Sssh

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'A full gives full vent to his spirit,

but a wise man quietly holds it back.'

Proverbs 29:11

...'How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members,

staining the whole body, 

setting on fire the entire course of life, 

and set on fire by hell. 

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed

and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With it we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse people that made in the likeness of God.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing, 

my brothers, these things ought not to be.' 

James 3:5b-11

Today I will intentionally try to say less and pray more. 

I will go to knees on behalf of my spouse...my children...my friends...

before I speak words of counsel, correction or rebuke. 

I will seek forgiveness for the careless words rashly spoken,

arrogant words proudly spoken,

foolish words mindlessly spoken.

Today I will love God and what God loves. 

I will speak words of kindness before I give voice to irritation or criticism. 

I will write the words of Proverbs and James upon my heart and allow them to speak truth and restraint and self control to my hasty spirit. 

When I succeed I will remember the power of God at work within me and the blessing of restraint upon my tongue. 

And when I fail I will humbly seek grace and remember that I am nothing without Jesus Christ. 

Today I will remember that a fool gives full vent to his spirit

but a wise woman quietly holds back. 

Oh sweet Jesus, 

that I may be a woman of wisdom and quietness!

<><tce

Remember

'When the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 

"Take twelve stones from her out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests feet stood firmly,

and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight."

Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them,

"Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 

that this may be a sign among you. 

When your children ask in time to come, 'what do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be the people of Israel, a memorial forever.'

Joshua 4:1-7

God calls us to remember. 

God commands us to remember. 

God allows us to remember. 

As God's chosen people had finished crossing the Jordan river, God knew the nature of man and the nature of man to forget which is why He commanded them to select memorial stones. 

All over Scripture, we see people building altars before the Lord as a memorial of what God has done, and still today we erect memorials, declare national holidays and celebrate anniversaries all in the honor of remembrance. 

Taking the time to remember is critical, not to mention Biblical. 

I believe that God allows us to--commands us to-- remember, not only for our own sake but for the sake of those that come after us. 

Joshua told the people to tell their children of the great things that God had done for as time moves forward, it is easy to forget the great and wonderful things that God has done in the past. 

Far too often we forget that which we ought to remember and remember that which we ought to forget.  When it comes to extending mercy to another, it is easy to forget the dark pit that God rescued me from and the mercy He extended and continues to extend to me. When it means walking in liberty and freedom, it is easy to forget that Christ broke the chains of sin and I am no longer a slave to it (Galatians 5:1).  

In Psalm 51, David begs God to restore to him the joy of his salvation. Sweet Jesus, can I relate! I see this in my marriage, in my parenting, in my walk with God....the need to remember His goodness and savor His faithfulness. As I walk with God, it is so easy to get sucked into the day to day, allowing the joy of my salvation to slip away and allowing my heart to become consumed with what I expect from God all the while forgetting who God has always been thus clouding my vision of who God is at this time. The joy of marriage is replaced with the unmet expectations of marriage. The joy of parenting is replaced with the arduous task of caring for, teaching and training these sinful little ones. The joy of life is weighted down by the insecurity of self and the focus of self. Oh God--that you would restore to us the JOY OF OUR SALVATION! 

Just as Joshua selected twelve memorial stones, Moses held onto his staff, and God created the rainbow, my prayer today as I journey through life today is that I would remember. When I look at my children that I would not see the flaws in their character or the downfall of sin, but rather that I would remember God's faithfulness in my fertility and that I would teach them who God is and who God has been to me. 

Today I will remember and take joy in what God has done. 

Today I will tell of the wonderful things He has done. 

Today I will allow the memory of what God has done for me to impact the way I serve others. 

Today I will allow the memory of God's unmerited mercy towards me to change the way I extend mercy to others. 

Today I will teach my children how great God is rather than expect someone else to do it. 

Today I will share a story of God's faithfulness with someone in spite of heart ache, hurt or disappointment. 

Today I will take a moment to remember who God is, who God has been and who God has promised to be. 

Today I will remember. 

in due time.

'Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers! 

For they will soon fade like grass and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and He will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in Him, and He will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in His way;

over the one who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit that land.'

Psalm 37:1-9

I love the relevancy of God's Word! 

No where do we hear that we need to act as though everything is fine and dandy and happy and lovely. There are blessed moments when this may be so, but there may be other moments--seasons perhaps--where the darkness is heavy and weariness and fear and anger are near companions. 

There are evildoers in this world--of which you and I are one! 

Although I don't murder and I don't steal, I do struggle with dislike, discontentment and disagreements. When I remember that I too am a sinner and God's righteousness has redeemed me and will sustain me, my perspective is challenged and if I will allow--my perspective will be changed. 

There will be unfairness in life. 

There will be the 'underserving' who will prosper in their ways while we are still waiting for God to fulfill the desires of our hearts. The barren woman waits to love and nurture a child while the wild woman conceives and conceives again only to abort, abandon or mistreat. There are evils in this world to which there is no other response other than the heavy curse of sin that covers the earth and those in it. 

While all of these issues of unfairness are undoubtedly present and real and relevant...

so is the steadfast love and faithfulness of our sweet Savior. 

When my eyes turn from the world around me, 

to His sanctuary;

from the hurt I carry to the cross He carried in my place;

from my idea of blessing 

to the abundance of blessing already lavished upon me...

it is then I begin to see His face, 

experience His love and faithfulness

and understand what it means to truly delight myself in the Lord. 

When in my weariness, I take hold of Scripture and claim its truth over my life,

when I commit to trusting in the Lord, doing good, dwelling in the land that He has me in at this moment rather than wishing for something different...

when I befriend faithfulness and commit my way to the Lord

knowing that in His perfect timing He will act...

it is in that place I will find gratitude. blessing. hope. peace. 

and to those things

I will cling to. 

I will let go of the bitterness and no longer allow it to rob and ravage my relationships, my mind and my future. 

I will let go of envy and resentment.

I will instead take up joy and thanksgiving.

Hope and rest. 

Knowing that in due time, my righteousness will shine like the sun and my justice as the noonday. 

In due time. In due time. 

<><tce

a servant to someone

'Therefore

since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 

let us also lay aside every weight, 

and sin which so easily entangles and clings so closely, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, 

and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' 

Hebrews 12:1,2

Who am I surrounded by? 

Do I surround myself with people that not only love me for who God is making me to be, but love Him and have a desire to be the people that God wants them to be? Who I allow into the sacred recesses of my heart and life will determine the kind of race I run and how well I run the race set before me. I want to run well, so I will surround myself with others that want to run well also. 

I can not run and carry the heavy load of sin, shame, pride, and self righteousness. 

Just as I backpack through the woods and consider every ounce going into my pack, knowing I will have to bear its weight as I traverse rocky terrain and cross through wooded lands, I too will give thought to the heavy weight of sin that weighs me down, tangles me up and turns my eyes from the Perfecter of my Faith toward myself and others. I will live a life of surrender, acknowledging before God and others, the sin that entangles, and will seek accountability as I desire to live righteously--not to my own glory, but for the sake of running this race of life well, unencumbered by the sin that holds me down. 

I will turn my eyes away from myself and set my gaze upon Christ Himself. He walked this earth. He played by the rules that we play by. He is God and He dwelt among us. He was the least of these. This world was not His home and He refused to set His eyes on that which was temporary and allow that to rule the eternal. If He would have, He would have never endured the cross or despised its shame--He would have denied His cross, sacrificed the eternal glory of God and all of creation would have paid the penalty. He knew that this life on earth is but a drop compared to all eternity. He lived accordingly. I will strive to do the same. 

I will take joy in the misunderstandings. I will seek His strength as I strive to live for Him among those that don't believe. I will seek to understand before I make effort to be understood. Rather than pray my cross be lifted, I will pray for the strength of character to carry it well. 

With the cross before me and the world behind, I will follow Jesus. 

I will love those that God loves. 

I will live these fleeting moments with intentional love and mercy, remembering my own need for love and mercy. I will seek to bless others before I expect blessing. 

I will set my eyes on Christ, the One who is writing my story, the Author of my faith, as He weaves this tapestry of my life that I will one day present before His throne as I bow in humble adoration, thankful for the life He gave and the cross He carried on my behalf. May it be a tapestry of beauty, woven with threads of grace and surrender, mercy and freedom, hope and love and purity. 

'Anyone who might feel reluctant to surrender his will to the will of another should remember Jesus' words, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34). 

We must of necessity, be servant to someone, either to God or to sin.

The sinner prides himself on his independence, 

completely overlooking the fact that he is the weak slave of the sins that rule his members. 

The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.' 

The Pursuit of God

A.W Tozer 

surrendered. 

tiffany