Women typically have an advantage over men when it comes to our ability to communicate. We connect by talking and sharing our detailed stories. But with this verbal gift comes a huge responsibility—one that is controlled by one simple muscle in the body, unmatched in its potential for good or evil—the tongue.
One characteristic of a mature Christian is shown in her ability to control her tongue. Luke 6:45 says, “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Wow! Our hearts cannot be hidden because our speech reveals us.
James 3:3-6 says, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”
The verse just before this passage, in James 3:2 says, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” This reminds us that we are all human and we mess up. Thankfully, God’s grace is enough for me. And His blood was shed to cover all my sin.
But let us never take lightly the impact we have with our tongue. Let’s always consider what we are about to say before we speak it. We have a tremendous ability to change lives with what we say and how we communicate the truth. James 3:9 says, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.”
What if we used this powerful muscle to only speak words of truth and words that were uplifting to one another, to His creations? So with this, the prayer of my heart comes from Psalm 19:14,
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
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Guest Devotional- Stacy Heckman
“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “ – Jeremiah 29:11
God is a planner. Did you ever think about that? He started with the most basic and important element of planning: time. Then went on to plan out every single incredible detail of the universe including some amazing plans for each of us.
I love this “planning trait” of God because I am a planner! I like to plan out my weekly meals at the beginning of the week. I plan events months in advance. And I start thinking about holiday crafts for my son long before the calendar says it’s fall.
So I started thinking, “How can a little advance planning help strengthen my relationship with Christ?”
It may seem strange to plan out some spirit-growing activities for yourself, but I encourage you to ask yourself some of these questions:
• What devotional will I be reading over the next few months?
• What Bible studies are available to me this fall?
• How can I challenge myself in my daily prayer life?
• Who will I reach out to over the holiday season and invite to CATB?
• How can I get more involved at CATB in order to plug-in and impact more people?
God has amazing plans for us – plans that we might not even be able to comprehend. In Ephesians 2:10 it says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
What are God’s plans for you? What are you going to do to seek out those plans? I encourage you to pray about it and seek His plan for you. You may just be surprised!
God is a planner. Did you ever think about that? He started with the most basic and important element of planning: time. Then went on to plan out every single incredible detail of the universe including some amazing plans for each of us.
I love this “planning trait” of God because I am a planner! I like to plan out my weekly meals at the beginning of the week. I plan events months in advance. And I start thinking about holiday crafts for my son long before the calendar says it’s fall.
So I started thinking, “How can a little advance planning help strengthen my relationship with Christ?”
It may seem strange to plan out some spirit-growing activities for yourself, but I encourage you to ask yourself some of these questions:
• What devotional will I be reading over the next few months?
• What Bible studies are available to me this fall?
• How can I challenge myself in my daily prayer life?
• Who will I reach out to over the holiday season and invite to CATB?
• How can I get more involved at CATB in order to plug-in and impact more people?
God has amazing plans for us – plans that we might not even be able to comprehend. In Ephesians 2:10 it says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
What are God’s plans for you? What are you going to do to seek out those plans? I encourage you to pray about it and seek His plan for you. You may just be surprised!
Guest Devotional- Chrissy Mayer
"The Soundtrack of our Lives"
Lately, I have been doing a bible study with a few girlfriends entitled “Me Myself and Lies” by Jennifer Rothschild. In one lesson, we were instructed to ‘dig through our thought closets’ and organize our thoughts into separate ‘bins’. Ladies, let me tell you and much to my own surprise, my bins quickly became scattered and began to overflow with all sorts of junk! Most of the crap running through my mind on a daily basis had been ‘organized’ into three separate piles (right piles…the bins had become rather hidden at this point)
This is just a snippet, my friends, of the continuous soundtrack that runs over and over in my head…
What if I had actually started saving when I first started working?
What if I had been a better daughter/sister/friend?
What if I had a better relationship with my father growing up?
What if I don't have enough time today to get everything done?
What if I don’t have any time left over for my husband at the end of the day?
What if I’m not able to get that time off at work?
What if my car finally decides to kick the bucket?
What if I don't graduate on time?
What if the market goes back up?
When did I ever get on this crazy train any how?
Have you even been in a quiet peaceful room all by yourself? You’re not moving a smidge but you feel as if your mind is still going a million miles an hour? You feel a heavy weight on your chest and find yourself taking many periodic deep breaths (sighs) and you don't quite know why? What is wrong with me? Why do I feel short of breath? Why do I feel so tired?
Sisters, I have found the answer...
What we believe is what we think. What we think is what we tell ourselves. And what we tell ourselves is what we meditate on. Our thoughts are reflected in everything we say, everything we do, how we see ourselves and ultimately how we allow others to see us as well. We may try to play cool...We may try to lead people to believe we have it together…But girl it’s written all over you. Your thoughts are displayed in the ‘wardrobe’ you chose to clothe yourself in this mornin’.
So what’s a girl to do?
Focusing on the "What If's" instead of "What Is" only invites fear. My very own soundtrack entitled Worry: The Greatest Hits (Past, Present, and Future) is the VERY ROOT of my anxiety. The German root of the word worry means 'strangle'. When we play our soundtracks of the "What If's", we choke out any life-giving truth. So you see, our worry does nothing for us. It only squashes our joy, God’s truth, and what tiny bit of peace we think we may have found. Therefore, we must meditate and focus on His ‘Works’ and His ‘Word’. When we turn our focus and consider everything God has given us and everything He has done for us in the past, we are able to give Him back the control and focus only on the "What Is".
Next time you find yourself drowning in a sea of anxiety and worry, meditate on Phil 4:8
God gives us a ‘cheat sheet’ of what to turn our attention to and even what to thank Him for. Tomorrow, when you are putting on your wardrobe for the day, ask Him to help clothe you in His Righteousness and guard your heart from fear and worry. I challenge you to make this a daily ritual, and if you're anything like me, an hourly ritual!!!
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