BE SLOW TO SPEAK II

MEMORY VERSE: For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. James 3:2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 23-25

James 1:19 says: ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.’ There are several reasons why you need to be slow to speak. Asides, the obvious fact God will judge you by your words. Matthew 12:36 -37 says: ‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ Humans will judge you by your words too. Proverbs 18:6 says: ‘A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.’ That Amalekite man was killed because he claimed to have killed Saul (1 Samuel 1:2-16). Verse 15-16 says: ‘And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD'S anointed.’ Humans will judge you by what you preach or what you profess. As such, make sure you know your topic very well.

You should be slow to speak because in the multitude of words sin is not lacking. Proverbs 10:19 says: ‘In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.’ In other words, ‘When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable(NASB).’ James 3:2 says: ‘For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.’ Another reason why you should be slow to speak is that your words will outlive you. You don’t want to be remembered for the careless words you uttered when you go to be with the Lord. What do we remember Thomas for? Long after the death of Thomas, why do we still call him doubting Thomas? We call him doubting Thomas because of his words. John 20:25 says: ‘The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ Despite the fact that he repented and took the gospel to India, we still call him doubting Thomas because of the statement he made.

CONFESSION: I will not speak hastily.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

HE STILL CONSUMES!

MEMORY VERSE: For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrew 12:29

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 15-18

The Bible puts a premium on knowledge. The lack of knowledge can lead to one’s destruction. Hosea 4:6 says: ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.’ If the lack of knowledge is bad, half knowledge is worse. A story that comes to mind is that of a woman who thought that ‘LOL’ meant ‘Lots of Love’. One day, the mother of a dear friend of hers passed away so she sent a text message to her. The text message read, ‘Sorry to hear about the death of your dear mother, LOL.’ For some reason, her friend did not respond. As God will have it, one of her sons was visiting. She showed him the text message she had sent to her dear friend. ‘Mum, what is the meaning of ‘LOL,’ he asked. ‘Lots of love,’ she responded. He explained to her that ‘LOL’ means ‘laugh out loud,’ not ‘Lots of love’. You can imagine how embarrassed she felt on realising that she had used the wrong abbreviation. The lesson is, don’t use a word you don’t know its meaning.

God is a mystery. He is the Lamb upon the throne (Revelations 5:13). Also, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelations 5:5). How can one be a lion and a lamb at the same time? According to 1 John 4:8, He is love. Also, He is a consuming fire. Hebrew 12:29 says: ‘For our God is a consuming fire.’ How can a loving person be a consuming fire at the same time? That is the mystery of God. The men of Bethshemesh committed a terrible sin by opening the ark of the Lord to see what was inside (1 Samuel 6). Verse 9 says: ‘And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.’ Many of us have forgotten that the Lord is still a consuming fire. You can't fornicate and come to church to lead praise and worship or play musical instruments.No! Anyone who does that is offering a 'strange fire' to God; let it be known, God does not take such lightly.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please have mercy on your church.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

twitter@BroOluwatoki