Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video and lyrics from Barry Gibb of the BeeGees singing a popular love song … Words … poignantly singing of how one who loves someone should speak … only in words of love. And as one hears this song, imagine it is Jesus speaking those words of love to you.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Ruth 4:17 [NLT] … 3 Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.
… Good advice for us all as we try to honor God with what we say.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 141 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David in praying for God to destroy his enemies and deliver him from danger still pleaded for God to guard what he said and wrote in songs like this one.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 16:24 [NLT] … 24 Kind words are like honey - sweet tot he soul and healthy for the body.
… But the opposite is the case when words become sour, producing nothing by enmity and death.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Ephesians 4:29-32 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, teaches on how/what to say to cast out the wrongs in our relationships.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 2:13 [NLT] … 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
… Jesus wants to speak His love to others thru what we say to them.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … James 3:1-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ brother pleads for believers to be very careful in using our tongues to strike out or to control others.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Poh Fang Chia, related a story of a husband not guarding his words and the result in his marriage relationship. The ODB author wrote: Cheung was upset with his wife for failing to check the directions to the famous restaurant where they hoped to dine. The family had planned to round out their holiday in Japan with a scrumptious meal before catching the flight home. Now they were running late and would have to miss that meal. Frustrated, Cheung criticized his wife for her poor planning. Later Cheung regretted his words. He had been too harsh, plus he realized that he could have checked the directions himself and he had failed to thank his wife for the other seven days of great planning.
Oh, wow! Been there; … done that; … and hopefully have buried that T-shirt by learning what God teaches from the many words He has warning us to be very careful what and how we speak to others. In fact, thru the Apostel Paul, in Ephesians 4:29, God gives us the rules for doing what King David wrote in the highlight passage (from Ps. 141:3).
As with Jesus’ brother, James, in James 3:1-12, God warns us of the power of our words to hurt and even kill, when He says, thru Paul in the Ephesians passage to only speak those words which either build up or bring grace to the hearer.
So, at least today, I’m going to do all I can to do what the acronym speaks of in the attached photo … and to “T.H.I.N.K.” before I say something; and prayerfully in doing that we all can continue to do that tomorrow as well … and for the tomorrows after that.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Help me to bridle my tongue, Lord, and to speak only those words which bring Your love and grace to those who hear me. … 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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