Matthew 12:37 by your words you will be justified and acquitted and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well driven nails, given by one Shepherd. (I looked up ‘goads’ since it was an unknown word to me. Goads were sticks the shepherds used to steer and guide the cattle/sheep/oxen they were caring for to keep them on the correct paths.)
“The best way to get the last word is to apologize.” Marquee Messages, pg 93, Shirley Jones Garmon, Pathway Press, 2000
Our words can build up or tear down and apart. Often times we may spew something out in a moment of anger, and not realize the damage those gushing words may have caused. We can cause insecurity in others, hurt feelings, insult, defeat a person just as they are trying something new, and/or convince another they have no talent, cause them reason to believe the devil’s lies ‘they’ll always be worth nothing’… and so on. You get the message. A moment’s negative utterance can have lasting and damaging effects for years.
And of course, family members often can voice frustration, anger, stress out in a negative moment, and not realize just how much of an impact those words speared into another’s soul. And yes, all included– siblings, parents, grandparents all can impact into another’s view of themselves. There are always differences in family members and one may get on another’s nerves and frustration causes nasty thoughts to spew out.
But those same people can give more positive feedback and thereby increase the security, self-esteem, positive outlook and confidence. We all encounter frustrations and say things we should hold back when stressed. I hate it when I hear anything negative coming from my mouth now.
And believe me, I vomited some nasty words in fear, anger, frustration, hopelessness and all. I hate that it happened, and hope I have apologized for those times. But does the apology totally remove the awful feelings I may have caused? No.
But I hope my words and prayers to God asking for Him to show whomever I harmed that I love them, have good wishes for them, and never meant to cause hurt and damage, or if still there is damage to their hearts, that God will heal them and let me o apologize. My words of confession are just as important to and for them as they are that I confess to God.
I have been praying for years for God to teach me to tether my impatience and my words so I can demonstrate the fruit of the Holy Spirit as patience. I pray not to become overwhelmed, stressed or fearful. I pray my words don’t ebb out into gossip, into judgment, and nothing passes in anger. Thinking before answering another is so important to me now. Never again do I want my words to injure another.
Always I have had a gift for encouragement and praise. Knowing that, I try to always use positive words or acknowledgments to someone so they receive a slight uplifting message. I know how much of a boost a quick positive word can give another.
I pray my words will continue to always be positive to others, to Him and that I can always lift others to Him. Give me words You want me to speak to help others see You, and not a person who says negative thoughts, words, or gossip. Let my words always be for Your glory.
You know I like using words in ‘mybellaviews.’
Colossians 2:13,14 God made you alive with Christ, and He forgave all your sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow.
John 1:16,17 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
When I was young, we attended a church in which you had a mediator you confessed sins to, there were strict rules to follow and I felt a fear and a certainty I could never reach a level of goodness and worth. I therefore always felt God was unattainable. I was afraid and positive I could never attain heaven. It would be nebulous for me. I tended to be pretty disobedient, especially if I think I can get away with something. I would break every rule so it seemed too dismal for me to ever make it. This tends to be the way the legalists look at religion. They like to lay down laws and make sure you, and you, and you are obeying…. The old judgmental pharisees Jesus had little tolerance for.
But I learned from other churches about having a relationship with God. A relationship?
But He is the Almighty, the creator, holding all power and punishment in His hands. Right?
And still, although apprehensive, I wanted to learn more. There was a need, a yearning to learn more, to get more, to fill myself. It had always felt like something was lacking. Just . . . something.
Having a relationship with God was a different, and initially, strange concept to me; and it felt to me, hmmm, disrespectful. I was not worthy to have a relationship with Him. I would never be good enough. Not ever. But I began going to different bible teaching churches and listening to different sermons. I liked the joy, the worship, the thankfulness I felt in many of them. Then I was touched and moved to accept the idea of a relationship. Would He really take me?
I sped up the aisle of the church and wanted to cry out for joy, although instead I wept as the feeling of peace, love, and nurturing entered my spirit. That day changed my life. Thank God!
Slowly, I began to learn more and more, and still continue to learn each day. It’s funny to me how I have read the same verse countless times, but “miss” it. Other times it strikes a chord, and it always makes me chuckle when that happens. It’s not just been added to the bible, its been there for years in the same spot, the same verse number, so it is nothing new, but it seems new then. The words have always been there, I’ve seen them, even underlined them sometimes, and occasionally, they are brand new concepts. Because it is SOMETHING I needed then, or I’ve grown enough that now I can progress further and deeper into knowing Him. Now my understanding is better.
It amazed me to realize that He loves me just because. He forgave me just because. He suffered, was tortured, was nailed to a tree and died the most horrific death…for me. His love, His mercy, His gifts…all freely given under grace. Wow, what a word, a concept. Grace.
As I learned more, got closer in my RELATIONSHIP with Him, I wanted to be more full of love and grace and goodness to others. That is such a wonderful way to live, to have a relationship with the creator. I want to be the best I can be toward all, love toward others, and know that I can go to Him and “chat” about anything. That’s grace. Grace is full of joy, full of love, full of forgiveness.
Legalism carries an undercurrent of fear, of judgment toward others, and does not live in love. There is an air of condemnation.
I choose grace for all of mybellaviews!
Genesis 1:1,2,20-22 (1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (20) Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living things that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind.And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Psalm 8:6-9 You made them rulers over the works of your hands, you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds of the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
I am blessed to live on the coast of NC, truly on the coast. It is a 60 second walk from my home to sitting in the sand on the beach. And every May through September, female turtles come ashore and lay their eggs, multiple eggs. There are dedicated folks who walk a specific section of the beach early each morning looking for the telltale signs of a turtle coming up and whether she actually laid eggs, or for some reason moved to a different place. The nests are then marked, roped off, and the wait begins.
Although there have been several nests in my neighborhood, the timing has never been quite right for me to witness turtle hatchlings springing up from the sand and scurrying about. They want to go toward the ocean, but are sometimes drawn away from the ocean and move toward bright lights. Of course, this is terrible, and one more danger of death for them.
God knows the witnessing of hatchlings coming forth is on my list of blessings, so I have no doubt I will see it eventually. I was able to rescue an escapee one early morning and the caretakers at the turtle hospital on the island said to keep it in a basin with dry sand and cover with a dishtowel to keep it quiet and to help it conserve its strength until evening.
The whole process amazes me. These females supposedly come back to the area of their birth and then lay the next generation. How miraculous is that? Somehow the area is imprinted for them, and they swim thousands of miles to return here to lay their eggs. After approximately 60 days, depending on several factors including heat, the hatchlings begin digging upwards toward the freedom of air, a trek to the ocean, and then a long swim. There are so many dangers the critters are subject to; gulls and other sea birds love this delicacy, confusion and disorientation if the lighting is too bright, perhaps going in a haphazard direction instead of head on to the ocean, and sometimes there are some which are not with the rest of the majority and when they make their way to freedom, it is not witnessed. These can be stepped on by an unsuspecting beach walker, snatched as breakfast for some bird, or lost in the sea oats and beach vegetation.
They swim a very long distance where they finally can settle and eat. They will not return to coastal areas for a few years, when they are considered juvenile, no longer hatchlings. I’ve included part of the information gathered about turtle hatchlings from an internet site.
“After an adult female sea turtle nests, she returns to the sea, leaving her nest and the eggs within it to develop on their own. The amount of time the egg takes to hatch varies among the different species and is influenced by environmental conditions such as the temperature of the sand. The hatchlings do not have sex chromosomes so their gender is determined by the temperature within the nest.
THE PIVOTAL TEMPERATURE OF A BABY TURTLE
Whether hatchlings are male or female depends on the temperature where they are in the nest, known as the “pivotal temperature.” The temperature varies slightly among species, ranging between roughly 83-85 degrees Fahrenheit (28-29 degrees Celsius), at which embryos within a nest develop into a mix of males and females. Temperatures above this range produce females and colder temperatures produce males.
After 45 to 70 days (depending on the species), the hatchlings begin to pip, or break out of their eggs, using a small temporary tooth located on their snout called a caruncle. Once out of their eggs, they will remain in the nest for a number of days. During this time they will absorb their yolk, which is attached by an umbilical to their abdomen. This yolk will provide them the much-needed energy for their first few days while they make their way from the nest to offshore waters.” Copied from www.seeturtles.org
Female laying in early July in Atlantic Beach
I find it miraculous these critters make it. Eggs are laid and left unattended. Mother moves on; no maternal direction here. Hatchlings are born and make the strenuous and treacherous journey to the ocean, facing many dangers. It is a wonder to me there are any left in the world to come to the beach and carry on the next cycle of laying and birthing.
To me this is proof God has every little critter in His hands. Since so many of our days have been hovering near 90, I’m guessing we will have more female hatchlings. If you have the opportunity and blessing of seeing any part of this miracle, and live or vacation at the beach, please keep in mind turning off outside lights. Be respectful and quiet if you witness any of this. Our God is so great.
Thanks for these blessings to “mybellaviews.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Romans 6:4 Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, (of our sins) that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Apotheses fragment my addition.
Somehow, when I was a new believer, I thought life would miraculously change. And it did not. I was so excited initially, and then realized I still had the same problems and there was not a significant difference.
I did not do any studying, content to go to church service most Sundays for an hour, listen attentively, be touched, but feel I’d done what was acceptable. After learning what I have learned and growing in the manner I have once I began truly seeking and studying on my own….I wish I had started years sooner. But no, I was a busy person; going to school, working full time, was a single parent, and owned a home that needed care and upkeep. Busy!
How selfish is that thinking! Yes, Jesus came to earth in human form, (although He was God, He did not appear as God), walked amongst the sinners and ill, teaching, healing, showing love and acceptance, performing many miracles, then WILLINGLY and KNOWINGLY surrendered to being beaten, mocked, scourged, then nailed to a cross until death. He died, was promptly buried so the time of the Sabbath would not be interrupted, sealed in a rock tomb, then three days later, rose, and ascended into heaven to again, sit on the right hand of God, creator.
And He did this for ME. For you too, and for ANY others who recognize He is God, and He chose to be the last sacrifice for us and OUR sins (not His; He was sinless, spotless, perfect), so we could be forgiven. We only have to believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, He was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again, then ascended into heaven. And is ALIVE.
We were definitely not going to heaven following the many laws God had given to Moses, and then the additional ones different priests tried to enforce. Many of us have a hard enough time trying to follow the TEN commandments, never mind over 600 laws. So Jesus came as a man, one who could sympathize, empathize, love, heal, travel, teach, and worship, and could demonstrate to others the proper way we should live while serving, living and worshiping God.
But I did not do that initially. In fact it tok several years for me to realize I needed to take RESPONSIBILITY for learning more, developing a RELATIONSHIP and seeking Him rather than trying to solve all issues myself. As people, that is what we try to do. We think we are in charge and frequently get ourselves into trouble.
God is in charge. He will not force Himself upon us, but He is there and willing if we reach out. He enjoys helping, but it is done in His timeframe. We are an impatient animal, us humans, and particularly in our country, we have the belief we are ENTITLED to immediate gratification, and should never be told NO, particularly if we want (and believe, we deserve) something.
That can lead to trouble. Voice of experience and example here, and details of my disobedience for this blog are unimportant, but I moved when told not to, and did what I thought for a brief moment was right, and have lived with results of the decision since. (Please do not think I am miserable, as I am NOT, but I did disobey and it has cost something).
And yet, although I disobeyed, I also know God will make the outcome improve in His timing. So once I started studying and learning more about patience, His timing, obedience, listening to His guidance, my anxiety and impatience improved, and things seemed less stressful and morbid. I truly wish I had started studying more of the bible earlier as I would be that much further ahead. Following God, learning Jesus is a lifelong process, and I did not become a gung-ho student until about 15 years ago, twenty some odd years after accepting Him as my personal savior.
So, to quote Joyce Meyer, “I am not where I want to be (with my walk with Him), but thank God, I am not where I used to be.”
I am so loving this journey for me and all “mybellaviews.”
James 4:7,8 Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.
1 Peter 5:8,9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Ephesians 6:11,12 Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world
Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Peter 5:8, James 4:7, 1 John 3:8
Satan is alive and well. He is sneaky and slithers into us to tempt, to lie, to deceive, to urge us to follow him for the sole purpose of damaging our soul. He is so happy when he finds those who are not well versed in the Bible, and don’t know Jesus as their personal companion. And as we grow closer and learn more about the way we want to live walking with God, we are able to discern more easily the lies, and deception that he whispers while we sleep, when we are uncertain. His glee knows no bounds when we start to follow or believe his lies. He is clever and sometimes so subtle it may take a while to recognize the deception. It has become easier for me to recognize his lying whispers instead of God’s. And of course, once you are able to identify the lies, it is easier to step away from them, and rebuke him, sending him on his way, away from you. He hates us to identify him so easily, stop worrying and fretting, stop feeling inferior, burdened, and when we quote God’s words to him, he knows he has to find some empty vessel somewhere, someone who is not attuned to his lying ways to bother, taunt and tempt.
One of the ways the tormentor tries to damage me is to lie about my abilities, lies that God’s promises are never going to take place in my life, and Satan tries to make me lose my tenuous grip on confidence. That is his favorite attack, and as I start to hear and wonder, I have learned to immediately rebuke him and push him away for the liar he is. He is firmly told to leave me and not return.
And he goes for a time. But he always returns. Most times I can spot the slithering ways he’s tried to hurt me fairly quickly, but the more stress I’m under, the more physically unwell I might be, he gets a firmer hold and then it’s easy to force him away by denouncing his lies with God’s promises and assurances. so as I feel more burdened, I turn to my bible, my devotionals, and of course it will then dawn on me, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the enemy. He’s got to go!’
But one has to recognize the attack by always being prepared for an attack, and being armed and knowledgeable about and with God’s word. And when not sure, immediately pray seeking God’s direction.
That is ONE of the reasons it is so important to read and learn and imprint God’s words on your mind and heart. You can stand firm on God’s word and promise and send the devil away…and he will flee. He will also try to sneak back, maybe with a different plan of attack. But you have the knowledge to beat him. So study, learn and imprint the promises so you can recognize his attack, rebuke him, and beat the devil.
I am glad I know enough to guard against most times of sneaky attacks and protect “mybellaviews.”
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!