Stop Being So Critical (2)

'Keep your tongue from speaking evil.' 1 Peter 3:10 NLT

Thanks to all who prayed for Gail Clark's surgery yesterday. He came out great and praying the two lumps aren't cancer. I love this statement by Dale Carnegie...How are you doing in this area of your life? Think about Moses for a minute. God dealt with Moses because of some of the mistakes he made. In fact, one of them kept him from entering the Promised Land. Nevertheless, God wouldn’t permit anybody else to criticise Moses—not even his sister Miriam. So what can you learn from this?
(1) We’re all capable of harboring a critical attitude. Miriam had great qualities. She saved Moses’ life as a child, and she wrote a song of praise Israel used to celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea. But she paid a high price for her critical attitude—leprosy.
(2) When you’re resentful you become critical. ‘Miriam…began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife.’ (Numbers 12:1 NIV) But was that the real issue? No. ‘They said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?”’ (Numbers 12:2 NKJV) Moses’ wife was just a diversion; the real issue was Moses’ success. Their beef was: ‘How come he gets all the attention?’
(3) Anytime you succeed you’ll be criticised. The Bible says, ‘Moses was very humble’ (Numbers 12:3 NKJV), yet even he couldn’t escape the pain inflicted by self-appointed critics. And you’re no different; as long as you’re alive somebody will find fault with what you’re doing. Brush it off and keep going.
(4) If you’ve been critical, you need to repent. When Aaron acknowledged, ‘We have acted foolishly…we have sinned’ (Numbers 12:11 NAS), God showed mercy and healed Miriam. Most of us would rather classify criticism as a weakness, but from God’s perspective it’s a genuine, bona fide, registered sin. And there’s only one way to deal with sin—repent and stop committing it. More tomorrow...

Stop Being So Critical (1)

'The sin we have so foolishly committed.' Numbers 12:11 NIV

When Miriam criticised her brother Moses because of the wife he chose, the Lord heard and she was smitten with leprosy. Maybe you grew up in a family that was forever finding fault, and now you hear the same tone in how you talk to your children. You can’t enjoy God’s blessings because you’ve been programmed to inspect, nitpick and form opinions—usually negative ones. The Bible says, ‘If you want to enjoy life and see…happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil.’ (1 Peter 3:10 NLT) The definition of the word ‘criticism’ (dwelling upon the perceived faults of another with no view to their good) should cause you to pause and think. First, there’s the word perceived. Often your perceptions aren’t accurate; there are always circumstances you don’t understand. Next we come to the words dwelling upon. We’re inclined to walk through life saying, ‘That’s not right,’ or ‘I wouldn’t do it that way.’ You say, ‘I’m an analytical person, it’s how God made me.’ That’s fine, but the problem comes when you choose to dwell on your observations—when you can’t set them aside. You say, ‘But how can I help somebody if I don’t dwell on what they’re doing?’ That’s why the last part of the definition—with no view to their good—is so important. It’s not wrong to dwell upon somebody’s faults, provided you do it in a non-judgmental way with a view to helping them find a solution. Does that mean it’s ok to discuss it with a third party? Only if you can end the conversation by saying, ‘Let’s pray about it, keep it in confidence, and try to help.’

Faith Perspectives

'Christ means everything to me in this life, and when I die I'll have even more.' Philippians 1:21

When the apostle Paul wrote the Philippians, he had first hand knowledge of what Roman prisons were like. Offenders were stripped, flogged and placed in leg irons. Their blood-soaked clothing wasn’t changed even in the dead of winter. And the ‘inner cell’ (Acts 16:24 NIV) where Paul and Silas were imprisoned was the worst. Lack of water, cramped conditions and the stench of toilets (if that’s what you could call them) made sleep impossible. Prisoners routinely begged for death, and some even committed suicide. It was your worst nightmare! Yet ‘Paul and Silas were…singing…and the other prisoners were listening.’ (Acts 16:25 NIV) Paul’s attitude impressed his fellow inmates before his religious beliefs ever reached them. Let’s face it, anybody can sing in church, including hypocrites. But when you can praise God in the midst of pain, pressures, and problems—that’s something else. How did they do it? They had a faith perspective! It’s not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts! Paul didn’t just sing in prison, he wrote some of his best stuff there. Here’s his take on it: ‘...through my being in prison, the Lord has given most of our brothers and sisters confidence to speak God’s word more boldly and fearlessly than ever... I will speak very boldly and honour Christ... now as always, whether I live or die. Christ means everything to me in this life, and when I die I’ll have even more.’ (Philippians 1:19–21 GWT) What are you going to do with a man or woman like this? They’re beyond your threats. Their strength comes from a source that’s not diminished by outside circumstances. That’s because they have a faith perspective. And that’s what you need today too!

Today, Depend on God

'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

Hindrances, hang-ups, and hurdles are God’s gift to the self-sufficient. While He won’t let you use your weakness as a crutch or a cop-out, He’ll allow it to keep you dependent on Him. Paul wrote, ‘I was given a thorn…to…keep me from becoming proud.’ (2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT)


Why would God keep you in touch with your limitations? To embarrass you? No, to empower you so that you can do His will. God’s intention is to increase, not decrease your need for Him. Perhaps this illustration will help you. Imagine four steel rings. The first can support eighty pounds, the second sixty, the third forty, and the fourth twenty. Linked together, what’s the greatest weight the chain can support? Two hundred pounds? No, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so the answer is twenty pounds! And it’s the same with us; we’re only as strong as our weakest area. That’s why we sometimes try to excuse or ignore them. But that’s dangerous because relying on your own strength may win you a few victories and accolades and cause you to think you can handle everything on your own. It was because Paul was so brilliant that God permitted difficult circumstances that kept him on his knees, living in a state of forced dependence. After praying repeatedly for God to take his weakness away, Paul finally came to the place where he could say, ‘I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV) So today, depend on God!

Today, Speak Words that Encourage

'You have... encouraged those who are weak or falling.' Job 4:3




The Bible says, ‘...let us pursue what makes for… mutual upbuilding.’ (Romans 14:19 ESV) When Job was in trouble, his friend Eliphaz reminded him how in the past Job’s words had ‘encouraged those who were weak or falling.’ Words can hurt or heal, bless or blister, destroy or deliver, tear down or build up. ‘The tongue has the power of life and death.’ (Proverbs 18:21 NIV)


Think about this for a moment: ‘You…the one with Jesus in your heart—are capable of murder. And so am I. We have the power to speak death with our words, and… the power to speak life. Perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end of a message meant to murder. “You’re not smart enough…fast enough…good enough…a real Christian wouldn’t think such things.” In a world where people are beaten up and put down, God gives you superhero power to punch through the negativity. You speak life when you say, “You matter to me. I like you just the way you are… Your life counts. You were created for a purpose. God loves you, and you’re incredibly valuable to Him.” You can become the voice of God’s grace in the lives of others, supporting, loving, helping and encouraging them with the words that flow from your mouth.’ God wants us to encourage each other, but that doesn’t mean flattering or buttering people up. It means speaking words that help them to stay on their feet and keep going. What you say can give fresh hope to a friend, a relative, a neighbor, or a co-worker who’s about to collapse. What a gift!

Different Types of Prayer (2)

'Pray...with all [manner of] prayer.' Ephesians 6:18

Here are three more types of prayer: (1) The prayer of petition. You must learn to be confident in asking God to meet your needs. Jesus promised, ‘Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.’ (Mark 11:24 NKJV) If we’d stop trying to impress God, we’d be a lot better off. Length, loudness or eloquence isn’t the issue; it’s the sincerity of our heart, the faith that’s in our heart, and the assurance that we’re praying according to God’s will that gets results.


(2) The prayer of agreement. ‘All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer...’ (Acts 1:14 ESV) When you’re up against something too big to handle alone, find a prayer partner and get into agreement with them. This isn’t for people who constantly live in strife, then decide to agree because they’re desperate. God honors the prayers of those who pay the price to live together in harmony (See Psalm 133:1)


(3) The prayer of thanksgiving. When your prayers outnumber your praises, it says something about your character. Self-centred people ask, but rarely appreciate. God won’t release us into the fullness of all He has planned for us until we become thankful for what we’ve already received. Petition avails much; praise avails much more! ‘In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ (Philippians 4:6 NIV) Powerful living comes through thanksgiving. We can literally ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV) by being thankful all day long, praising God for His favor, mercy, loving kindness, grace, longsuffering and goodness.

Different Types of Prayer (1)

'Pray...with all [manner of] prayer.' Ephesians 6:18 AMP

In Scripture there are many different kinds of prayer. Let’s look at some of them and see what we can learn:


(1) The prayer of surrender. When Paul met Christ on the Damascus Road he prayed, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ (Acts 9:6 NKJV) That’s like signing your name to a blank check and saying, ‘Here I am, Lord, do with me as You please. I hope I like what You choose, but even if I don’t, I’ll do it anyway; Your will be done, not mine.’ You’re deciding to voluntarily follow God rather than trying to get Him to follow you. As a result He will do the work that needs to be done in you, so that He can do the work He desires to do through you.


(2) The prayer of commitment. The Bible says, ‘Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him.’ (1 Peter 5:7 AMP) As long as you keep trying to control everything, your stress levels will keep mounting. But once you learn to hand things over to God, you’ll wonder why you spent even a single day worrying.


(3) The prayer of intercession. The prophet Ezekiel writes, ‘I looked for someone…who would…stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land.’ (Ezekiel 22:30 NIV) ‘The gap’ is the distance between what is— and what can be. And when there’s a ‘gap’ in someone’s relationship with God due to a particular sin, as a believer you have the privilege (and responsibility) of placing yourself in that gap and praying for them. You are Loved!