Slander and It Will Hurt 2

Isaiah 45:1 AMP

Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him, and I will unarm and ungird the loins of kings to open doors before him, so that gates will not be shut.

We mentioned in the previous post that pride, haughtiness, and overestimating ourselves above others are abominations in the Lord’s sight. When these are found in our hearts, we give Him no other choice, but to deal with the false armors we have put on ourselves that have made our hearts hard and insensitive to His promptings to come and surrender the issues that offended and wounded us, angered us, and also caused us to walk in fear. 

Also because we have not dealt with the issues according to His way and His will, God removes the pride by breaking us as He removes those things we are holding on to which keep us from walking through the doors of blessings, healing, salvation, restoration, and deliverance He has opened for us.

God is such a loving God that He chastises us to correct us and to help us come back to the way we wondered away from. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:10 that God disciplines us for our certain good that we may become sharers in His holiness. Only this way we may be partakers of His goodness, not with pride, not trying to take vengeance upon ourselves, neither devising ways to manipulate our way into obtaining what He so eagerly wants to do for us, but we have not been open to receive because of the hardness in our hearts.

That is why it is so important to continue to come to God with yielded hearts that allow Him to break the fallowed ground that has been dry and hard-set because of issues that are either generational or that we never gave to Him so He could heal us and set us free. This way we have been walking around sharing the hardness that has by now become a poisonous soil-unable to keep life and makes us sick. Something contrary to what Jesus died at the Cross to give us. Isaiah 53:5-6 say,

⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all. NLT

So at this time, we can try something new that will also give us different results—that is to come to our Lord with yielded hearts, willing to surrender our issues and to give Him our all so that He can put the broken pieces of our hearts together again because He desires that we walk made whole and not broken or with missing pieces of our hearts that we have given to those we have not forgiven, but instead chose to slander which means that we have murdered their character and made difficult the probability of restoration of those relationships because the hurts multiplied and took even more territory not only in our hearts, but in the hearts of those we spoke against. At this time, restitution is expected of the one who committed the offense of slandering according to God's command for him or her.

My brothers and sisters, let us come willing to start anew and allow God’s healing touch to heal, repair, and make whole our souls, our hearts, our minds, and our mouths. They are all connected, and can be used for His glory instead of to help the enemy create more chaos in our lives and the lives of others. As we let the potter work us into the vessels He has designed for us to be that will shine His light in the darkness of this world, we don't have to spend more than the necessary time in the potter’s wheel because we have refused to allow Him to mold us more and more into His image and likeness and have caused Him to have to start over again and again until He likes what He sees in us.

The children of Israel did this when they were leaving Egypt and while they were to go through the wilderness for 11 days on the way to the promised land, instead they remained there for forty years until the next generation was old enough to go to the promised land (Numbers 32:13). This happened because of their constant murmuring and complaining about God and about their leader Moses. They also saw themselves as grasshoppers and not as able to trust God to do what He said He would help them accomplish (Numbers 13:33). This is a hard lesson they had to learn, but we can also learn from their mistakes and let God be God in our lives and the lives of those around us. To Him alone be all the glory.

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Slander and It Will Hurt 1

Psalm 15:1-3

¹ Lord, who shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill? ² He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart, ³ He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

In a previous blog posting, I mentioned some of the characteristics of a person that can go to God (to the mountain of the Lord) and seek His presence. This person has to have clean hands and a pure heart that only worships God and not idols, nor believes the lies of the enemy to the point of constantly acting out of fear which causes him or her to want to manipulate his or her way out of their circumstances without the input and direction of the Lord. But in verse 3 of the above passage, we see another aspect of what is needed in order to not have hindrances that keep us from the Lord’s presence in our lives.

 The Scripture says that this person should not be a slanderer, nor one who speaks evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor. First of all, let me highlight that this admonition includes our thoughts. Many of us have been found guilty of thinking things about another person while showing a different attitude outwardly as well. But Jesus raised the bar for us when He was on earth and said after the Sermon on the Mount that the motives and intents of our hearts are found in the way we think about others, and if we did the things we did in our thoughts, He sees that also as been done outwardly. 

Matthew 5:22 states, But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice (enmity of heart) against him shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court; and whoever speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You cursed fool! [You empty-headed idiot!] shall be liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire AMP.

 When we are prone to slandering, this is a sign of pride and haughtiness. One leads to the other, and are both opposed by God. When we are opposed by God, it’s like wanting to move forward, but meeting many obstacles along the way. We cannot blame the devil when God Himself is the One opposing us. One of the reasons He opposes pride and haughtiness is because they are completely opposite to His nature of being Righteous and Holy (Ephesians 4:24). When a person has reached the point of haughtiness, he or she has become his or her own giant, perhaps to the stature of Goliath, and can easily defy God with his or her actions and words. Goliath was a haughty giant, and the taller the giant, the harder he falls. In addition, pride and overestimating ourselves highly while underestimating others are found among the seven abominations the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:17).

Furthermore, as we have seen also in previous postings that slandering is rooted in pride which in turn is rooted in fear, this is also a sign that the person is under the grip of a religious spirit. This spirit has caused many to miss their mark and lose their inheritance promised by the Lord because it is found wherever there are contentions and chaos produced by strife. Indeed it hurts the ones who engage in the act of slandering because they feel superior to the ones they’re speaking or thinking evil of. One example of this we see in Canaan being sentenced by his father Noah to serve his two brothers Shem and Japheth. The latter two covered their father in his nakedness, but Ham (forefather of Canaan) talked about it to his brothers (Genesis 9:20-27). This caused Canaan’s descendants to have to surrender their land to Abraham and his descendants many generations later if there is no repentance (Genesis 17:8). God has a great memory that transcends many generations, and vengeance belongs to Him.

In addition, James 1:26 says that, if anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religious service is worthless (futile, barren) AMP. 

The reason is found in James 3:9-12 which says that, ⁹ With it (the tongue) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness! ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and bitter? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring furnish fresh water AMP. (Emphasis mine)

My brothers and sisters, the Lord desires instead that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in His sight (Psalm 19:14), thus, let us come boldly to His throne with repentant hearts to obtain mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16) for we desperately need a change of heart. A heart that forgives and loves others. To Him alone be all the glory.

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The Extravagant Drink 2

Continuing with last week’s post, we saw that in this lavish celebration there were goblets of many designs offered to those who wanted to drink  the wine. The many designs of the goblets imply that they all could have been one of a kind. This means that we--being those golden goblets (unique expressions of His glory), have a plan and purpose from God fit for each one of us that is unique, and as we come to Him, He can guide us in that uniqueness that helps us develop the gifts and talents He has given us to advance His kingdom on the earth. This also means that right where we are and for where He wants to take us there is help from above to get us there. For this reason, our constant cry for more of Him is indeed a necessity. The arms of the Father are open wide to receive us each time we cry out for more of Him through His Son Jesus. The message bible explains it best when it states in Ephesians 1:3-6,

“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What a pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son”.

In verses 17-18, the message bible also explains this benefit, “I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of his glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!”

From the two passages we can see that our God is so loving that He yearns for intimacy with us, so we can get to know Him, like we should get to know a spouse, what he or she likes or dislikes, what is in his or her heart, what brings them joy, and let’s not forget, so we can know how we can make them feel that we love them too. He is also like that, and our worship gives Him a joyous countenance from which He pours out the lavish riches of His glory on us.

Romans 9:23 also points out that “God has the right to pour out the riches of his glory upon those he prepared to be the objects of his mercy” NLT. As mentioned before our worship triggers this outpouring, but also our obedience as God prepares us to fulfill His planned vision for us. So as an additional benefit, we have His mercy that comes in the form of protection from our enemies and from every harm and forgiveness of our trespasses when we, through our repentance, allow Him to have His way in us and through us. Thus, He gives us the ability to learn to be relevant as we move with the Holy Spirit at each step of our journey in Him.

In conclusion, our lifetime on earth is not enough to discover all there is to know about God, but our thirst to have more of Him and of His ways is open for us all to be quenched in an extravagant way. So have your fill and keep going for more. This is an all you can drink adventure whereby the riches of His glory will never run out for He is El Shaddai—The God of more than enough, and as Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The amazing grace of the Master Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you” The Message. To Him alone be all the glory■

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The Extravagant Drink 1

There are some worship songs that provoke in us the desire to ask God for more of Him in our lives and in our hearts.  I for one love those songs because they cause me to not be satisfied with where I am and to seek Him for more holiness, righteousness, and to go deeper in the river of life with Him so He can be seen in me. For this, I go and seek Him with thanksgiving and praise when I'm hungry and thirsty for His presence.

But I’ve heard other opinions about this— like one preacher I heard on more than one occasion debate that we already have all we could possibly have of God, so why should we ask for more! That statement never sat well with me. I know that Jesus finished His work of redemption on the Cross for us, but this is different. And so I asked, “Father, how much of You are we allowed to have?” To answer my question, our Faithful and Loving Lord with a gentle voice took me to the book of Esther, chapter one.

In verses 1-8, we read of the lavish ways in which King Xerxes celebrated with the people he ruled from India to Cush (Ethiopia) in the third year of His reign. Verses 3 and 4 state that he invited all the military officers of Media and Persia as well as the noblemen and provincial officials and this celebration lasted six months! Imagine that! 

The Scripture also added that this was “a tremendous display of the opulent wealth and glory of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty” NLT.  

If that was not enough, King Xerxes then gave a banquet that lasted another seven days for all the servants and officials of the palace from the greatest to the least.

God too is willing to give to us in lavish ways. This means that the offer to partake of the glory of God through communion (fellowship) with Him is open to everyone high and low without distinction or restriction—no matter our color, race, gender, nationality, age, income or status, or where we have been in life. 

Furthermore, the passage states that there were beautiful decorations of gold, silver, marble, mother of pearl, porphyry and other costly stones all showing the riches of the glory of the kingdom that was available to all. Like the people in the passage, all we have to do is be willing to receive through fellowship with Him which enables us to know where we are and where we are going in Him. Also how He’ll take us there as well as the ways of His kingdom that will help us live the abundant life Jesus died to give us. But one thing could be overlooked in this passage that the Lord pointed out to me while He was answering my question—verses 7 and 8 indicate that 

“drinks were served in gold goblets (which signify the glory of God) of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, just as the king had commanded. The only restriction was that no one should be compelled to drink more than he wanted. But those that wished could have as much as they pleased, for the king had instructed his staff to let everyone decide this matter for himself” NLT (Emphasis mine).

This needs no further explanation. The lavish ways of King Xerxes are a representation of our extravagant God who is willing to give to us the riches of His glory. He does not force us to go to Him to drink of this extravagant love, goodness, faithfulness, power, and holiness available to us. But He is more than willing to give to those who ask of Him. It is up to us to decide how much of Him and His presence we want because when God is in control of our lives, the world can see the difference. 

One reason is that His presence can go with us and change chaos into peace and joy, love and wholeness wherever we go as we become conduits of His presence to a dying world because we have chosen to follow every command He gives us. This way, we also taste of His blessings bestowed on us as we choose to drink continually from the living water provided by the wine of His Holy Spirit (Proverbs 10:22 AMP). More on next week’s post. To Him alone be all the glory.