Wrong Word, Wrong World

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that rejects fear and promotes faith in God. It emphasizes the importance of not judging others and being mindful of our words and actions. The Holy Spirit is seen as a guide and teacher, helping us to discern when to speak and when to remain silent. Trusting in God and seeking His will through prayer and reading the Word is key. The goal is to live in the Kingdom of God and allow justice, righteousness, wisdom, and knowledge to guide us in sharing the gospel and living our daily lives. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Deuteronomy 1.17 You shall not show partiality in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. People don't like being told they're wrong. Doing something wrong, saying something wrong, or acting in a way that is wrong, doesn't matter if it is a small thing, or a lifestyle thing, or a major thing. People don't like feeling blamed, wrong, corrected, or convicted. John 3.19-20 Just check out social media. As soon as someone states an opinion, they're jumped on and beaten up, again and again, and again, and again, until they retract their opinion, or give up and delete their account. The sad thing is that the anonymity and semi-anonymity of the Internet can breed the wrong kinds of interactions. It isn't in your face or in real life, so people feel free to be bigots, sexists, racists, or any other thing. Often, not because they disagree with how someone is living their life, but because they have chosen to hate on aspects of existence they don't themselves embrace. Isaiah 29.15 It is a jungle of strife. But God tells us to proclaim the word, to stand on and for truth. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them. Ephesians 5.11 That doesn't mesh well with the world and its views. In fact, there are those who believe their hate-filled vitriol is exactly what God wants them to promote. The problem is, I don't remember Jesus acting that way. Matthew 9.10-14 But I also don't remember Jesus ignoring sin. 1 Thessalonians 4.7 So it has to be said. Sometimes the problem is the delivery. We get up on soapboxes and bark, condemn, and demand that everyone conform to what we think is correct. The question becomes, are we correct? And should we be saying anything? Don't judge so that you won't be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged. And whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye, and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can clearly see to remove the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7.1-5 This is a huge issue for us. On the one hand, we're not to judge. On the other, we're to deal with our issues so that we can help with the issues of our fellow believers, but not with judgment. So how do we act? When do we act? What should be our playbook? Well, let's leave it where it belongs, on the Holy Spirit. How did Jesus handle things? He tells us in John 5.19, Most certainly I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees his Father doing. For whatever he does, these the Son also does likewise. As believers and disciples of Jesus, we're given Holy Spirit as a companion and teacher, which means the Holy Spirit can correct us because it is the Father who was correcting us through the Spirit which speaks to us. Holy Spirit can lead us to share and lead us to keep our mouths shut, and in both circumstances, lead us to not judge those we're dealing with because can any human being who isn't also God be blameless? Nope. So pray before you open your mouth, and then listen. Don't be afraid. People will think you're nuts. Even the world says to count to ten before you respond, right? So they'll assume you're being mindful. They won't realize you're being Spirit-filled. Watch what you say and how you say it. Psalm 34.13 says, Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. And Psalm 39.1 says, I said I will watch my ways so that I don't sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me. So wait on the Lord for His words. Always. This is not a minor issue. This is a major thing. Proverbs 18.20-21 tells us, A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips, he is satisfied. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Those who love it will eat its fruit. That which is in us comes out of us. That which is feeding us will produce results. Which results depends on what we're feeding ourselves. Look at it in the natural. Eat nothing but junk, get a body riddled with disease. The same principle is true spiritually. Feed your spirit nothing but junk. Dwell on nothing but junk or stress or fear, and get a spiritual body riddled with disease. See, the problem is we're not immortal people. We're spiritual beings inside a mortal body. What is true in the spirit, therefore, becomes true in the natural. Spiritual people who dwell on the word, abiding in Jesus, will become happy, peaceful people. Proverbs 3.8 tells us, It will be health to your body and nourishment to your bones. That's a spiritual truth. But spiritual truths have a habit of affecting the natural as well. I'm not saying you'll be sick if you're not abiding in Jesus. But if you abide in Jesus, sickness has a habit of staying away. Disease hates the presence of the Lord. The whole section of Proverbs 3 is from verse 5 to 12. Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh and depart from evil. It will be health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the firstfruits of your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My son, don't despise Yahweh's discipline. Neither be weary of His correction. For whom Yahweh loved, He corrects. Even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights. There is more to our words and thoughts than we often realize. They affect our whole life. Likewise, they affect the lives of those we speak to, those we're around every day, and the strangers we bump into for a moment only once. If we have an opinion, and we spout off loudly, and with a lot of, you know what I think, sass, it won't be received well. On the other hand, if the Spirit tells us what and how to deliver something, it will be the way that is right, always. He never has poor delivery. The Lord has been gentle with us. The Lord has been firm with us. He always knows how we need to hear things. He will lead us to deliver our message to those who need to hear it, and when and how to hear it for maximum effect. We need to trust Him and obey. There is a time for judging, just not by us. There's a time to be hands-on, and a time to kick things up the ladder to Jesus. But when we read verses like today's, it must always be remembered that an Old Testament judge was completely different than where we walk as Spirit-filled believers. We have a different mandate, a different calling, and a different way to carry it out. All three of those are Spirit-led and should be Spirit-administered. That means spending time every day seeking His will through reading the Word, praising the Father, and listening in prayer. It means we are not set as judges over our fellow believers. This is different than when we are in a position of authority and there are set procedures on how to deal with that so it doesn't get into judging and stays as leading and guiding. We need to trust Him in all things and let Him lead us. This doesn't need to be a chaotic process. Never knowing what comes next or where you should step at any given time, we shouldn't be standing in a store waiting on a word from God to see if we should buy athletic or crew socks. Isaiah 33, 5-6 tells us, Yahweh is exalted, for He dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear, reverence, of Yahweh is your treasure. So, we live in the Kingdom of God. It is in the hearts of all believers. It is, in essence, as Zion is. It is where Yahweh dwells. Where the Lord dwells, there is justice, righteousness, wisdom, and knowledge. These are the things and tools that help us share the gospel and see the Word. It's also the tools we use to function day to day. So, no, you're not going to be standing in the store waiting for a word about socks. But you might find, as you abide more and more with Jesus and you talk more and more with the Holy Spirit, when you go into the store to buy those socks, He might point out the one kind, the one color, the one vest, saying, hey, you're going to like that. Hey, those are the ones you need. Not because we're waiting on Him for everything we do, but because we're inviting Him into everything we do. The harvest of all these seeds is the salvation of the lost into the kingdom, the sanctification of ourselves as we grow in the kingdom. Now, we've been told there will be an abundance of harvest. And the whole package has been planned and is overseen by the planner. Our part is to bring Him into every aspect of our lives and then listen to Him. When we are about the business of the Lord, He will cover us and protect us. We should speak up about the kingdom of the Lord. We should defend the gospel message. And when asked, we should tell the truth about the moral laws God has set down, not as our opinions, but as the Lord's. Because we're not saying it. We're only reporting what He said. We should only speak when He says and how He says. When Jesus was on earth, He did only what His Father told Him and spoke only what His Father told Him to speak. Now, we're called to be like Jesus. So let us not be intimidated by man, but do what the Father has for us to do and speak what the Father has for us to speak. No exceptions. John 8, 28-29 says, Jesus therefore said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and I do nothing of myself. But as my Father taught me, I say these things. This is our model. This is our example. This is our goal. All day, every day, the Lord in every aspect of our lives speaking to us about every situation we find ourselves in, our personal journey, our personal life, spiritual, physical, entertainment, serious, the harvest of the Word, spreading it to other people, defending our positions in love as they come up, being asked about them because of how we live. That's the key. We live a way, we are a witness, and then they come and ask us, and then we can tell them, non-confrontational, one-to-one, open, caring, loving. This is our model. The Lord will help us if we focus on Him and accept the help. It will change us, and it will help to change the world around us too. Win, win. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 2 Thessalonians 2, 16-17. God wants to encourage us. He wants to comfort us. He wants to inspire us. The best tool He and we have are words, simple words. Words have meaning. Words have power. Words are seeds. From the thoughts and meditation in our hearts, our minds are informed. Our minds take that input and decide, under the lead of our spirit, which should be led by God's, what to think, do, and say. Each word is a seed. Each seed grows a harvest. In Jesus' wonderful grace, He is there at all times and in all ways to give us the words to say, if we'll listen. Words of beauty and wonder that speak of the things of God. He loves us and wants to share Himself and His kingdom with us. He even gives us the words to celebrate those things and enter into them at the same time. The Lord's harvest is unparalleled. As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? The smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.