A QUESTION TO PONDER: Do I praise God and curse at the same time?

According to James 3:9-12 NIV:

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse human beings,

who have been made in God’s likeness.

¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?

Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

The Bible clearly said that cursing and praising should not come from the same mouth. We cannot be like an angel praising God on Sundays and cursing others from Monday to Saturday.

If we profess that we are a Christian but we still curse and use all difference kinds of bad words when we talk, we better check ourselves, as God clearly said, "this should not be". Moreover we must know that:      

1. Cursing is not a Christian nor a professional attitude.

" Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. " Ephesians 4:29 In any kind of situation, it is never a word someone would want to hear from you. Imagine a man cursing while talking in front of his girlfriend's parents - not impressive or swearing in front of our kids - not a good example.

2. Cursing and Praising should not come from the same mouth.

^"10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." As a coconut cannot bear mango, like the fig tree cannot bear grapes, our mouth should only be filled with positive words and praises.  

3. Cursing is a Sin.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." Moreover, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless." James 1:26

God does not want us to use bad and unpleasant words, he also doesn't want us to curse. God wants us to be gentle and forgiving.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:  

God knows that we cannot change ourselves overnight especially if it is already a habit. But it is not an excuse to change. Ask God for forgiveness and help. God loves you and believes in you. He know you can change. Try this experiment and see the difference:

1. In the morning, try to count how many times you curse, or say unpleasant words to others, and take note of those unpleasant words and see the outcome, how it fuels your stress and anger and how it affects your relationship.

2. In the afternoon, try NOT to use any kind of bad words and be gentle in everything you say. If you are having a hard time, ask God to help you. Instead of cursing, pray and say, help me God.

3. In the evening, try to see the difference, write the outcome of both actions. Then count all the different kinds of unpleasant words that you use habitually and try to avoid saying them one by one everyday, little by little replace it with pleasant words until its gone. Observe how your life and relationship changes. Observe how pleasant it is to obey the Word of God.

PRAYER:

Dear God,

Thank you for this wonderful reminder that cursing should never be part of my daily conversation. It should never be part of my life. Please help me that I may find it unpleasant to myself and to those who hear me. I am weak and I can't change this alone by myself. Help me that I may follow you by not cursing or using unpleasant words. Help me Lord, I need you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.  

Praying with Wrong motives!

"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your own pleasures." James 4:3

God always answer when we call to him, but sometimes his answer is not what we expected. Sometimes we don't really get what we want and expect to receive from him. Why?

Today, let us discover what the scripture says about this:

1. God sees our hearts. Base on the scripture found on the 4th Chapter of James, he explained praying with wrong motive is not a good idea. We must know that God sees our heart for everything is transparent in his sight. Our parents and friends can be sometimes clueless when we lie to them and could probable not find out about it but not with God. Everything is known to God, even the very secrets of our hearts. So praying with wrong motive will not work. So we need to ask ourselves this questions when we pray:

What is my request from God? Why do I pray for it? What is it for? What is my motive in praying? Is it for my own pleasure?  

If we are praying with wrong motive and intention, God will not do it for us. God is the Alpha and Omega, he knows where we have been and where we are going. If our prayers will lead us away from righteousness, then God will say no to it or will give us a better option. Like our parents, God will not give us something that will harm us and put us in danger.

2. Moreover, the condition of the heart plays a big role in prayer. What is the condition of your heart? A heart that is right with God will always have the right motive in praying, for it is one with God. And it follows the will of God. But sin pollutes the heart.

3. For that reason, sin must not be present. Confess to God the sin that has been committed, whether it is big or small, a sin is always a sin that contaminates the mind and the heart. So we must turn away from it and be one with our creator in prayer.

I remember an illustration about a man with the devil whispering on the left ear and an angel of God on the right ear. The devil whispers and suggests ideas that appears to be right but is wrong and so the presence of the devil confuses the man on what to do. Sin also does it in our prayers, as long as we have sins in our hearts, being right with God in our prayers is impossible. So we must get rid of the sin by asking forgiveness. Sin contaminates our thoughts while we pray.    

4. Therefore, after repentance, our prayers will be selflessly following the will of God for us. When our hearts are right with God, then our motive changes. Instead of the "I" being the center of the prayer, it will become "God" as the center of it. Then we are praying for the WILL OF GOD in us and not our own selfish desire.

SELF CHECK:

Today before you pray, list all your prayer request and see what are your prayers to God. Check the purpose, motive, and intention of your request. Then ask God to help you to pray. Pray for your prayer. Ask God to help you pray selflessly and according to God's Will.

PRAYER:

Dear God,

    Thank you for your word today. I know that sometimes, my prayers are so selfish and not according to your will. My prayers are impure and are only for my own benefit. Please help me by changing my prayers according to your will. That my heart and mind will be one with you. That I will prayer with a pure heart and mind. Please help me. Let me confess my sins to you and ask for your forgiveness. Let your light shine in my heart and make me pure as white as the snow. Let my prayers be pleasing to you. If my faith is not enough for me to trust and believe you in my prayers, please show yourself to me and let me experience your power so that I may give you praise and worship  you all my life. This is what I pray in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER is the best example of a prayer that Jesus himself taught us. This can be found in Matthew 6:9-13. The Lord's Prayer is one of the topic that I will be working on shortly. Please don't forget to share the Word of God daily. Thank you and have a great day!

God: "Ask For Whatever You Want Me to Give You."

"Sky is NOT even a Limit"

QUESTION:

If you have one prayer or a wish in your life, what will it be? Will it be to find a job? Or for your family to be united? Or to travel the world? Or to be rich? Or to cure a son or daughter? If you have a lamp like Aladdin, what kind of request will you make from the genie? Will it be for yourself or for someone else?

I remember one story in the Bible about God asking Solomon of what he wanted to receive from him. Here is the story taken from 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 New International Version (NIV):

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you."⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

Tell me, what if God ask you the same question: What do you want God to give you? What will you ask of him? The sky is not even a limit, what will you ask? Today, we will see why God was pleased with the response of Solomon and why he gave him more than he asked for:

Response of Solomon:

1. Selfless request. God can give him anything he wanted, but Solomon chose to ask for wisdom and knowledge, not for himself but for the sake of his kingdom. God even emphasized that he could have ask for the death of his enemy or for a long life. But he put Israel ahead of himself so God was pleased.

2. Need over want. Solomon knows that he needs wisdom and knowledge more than wealth and long life to govern and so he ask for it.

3. Pure and good motive. More than anything, he clearly wanted to securely govern his kingdom well and has no plan of destroying it or giving it up to an invader so God was pleased.

Response of God:

1. A quick answer. God responded immediately to Solomon.  

2. Granted his request. God gave him wisdom and knowledge as he asked.

3. Gave more that what he asked for. God gave him wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before him ever had and none after him.

And if you haven't received what you ask for:

James 4:3" When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. "

God wants us to be like Solomon, asking for our needs selflessly with pure and good motive. We can ask for anything like money, job, health, and everything else, but we must consider and ask why we ask for it. Sky is not even a limit for God. Try him.

SOMETHING TO DO:

If you haven't ask God for anything yet, try to ask him of something, but please consider the pointers above. Ask him and see what he can do for you today.

PRAYER:

Dear God,

Thank you for letting me know that you are able to do anything for me, but most of the time my heart's desire is not even in line with what you want me to have. Please let me know how to ask selflessly with the right motive. And if my faith is not enough to believe let me experience you today. Be with me and show me what big difference you can make in my daily life. This is what I pray in the mighty name of Jesus I pray, amen.

In God's Perfect Time

     I woke up early this morning to bake some bread for my friends. I was hurrying up because they need to leave early so I tried to fast track the preparation and baking. So I put the dough in the oven and set it to a temperature higher than the usually thinking it will help lessen my time of baking but I ended up burning the top of the bread. Good thing I have an extra dough. Then because of this, I realized three things, first is that following instruction is really important. Second is perfect timing makes a perfect bread. Third is though the bread tastes fine, I knew, it could have been better.

From this experience, God impressed his Words in my heart from Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV) :  

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens:"

     It is amazing how God teaches us the lessons in life through our daily activities and I would like to share with you what I have learned today: 

1. Following instruction is important. Like baking, cooking and even operating a machine, following instruction is essential for it will help you achieve the best result, which is quite true, I could have set the temperature according to the baking instructions but I didn't so the result was not as it was suppose to be. Like in life, God handed us over his very Word for instruction and guidance and sadly even though most of us already know about the Word of God and its effect and power, we still tend to experiment and follow our own worldly ways, so a lot of people go astray. As it was inquired and answered in the Bible:

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word" Psalms 119:9

2. Perfect timing makes a perfect bread. If the instruction says 20 minutes, then 20 minutes it is. Not 10 or 15 nor 25, it must be 20. The instruction on the packaging was not easily written down nor formulated. Bakers have done multiple trial and error to make sure that the process is perfect and will produce the best result. Therefore, I must wait for the perfect time for my bread. As the Bible said, "There is a time for everything.." Like baking, in life there are times that we need to wait, sometimes for a job, or for a medical result, or even for a spouse to spend the rest of our lives with. Waiting is one of the hardest thing to do and as we all have heard, "Patience is a virtue" and yes, it is true. Blessed are those who wait, especially those who wait upon the Lord. God has his own timeline, we may not know what he has instore for us but if God tells you to wait, know that what he has, is best and perfect for you.

3. Though the bread tasted fine, I knew, it could have been better. And as a result, the bread tasted just fine. But if I have just followed the instruction and waited a little longer, the bread could have been better. Life is often times like this, we could have waited a little more for God but instead we have chosen something else and settle for less.

Life is filled with decision making and what we decide on today can greatly impact our tomorrow so if our decision needs time, then we must take the time. We must ask God for guidance and give us patience in waiting. I know it is not easy to wait, but waiting in God is worth it because he is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last is he. He knows best and will always gives the best for those who wait on him. "No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause." Psalm 25:3

If your single, do not rush, God is preparing the best and Godly spouse for you.

If you are looking for a job, do not be involved with illegal businesses, God has a decent job for you. If you are waiting for a relationship to be restored, don't give up, God is mending it for you. 

If you have an unanswered prayer, God is working on it for you. 

PRAYER:

Dear God, 

     Thank you for everything that you have done for me. Thank you for reminding me to wait on you and seek you while waiting. Thank you for this great joy knowing that you are able and that you are always near. Help me to have patience and give me wisdom to recognize and discern your will in my life. Please let me know that you are working on my behalf. I will put my trust in you and wait on you.

Thank you Lord, this is what I pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.