Casting Pearls- Do we talk to much?

There is ample warning in the Bible for those who talk all the time, to keep your mouth shut. A wise person does not talk a lot, they let others show how they fail to understand. The Bible states in Proverbs 10:19- In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that restraineth his lips is wise. 

In the New Testament it is the same. 1 Peter 3:10 states;For  he that love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.Or in James 1:19 the Bible says; Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak, and slow to wrath. 

There are many verses in Proverbs devoted to this topic because the tongue is the only muscle not connected to a bone, that can do such damage. In Proverbs 17:27-28 it states; He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of excellent spirit, Even a fool =, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed of man. So we are told to hold our peace and even if we are not that smart, we will at least appear to be.

In other books we are told not to speak to much too. in Ecclesiastes 5:3 it says; For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. Back in the New Testament we are exhorted to ‘But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodlyness.’ In 2 Timothy 2:16. Then in 1 Timothy 1:6, it states; ‘From which some haveing swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling. 

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:36-37, ‘But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ So, even Jesus Himself warns us not to speak too much. Listen and be quiet while you do.  There is ample warning in the Bible for those who talk all the time, to keep your mouth shut. A wise person does not talk a lot, they let others show how they fail to understand. The Bible states in Proverbs 10:19- In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that restraineth his lips is wise. 

In the New Testament it is the same. 1 Peter 3:10 states;For  he that love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.Or in James 1:19 the Bible says; Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak, and slow to wrath. 

There are many verses in Proverbs devoted to this topic because the tongue is the only muscle not connected to a bone, that can do such damage. In Proverbs 17:27-28 it states; He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of excellent spirit, Even a fool =, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed of man. So we are told to hold our peace and even if we are not that smart, we will at least appear to be.

In other books we are told not to speak to much too. in Ecclesiastes 5:3 it says; For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. Back in the New Testament we are exhorted to ‘But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodlyness.’ In 2 Timothy 2:16. Then in 1 Timothy 1:6, it states; ‘From which some haveing swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling. 

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:36-37, ‘But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ So, even Jesus Himself warns us not to speak too much. Listen and be quiet while you do.

Casting Pearls-Are YOU the follower that Jesus Loved?

The Apostle John often referred to himself as ‘the apostle (or Disciple) that Jesus loved’ . Why do you think he did so? If I was to go out to eat lunch with John Hagee and Billy Graham, I would refer to it as John Hagee, Billy Graham and the man that Jesus loved went out to eat lunch. So it was not really strange for John to refer to himself in that way. The real meaning behind that phrase is much deeper for us.

Love is what God wants us to show others and what He wants to show us as His love is unfathomable. When a High Priest presented the blood of the sacrifice for their sin to God in the Holy of Holies, God did not judge the people based on their sin or their sacrifice, He judged the High Priest who represented them. The good news for us is that we are being represented by the most perfect and Holiest High Priest it is possible to be represented by; the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His blood and His sacrifice that God judges for us.

This, by no means, is an excuse for us to sin. Jesus has already paid for everything we have done or are going to do, but this is not so that we could go on living our sinful lives, It is so we could have a second chance, a new start to get it closer to right. When we got ‘saved’ we were indwelled by the Holy Spirit that influences us to do what is right in all circumstances. We have to train ourselves to listen to the Holy Spirit and not the world around us, as it says in Romans 12:2, ‘be not conformed to the world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ 

Paul tried to explain this to the believers in Galatians 2:17-21 that they were not found to be acceptable before God due to their works in the flesh. You can’t pray, read the Bible, feed enough poor people, or heal enough sick people to make yourself acceptable to God. You have to be DEAD to the flesh and alive in Christ Resurrected with Him and letting the Holy Spirit live inside you. We are dead to being judged under the law, we are made acceptable to God by Jesus.

The Bible, God’s Word, says that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. We have to accept his forgiveness to get that forgiveness. In Luke 15:3-10, Jesus told His followers and those who listened, the parable of the lost sheep, Saying that if there was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep and just One wandered away, would the shepherd not leave the ninety nine alone to go look for the one, and having found it would he not put it on his shoulders and carry it back? The shepherd would then call all his friends together to have a big party to celebrate the one being found and returning to the group. Did the shepherd not go look for it, find it, carry it back, have a party for it’s return? What did the sheep do to get itself back to the flock? All it really did was agree to return. It did not run away from the shepherd when he came up to it. He consented to be picked up and carried back. We are the sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd who brings us back, all we have to do is accept that He will take us back to being able to have the relationship we want with God. The Holy Spirit indwelling  us leads us to do the good works and profess Jesus to the world.

Casting Pearls- Do you listen to your conscience?

Though it may seem as though Jesus has given us a free will to go ahead and sin, the Holy Spirit inside you when you are saved should prevent you from sinning. Some call it the prick of conscience, but the conscience can also be a bad thing. 

Conscience can lead someone to feel something about something that is God’s will to happen. If someone you know gets sick with a terminal disease, your conscience may make you feel bad for that person. God could be using that person , and their sickness to reach another. Let me give you an example; 

A pastor told me that there was a very faithful member of his Church that suddenly got sick with a terminal cancer. She asked that the pastor would come visit her at the hospital. This was relayed to him by someone who went to see her on Sunday. They had taken her a tape of his sermon to listen too. The hospital she was in was a Catholic hospital and did not normally have protestant faith literature in it for the patients. The pastor came to visit the woman in her shared hospital room on Monday morning. The woman said she listened to the sermon and wanted to have him meet the Churches newest convert, and introduced him to the woman in the other bed. The Lord had used the woman’s sickness to let her be a witness to the woman in the room with her. Later that day, the woman was tested and her cancer was suddenly gone! She was no longer dying!

We must be careful not to stop God from fulfilling His plan in whatever manner He sees fit. We can allow our feelings to get in the way of God’s will.  The most important thing we can do is to be in God's will. If we want to move mountains, we must make our wants for us the same as God's wants for us. When we are in God's Will, He can move anything out of our way.