The Toothpaste Experiment

 

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" , Psalm 141:3

There is a super power given to us and that is the tongue. It produces words and Words have power. They can heal or they can destroy. They can also make you a laughing stock.

God's Word mentions the tongue in over 120 passages, and many of those are cautions about using it wisely. Learning to control how we speak – to the Lord and to others – is one of the vital parts of our growth as Christians. The tongue reveals our hearts. It is a window.

If you want to see the effect of your tongue, take a tube of Toothpaste and squeeze some onto your hand. Now try putting all that you squeezed back into the tube. Impossible right? Trying to put it back in the tube will further mess your hand.

The tongue is like the tube. Once it has spoken words, you cannot put them back in your mouth. They will leave a mark. If they are good, kind words, you will leave a good kind mark. If they are harsh and or filthy words they will leave a filthy mark. They can never be taken back.

Kind words come from kind thoughts, and through Gods words.

Evil words come from our ego, jealousy, hate, and all those negative emotions which are not part of Christian thoughts.

Most of us suffer from this (what I call) silent sin. And like all sin, God is happy to help us overcome it. We need but ask.

Controlling the tongue is a basic part of living a Godly life. As Peter says in 1 Peter 3:10

For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech” .

Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

Monday Quotes

 

“No one sets out to become an apostate—it's never the result of one abrupt, drastic turn away from the Lord. Instead, apostasy is most often the product of a pattern of sinful compromises that harden and gradually steer a professing believer away from the truth.” - 

(John MacArthur)

“True weanedness from the world does not consist in being beat off from the world by the affliction of it, but a being drawn off by the sight of something better.” - (Jonathan Edwards)

“Discipline is not inconsistent with love. It is lack of discipline, in fact, that is inconsistent with love. The Lord disciplines His children because He loves them, and we will discipline our brothers and sisters in the Lord if we truly love Him and truly love them.” - (John MacArthur)

“The Christian is not superficial in any sense, but is fundamentally serious and fundamentally happy. You see, the joy of the Christian is a holy joy; the happiness of the Christian is a serious happiness. ... it is a solemn joy, it is a holy joy, it is a serious happiness; so that, though he is grave and sober-minded and serious, he is never cold and prohibitive.”

(Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

“Every temptation, directly or indirectly, is the temptation to doubt and distrust God.” - 

(John MacArthur)

“If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means that no part of my life must be outside of His lordship.” - 

(R.C.Sproul)

“The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.” - (R.C.Sproul)

“To see lonely, selfish, empty individuals transformed slowly but surely into warm, loving, wholesome, and happy people is to become aware of why Paul describes Christ as ‘unsearchable riches’.” - (Ray Stedman)

“Seek to have your life in God, not in things, not in people, not in places, not in circumstances, not in arguments, not in human intelligence, but in God.” - (T. Austin-Sparks)

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” - (C.S.Lewis)

Saturday Vespers

 

We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day, We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us. You come to us through other people and their love and concern for us. You come to us through men and women who need our help. You come to us as we worship you with your people. We remember your presence with the pastors wife with stage 4 cancer and the hope you bring this advent to all those who call upon you for a miracle. We remember a lady in India suffering from back and hip pain and who needs the relief you can give.

Mr. Crane says - Today I would like to have a prayer request for the health of the father of one of my co-workers who is very dear to me. He has problems with his lungs and is in the ICU being treated. He has been with this problem since he had his accident at the age of 42. He is now 57 and still fighting...

Stephanie prays for God to repair, restore, connect, and heal in every way her relationship if it’s in His will and He will show them how to put Him in the center.

A lady in the USA needs prayer as she tries to free herself from a marriage full of domestic abuse. She needs your prayers and a lawyer as well as a strong will not to back slide. She needs her job as well as she is on hard times, even without electricity this winter.

Richin asks for a prayer for a Third Great Awakening in the US

May the Holy and blessed occasion of Advent bring peace, joy, love and hope to all.

The Day After....

 

We have just finished Thanksgiving yesterday with a lot of celebrations possibly all over the world, even though it is more of an American tradition. In reference to our giving thanks to God, recently Pastor David Jacobs wrote -

"A common misconception among young people.... is that we pray to God to ask for something. Perhaps there have been times when you yourself have prayed for good and righteous things. But we shouldn't forget thanking Him for what has already been provided. God is not our concierge: in fact, we serve God.

Trust in Him, for God gives us what He deems is necessary for His children, and for this, we should continually show our gratitude".

While Thanksgiving is a day dedicated once a year to give thanks, we have received so much that once a year may not suffice. Instead of asking for more, will it not be a good thing to dedicate a Friday or a Saturday or any one day in the week, (or maybe everyday) to give ONLY thanks for what we have received during the week gone by?

We, for one, give Him thanks for ALL our readers, and pray for each one to be blessed. You give us the encouragement to go forward everyday with an inspired message which we hope reaches someone who needs to hear it.  God Bless you all. 

Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

Too Many Miracles

 

           “I’ve Seen Too Many Miracles to Doubt God’s Existence”

Miracles happen around us everyday, we only need to open our eyes to them. In our own family, we realized our blessings in a hospital.

Standing there at the foot of her bed in the emergency room, all one could was pray as the Doctors and nurses tried to find the cause of her illness. And then you see the miracle happen as your prayer gets answered.

(If you have a healthy family, you are blessed; count the blessings you usually take for granted).

Since some time now I have noticed prayers being answered and realized they always had been. We were too busy in the business of life to notice. Covid also brought a realisation that He was looking out for us, everyday, in every way. We never felt a days want for food or any necessity. It was always provided in some way.

Each day we lived, and live, is a miracle. Whether it was health, sickness, finances, jobs, business, relationships - you name it. We are grateful and thankful for each one because in retrospect, when we look back we realize what a blessing it has been.

In truth, we should not be celebrating thanksgiving once a year but everyday, because each day He blesses us with Miracles. Small or big does not matter.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Please pray with us for those who need it at:  

https://thisweekwithjesus.blogspot.com/p/prayer-requests.html

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