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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

James Study: Week 3 ~ Tuesday


SOAP: James 3:8-10



S: But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Elohim and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of Elohim. Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.








O&A: I'm reflecting on how many times in Scripture we see the words 'blessing and cursing'. For example, Deuteronomy 11:26-28 says, "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of Adonai/the LORD your Elohim/God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Adonai/the LORD your Elohim/God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known." 



This leads me to "Choose you this day whom you will serve"... and that we have to make a choice: to bless or to curse? We cannot/should not do both. We cannot serve two lords, and scripture is clear that blessing leads to Adonai our Elohim, and cursing leads to other gods. 






Verse 9 is really hitting home: "With it (the tongue) we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God." There's a Hebrew term, lashon hara, which translates to "evil tongue", which prohibits believers from speaking ill of people, yet it still happens. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have been guilty of blessing God and cursing man... I try to do better now, but sometimes that little flare-up sparks, and oh boy. 



Verse 6 says, "And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehinnom." 
Matthew 15:11 says, "It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.” Then verses 17-20, "“Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is ejected into the sewer? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy.” 

So not only do we have to obey Abba in what He considers food (the clean animals), but also we have to obey Him in what is considered clean speech (clean lips), clean actions, etc... in other words, obedience to Abba. 

What part of my life should I not submit to Him?






P: Abba, I thank You for opening my eyes and ears to obeying You and Your Word as the Ruach/Spirit leads. Let my tongue be a fire for You, setting souls ablaze with love and desire for You and Your Word, and for Messiah Yeshua. Let my mind stay focused on You and be changed from the inside out... clean the inside of my cup as well as the platter it sits on. I read a little story about a spilled cup of coffee, and the person was asked why coffee spilled out, and they said, "Because I was bumped." The truth is, coffee spilled out because that's what was in the cup; if it had been tea, then tea would have spilled out. Getting bumped just gave an outlet for it to come out of the cup. 



So if I am filled with YOU, then when I get jostled, bumped, mistreated, then YOU are what will come out of me, and that is what I want! If I am living according to Your Word, to the works of Yeshua, then THAT is what will come out of me! More of You, so much less of me, Abba. 
If there be any consuming fire within me, let it be of and for You. B'shem Yeshua, Amein.





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