OUR JUDGE IS NEAR

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I hate to say this but I think too many Christian believers have become comfortable with what they would consider smaller, less significant sins.

Anxiety is one of them. We all tend to allow life to pull us away from simply trusting God as we should and, in doing so, violate His command to “not be anxious about anything” but “in every situation” bring our petitions (which include our problems) to Him, the only One who is capable of doing all things (Philippians 4:6-7).

Pride is another one. We seem to have a difficult time adopting a constant attitude of humility, even when we say we believe and follow Jesus, the perfect model of humbleness. God’s word has this to say about pride and yet we continue to exercise it:

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. Proverbs 16:5

Did you catch the surety of punishment part?

More on that in a moment.

In a recent message, we saw the scriptures speak out about slandering others. We could add gossip to that discussion, the intentional talking about someone behind their back transgression. Both of these would fall under the category of what the Bible would consider “unwholesome talk” and here’s what the Word says about people who choose this kind of speaking:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

What part of God’s command to “do not” are we not understanding?

Now, I could go onto talk about lust, gluttony, coveting, hatred, selfishness, or self righteousness but I think you have the point. We need to sharpen our sensitivity to all sin so that’s its razor sharp and acute because I’m afraid we have allowed our self reflected and self regulating tools to become dull and rounded off.

Toward that end of resharpening our awareness of what we are doing, God offers us a reminder in the ninth verse of James, chapter 5. There we read this:

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Here we find another simple act we commit all the time, even though the Lord tells us not to. For we are not supposed to complain about one another. Period.

God gives us no caveats here, no exception clauses but He does offer us an assurance and this same assurance applies to all sins we commit to include the ones mentioned earlier in this message.

What is God’s promise?

It’s a promise of His judgment and this isn’t something that anyone should ask for by flippantly violating commands He has given. The Bible is full of examples of what God’s judgment looks like and it should be completely frightening to us, so much so that we would cower in fear of what He would do if we violate just one of His orders.

But I would say that a majority of Christian believers don’t even give this judgment a thought and they do so creating their own peril.

Friends, this message from the Lord and His Word intends to convict us all and make us uncomfortable. It has made me this way just writing it as I know I failed many times over in not being compliant where I am called to be. I am reminded that I can’t afford to relax in my self awareness of what I am doing, and even more so, my need to seek God for direction on the way I should behave, allowing Him to dictate my every thought, every word, and every deed.

For His Word is truth and His Word tells us here that He is not distant but “standing at the door” and ready to judge us for our sins. We may be saved through our belief in Jesus but as the scriptures make clear, this doesn’t give us the license to sin without God taking action while we’re in this human existence. Like a parent corrects his or her children, so too does our Heavenly Father correct His.

The time is now to repent of all sins we have committed, rather sins of commission or omission, and then start fresh with this message in mind, adopting a hyper-sensitivity to avoiding behaviors that God calls sin, choosing instead to follow His will and live in a way pleasing in His sight.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WAIT WITH PATIENCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

James 5:7-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live in an era where we can get a lot of things we want fast.

When we’re hungry, we can go to any number of fast food restaurants and go through a drive through window to quickly get a meal and take it wherever we want to eat it. Some convenience stores and airport kiosks in particular offer grab-and-go options which take even less time than that fast food lane.

Short on cash? All you need to do is go to any number of automatic teller machines (known better as ATM’s) and access your bank account or get an advance off of a credit card. In a matter of minutes, you have money dispersed to you and you’re on your way.

Cell phones have allowed us to communicate with one another almost instantaneously, especially via texting, and rather than having to type our feelings and emotions, we have the shorthand equivalent in emojis.

Finally, to keep this from going on and on and on, we have dedicated express lanes on our interstates in many places now. If you want to get somewhere faster (and who doesn’t want to do that), you now can pay for the privilege to do so. Here in Virginia and in other places on the east coast of the United States, the EZ Pass transponders will bill your account when you opt to pay for the luxury of driving in lanes that others won’t because they don’t want to pay.

Yes, we increasingly look for our needs to be met expeditiously - and the quicker the better. The problem with this desire is that we run the danger of applying it to everything in life, to include our Christian faith. If we’re not careful, we’ll treat the Lord as if we would a drive-thru or ATM, expecting that He will give us what we order just a short time after we make the order.

Unfortunately, our relationship with the Lord doesn’t work like that. No person dictates to the Lord what He will do and when He will do it. He is the One in charge, reigning and ruling over His creation and we are all subordinate to Him. We can bring our wants to Him but He will ultimately act on our petitions in His perfect time and in His perfect way. Our job as Christian believers is to trust Him and then wait on Him to work with the confidence that trust brings, a confident waiting that produces patience which we know is a blessed fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Herein is the rub. For our yearning for immediacy serves as an enemy and foe of the patience the Lord wants for us to develop and put into practice. This is the call we find in our verses for today from James, chapter 5. Look again at his words here:

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Vv.7-8

In first century A.D, we find a very agrarian culture across most of the biblical world, a carryover from Old Testament times. This served as a good foundation for many of Jesus’ parables as they were based on experiences that His prospective disciples could understand.

In our passage for today, we find Jesus’ brother, James, following suit as he encourages his Hebrew Christian readers to wait with patience for the second coming of Jesus. Like today, I am sure there were people so disenfranchised with the way the world was that they felt that Jesus could and would come back at any time to judge all mankind. It was into this space, then and now, that the Word of God speaks in powerful ways. For just as a farmer would wait patiently “for the land to yield its valuable crop” while “waiting for the autumn and spring rains”, so too were the Hebrew Christians supposed to “be patient and stand firm” for “the Lord’s coming as near”.

Some 2,000 years later, we are still waiting patiently and need to continue to. For although we don’t know the exact day and time He will come back, we do know He will, in His perfect and appointed time. Until then, instead of being impatient in our waiting, let us first exercise patience while we go about the work our Savior called us to do, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching all Jesus followers to obey what He commanded. And as we do all this, let us heed this demand found in the final verse of the 27th Psalm:

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. v.14

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

MISERY-INDUCING GREED

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent One, who was not opposing you.

James 5:1-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The matter of money and warnings about what can happen when a person accumulates it are found throughout the Bible. Two of the best are found in the sixth chapter of 1 Timothy. Here they are:

...godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Vv. 6-10

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. Vv. 17-18

It’s important to note that the scriptures are speaking out about wealth being a sin. Rather, it’s how a Christian believer allows their wealth to impact the way they live their lives before the Lord that is the matter at hand.

Those who handle affluency the proper way see that the Lord has provided what they have and feel a staunch responsibility and accountability to be good stewards of what He has given. They won’t be arrogant in their wealth or place their hope in possessions they can’t take with them when this worldly life is over. Instead, they choose to be rich in good deeds, using the money the Lord has provided “to be generous and willing to share” with others. They choose charity over vanity.

We also find James writing words on this matter of mishandling prosperity. Look again at his words here as found in the first six verses of chapter 5:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent One, who was not opposing you.

Here we find rich employers of others refusing to pay workers for their labors. The cries of the harvesters, declaring the injustices of those they worked for, elevated into the heavens until they reached the “ears of the Lord Almighty” who would not look kindly on these transgressions as the rich mistreated the less fortunate while living in “luxury and self indulgence”. God’s Word made clear that misery was in the future of the wealthy offenders who would be reduced to weeping and wailing at the hands of God’s judgment on them.

Need an example of someone who allowed money to be their master and suffered the penalty of misery in return. We get a clue about who I’m referring to at the end of the passage from James, a verse that brings Jesus to the forefront.

Of course, I am talking about none other than Judas Iscariot himself who, even though he was a member of Jesus’ twelve hand-selected disciples, didn’t hesitate to help himself to the money earmarked to fund Jesus and the eleven others (John 12:6). He loved money and himself more than he loved his Master and this is what led to him so quickly selling out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver to the murder-driven Sanhedrin.

What happened after he had betrayed Jesus?

Misery, that’s what.

For we know that he tried to return the money, only to be rebuffed by the callous, uncaring chief priests and elders. Here’s what we read in Matthew 27:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” Vv. 3-4

Judas’ repentance was of no significance to the Jewish religious leaders who were sinning against God themselves with no remorse. Left empty in his regret and self condemnation, here’s what Judas did next in the midst of his greed-induced misery:

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. v.5

Going back to the passage from 1 Timothy 6, Judas was a perfect example of someone who wandered from their faith because of the eagerness for money and, as a result, “pierced themselves with many griefs”. In his case, the griefs became greater than Judas’ willingness to live.

In the Bible, we find a lot of discussion from the Lord regarding money and how believers are to conduct themselves when they are blessed with an abundance of it. Ultimately, we should treat our possessions as if they aren’t ours but the Lord’s. And with this, we should always be consulting Him as to what He wants us to do with what He has entrusted us with. For when we do, we can be assured that our stewardship will honor Him because He is dictating that stewardship, leading us to allocate our funds in a way that make a kingdom difference here on earth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GETTING TO THE ROOT OF SINFULNESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4:17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Sin.

It has been the most significant and harmful affliction mankind has dealt with and indeed continues to deal with.

More destructive than cancer or any organ disease (heart, liver, or kidney to name a few).

More damaging than any mental health disorder such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

More devastating than dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.

For while these physical and mental illnesses might impact the body severely, even causing it to eventually stop functioning, none of them have any significance when it comes to one’s spiritual standing before the God who despises and hates sin, the God who will bring the fullest extent of His wrath on any transgressor who has refused to be saved and justified by His Son Jesus.

And we need to know that sin will serve to keep an unbeliever unbelieving all the way to Hell and an everlasting life of damnation and torment.

Given this, that sin can be the very hinge point between Hell and Heaven, it would help to know its root for unless someone knows that, they will have no chance to overcome iniquity while trading it in for right and righteous living through Christ Jesus. Thankfully, we find the source cause in the closing verse of James, chapter 4. Look again at those words here:

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. v.17.

James is writing to Hebrew Christians here and lets them know that the root definition sin is found within them and the things they do.

If they knew they were to do something good, which was code for doing as God expected, but decided to do otherwise, then they sinned. Plain and simple.

Need an example of what this looks like?

We don’t need to go too far into the Bible to find it for the first time that people willfully were disobedient to God was in Eden’s garden. There, God had given the following edict to its sole human inhabitants, Adam and Eve:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17

Shortly after this, Eve was created and we know that the order to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was known by her because when we get to chapter 3, she says this to the serpent:

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” Vv. 2-3

Both Adam and Eve knew that God had forbidden them to eat the fruit from the tree and yet they did so anyways. They knew the good they were supposed to do and they didn’t do it, invoking a curse on mankind from that point forward, a curse that will only end at Jesus’ second coming.

Since Eden, men and women have continued to struggle mightily with complying with the good God wants them to do, sometimes frustratingly so. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul confessed his aggravation with words I think we can all relate to. He shared:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:14-25

In the Bible, there was no other Apostle who accomplished more for the cause of the Gospel than Paul and yet he was not immune to sin and its effects, chief of which was doing evil when he wanted to do good. The struggle was as real for him as it was and is for us today.

So what’s the solution to this conundrum?

The bad news is that there’s no cure for the disease of sin that afflicts us but we can work every day to drive it into remission by keeping the Lord closer than the world in the way we think, speak, and behave.

If you have placed your belief in Jesus, you have within you the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and He will always lead and guide us away from sin and toward righteousness and holiness if we trust Him to.

If you have rejected Jesus up to this point, the only chance you have to avoid Hell is to believe in Him and receive God’s free gift of salvation along with the aforementioned Holy Spirit.

In regard to Christ believers, if we let our own desires complicate the matter of doing good or bad, then we, like Adam and Eve will lust for that which God has forbidden and we are doomed to fall into sinfulness.

But if we constantly and uncompromisingly allow the Lord’s desires to replace our own, ever seeking to please Him instead of ourselves, then we have a real chance to put sin where it needs to be, in recess so the Lord’s holiness might assume the forefront of everything we do.

It’s my prayer today that we all will do just that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GUIDANCE ON THE MATTER OF BRAGGERY

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We all want to do good things in life. I feel this is really a part of our essence as human beings as feelings of accomplishment raise our spirits and give us a sense of worth, especially as we are continually trying to find our place in the world.

In this striving to achieve great things and the ensuing emotional highs we get from them, there is something we need to always keep an eye on, something that can change all our excellence into sinfulness if we’re not careful. For under the intense spell and glow of our achievement(s), we can run the danger of bragging about what we’ve done and perhaps become so puffed up that we begin to boast about what we’re going to do next, promising something bigger and better.

With this, it’s little wonder that God speaks out boldly on this subject through His Word. Consider these verses:

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth. Proverbs 27:2

This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches.” Jeremiah 9:23

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.”

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. Romans 12:3

And then, we have the verse for today from James, chapter 4. It comes right after God’s Word instructs Christian believers to live in the present, fully committed to fulfilling His perfect will instead of focusing on tomorrow. In response to anyone who doesn’t heed this, James writes:

As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. v.16

The arrogant schemes James refers to here are the worldly plans people make beyond the present day, arrogant in that they assume that the Lord is going to give them future days when the truth of the matter is that He is the One in control of all time, past and present and future.

No one dictates to God; it is completely the other way around.

Now, it’s not that the Bible says that all bragger is bad and sinful. The Word actually prescribes boasting by Christian believers but that boasting will always be directed to the only One who is worthy of boast, the Lord Almighty. Look at these verses that affirm this:

“...let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24

...as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:31

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. I will boast only in the Lord. Psalm 34:1-2 NLT

The bottom line here is that in all things, the Lord gets the glory. Period. He is the only One who is always worthy of all our honor and praise and so if we boast and brag in anyone, it needs to be Him. If you do something great and commendable, simply give credit to the Lord for blessing you with the opportunity to excel and the ability to do so.

Today and every day, let’s always put ourselves second to make sure the Lord is seen as first and make sure everyone we see knows it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

LIVING IN LIGHT OF THE PERFECT WILL

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4:13-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, I was on the phone with my wonderful mother, communicating love and appreciation to her on the day set aside to celebrate mothers every year. We talk every Sunday like clockwork around 6 or 7 o’clock EST, she living in Pennsylvania while by wife and I residing in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

We had just finished speaking about the say she had enjoying time with my sister who had driven in from Ohio to spend the day with her when she posed a question usually asked every weekend.

“So what are you guys doing this coming week?”

That questions rose to the forefront as I read today’s scripture passage from our continuing study of James 4 because it really caused me to think about the way we approach life. For I have a schedule for the week like I’m sure most people do. I am making my way through today but I am doing so with thought to what I have on my calendar tomorrow, the next day, and every day through this week. My wife and I will be visiting Pennsylvania and family there in less than two weeks so of course this also occupies some of my thoughts. After all, we always look forward to vacationing, right?

Yes, we all have plans for what we think we’re going to do but how many times have we experienced a sudden disruption of plans happen? Live long enough and you will be able to say “Amen” to that. The verses from James serve to address this as we look again at these words found in verses 13 through 15:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

I find it fascinating that these words of caution and wisdom were spoken into a completely different period and culture in history. We know James was writing to the Hebrew Christians of the first century A.D and he is essentially is telling them to not get ahead of themselves in regard to what might lie ahead. For the raw truth of the matter is that no one knows what tomorrow holds except the Lord who holds all time in His hand. He has a will for each and every person and He will make sure His will is done, whether it matches up with our plans or not.

And so no person should be boldly overconfident about what tomorrow holds because no one really knows what will happen there. I believe this is where the saying, “God willing” comes from, an understanding of what the Lord is trying to get all people to understand through this Word from Him. For a believer should say that I plan on doing this or that and then add, “God willing”, which puts the happenings of tomorrow in the hands of the One who controls all happenings, the One who orchestrates and dictates the things He wants us to do in life, whether today, tomorrow, or any day for that matter.

In fact, we don’t even know if we’ll still be alive come tomorrow. We’re reminded in this passage about the brevity of life and our place in the overall history of creation. We are born into the world and eventually die out of it with no guarantee of how much time will pass from one to the other. We are indeed like “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”. Here today and gone tomorrow, as they say.

So rather than worry about time that lies ahead, we would be wiser to make the most of what we do have and that’s today. We should be seeking the Lord’s will for our life in the present and then carry out that will now. If the Lord blesses us with life tomorrow, then we give thanks for a new day and repeat the same process, seeking the Lord’s will for that day and then making sure that will is done.

The main point here is that every single day we get to seek, receive, and fulfill the absolutely perfect will of the One who made us and dictates our lives from start to finish when we submit ourselves to Him. We aren’t to get ahead of ourselves and look past what the Lord wants us to do today by allowing tomorrow to be a distraction. For as Our Savior put it:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Matthew 6:34

Keep your concern on today and live in the light of the Lord’s perfect will for your life, achieving what He desires, and if He blesses you with another day tomorrow, follow the same game plan. 

You’ll never be sorry you did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

COMBATTING SINFUL SLANDER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

James 4:11-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Over the past two weeks, there have been two messages from this study of James where the Lord warns us through His holy Word to watch how we use our tongue. You may remember that the tongue is actually a voluntary muscle within the body which means that it doesn’t work unless it is activated. In other words, every single person chooses to use the tongue and this is a dangerous proposition because as sinners who all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), there is incredible potential for us to transgress and use the tongue as an instrument of that transgression. Here’s what James said about the tongue and its ability to do bad:

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by Hell.” James 3:6

Whoa!

If that doesn’t get our attention regarding the danger of an uncontrolled tongue, then nothing will. It’s no wonder that the Bible works hard to provide believers instruction as to what we say which involves the use of the tongue. Specifically, for the purpose of today’s message, we find the matter of slander take center stage. Look at what James writes in today’s passage from the fourth chapter of this letter:

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Vv.11-12

There isn’t any grey area on this matter of sinfully using your tongue to slander another person or persons. None.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, slander, by definition, is “the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation”. In other words, words are used by someone as a weapon which takes aim at another person and fires falsehoods to try and do harm. It is a malicious use of language and one that totally disobeys God's command found in the Old Testament law within the Book of Leviticus. There, we find God making the following demand:

“‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.’” 19:16

Later, we find David asking a question and then providing the answer. In the 15th Psalm, he writes:

“Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent? Who may live on Your holy mountain?”

“The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others.” Psalm 15:1-3

Want to be close to God, dwelling with Him?

You had better watch your tongue, speaking truth from the heart while uttering no slander or casting slurs on others. God’s word is clear on this but just in case that wasn’t enough, look at these words from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 4:29-31

Here, we learn that misusing our tongues to spew sinful words through unwholesome talk (which includes slander), grieves the Holy Spirit of God. This passage affirms the truth that the Holy Spirit is as much a person as the other two people in the Holy Trinity, God the Father and Jesus, His Son. When we abuse others through the things we say, it brings great sadness on the very Holy Spirit who is trying to lead us to speak right and righteously, much like a parent would be distressed and distraught if their child commits a deed counter to what they have taught. We should never want to disappoint the very Counselor that God sent to lead us toward good.

In sum, a person’s intentional use of their tongue to slander, curse, or lie about another person is nothing more than communicative iniquity and the Lord is never going to stand for it. We had better get a grip on the things we speak and learn ways to get our tongue under control. To that end, I close with some tips using the very letters of the word “slander” to communicate a remedy.

First, “s” is for stop.

We need to stop before we speak and sat something that dishonors the very God who gave us the ability to talk.

Next, “l” is for listen.

We need to listen to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, seeking Him to provide the words we say. For when we do this, we will always be speaking what the Lord wants us to speak.

The third letter, “a”, is to act out of love for others.

A person who listens to the Holy Spirit and is obedient to His leading will always find themselves behaving out of love toward others and this love will seek to build up instead of disparage with the intent of tearing someone down.

Fourth, we have “n” which represents the new life attitude that emerges when we stop, listen to the Holy Spirit, and then act in the ways He calls us to act. Rather than be instruments of Satan, who are used to damage and destroy, we become and behave like children of God who emulate the character and image of their Heavenly Father.

The “d” in slander is to dare to be different for although you adopt a new life attitude that seeks to say things that bless vice harm others, you are still immersed in a sinful world who will not prescribe to the loving, caring principles the Lord establishes and promotes. Having lost you to God and His ways, you need to know that Satan is not going to stop coming after you. This could lead to a second “d” word you can use...the word “deny”. Deny Satan in the name of Jesus and he will flee every time as he cannot stand in the very mention of the One who has already gained the victory.

The second “a” in slander represents accountability and this is critical because we need a mechanism to keep us in check and doing the right thing, especially in regard to how we use our tongues to say the words we speak.

Thankfully, we couldn’t have a more authoritative figure to answer to than the Lord God Almighty. And if sinning against Him and inviting His correction and judgment doesn’t motivate you, nothing will, that’s for sure. Only a fool would do so.

Finally, we end with the letter “r” and since the prior “a” was all about being accountable to God, we now see where we, as Christian believers, have a firm responsibility to seek His guidance by way of the Holy Spirit, and then perfectly execute that guidance, making His words and expected actions our own.

Slander is sinful but if we look at each letter of this sin and attach it to a divine purpose, we uncover spiritual truths that we can use to turn away from the misuse of our tongues to seek to harm others. My prayer is that you will put these spiritual truths into practice from this day forward over all the time the Lord blesses you with in this worldly life.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.