Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group Unspoken singing their poignant song, Call It Grace,… declaring the reality that we, who have received God’s saving grace in Christ, have to share with others … God’s love in the form of the grace we speak into the lives of others.
Highlight Passage: Proverbs 16:24 [NKJV] …
24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, … sweetness to the should and health of the bones.
… Our words should be God’s love and grace to others.
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Highlight Context – Proverbs 12:18, 13:3, 16:24 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God gives us His sweet words on how our sweet words should give His grace to others.
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Reference Passage #1 - Ephesians 4:29 [NKJV] …
29 Leet no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, … that it may impart grace to the hearers.
… If our words aren’t sweet enough to provide God’s grace to the hearer or to build him/her up in some way, … God says, thru Paul, to keep them to ourselves.
Reference Passage #2 - James 3:8-12 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ brother challenges Christians to beware of what is spoken from our lips which can shape or tear down the lives of others.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Julie Ackerman Link used a rather challenging word picture to illustrate Our need use our words to share sweetness and healing with others. She wrote: When the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamen was discovered in 1922, it was filled with things ancient Egyptians thought were needed in the afterlife. Among items such as golden shrines, jewelry, clothing, furniture, and weapons was a pot filled with honey—still edible after 3,200 years!
Today we think of honey primarily as a sweetener [see attached photo], but in the ancient world it had many other uses. Honey is one of the only foods known to have all the nutrients needed to sustain life, so it was eaten for nutrition. In addition, honey has medicinal value. It is one of the oldest known wound dressings because it has properties that prevent infection.
God’s word has some very pointed exclamations on how we should use our words in our interactions and encounters with others. If you’ll take the time to read, study, and meditate on the pointed exhortations from God’s word above on how we use our words, perhaps you’ll be challenged, as was I, to watch what we say more vigilantly today or tomorrow than we normally do. … And, of all those directives from God above, the Apostle Paul’s words to the Church (and to us) probably ring the clearest to me (see Ephesians 4:29). He said, … in essence, … if our word choices aren’t designed to either give another the grace of God’s love or to build them up in some way, … we should just KEEP OUR MOUTHS SHUT.
I think that’s clear enough, … don’t you?
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Help me, Lord, to speak Your sweetness and grace into someone’s life today. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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