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| JAMES LESSON #54 I�ve seen churches literally blown into a million pieces because of murmuring mouths. When God removes the mouths, the peace returns. Our mouths can become judges over others and wreak havoc � not only in churches, but in homes, marriages, and work places. College dorms are a highlight area for the murmuring mouth � what professor did you have for lunch today? Yesterday? Our mouths can murmur against God�s �servants.� Not a good move. Turn to Numbers 16:9-11 The sons of Korah are coming against Moses� leadership. Note that the sons of Korah became �selfishly ambitious.� They wanted a position that God had not given them. How many times is church about �being somebody?� About being �noticed?� About having �a position?� If there�s ever an �instrument� that works hard in the area of �all about me� � it�s the tongue. These guys wanted a position that God had not given them. (Insert question here � is where you�re �serving� spiritually, where God has positioned you? Has God called you into a position that perhaps you don�t �want?� - Has God called you to �work� �and mentally, you�ve prepared to �slow down?� I honestly don�t think that most of us look at our �journey� as something that God does or does not �give� to us � we walk in it as though it�s �our call.� -if that is truly the case, are we all about being selfishly ambitious? Ugh! These guys started to grumble. They started to complain. As a result, a lot of people were destroyed. This is the place where God literally opens up the ground and swallows them. They still didn�t get it � They STILL didn�t get the �impact� that their mouths were having ON THEIR OWN journeys. If it wasn�t bad enough that the earth opened it�s mouth and swallowed them up � the people come right back at Moses and Aaron with their mouths � blaming them and complaining � accusing them for the �opening up of the ground� � THAT, in turn royally ticks God off so He does away with them. Man � when you look at God�s consistent response to grumbling and complaining it�s something worth taking into consideration when you open your mouth. This�was serious stuff. In James One � Be quick to hear � slow to speak � and slow to anger. You not only need to be careful about what you say, but you need to be careful about what you �listen� to. Why? Because what you �listen� to you will eventually begin to �say� without ever intending to. This doesn�t �exclude� music � Some of you I KNOW just totally rolled your eyes and thought � �Oh great � here she goes on one of those anti-rock music routines. No � It�s more than �rock� � it�s country, Christian, rock, New Age, Alternative � it�s �Music� period. I rode a school bus during my high school years � usually 2.5 hours a day. We had music going on that bus 24-7 � you know what I noticed? Kids would be doing their homework and singing literally every word to every song � over and over and over � never even realizing that they�d memorized the song. Actually, if you�d ask them out side of that setting to sing the lyrics to the whole song, they probably wouldn�t be able to do it. Why? Because all the learning took place behind the scenes. They weren�t even �aware� they were learning. The lyrics? Currently they�re worse than they were then. �You�re a Genie in a bottle � let me rub you..and on and on and on�� Oh come on � give me a break..music is NOT that big of a deal�really? Sit in on a Sunday morning worship service with a crud attitude � go ahead. Listen to the lengthy sermon � yawn a couple of times and walk out unaffected. Go to the same Sunday morning worship service with the SAME attitude and hear a deeply moving song�tell me you�ll walk out of there �unmoved.� Music is extremely powerful � and lyrical content once it�s in your head, BECOMES YOUR TEACHER. How can I say that? What did we learn about the heart? Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth what? �speaks� �what you �think� you will eventually �do.� It�s a sure bet. Watch carefully what you�re listening to. Enough of the side trip for the moment � Turn to Numbers 17:5. This is still concerning the �sons of Korah.� The priests were all going to put their rods out � they �grumbled� against whom? Moses. Miriam, Moses� sister grumbled against him ( watch this move here � this is no longer the church people complaining and grumbling over the pastor � this is the wife grumbling against her husband) � what happened? She immediately ended up with Leprosy. Some of you just died three deaths. Oh come on Ro � against my husband? Give me a break � you should see what he� God sees. I will eventually move into material on relationships and where you fit in them according to God�s standards- specifically in the arena of marriage � but for now, just know, that your husband is over you in authority. He, in turn is under God�s authority. If either one of you steps out from under that position, you�ve opened yourselves and your family to spiritual havoc. But �I�m not going there right now � I want to stay with Miriam and sons of Korah. Miriam speaks against Moses and what happens? She ends up with leprosy. Man � are you seeing the severity of God�s response to the mouth? Why the severity? Because these mouths were speaking �against God�s servants.� My husband? God�s servant. Yup. Moses was so meek and so wonderful that He asked God to not let her suffer in that way. God only gave her the leprosy for a short time �because of Moses (the one she�d just lit into with her mouth.) God does not take lightly what comes out of your mouth � GET THAT. I Corinthians 10:9-10. (Before I go any further I want to remind you that �mouth control� just like any other kind of �control� is a �joint effort� ordeal and that NONE of us master it this side of eternity. What you�re striving for is a life that is not habitually grumbling and complaining � a life that is not �habitually� swearing and falling short of control. Some of you about now are feeling a little overwhelmed and �spanked� � I am�and I�m writing this. I want you to remember that all through the book of James are �correction� indicators. Things addressed by James are for our �edification� � our �strengthening� � not.. not � NOT � our �condemnation.� So � should you be feeling �convicted� � go ahead and feel it � but don�t get stuck there..take it to the Lord and engage in that �joint effort opportunity.� He KNOWS you�re unable to get it under control on your own..that�s why He�s offered to work �with you� in that area. Ask. � ok..now on with the lesson..just felt like I needed to insert a �hang in there� moment because this is an extremely confronting little book!) I Corinthians 10:9-10 He�s talking about those in the wilderness that God wasn�t thrilled with and what happened to them. Remember � your tongue can change the course of God�s work. John 6:41-43 Here was Jesus. A man of GREAT controversy. People liked Him. People hated Him. People protected Him, or so they thought � People attempted to take Him out. We judge people today by their press releases. How they look is a big deal in some cases � but predominantly, we base our opinions on what is �said� about them. Most of the time we don�t even know the person � in some cases- have never met them � yet, we�ve formed our �opinions� concerning them based on what? What was �said.� �Words� are powerful manipulators. Manipulators of what? The mind. �that wouldn�t be such a big deal � except to say that the �mind� is what controls the actions that follow. It is a VERY big deal � and that�s why God is so radical in His response to it. Jesus had a �crud� press release among the Pharisees. Here he is � Mr. Controversy indeed � quietly going about His business. Behind the scenes the Pharisees are flipping out � grumbling and complaining at an all time high. What were they grumbling over? What Jesus was �saying.� Flip over to John 7:11-12 Suppose I�m in this picture � I�m struggling over what I�m �hearing� �and am very close to �believing� with everything that I am. While I�m standing there I hear the guys next to me rip into what�s being said with their mouths. What would it do to my �choice?� It would powerfully effect it. Take a look at your conversation. I�ll give you some feed back on mine eventually � we�re not there yet�what do you hear? Do you grumble about the Christian walk? About how �hard it is?� Do you �grumble� about life? About how tough this is or that is? Do you grumble about your job or lack of one? Do you grumble about your finances or lack of them? Do you grumble�about your mate? �or lack of one? Do you grumble about your kids? What about your church? Your pastor? The music? The format of worship that�s being implemented? What exactly are you doing when you �grumble and complain?� You are verbalizing your heart. Huh? What�s your heart saying? Your heart is saying that God�s plan is not sufficient. That your idea of how things should be is better than His. Gratitude � in adverse situations is a tall order � but in order to �Consider it all joy� �the �all� has to be implemented against all odds. Got a husband that you think is pure crud? A wife? A job? A pastor? A kid? A friend? If God�s in charge of your journey � and you�ve stepped into the �joint effort opportunity� � the husband is the one God�s given you � He was �chosen� before you were born. The wife? Same story. Your job? Your pastor? Your kids? Your friends? �In taking advantage of the �joint effort opportunity� it�s important to remember what we talked about several lessons ago. When you break your life into compartments � putting the �crud� in one box and the �good� in another � working aimlessly at keeping the crud at bay instead of owning ALL of your life..your husband, your wife..the job..the pastor..YOUR JOURNEY � as something to take to God in gratitude..your life will be consistently anchored by bitterness, resentment and despair. The fruit of which, will consistently spill out of your mouth, when jarred. Grumbling and complaining is responded to with EXTREME harshness by God �why? Because God knows that the minute you step out of the �joint effort opportunity� and begin to operate in your own strength, independent of Him � thinking that your ideas about how things should be are better than His � is deadly � not only to you, but to everyone else involved. Your tongue can change the course of what God wants to accomplish in and through you. The husband under a harsh tongue will do what? � Rebel � The husband under a silent tongue will do what? -answer to God- Question is: Are you willing to trust the heart of God to handle the heart of whoever it is that you feel it�s necessary to take charge of with your mouth? Are you willing to work as hard on your knees � directing your tongue to the heart of God, as you are on your feet, destroying everything in your path? More tomorrow. Hang in there. This is a PROCESS � something you don�t overcome over night � something you don�t do, alone. Loving you, Robin �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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