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| JAMES LESSON #49 James nails home � �Don�t be many teachers!� �he doesn�t beat around the bush. He says � �Don�t go there unless you�re called! � and, if called, take into obedience that calling. Why? Because what a teacher has to say can change the course of a person�s faith? How? Example: A friend of mine was looking for a church and stumbled onto a church that was very focused on �signs and wonders.� She was a young married woman with a few small children. The church held some camp meetings and she attended. The guest speaker was teaching on �healing.� He told the people that if you�ve prayed for healing and you�re still sick it�s because you will not �believe� God. He told them that they had to make a �positive confession� with their mouths, saying, �I stand on the truth of God�s Word in absolute faith and I am healed - it doesn�t matter what the doctor�s say or how I feel � I�m healed.� My friend had a daughter that had pneumonia. She was an infant � and was not getting well. She took her daughter forward and was told that God had healed her � and was told to �praise the Lord� because her daughter was well. She left the service making a �positive confession with her mouth.� That night, the baby�s fever went through the ceiling and she began to wheeze and cough. The cough continued to progress through the next several days to the point where the child began to cough up blood. The mother continued to �make a positive confession with her mouth.� A small group of women from the church came to pray. The baby continued to decline in performance. The woman went to get a doctor. Her husband told her that she was inviting �Satan�s influence� into their home and forbid the doctor to treat the infant. The baby died. The parents ended up being charged with criminal neglect and jailed. You�ve got to admit, they had �faith.� What was the problem? The problem was that their faith was in �wrong teaching.� The child wasn�t healed. The child didn�t get well. And the �positive confession of their mouths?� � was worthless. The tongue of a teacher teaching a wrong thing changed the course of their faith and caused the death of their child. Since then, they�ve received correct teaching from the Word of God and have deeply repented � suffering deep consequences for their choices. It is so important that you know �truth.� There is only one place to find it. The Word. How much time are you spending there? Are you taking it seriously? Has it become a passion of your heart? READ Phillipians 2:14 Not only does the tongue have the power to change the course of a person�s faith, but the tongue has the power to change the course of God�s work. Huh? Do �all� � circle that word � things without what? Grumbling and complaining. �Grumbling� can be translated �murmuring.� What do you hear a LOT around churches, in the work place, at home, - murmuring and complaining. Get this: As you grumble and complain it effects other believers and it effects the work of God. Look at I Corinthians 10:10 � God�s people when they came out of the land of Egypt and began following God grumbled in the wilderness. As a result of their grumbling, others picked it up and joined in � the result? They ended up destroyed. Look at Deuteronomy 1:19-27 Moses is giving the law a second time telling them how to live before they go into the promised land. If you have a map accessible, you�ll see that Kadesh Barnea is a direct line up to move into the promised land. It was like, �There�s the door boys, walk through it.� Look at verse 21- What was the command given? GO TAKE POSSESSION! God is God. He calls it into place. What did they do? They sent out spies. Is that what they were told to do? Some confidence they had in God�s judgment calls! Look at verse 22 � What did the spies do? Notice that they were bringing back what? WORD � of how things were. God had already told them that the way had been prepared. They were taking matters into their own hands. Look at verse 26 � What are they saying? They were saying �God hates us!� � If God hated them He could have destroyed them a longggg time before � or..He could have left them in Egypt in captivity. God had been taking care of them � GET THAT. God had been making every provision for them. God had everything lined up and ready � even had people occupying the land so that the fields would be planted and the sheets would be on the beds! Do you see the wrong �reasoning� here? When God heard the grumbling � the work of their �tongues� � it changed the course of the work of God. Instead of going in and taking possession of the land, LIKE THEY WERE TOLD TO, - they wandered in the wilderness for FORTY YEARS - Waiting for every male 20 years and above to die, because they grumbled against the Lord. Time for a �personalized� side trip: Turn to Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don�t what? Lean on your own �understanding.� In all your ways what? Acknowledge Him and what will happen? He will �direct your paths.� --- What �Kadesh Barnea� has God placed you in front of? What overwhelming obstacles are in front of you? How are you seeing them? As giants in the land, or provisions from the hand of God? What�s your �tongue� response to what you�re seeing? To what you�re hearing? � at �Kadesh Barnea� - Are you grumbling? Complaining? Turn to Phillipians 4:19 Circle the word �all� � In the �need� category � what �Kadesh Barnea� has God set on your lap? How are you responding to it? Turn to Isaiah 41:10 The promise here is that He will strengthen you � He will help you � He will uphold you with what? His right hand � THAT, is the hand of authority and power. Look at your �Kadesh Barnea� � What has God asked you to do? Where has God asked you to go? What�s stopping you � what have you �heard� � what have you �seen� � and what �response� are you giving to the call? Look at Psalm 19:14 Let the �words� of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord My what? My �rock.� �What�s that? Flip over to Psalm 18:2. The Lord is my �rock and my fortress and my deliverer,�-in whom I take what? Refuge. My shield (defensive weapon) and the horn of my salvation � my stronghold. Ok � you tell me. If I�m standing in front of a �Kadesh Barnea� and God says � ok bubba..move it! If my response is � hesitation, pull back, questioning, murmuring, complaining�where�s the problem? My mouth is only the �sounding mechanism� � the problem, is a heart problem. I simply don�t believe what He says. I don�t have confidence in who He is. I merely have confidence in my own �inability� that I perceive to be �ability.� The result? God withdraws the offer � one that would allow me to experience His provision right down to the bed sheets. Why is it so important to let the �words of my mouth� and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in God�s sight? Because those two things work together. Make a note of the fact that you can stop your church from being what God wants it to be � you can stop your home from being what God wants it to be � you can stop your business from being what God wants it to be�simply by using your tongue. You can drive off your husband or wife, you can drive out your pastor, you can push away your close friend, you can cause your children to despise you�simply, by use of your tongue. Remember, for every word, you will give an account. Take the time to do a self check. Ask God to listen to your tongue � search your heart and show you clearly how you�ve been using both. Have you bridled it in obedience.. If you haven�t.. Confess it and turn around. More tomorrow! Loving you, Robin �copyright Jim and Robin Hibschman 2001 |
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