4th of July Series, Speak the Truth Even in the Little Things (part 1)

Isaiah 58 Ministries                                                          June 25, 2014

Pastor: Leah Svensson

Scripture: Psalms 133:1, Psalms 19:14, James 3:9-11, Philippians 4:6-8, Mark 9:33-37, Luke 6:45, Matthew 25:15-30,

 

   

    How good and how pleasant it is 

For brethren to dwell together in 

unity! Psalm 133:1

    

   






  The other day Justin came up with an epiphany. 


The devil can't get to a righteous man so he 

uses other people in the flesh to 

try to trap a righteous person in a 

lie. 

     The devil is weak. He is also the father of lies. God wants for us to always speak the truth, even in the little things.  We have to work on with every word we speak. No matter what we are feeling inside. (Clothes, make-up, weight  or our personal opinions, are not considered  the Truth; keep your personal abstract thoughts to yourself. i.e. Don't tell someone you don't like their clothes or say things that hurt their feelings. Styles are always changing.)

   

   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable (pleasing) in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.Psalm 19:14 

(This is a scripture that I pray often :)

  
  What I am finding is that sometimes when I think I'm speaking the truth, lies are coming out of my mouth. Yikes!  How can this be- blessing and cursing cannot come from the same place. 

     

   You may say that everyone lies, but if

our head is Christ, only 

the truth should 

come out of our mouths. 

     Sometimes life throws hard things at us. In these moments we are squeezed- anger, frustration, fear- all of these things are lies from the enemy. I have purposed to only let the truth come out of me no matter what. 

    James 3:9-11 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?

Fear Vs Faith....One is a Lie and One is the Truth

Philippians 4 

6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

7 And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8 For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just (fair), whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable,whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take is anything account of these things [fix your minds on them].

 

 Think on these things: :) 

     If you think on good things the TRUTH  will come out and the lies will dissipate! 

Truth, purity, justice, decent, proper, excellent, virtue, praise to God worthy, lovely, lovable, worthy of the reverence of God!! :)

    God wants us to meditate, he wants us to think things through. He is telling us in His word to fix our mind on things, to weigh things and take account, to remember them. 

But we have a limited area in which our thoughts should go- on one side is depression, fear, anxiety, lack of faith in God, anger, violence, self pity.

 

  Preaching the Gospel to others so "They also" know the love of God ahead of Ourselves Will Cause the Truth to Prevail

    



                     First will be last and Last will be first:

Mark 9: 33 And they arrived at Capernaum; and when [they were] in the house, He asked them, What were you discussing and arguing about on the road?

34 But they kept still, for on the road they had discussed and disputed with one another as to who was the greatest.

35 And He sat down and called the Twelve [apostles], and He said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.

36 And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them,

37 Whoever in My name and for My sake accepts and receives and welcomes one such child also accepts and receives and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me receives not only Me but Him Who sent Me.

   

a lie causes darkness

    Sometimes depression and anxiety will overwhelm us. Lies creep into our head. As we think on them they come out of our mouths and become realities. We need to stop these thoughts at the fountainhead! One way to do this is to pray for, seek answers from God, and uplift others and somehow your problems get starved of their hold over you! 

 

  What we meditate on, what we think about, those are the things that will eventually come out of our mouths. 

   A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

       

   We can't let evil or the devil come out of our mouths. We must put 

one another's 

relationship to God

 first and realize that our words affect those around us to bring health and bring healing.

    Pray first! Pray about 

every thing because even the Word of God can be used 

for harm, but should be used to comfort, bind up the wounded and set the captives free. When the Word of God is used in simple truth, everyone is blessed.

   When we speak the truth all the time, we are putting others before our own selfishness, self loathing or pain. We then, get healed from that pain and if we meditate on the good things the god of self loathing is starved to death then happiness and peace return.

  

The world says that we need "me time" and we need to "think about our needs" in order to find balance and peace but that is not what our Lord teaches. 

The Lord teaches that if we put God's needs, to show his children his love and pray for their problems in front of our own, he will fix ours!! :) 

   

       It doesn't matter where you have come from. What matters is that we "take up our cross daily" and follow our Lord. 

     The other day our friend  Jimmy was talking about not wanting to be stuck in this earthy body, but has a desire to be complete and whole in Heaven. Oh, how I feel that way sometimes. 

Our Founding Fathers felt the same.

   Then I look at all I have done in this life for our Lord and realize I have not "run my race." 

I still have a purpose to fulfill. God has a 

plan for us on this earth still. I want to throw off this earthy temple and be with my Lord but I am not ready. I have not done enough for Him. I still need to gain that Heavenly treasure. So,  I will rejoice in the body God has given me! I will do that which is pleasing in His sight with what he has given me, with the tools he has put before me today!

     

      Our very own Kansas Cowboy lives out his life putting others first, so they come to know how much God loves them. God will truly bless him! He has taken the small things God has given him turned them into pure gold! God gave him some pallet wood and he built a cathedral for God's creatures, our chickens! This is the principle of the talents. 3 men were each given talents or coins- two did something with them, but one put his talents in the ground. If you do what you can with what God gives you he will abundantly bless you with more!!! 

Matthew 25:15 To one he gave five talents  to another two, to another one—to each in proportion to his own [a]personal ability. Then he departed and left the country.16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he gained five talents more.17 And likewise he who had received the two talents—he also gained two talents more.18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.19 Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.20 And he who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, Master, you entrusted to me five talents; see, here I have gained five talents more.21 His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, [b]admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the [c]blessedness) which your master enjoys.22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, Master, you entrusted two talents to me; here I have gained two talents more.23 His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, [d]admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the [e]blessedness) which your master enjoys.24 He who had received one talent also came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed [the grain].25 So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.26 But his master answered him, You wicked and lazy and idle servant! Did you indeed know that I reap where I have not sowed and gather [grain] where I have not winnowed?27 Then you should have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own with interest.28 So take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away 30 And throw the good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

One way we can tell the truth is to take whatever God has given us and use it to the fullest. We have one acre of land. We know God wants us to have more so we can do more. Now, we could sit here and say "I'll just wait to start farming until I get all the land I think I'll need." But that would not be what God is telling us to do according to the parable we just read. I've lived in an apartment and started gardening on a 3rd floor balcony. We started with a handful of carrots and some lettuce, now we have raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cabbage, beans, you name it, we are trying to grow it! I know that as we step out and do what we can with what we have the Lord will supply the rest. I could complain about not having everything I need yet, but the Lord is showing me to be positive and praise Him and thank him in everything!  

View what you can do. The Founding Fathers set a whole nation free from captivity. All saints are  anointed by God to do great miracles like the Founding Fathers. Draw close to God like they did.  Click on the link below to find out how full of God's power and how they used God's powerful anointing to give their fellow citizens, brothers and sister's in Christ the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The founding fathers are great men of God. Be a saint just like them, draw close to God. 

http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/page/196