Weekend Words

From Be Still and Know...

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandments." (Hebrews 11:23)

When a baby boy was born to Jochebed and Amram, the joy of having him was overshadowed by a decree issued by Pharaoh that all Hebrew baby boys must be killed.

But Jochebed and Amram had a deep faith in God.  They knew the God in whom they trusted was greater than the king who had issued the decree.  BY FAITH they committed their little one to God's care.

When the baby could no longer be hidden, Jochebed placed him in a basket among the reeds at the river's edge.  Miriam, his sister, hid nearby to watch him.  Having done all she could to protect him, Jochebed trusted him to God for safekeeping.  Someone has said, "Jochebed worked as though everything depended on her and trusted as though God must do it all."

Later, when the princess came to the river, she found the baby.  Miriam offered to secure a nurse and went for the baby's mother.  What joy filled the mother's heart as the princess placed him in her care until he grew older. Jochebed realized her responsibility for teaching him about the living God in whom she and Amram believed.  During the formative years he was in her care, she instilled into his little life a faith in God.  Need we wonder at the faith of Moses after being reared in a home with parents who trusted God so completely.

Today the world is in need of homes built upon a faith in the living God.

What strength there is in a home where the Bible is read, where prayer is a daily habit!  What God can do in a home where He is given control!  Who can measure the power and influence of such homes where their members trust God and have a close walk of faith with Him!

Even one person in a home who believes God and lives by faith, can have a great influence upon it.

May our lives be a great spiritual strength in our homes today.

From Amish Peace...

Truth Talks

"Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips." - Psalm 141:3

When I first became a Christian, I discovered that one of the hardest habits to break was allowing unkind words to spout from my lips.  For many years I'd filled my mind with wicked, idle, and unclean thoughts, and they usually pushed through my lips when I felt anger or frustration.  In time, and with many prayers and much confession, I began to gain control of my words, but it wasn't easy.

The Amish teach their children that their thoughts will direct their speech, their conduct, and their entire way of life.  This is discussed in the devotional book Rules of a Godly Life, which is commonly used in conjunction with the Bible in Amish homes:

If you desire in honorable company to be joyful take care that your merriment prove worthy of Christian love, purity, and respectability.  Avoid, therefore, rude insults, mocking speech, indecent words, and filthy jokes of which respectable people would be ashamed.  First, because lewd conversation of this sort is outward proof of an unregenerate heart; "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).  Second, because smutty humor and immodest words smooth the road to dishonorable deeds.

One of the best ways to develop strength of character is to learn how to control your tongue.  This starts by guarding what enters your mind.  As one of my school teachers use to say, "Garbage in, garbage out."  If you don't fill your mind with garbage, then you won't have to worry about it slipping out in your words or actions.

Second, when the abundance of our hearts grows from the truth that is centered on Jesus, who is the Truth, lies will have no place on our tongues because we will be busy "rejoicing in the truth" (see 1 Corinthians 13:6).  Living in the light of the truth will give us minds of gratitude.  It will promise righteous thinking and holy living.  And that will helps us to guard our words.

Dear heavenly Father, give me a passion for the truth.  Fill me so full of it that it's what spills out first in every situation.