Destroy Them!

 

 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God… 2 Corinthians 10:5

“I'm not sure Jesus was the Son of God.” “Hasn't science proven the Bible false?” “Dr. Bigbrains at the University of Skepticism says that God is a man-made concept.” Those are examples of “speculations and lofty things” this verse talks about. God designed our minds to feast on knowledge. He created us with the passion for discovery. However, we can become overly impressed with our own ideas, even when they contradict truth. This is nothing new. Satan started this line of thinking in the Garden of Eden with the words, "Has God really said...?"(Gen. 3:1)  Every skeptic since then has simply repackaged the lie. 

 Speculation occurs when we see something in the Bible that makes us recoil. We immediately seek a softer solution, even if that means compromising the truth. Lofty things are ideas that swell inside our heads until we worship our own intellect—or the ideas of others. We secretly disagree with God and consider our way higher than His. When we spot such thinking in our own minds, we have a choice: we can continue to let that thinking grow until it derails us, or we can do what this verse says to do—destroy it! God won’t tolerate a watering down of His word to appease our sensitivities. He gave us His word so that we can demolish satanic suggestions, and He expects us to know it well enough to recognize error when we hear it.

Jesus showed us how to confront satanic speculation. Read Luke 4:1-13 and let Him show you how it is done.

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Offer This

 

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD.  Psalm 19:14  

Every morning, a gleaming altar waits you. It may look like the floor, your bedside, or your car dashboard, but those will work just fine. Romans 6:13 is posted above this altar: “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”  Before you face the day, what parts of your body need to be on that altar?

If your eyes keep seeking seductive images, offer your eyes to God. What would His eyes seek today? If your hands have been stealing money from the cash drawer at work, offer those hands to God. What would His hands do? If your feet carry you to evil places, give them to Jesus. Where would His feet go? If your mouth is filled with crude jokes, foul language, or lies, offer it to God as a sacrifice. Ask that only His words come from it all day long. Is the meditation of your heart off limits to the Holy Spirit? Offer it to Him and see how He transforms those thoughts. When every part of our bodies belongs to Jesus, we can walk in freedom and authenticity. No more double-life or shame, because there is nothing left to hide.

 What parts of your body have been used for sinful purposes? What if you made them an offering to God?

Life or Death

 

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21

“You’re just like your no-good father!” “I’ll never get the money to buy my own house.” “Nothing good ever happens to me.” We hear statements like these all the time and they are accepted as the norm. But what if those words have more power than we realize they do? As it happened, she DID turn out just like her father. He never DID get the money to own a home. And disaster DID keep happening to the one who expected it. This verse tells us that often our results are tied to our words.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true. What we declare is often accepted as truth and then carried out. When we speak error long enough, we start to believe it. After a while, we lower our expectations to match it. Maybe you are now living out the negative predictions others spoke over you. Without realizing it, you began to believe them and lived accordingly. With our words we can shatter someone’s expectations, cancel their dreams, and doom them to disaster. It’s not due to some mystical power, but because negative predictions cause us to give up. However, we confess God’s truth to ourselves and others, it bears fruit. When we speak life and truth, we raise our expectations. Faith is kindled and endurance is fueled. The more we speak faith, hope, and love, the more we—and those in our lives--experience it.

Evaluate the way you speak to yourself and to others. Are you words in agreement with God’s truth? 

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Idle Words

 

“…you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.” Matthew 12:36

 

Every word? Uh-oh. We’re in trouble. Words are like helium balloons released into the sky. We can’t catch them again. We can’t undo them, either. Ugly ones hang there in the air like a foul stench. Sometimes the moment they leave our lips, we wish we’d never said them, but there they are. In this verse, Jesus reminds us that every word counts. He is reminding us that even if no one else hears, God does, and we will answer to Him.

Let’s fast forward to that day. We are lined up, dressed in white robes, ready for our lives to be displayed on a theater screen as big as Pluto. The Lord Himself, high and lifted up, is seated on a massive white throne just in front of us. Now it’s your turn. The screen flashes to images of you as a child, screaming at your sister, then as a teenager lying to your mother. You’re overwhelmed by all the foul words, cruel words, foolish and deceitful words that have poured from your lips. Your heart sinks as shame washes over you. Then Jesus steps forward. He lifts a hand and the screen goes black. You look at that hand, still torn and dark in the center where it was savaged by a Roman spike. “I remember those words,” He whispers. “When I was on the cross, they scorched my brain. I paid for them so you wouldn’t have to. You’ve asked me to forgive you, and so I did. I love you. You’re free to go.” He smiles and winks, and in that moment you’d do anything to have listened when He warned you.

 
 If your words were broadcast on Heaven’s giant screen, how would you feel? Now is the time to change that.

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