soon as an ebook for sale on the new site. Stay tuned!

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands (wilderness).” ~ Isaiah 43: 19, The Message Bible

Stuck in the heat by a cornfield: it’s all about God and the harvest

Today I was on my way back home from a Toastmasters’ meeting, when our car decided to die at a stoplight at an exit. Immediately, I prayed and it restarted. I drove to the nearby Sonic for a large, cold Coke, and called Ray to let him know what was going on.

Since we just have one car right now, my knight in shining armor had to ask a friend at our weekly Send Out Cards meeting, for a ride to come rescue me.

At Sonic, I restarted the car, and got down the highway a few more miles, when it quit again ~ and this time, it would not restart. Stuck in the 85+ degree heat, on the side of the road across from a corn field, I had to wait for my husband an hour to get there because we live out in the boondocks.

Stuck by a cornfield in the heat

God was silent. As I sat there, a minor wreck happened on the highway near me. Oh good, a diversion. I watched as a firetruck and other emergency vehicles came to the scene, and traffic backed up to a crawl. People passed by me in their cars, staring, never asking me if I needed help.

One police woman who worked in the area came up beside me in her unmarked car, and asked if I was involved in the accident. I told her no, but I was waiting on my husband to come get me because my car had broken down. She said, “Okay, hon,” and pulled over on the side of the road a few feet ahead of me. Nothing like a little compassion and going out of your way for someone, is there?

She got out of her car, put on her gun belt with exaggerated importance, and immediately began questioning the people involved in the scene. She didn’t even offer to let me sit in her nice, air-conditioned car as I was waiting! I looked at my arm on the steering wheel, and saw little beads of sweat forming on my skin. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, I saw that my face was red, too. Visions of me passing out from dehydration, and concerned emergency workers putting me on a stretcher, came to mind. The people who had passed me by in their cars without offering help would be sorry then!

So thankful for my cold drink, I chomped ice and watched the way one police officer directed traffic in his orange vest, and I called Ray to let him know that traffic coming toward me was slow because of an accident. “I’ll be there in 15 minutes,” were his famous, last words.

By the time Ray arrived 30 minutes later, I had read some of my Toastmasters’ book first chapter, checked my voice mail and text messages on my cell phone, had taken pictures of the accident scene in sheer boredom, cleaned out my purse, and was now studying cloud shapes…getting closer to fainting every minute. The emergency vehicles and tow truck were gone. The female officer indifferent to me overheating was still talking with the people involved in the wreck, making her case.

I got into the back of our friend Herb’s car, and sighed in relief – ahhh, cold a-c! The tow truck driver whom Ray called arrived promptly, and hauled off the car to the nearest garage. We stopped at the store for water, and soon I was at home, hydrated again and resting, watching the hilarious movie Oscar with Ray and our daughter Leah.

Tonight as I was listening to A Woman Inspired 2009 conference on internet marketing, one of the speakers encouraged women to use their blogs to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Remembering my day by the cornfield in the heat, the scripture John 12:23-25 (NKJV) came to mind. The Greeks had heard of Jesus and came to his disciple Philip to ask to speak with him.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone…if it dies, it produces much grain.

Yes, this was what God wanted me to learn today, I thought. Dying to self – which is never easy. Producing much grain for God. Jesus increasing in me, and I decreasing. Being concerned with the furtherance of His kingdom here on earth and the harvest of souls. It’s all about Him – Jesus, Lord and King.

What Is Your Power Source?

Trees in town were damaged from Missouri thunderstorms last night

Last night I was checking Twitter, when a severe thunderstorm hit our area in Missouri. The electrical power went out about 10 p.m., and was not restored until about 1 p.m. today.

I knew something was up when the trees outside the kitchen window were bending over to touch their toes, and I saw jagged streaks of lightning nearly hit the houses across the street, followed by a loud BOOM. My online connection cut off. Darn! Thunderstorms are so inconvenient! (I didn’t even get to count to one thousand two before I heard the thunder.).

It was at this point that I quickly walked down the dark hallway, and woke up my husband Ray, snoring peacefully in bed.

“Ray, there’s a bad storm outside! The power is out!” (Did I expect him to go outside and fix it himself?) Groaning, after a few minutes, Ray dragged out of bed and looked outside the den window at the furious rain, lightning, and wind. He called the dispatcher at the hospital where he works, to find out if there were any serious weather conditions. Serious? She informed him there was a tornado watch, in small towns 20 miles both ways. And he thought I was just overreacting, praying and huddled under the green blanket on the couch!

I invited him to sit with me, asking him if he knew why they call it a loveseat - it’s made for two. Since the power was out, and he could not watch a movie on tv or get on the internet, he was bored just sitting there in the dark. I then suggested that we dedicate the loveseat. Nothing like severe weather conditions to spice up your marriage! He decided that was a great idea. Next time you have tornado-like conditions where you live, just have sex!

But I digress. Today there are a lot of tree limbs down and a few power poles fell. A big branch broke off a tree in our 95-year-old neighbor Leetha’s backyard, and fell on her roof. Fortunately, there was no damage. Leetha was not as concerned with her roof, as she was with the city workers not restoring her power quickly enough. “You’d think they could get the electricity back on sooner than this!” she complained to Ray, who nodded in empathy.

Leetha amuses us. She still drives her car and gardens at her age, and sometimes when she is working out in the yard, she tells us she is getting too old for this. Ya think? Well, when I am 95 years old, I want to be petite, healthy, and energetic like Leetha.

There is something about severe weather and natural disasters that just draws people together. Suddenly, neighbors you don’t even speak to, or merely have a waving relationship with as you pull out of the driveway, begin to shed their vampire cloaks and come out into the daylight (just kidding).

You ask if they’re okay, and they chat with you about their generator. Yes, you’re thinking of buying one now, too. Together you survey the damage to your trees, and begin pulling big limbs to the curb for the trash pick-up service. Ray and our neighbor discussed the power line that had fallen across our shed, and the odds of the shed catching on fire with an energized line, if the power suddenly came back on. I freaked out when Ray tells me this, but then he decided it’s the line for the tv cable. (I made him still call the city about it!)

Our shed in the backyard with the fallen power line.

Around the corner, our friends Rae and Theresa have huge, 100-year old, beautiful oak trees in their front yard. Last night the wind broke off a large part of one, causing it to fall across the street. Luckily, it didn’t fall on their century-old, Victorian, bright yellow house.

Theresa loves her trees, but just shrugged when I told her I was sorry about it. They are going to chop it up and use it for winter firewood. I guess that now eliminates her as an official, “green” tree-hugger. She said her kids were staring out the window at 4 a.m., watching the city workers pull the tree off the street, back into the river of their yard. Like me, her kids were taking pictures of the broken tree today. Do you think we need a life, or what?

Broken oak tree in our friends’ yard

Broken limbs from friends’ big oak tree

Huge, ancient oak tree in friends’ yard – will be chopped up for winter firewood now!

Other trees were uprooted and damaged in town

Your roots are showing, lol!

Impatiently waiting for the electricity to come back on this morning (because I was so hot with no air conditioning), I wondered how I will ever make it when we go on our missions trip to Africa. Well, our car has air, so I got into the car to get cooled off, and drove around town to take pictures of the damage. I passed by a church, whose sign outside read, “Live by the Spirit.” I decided that would be my blog message for today.

What is your power source? Are you facing the daily challenges of your life, using your own strength, or relying on the Lord? We need God to help us to accomplish the things He desires us to do. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing!

The book of Acts begins with Jesus showing himself to his disciples after his death and resurrection, during the 40 days before his ascension to heaven. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and gave them a specific instruction:

“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:1-8, NKJV)

Just as we did not have any electricity when the power was off, we as Christians don’t have any power without the Holy Spirit. He is the one who equips and enables us to share the good news with others – whether with our neighbors, our co-workers, our relatives or friends, or even going across the world on a mission trip to share the gospel.

As we wait on God in prayer and diligently study His word, He will fill us with His love and will give us direction. The anointing of His Holy Spirit will teach us all things, and will give us the new strength and empowerment we need for today to advance His kingdom. God will be there with us through any troubling storms of life. He is our shelter from on high. Like the disciples, as we wait on Him, obeying His instructions, He will give us what He has promised us, His very presence.

Are you plugged into your power source, Jesus?

Setting a day aside each week for the Sabbath

Our daughter Heather, her husband Kyle, and their two daughters have been visiting a new church lately to see if it may be the right fit for them. Today at Heather’s invitation, I went to visit it, too, and really enjoyed it. Friendly door greeters, contemporary worship by a live band, a great kids’ church, and practical, Biblical teaching by the pastor on getting out of debt, in order to bless and help others, were just a few of the things this church had to offer.

Some people get together on Sundays to honor the Sabbath, and others on Saturday or another day of the week. No matter what day you and your family set aside to worship God, take time each week to honor God, to rest, and to be rejuvenated. We were not designed by God to go 24/7, 365 days a year. Our bodies require both spiritual and physical rest. Even God rested on the seventh day after He created the earth and all in it! And how much more so do we need it!

Very often, as Joyce Meyer says, we get our who (who we are) mixed up with our do. We are caught in that trap of the tyranny of the urgent….doing all we can every day – going, going, going, like the energizer bunny. Then we wonder why we feel so tired and can’t seem to get anything done. Sometimes we just need to be.

Taking a day to study God’s word, to worship Him, to celebrate, to relax and have fun with our family and friends, and even to take a siesta after lunch will refill us and energize us for the week ahead. God commanded us to honor the Sabbath and to keep it holy in the 10 commandments. God didn’t just forget about the Old Testament and the commandments when the New Testament came along. He still means what He said! There is a reason for everything God tells us – it’s for our own good! Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

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