“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Do you remember saying this when you were younger? Words can’t hurt me, but physically I can be hurt. Now that you’re older, how much have you seen this not to be true? Our words and other people’s words hurt!
That is what Solomon is saying here. Your words have an effect on people and it will either be a like a sword or a knife that stabs someone or it provides health or life for those that hear your words. Anger, frustration, bitterness, and wild emotions can cause us to have words like swords that only damage and wound. The Lord would have us be wise with what leaves our mouth and encourage, direct, and love others. I challenge you today, consider your words and how you speak to others!
In Christ,
Pastor Sean Boehm
Here’s a good way to start your day. Spend some time in prayer and let your request be, “Lord help me to follow this command in everything I do today.” So why, in Jesus’ own words, is this the first and greatest command? Because God knew when He originally gave this to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:13 that if they would love Him first and keep that as their focus, everything else would fall into place.
That principle hasn’t changed through the ages and still stands true today. Love God with every part of who we are and all the other aspects of our lives (relationships, finances, employment, etc…) will fall where they belong. Not that we won’t have trials and testing along the way but our consistent love for God will see us through those times.
Praying for strength to obey that First Commandment,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
As a Children’s Pastor, I hear much from the kids I teach about things they are learning in school. They are being taught evolution from a young age before they can form an argument. Their only defense might be Genesis 1:1, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Yet that simple argument, when paired with the verse above, is more than enough.
Evolutionary scientists continually try to refute the first verse of the Bible because if they can get young ones to question the Scriptures from the very beginning, those same kiddos will have doubts about the rest of the book. Yet God says here in Job, “Were you there when I formed the earth?” Because He was!
God’s question here is to Job himself, who had built himself up as a holy man and was starting to question God’s motives in all of the troubles sent his way. God’s answer throughout Job 38-through-41 doesn’t explain what He did, it just defines what He is – a powerful God who has all of the answers. That should be enough for us and it should be enough for our kids.
Worshiping the Creator,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
Paul, writing to this young church in Thessalonica, was so thankful to hear about their growing faith that Paul said he was bound or obligated to thank the Lord, for this was His work in them. He deserved all the glory after all. Likewise, you and I and the church are the result of God’s work through His Word and by His Spirit.
The Thessalonians faith had grown exceedingly, a compound Greek word meaning to increase beyond measure or be bursting at the seams. Their faith in the Lord and His Word allowed them to grow in this wicked, large city despite the tremendous pushback and persecution. And their love for all was growing as well. What a testimony to God’s work in surrendered lives. What do others thank the Lord for when they think of you? Today may it be your demonstrated faith and love!
Wanting to have faith and love on display,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
For the second time in this chapter, Paul references a mystery about the nature of the Trinity. It is simply astounding that God the Father is also the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 1:3). Furthermore, Paul describes Him as “the Father of glory,” emphasizing for the sixth time in this short chapter the underlying purpose in everything God does—His glory.
First, Paul prays that God would give the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. He wrote to the Romans, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). The wisdom and knowledge of God are infinite, and our joy in heaven will be to discover them throughout eternity. In this life, as in the next, there is always something new, wonderful, and precious to discover.
The wisdom and knowledge of God are also extremely valuable—more to be desired than gold! It grieves my heart that at this critical time in history, so many of us pursue worthless things, spending our time poring over social media and godless video entertainment, while so little time—or none at all—is spent searching out the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Our minds need to be rewired and transformed by God’s word, not numbed by the world.
Oh that our eyes would be opened to how desperately we need to be transformed by the wisdom and knowledge of God! So how will you spend your time today?
Tom Day
It’s interesting to note how large a portion of Scripture is occupied with the subject of prayer – either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We hardly open the Bible before we read, “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”
Instances are plentiful whether it’s a wrestling Jacob; a thrice-a-day praying Daniel; or a David who called upon God with all of his heart. On the mountain, we see Elijah and in the dungeon, Paul and Silas. We have multitudes of commands, and hundreds of promises.
We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said so much about prayer, it is because He knows how much we need it. So deep are our needs that until we graduate to heaven, we must not cease to pray.
Prayer is the breath, the comfort, the strength, and the honor of a Christian. If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father’s face, and live in your Father’s love. Pray that this year, you may be holy, humble, zealous, and patient. Have closer communion with Christ and enter more often into His love.
Pastor William Del Casale
Paul, in his letters, like Jesus in the gospels, frequently implores us to pray. And like Jesus, Paul also provides examples of prayer. Here, Paul directs us in how we should approach our prayer life.
First, he commands that we continue earnestly in prayer. The word can also be translated as “busily engaged in.” Prayer is to be active and ongoing. Secondly, he commands that we be vigilant, which means to be in constant readiness or to be on the alert. We should always be ready with a prayer in our heart, and alert to those things which distract us from a life of prayer. Finally, we are to approach prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving. Prayer is a privilege: We can enter the throne room of the universe and commune with God! We can praise Him for who He is and for His work in our lives, as well as bring our petitions. Lord, may we approach prayer with persistence, and may we guard our prayer life from anything that would diminish it.
Jeff Mericle
I think most of us would agree that the end of 2020 could not arrive quickly enough. A worldwide pandemic has kept us in its grip for the better part of 10 months and a national election fraught with questions, doubts, and upheaval on every side has left many disillusioned. The church has faced the closing of its doors for months on end. Add in the fear and misinformation, the relative ease with which we settle into bad spiritual habits, the cancellation of church life and services, and we arrive at Christmas wondering how we have survived it all.
In many ways, the arrival of Jesus Christ on that first Christmas day found a world similarly dominated by fear and hopelessness. I trust our world this year has been brought through these great challenges to prepare hearts for the Good News of Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate today. I am looking for revival in 2021 as the message of our Lord is shared by His people to a world that has been brought to the end of itself.
As God’s people, we know of His goodness, great love, and provision for our sin and there has never been a better time for us to shout it from the rooftops, even as the angels declared to the shepherds that first Christmas morning (Luke 2:11). For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. I am anticipating a harvest of souls as a result of the message of Christmas. Tell someone the true story of the Child born in Bethlehem, for with all that has been going on, I believe they will now listen with great interest.
Merry Christmas from the fields white unto harvest,
Pastor Jack Abeelen and the staff at Morningstar Christian Chapel
There are over a dozen times in the gospel narratives that the authors brought to attention an enhanced level of concern in Jesus’ speech by stating that Jesus “cried out” as He spoke a particular message to those listening in. I’ve been told before when everything is dramatic, nothing is dramatic.
Every time Jesus opened His mouth, even though everything He spoke was true, it wasn’t always said as if it were the last words He was ever to share (Isaiah 42:2). But then there were important moments, at important times, concerning important truths about Himself or His message that Jesus could not hold back. Jesus would cry out with a passion-filled zeal because these truths or realities He spoke must be heard, must be understood, must be taken seriously because they meant everything!
If you have ever found yourself having a conversation about Jesus or maybe even teaching the Bible and you find yourself getting a little louder or excited at some point, it’s usually because you started sharing a truth about Jesus that is critical for your audience to hear. To that I say, Amen! If you find yourself just trying to be passionate because you think everything you have to say is important, well, I’d point you to the classic story of the boy who cried wolf.
Be passionate about the things that matter… Jesus!
Pastor Jason Witt
Here, Peter glances in the rear view to Isaiah 53: “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” With 1 Peter 2:25, the apostle reminds us of Jesus’ loving sacrifice on the cross; the sacrifice that bridged the chasm between our fallen souls and God’s loving presence for those who know Jesus as their Shepherd.
The word of God is filled with comparisons that identify we humans as sheep and the Lord as the one true Shepherd. Why sheep? Sheep are helpless without a shepherd. Sheep are prone to “follow the leader,” regardless of how foolish that leader may be. Sheep are likely to wander. A sheep’s only chance of survival is to remain under the care of a dedicated shepherd.
It is amazing to know that the Lord is not only our compassionate Shepherd, but that He has gladly taken on the responsibility as the Overseer of our souls. I am grateful that He loves His sheep so very much, and I’ll bet you are, too.
Jeff Deal
