Good Words – April 25, 2009

Good Words

Matthew 12:35-37

Jim Stephens

04-25-09

 

Scripture:

 

35 A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.  (Matthew 12:35-37 NLT)

 

Observation:

 

Good words bless, inspire, encourage and evil words hurt, demean, and demoralize.  Kids are shaped by words parents speak to and about them.  “Good try.  You can do it!  I love you.  I’m glad you were born!”  “You’re stupid!  Can’t you do anything right?”

 

Good words unspoken can leave a hole in the heart – never praising effort, not acknowledging progress, not expressing love.  Some kids are wounded and broken by evil words and become the demonstration of those words.  Others react and fight bitterly to prove those words wrong.  Either way, the words shape the person and their future.  In marriage and family, in friendships, in the workplace – words are powerful.

 

Proverbs 11:9a  Evil words destroy one’s friends.

Proverbs 15:4 Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 18:21b  The tongue can kill or nourish life..

 

Application:

 

I need to weigh every word I speak and consider its effect on others before it comes out of my mouth.  Today my greatest impact may be a good word spoken to someone in the right way at the right time.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, help me to choose and use my words as carefully as I would handle and point a loaded gun.  Help me to use words to bless, inspire, encourage and never to hurt, demean, and demoralize.  May I bless someone with a good word today.  Amen.

 

Speak To These Bones – September 14, 2008

Speak To These Bones

Ezekiel 37:4-6

Jim Stephens

09-14-08

 

Scripture:

 

4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”  (Ezekiel 37:4-6 NLT)

 

Observation:

 

The valley of dry bones Ezekiel visited in his vision represented a real situation.  The nations of Israel and Judah were defeated and destroyed and nothing represented their spiritual, political, and economic situation better than a boneyard – a picture of what once had been full of life and energy and now was dead.

 

Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” (Ezekiel 37:3 NLT)

 

God asked Ezekiel a question the answer to which was known only to God and which God alone could fulfill.  But God gave Ezekiel a part to play in bringing life to a valley of death.  Ezekiel’s part was not medical – to heal, it was only to speak the words God gave him and to trust God alone for the results.

 

Application:

 

As Christ-followers we face situations that seem beyond help.  It may be a relationship gone wrong, a job lost, a business failed, a medical diagnosis that gives no hope.  If we tune ourselves to God’s thoughts and offer ourselves to speak God’s words, we can make a difference.  Our prayers and our spoken words can become words of life not only to ourselves but to others.  The caution?  To speak only God’s Spirit-words and not the wishes of our minds or the desires of our own hearts.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, Help me to stay tuned to your voice and sensitive to your Spirit-words.  Give me clarity and courage to speak your Spirit-words to others who need to hear a voice of help and hope and life.  Amen.