What is your favorite Spring time activity?

My favorite Springtime activity is sitting on my back porch and listening to new life spring up. Seeing the grass grow greener and greener each day. I love Spring!! I love the warm days and the longer evenings. My favorite sounds are frogs croaking and birds chirping. Spring represents new life and rebirth. This is a great time of reflection on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. When he freely gave his life for us on the cross he took all the sins of this world upon his back. He bled and died to pay the payment for us. Then he was buried in a borrowed tomb. Lain to rest. While he was in the tomb he went to the deepest part of the earth to get the keys to death and he arose to bring us new life! This is why we are able to rejoice in the hope of our future. The hope of heaven. The hope of new life. The hope of Spring! 2 Corinthians 5:17 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

Unclean Lips

"Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." Isaiah 6:5-7 In James 3:8-11 I emphasized "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men," that was a profound statement made by the Lord. How often are we praising God on Sunday's but as soon as we walk out of the sanctuary we are expressing negative thoughts and attitudes? Jonathan Edwards quotes "Many pray with their lips for that for which their hearts have no desire." I love this quote! It speaks such volume of truth!! The things we pray for and the things we really desire don't always line up. We ask God to heal a sick friend but do we really believe that he will or can do it. We say oh yes! I know he can but do we 100% have the faith and the desire to see that happen? Alot of times we just speak because it is what we know not what we actually desire to be true. Priscilla Shrier says "The praises of God cannot fit in a mouth that is already filled with other things." How true! Is our mouth filled with negativity, ugliness, hurtful words or tones, etc? It's kinda like the tongue scrapers you get from the dentist. After you brush your teeth and you use the scrapper to go across your tongue you would think your mouth is clean but no! You get lots of gunk off your tongue. (okay I know gross example!!) We cannot truly praise and glorify God when our mouth is full of other stuff. James 3:5-6 Says our tongue is a small part of our body but it has the capability to destroy so much! It starts a small fire of gossip, hate, and deceit. By the time it is all over with it has taken down a forest. It only takes one small negative or hurtful thing to change everything. Our flesh longs for negativity and not praises because the flesh is of the world! We were not made for this world. We are made to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ so others can come to know the saving grace of him. If we want to change how we are we have to make a conscience decision to live for Christ in every aspect. The Greek word for Restless is akataschetos which means unsettled, undisciplined, and unable to be restrained. This is what our fleshly tongue is and longs for but we Jesus Christ it doesn't have to be this way! No human being can tame a tongue. It speaks evil and lives for the flesh. We praise the Lord for his blessings. Then the next minute we tear down our fellow brother/sister. God doesn't want it to be this way. He wants us to be there for our fellow Christian. We have to stand against so much opposition in the world and so many persections. Why do we want to persecute each other? Within churches this has become an epidemic! We are praising and singing on Sunday morning with the best of them. Meanwhile, we walk out the door and we are bashing or speaking negatively. When we do this we KILL the Spirit and Blessing that God just gave us. The words he just spoke to us in the pew! Okay I am just going to call it out now! When we do this it is not of God! I know! I just stepped on toes but I stepped on mine also! I am preaching to myself not just to you. Does my life line up with these verses?? Do I praise God and yet curse men?? Do I encourage one person and choose to tear down another?? We need to hold each other accountable!! We need to put a stop to the negative stinking thinking. We need to focus on lifting up! For every negative word, thought, or spoken word replace it with scripture. Isaiah 6:5-7 and James 3:8-11. Dear Lord, I ask you to help me clean out my mouth! I want to praise you and glorify you in all I say. Help me to be the light in the darkness. I know I can't be that light when my mouth is full of gunk. I ask that you help clean out my mouth and plant the seeds of your word instead. I ask for forgiveness. Please help me to not get stuck in the flesh and in the worldly way things are done. Thank you so much for giving me a testimony and being able to use it for your honor and glory. I pray for my friends reading this. I pray that we will hold each other accountable and encourage each sister in Christ! We ask it all in your name! Amen Love ya! Sistachick