My Solid Rock Deuteronomy 32:4 Psalms 18:1-2 Psalms 18:30-33 Psalms 61:1-3 Psalms 92:12-15 Isaiah 26:3-4 Isaiah 51:1 Isaiah 28:16 Matthew 7:24-27 Psalms 19:14 06.28.19

MY SOLID ROCK

BREAD

⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.   Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)

¹ I love you, O LORD, my strength. ² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.   Psalm 18:1-2 (NIV)

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. ³¹ For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? ³² It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. ³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. Psalm 18:30-33 (NIV)

¹ Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. ² From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ³ For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.  Psalm 61:1-3 (NIV)

¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; ¹³ planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, ¹⁵ proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”  Psalm 92:12-15 (NIV)

³ You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. ⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.   Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV)

¹ “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.”  Isaiah 51:1 (NIV)

¹⁶ So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.” Isaiah 28:16 (NIV)

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”   Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

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.  Psalm 19:14 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no ‘baseless fabric of a vision,’ but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite.  May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desire earnest. May your whole life be so firm and strong, that all the blasts of hell and the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.”   Charles Spurgeon

“Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.”    Augustus Toplady

“Strive believer not to seek refuge in anything or anyone besides the Lord our God.  All else will surely be found wanting.  It is He Who is the Rock that is greater than all. It is He Who is sufficient to meet our every need.  It is He Who gives our feet a firm place to stand when the winds of life blow hard.  Look to Jesus alone – all else is fleeting.  Why go to the paste gem when the diamond is so readily offered?”   BHY

“We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave.  Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham’s was a unique and solitary experience.  It is simply a specimen and pattern of God’s dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost.  After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise.  The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing.  God’s river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace.  There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.”   F. B. Meyer

“Do not question and do not doubt.  Each day holds some small joy that shall escape you if you are preoccupied with tomorrow.  Nothing daunts your Father.  Nothing can restore the past and nothing can bind the future, but today you may live in the full blessing of the Father’s smile.  Hold to His words, for they are like a nail driven into solid wood.  All else may seem shifting and transitory, but His Word is firm.  It is a rock that shall not be moved.  It is a firm place to stand.”   Frances J. Roberts

“Blessed storm that wrecks you on the rock of ages! Glorious billow that washes you upon this heavenly shore! And now you have nothing but your God to trust to, what are you going to do? To fret? To whine? O, I pray you, do not thus dishonour your Lord and Master! Now, play the man, play the man of God. Show the world that your God is worth ten thousand worlds to you.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“His Word cannot be falsified, disqualified, modified or nullified. His Word cannot be distorted or inverted or reinvented or demerited or interpreted away. His Word is beauty, it is wooing, and it will all be accomplished absolutely.  The debate of the day may change, the crisis may change, the screaming headlines of the genuinely horrifying may change — but, in the entire heaving cosmos, this remains unchangeable, unstoppable, undaunted: The Word of God. His Word is absolute and resolute and it will remain until time concludes.  God’s Word is more permanent than any words written in granite — or in headlines or campaign slogans or PR statements or press releases or laws.  Mountain rock is fleetingly temporary compared to the forever permanence of the Rock of His Word.  Culture cannot shape it and society cannot silence it and scarred people cannot help but be wooed by it, healed by it, held by it.  And the Lover of the letter, He soothes: ‘The mountains may pass away, but my truth will not pass away, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever, and though the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you.’”   Ann Voskamp

“Why would we fear the shifting sands of culture when our God is the Rock of Ages?” Jen Wilkin

“We don’t normally like being on the bottom.  It’s just not the position we generally pick.  It goes against our flesh.  Yet, in the Bible’s economy you stoop to rise, you lower and God elevates.  Therefore, rock bottom appears the perfect place to simply look up and the perfect time to begin building upon the solid foundation of the Rock of Christ.  Often stripped of our dearest Delilah’s we are not too dissimilar to the returning prodigal.  We have nothing but our will to bring – do we really ever have anything else?  And Jesus says tenderly, ‘Come’.  On Him you can depend.  On Him you can count.  On Him you can trust.  He turns away no one.  He will never let the righteous fall or blow away for that matter.  His grip is firm and secure.  Much akin to a young mother grabbing her two year old in busy traffic and yet so infinitely more.  He dearly loves His children and He always causes them to stand because He is faithful and able to cause us to stand – no matter what wind blows.”   BHY

“It is pitiful to see men putting their trust in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is fixed on an exceedingly high and glorious Lord. He is a Rock since He doesn't change, and a high Rock because the tempests that overwhelm us roll far beneath His feet; He is not disturbed by them but rules them at His will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock, we may defy the hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that towering cliff. Sadly, the confusion in which the troubled mind is often cast is such that we need piloting to this divine shelter. The wind blows us out to sea—the helm does not answer to our puny hand; You alone can steer us over the bar between the sunken rocks and safe into the fair haven. We are totally dependent upon You—we need You to bring us to You. To be wisely directed and steered into safety and peace is Your gift, and Yours alone.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“These ‘saints,’ as we sometimes call them, knew God in a way that I clearly did not.  They experienced Jesus as the defining reality of their lives.  They possessed a flaming vision of God that blinded them to all competing loyalties.  They experienced life built on the Rock.  It hardly mattered who I read in those days – Brother Lawrence, Tozer, Woolman – they knew God in ways far beyond anything I had ever experienced.  Or even wanted to experience!  But as I continued to soak in the stories of these women and men who were aflame with the fire of divine love, I began desiring this kind of life for myself.  And desiring led to seeking and seeking led to finding.  And what I found settled me, deepened me, thickened me.”   Richard J. Foster

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.  On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  Edward Mote

HEART SAVOR

·         The Lord is our Rock and Fortress.  He enables us to stand on the heights.

·         The Lord is the Rock eternal – no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

·         Our Lord is a sure and solid foundation on Whom we can trust.

Be Content Philippians 4:10-13 Hebrews 13:5-6 Philippians 4:19-20 1 Timothy 6:6-10 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Psalms 23:1-6 Proverbs 19:23 06.26.19

BE CONTENT

BREAD

¹⁰ I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  ⁶ So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV)

¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  Philippians 4:19-20 (NIV)

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.   1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV)

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  John 10:10 (NIV)

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  Psalm 23:1-6 (NIV)

²³ The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Proverbs 19:23 (NIV)

BUTTER

“You will see at once from reading the text (Philippians 4:11), upon the very surface, that contentment in all states is not a natural propensity of man. Ill weeds grow apace; covetousness, discontent, and murmuring, are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. You have no need to sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth, upon which rests the curse; so you have no need to teach men to complain, they complain fast enough without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we would have wheat, we must plough and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener’s care. Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated.”    Charles H. Spurgeon

“Our satisfaction and contentment in life does not come from riches but from righteousness.”   Robert J. Morgan

“I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that is all in love.  Well, if He is glorified, I am content.”  J. Hudson Taylor

“Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God. A thankfulness for all the gifts – and moments and life, just as He gives it. Trying harder may only bring harder trials and contentment, it won’t be found in the resolutions, but in the revolutions – in the turning round to God.”   Ann Voskamp

“Contentment is not having what I want, but wanting what I have.”   Emalyn Spencer

“He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heav’nly comfort fraught! Whate’er I do, where’er I be Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.  Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom, Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom, By waters still, o’er troubled sea, Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.  Lord, I would place my hand in Thine, Nor ever murmur nor repine; Content, whatever lot I see, Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.  And when my task on earth is done, When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won, E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me.  He leadeth me, He leadeth me, By His own hand He leadeth me; His faithful foll’wer I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me.”   Joseph H. Gilmore

“Contentment is the way you drink all the grace out of every moment.”  Ann Voskamp

“The secret of contentment is the realization that life is a gift, not a right.”   Anonymous

“What were we made for? To know God.  What aim should we set ourselves in life?  To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God.  What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God.  What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure? Knowledge of Himself.”   J.I. Packer

“The itch for perfection, the lust for something else is a virus draining our souls of contentment.”  Chuck Swindoll

“The truly meek man is humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, and contented; the very opposite of the man who is proud, harsh, angry, revengeful, and ambitious. It is only the grace of God, as it works in us by the Holy Spirit, that can make us thus meek.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“His love is unfailing, His Word unchangeable, His power ever the same; therefore the heart that trusts Him is kept in ‘perfect peace’…I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love.  Well, if He is glorified, I am content.”    Hudson Taylor

“Gratefulness gives us a fulfilled life.”  Ann Voskamp

“Look to Jesus. Only He can satisfy the desires of your heart. He alone brings peace and contentment to your life.”  Michael Youssef

“Learned contentment refers to a divinely bestowed sufficiency – whatever the circumstances.”  The Bible Knowledge Commentary

“If you are thirsty in this life you have gone to the wrong well.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         Contentment is learned.

·         If you are thankful for what you have it leaves no time for murmuring over what you don’t.

·         Satan sows discontent leading to envy, covetousness, jealousy and a host of other sins making us miserable.  God sows contentment in Him Who alone can fill us and satisfy us with good things so that we are renewed, refreshed and restored.   

Living For Jesus Galatians 2:20 Philippians 1:20-21 Luke 9:23-26 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Romans 14:7-8 Galatians 5:16-26 Ephesians 4:17-24 1 John 2:5-6 06.24.19

LIVING FOR JESUS

BREAD

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV)

²³ Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? ²⁶ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV)  

⁷ For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  Romans 14:7-8 (NIV)

¹⁶ So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷ For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. ¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Galatians 5:16-26 (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. ²⁰ You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹ Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:17-24 (NIV)

⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:5-6 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Never be afraid to live for Jesus.  Never be ashamed to live for Jesus.   Never be apathetic in living for Jesus. Be committed.”     Anne Graham Lotz

“When Jesus is Lord of a life there is a deep and reverential awareness of accountability to Him coupled with a strong affection to please Him in all that we say and do.  It really does matter how we live our lives.  It will be either for Him Who spoke the world into being as well as died for our sins on the cross or we live for ourselves.  We will either serve the Creator or the created.  “Lord” rightly means owner, master, might and power.”  BHY 

“Living for Jesus, a life that is true.  Striving to please Him in all that I do.  Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free.  This is the pathway of blessing for me.  Living for Jesus Who died in my place, bearing on Calvary, my sin and disgrace.  Such love constrains me, to answer His call, follow His leading and give Him my all.  Living for Jesus, wherever I am.  Doing each duty in His holy name.  Willing to suffer affliction or loss.  Deeming each trial a part of my cross.  Living for Jesus, through earth’s little while, my dearest treasure, the light of His smile.  Seeking the lost ones, He died to redeem.  Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.”   Thomas O. Chisholm

“The gospel is not a principle to master or a procedure to follow.  The gospel is life.  It is how we live life as a believer.  It is how we relate to ourselves, to God, and to each other.  The Scriptures put it like this: ‘The just shall live by faith’ (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).  The just, the righteous, the people of God, live only by faith.  We don’t live by effort or insight or emotion; we live by faith in the work of Another, and his name is Jesus.”  Dr. Tom Wood

“Sin is diametrically opposed to loving God. Sin breeds on the credence that says, ‘I don't believe that God knows what is best for my life, so I'm going to do it my way. Whatever I feel, I'm going to do it because that will make me happier than obeying God.’  At the root of sin is a defiance to live life any way other than God's way. And God hates this. He knows that when people enter into this pattern of thinking, they are venturing down a dangerous road. In His infinite wisdom and love for us, He knows what is best - and it is not sin.  To walk in the light of God's love, we must understand how He feels about sin, and we too must feel the same way. Sin should not simply annoy us. It should stir us to action, to repentance, and to prayer, motivating us to pray for ourselves and others.”   Michael Youssef

“All work is sacred work for the child of the King.  There is to be no difference between the secular and the sacred.  The believer brings the glory of God and the sweet aroma of Jesus to every job – every encounter - working wholeheartedly as unto the Lord – not for man - through the achieving power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  All jobs from motherhood to medical to janitorial to legal to businessman to student to server to whatever – makes no difference the “what” rather the motivation behind why we do what we do which is to bring God all glory.  It is His desire for us to work and take care of His world – just as He told Adam before the fall – and bring the Good News to others in our spheres through both our actions and words.  This is for our ultimate good btw, satisfying both heart and soul.  We live our lives for an audience of One and our goal is to hear a ‘well done good and faithful servant.’”  BHY

 

“It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”  C. S. Lewis

HEART SAVOR

·         We live our lives for an audience of One to please Him not men.  In pleasing Him we are most definitely pleased.  BHY

·         We live for the created or the Creator.

·         In living for Jesus we take hold of life that is truly life.

 

Steward Your Speech James 1:26 James 3:3-6 James 3:9-12 Proverbs 10:19-21 Proverbs 16:23-24 Proverbs 22:11 1 Timothy 4:11-12 Ecclesiastes 12:9-11 John 15:7-8 Deuteronomy 11:18-21 06.21.19

STEWARD YOUR SPEECH

BREAD

²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  James 1:26 (NIV)

³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁶ 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. James 3:3-6 (NIV)

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
¹² My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  James 3:9-12 (NIV)

¹⁹ When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. ²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. ²¹ The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.  Proverbs 10:19-21 (NIV)

²³ A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. ²⁴ Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  Proverbs 16:23-24 (NIV)

¹¹ He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend. Proverbs 22:11 (NIV)

¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:11-12 (NIV)

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails--given by one Shepherd. Ecclesiastes 12:9-11 (NIV)

⁷ “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸ This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”   John 15:7-8 (NIV)
 
¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.  Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Our words and works are always an overflow of what is in our  hearts and thoughts.  If you desire right speech and actions, work on your heart and mind.”  BHY

“Our claim is that God has revealed Himself by speaking; that this divine (or God-breathed) speech has been written down and preserved in Scripture; and that Scripture is, in fact, God’s Word written, which therefore is true and reliable and has divine authority over men.”   John Stott

“Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech.”   Anonymous

“This ‘it’s all about grace’ talk goes wrong when we say that the amazing grace that saves the Christian doesn’t also make him distinct from the unbeliever in love, action, and speech.  When we go out of our way to discount the grace of good works in Christian life, we betray how little we really know of grace.  Nothing on this planet is like it.  It is the most precious jewel we can receive.  The sweetest thing our souls can taste.  The loveliest lyric our mouths can sing.  But it is never a powerless thing.  God does not have a type of saving grace that, once given, leaves its recipient unchanged.  Saving grace not only justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5) but trains us ‘to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age’ (Titus 2:11-12).  God himself is at work in us by His Spirit (Philippians 2:13).  And this grace is a more effective teacher than Dr. Phil or Dr. Seuss or any other teacher in the world.  But the doctrine of same-as-the-world Christianity tells us something different:  that those who have found the doctor are no healthier than those who have not.  Or, in the other rendition, that those beggars who have found the bread stay just as malnourished as the starving world.  But patients who tell us that they have seen the medic, while also confessing they are still no different from those miserable souls in the waiting room, let us all in on the secret that they are either lying or need to find a new doctor.”  Greg Morse  

“Jesus is the Word made flesh and in Him is perfect peace – a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being.   Therefore, as His followers we are to encourage one another, in the midst of life’s chaos and storms, with the living and powerful Word of God.  As our Lord did, He spoke the Word and calmed the sea.  Just as it was true then, it is still true today – His Word calms and He can speak it even through a donkey.  His Word is alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.  It is able to divide soul and spirit, joint and marrow.  It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  It is not to be merely idle words for us as Moses told the Israelites, it is to be our life.  God’s Word is a balm for every needy soul – and truly, what soul isn’t needy?”   BHY  

“Paul did not allow his beautiful feet to be betrayed by a timid tongue. He “alarmed” men as he “reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” (Acts 24:25).”  Greg Morse

“Our words have the power to speak life or death over someone.  Watch the face of the hearer.  Think before we speak.  Store up in our hearts His truth before we spout out from our lips our opinions.  Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth will speak.  Be the conduit that life flows freely through to others.  We will then leave the aroma of Christ in our circumstances not the stench of death.”   BHY

“Though it might be easier to say nothing, how much better to say something. To get our focus off ourselves and on others. To look for ways to lift up rather than tear down. To whisper words from God and bring refreshment to a parched soul.”   Liz Curtis Higgs

“Amy Carmichael once stated before we speak we should put our words through the following sieve:  Is it true?  Is it noble? Is it right?  Is it pure?  Is it lovely?  Is it admirable?  Is it excellent?  Is it praiseworthy?  And she also added:  Is it necessary?  Indeed, if we sought to do this, many of us would remain mute.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in His sight.

·         If His Word is hidden in our hearts it will come out of our mouths.

·         Speak life to others not death.