The Untamed Tongue

Text: James 3:1-18

Key Verse: "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell" (James 3:6)

A Mongolian story was told of two geese which were about to embark on their annual autumn migration southward, when they were entreated by a frog to take him with them. The geese expressed their willingness to do so if a means of conveyance could be devised.

The frog them produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to take it one by each end while he clung to it by his mouth in the middle. In this manner, the three were making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men. The men loudly expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who had been clever enough to discover it.

Whereupon the vainglorious frog opened his mouth to say, “it was I”, lost his hold, fell to the earth, and was dashed to pieces. Such is the ruin of the untamed tongue with its damning portents.

The size of the tongue in relation to the whole body is illustrated with bits in the horse’s mouth. Though it is so small, yet it is powerful enough to control the whole movements of the horse. Our tongue is a little member in the body, but has the potential and capacity to determine our immediate and future destiny.

The untamed tongue of the unregenerate is filled with unsavoury words, emanating from a perverted heart. Boastful words, arrogant words, gossip, backbiting, angry words, despiteful words, curses, abuses, words of deception, lies, evil speaking and such like are products of the untamed tongue, which could lead the carrier to untimely physical and eternal death in hell, if not repented of.

On the other hand, a tamed tongue, washed and purged with the blood of Jesus Christ is used for the benefit of the carrier and people around him. A tamed tongue preaches and wins souls for the kingdom of God. Out of the tamed tongue issues kind and loving words.

Say, which tongue do you possess?

Thought for you: Your tongue is a spiritual thermometer; use it wisely.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

…building the body of Christ

Who Is On The Lord's Side?

Text: 2 Corinthians 6:17-18; Exodus 32:26

Who is on the Lord’s side?

Who will serve the King?

Who will be His helpers,

Other lives to bring?

Who will leave the world’s side?

Who will face the foe?

Who is on the Lord’s side?

Who for Him will go?

           

By Thy grand redemption,

By Thy grace divine,

We are on the Lord’s side;

Savior, we are Thine.

Not for weight of glory,

Not for crown and palm,

Enter we the army,

Raise the warrior psalm;

But for love that claimeth

Lives for whom He died;

He whom Jesus nameth

Must be on His side.

Jesus, Thou hast bought us,

Not with gold or gem,

But with Thine own life-blood,

For Thy diadem;

With Thy blessing filling

Each who comes to Thee,

Thou hast made us willing,

Thou hast made us free.

Fierce may be the conflict,

Strong may be the foe,

But the King’s own army

None can overthrow.

Round His standard ranging

Victory is secure,

For His truth unchanging

Makes the triumph sure.

Chosen to be soldiers

In an alien land:

Chosen, called, and faithful,

For our Captain’s band;

In the service royal

Let us not grow cold;

Let us be right loyal,

Noble, true, and bold.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

… building the body of Christ

The Truth Media: Serving In Love

Text: Galatians 5:13

Beloved brethren,

We greet you in the name of the Lord and hope this message meets you well, in joy and contentment under the tabernacle of God’s love, grace and peace.

The Truth Media family cannot thank you all enough for your love, prayers and support in spreading the good news of God’s love in Christ and helping believers all around the world remain in faith while preparing for the return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are grateful.

We want to notify you that in a bid to harness all resources at our disposal in pleasing the Lord and serving you better, we have changed our blog site’s domain name from: www.godlyarmy.blogspot.com to www.truthmediaonline.blogspot.com. We understand that all posts linked to the previous domain will be affected but please do bear with us.

However, God willing, before this time next year we will have our registered domain name appearing as www.thetruthmediaonline.org. We believe that with your prayers, unending support and the grace of God, nothing will stop us from fulfilling God’s will and exalting the name of Jesus Christ in the land of the living.

Good news! Courtesy of our brother and good friend, Randall J. Brewer, you can now download free Christian e-books (written by Randall Brewer) from our blog site. Subsequently, more free e-books from other Christian authors will be added to help us grow in the faith and increase in the knowledge of God’s will, so as not to be ignorant of the devices of the devil.

Here is the link to the free e-books from Randall Brewer: www.rjbrewerandcompany.com/BookStore_English.html. Expect more soon!

If you will like to share your published Christian works (books, articles, songs etc) with the world and with free download access, contact The Truth Media via: getthetruth2@gmail.com. However, opportunities for sponsored adverts will be available soon.

We love you and are proud to be one and united in Christ. Do keep us in your prayers and may the grace of our Lord strengthen us to be true and faithful to Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

Beloved brethren, be ye faithful even unto death; be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain (Revelation 2:10; 1 Corinthians 15:58).

Thank you all and God bless.

Jacobs Adewale (Admin)

THE TRUTH MEDIA

…building the body of Christ

Accepting What God Gives

Text: Job 2:9-13

Key Verse: "He replied, You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said" (Job 2:10)

Job's rebuke is a very gentle one. He did not say, You foolish woman! He said, You are talking like a foolish woman. He is not attacking her; rather, he is suggesting that this is a temporary lapse of faith on her part and that, for the moment, she has begun to repeat the words of stupid, foolish women who have no knowledge of the grace and glory of God. In that gentle rebuke you can see something of the sturdiness and tenderness of Job's faith.

In this great sentence, he again reasserts the sovereignty of God: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? Job's wife had the philosophy that life ought to be pleasant, and if it were not, there was no use living it.

That philosophy is widespread in our own day, and a mounting suicide rate testifies to the universal acceptance of it. But this book is given to show us that life is not to be lived on those terms. The reason we are here is not necessarily to have a good time. There are meaningful objectives to be attained in life, even when it all turns sour.

When the pressure comes, when living is no longer fun, life is still worth living. A philosophy that wants to abandon everything as soon as things become unpleasant is a shallow, mistaken, distorted view of life. Job reaffirms that. Shall we not take both good and evil from the hand of God?

We take His joy and His pleasure, the pleasant things of life, with gladness and gratitude. If God chooses to send something that is difficult, shall we then abandon that gratitude and begin to curse Him in protest because life is suddenly different than we thought it would be?

The reason we are here is not merely that we might have a good time, and this is taught everywhere in the Scriptures. God, in His grace and glory, does give us many hours of joy and gladness and pleasure and delight, and it is right for us to give thanks. But do not abandon that when the time of pressure comes, because that is what Satan wants us to do.

He wants us to begin to complain and protest to God; to get upset and angry and resentful; to stop going to church or to reading the Bible. That is what Satan's whole attack on our lives is aimed at doing.

*** Culled from Ray Stedman Ministry Devotional | www.raystedman.org ***

THE TRUTH MEDIA

...building the body of Christ

God's Nonsense

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Key Verse: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19)

The theme of this text is the power of the cross, and Apostle Paul shows clearly what the cross does in human thinking and in human affairs. The cross has become the symbol of Christianity today. Women wear it on chains around their necks; we use it as decorations. We have become so familiar with the cross that we have forgotten much of the impact it had in the first century. It was, for these early Christians, and for those among whom they lived, a horrible symbol. If you had used it then as a symbol it would have made people shudder. We would get much closer to it today if we substituted a symbol of an electric chair for the cross. Wouldn't it be strange driving across your country to see church steeples with electric chairs on top?

The cross is significant in Christianity because it exposes the fundamental conflict of life. The cross gets down below all our surface attempts at compromise and cuts through all human disagreement. Once you confront the cross and its meaning, you find yourself unable to escape that final judgment of life as to whether you are committed to error or committed to truth.

We must understand what Paul means by the word of the cross. First of all, it means the basic announcement of the crucifixion of Jesus. There are many religious groups based upon various philosophical concepts. But when you come to Christianity you do not start with philosophy, you start with facts of history that cannot be thrown out. One of them is the incarnation of Jesus, the fact that he was born as a man and came among us. Another of the great facts of our faith is the crucifixion. Jesus died. It was done at a certain point of time in history and cannot be evaded. This is part of the word of the cross. He did not deserve it, but by the judgment of the Romans and Jews alike he was put to death for a crime that he did not commit.

Paul is pointing to the judgment that the cross makes upon human life. When you say that Jesus was crucified you are saying that when the finest man who ever lived takes our place, he deserves nothing but the instant judgment of God. And that is a judgment on all of us. That is what people do not like about the cross. It condemns our righteousness. It casts aspersion on all our good efforts.

The word of the cross always produces two reactions. First, the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. It is silliness, absurdity, nonsense, to those who are perishing. If you have ever tried to witness to somebody who has a sense of sufficiency about himself, you have discovered the folly of the cross. To come and tell such a person that all his efforts and all his impressive record of achievement is worth nothing in God's sight, you will immediately run into the offense of the cross.

The other reaction is that the cross is the power of God to those of us who are being saved. To us who are being saved, the cross is the key to the release of all God's blessing in human life. It is the way to experience the healing of God in the heart, the deliverance from the reign of sin, and the entry into wholeness, peace, and joy. The cross is an inescapable part of that process.

*** Culled from Ray Stedman’s Ministry | www.raystedman.org ***

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…building the body of Christ

Ye Who Are Troubled And Burdened By Sin

Text: John 3:16, 6:37; Matthew 11:28

Ye who are troubled and burdened by sin,

Come just as you are;

Come to the Savior, a new life begin,

Oh, come just as you are.

           

Come just as you are,

Oh, come just as you are;

Give up your sin, let the Savior come in,

And come just as you are.

Deep in your heart sin has written its scar,

Come just as you are;

Though from the Father you’ve wandered afar,

Oh, come just as you are.

Sinful and guilty, heartbroken and lost,

Come just as you are;

Think what your ransom on Calvary cost!

Oh, come just as you are.

Naught of your goodness God’s favor can win,

Come just as you are;

Trust in the blood which was shed for your sin,

And come just as you are.

Come with your heartache, your sorrow and pain,

Come just as you are;

No one has come to the Savior in vain,

Oh, come just as you are.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

...building the body of Christ

Spread Some Cheers!

Text: Proverbs 12:17-28

Key verse: “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop; but a good word maketh it glad” (Proverbs 12:25)

There is increasing number of problems in the world today. With the collapse of many economies, jobs are falling fast, businesses are collapsing and homes are crumbling. Our newsstands are daily filled with stories of gloom- terrorists’ attacks, kidnappings, outbreaks of strange diseases with no known medical cure, uprisings, natural disasters and daily forecast and predictions of future woes. Coupled with these are the innumerable personal and family problems that many face. All these seem to leave one with no desire to want to continue to live, hence the increasing rate of suicide and attempted suicides everywhere.

The sad reactions to these are the antagonisms, bitterness, brutality and violence being experienced everywhere. To survive, many have devised false methods. Nobody seems to be telling the truth. Many live on false identities and lying has become the new form of diplomacy. But these do not seem to be solving the problems as lies, falsehoods and deceit result in disappointments and heartbreaks bringing about more bitterness and hatred. This is a very vicious cycle!

The above text provides us the way out – speaking the truth! Honest words are very potent. Truth heals and cures are all forms of ailment. As Christians, it is our responsibility and calling to always speak the truth. However, as we speak the truth it must be with love. If the truth is spoken with the wrong intention, it could be more damaging. This is why the Bible admonishes us to speak the truth with love.

There is already so much trouble in the world. We must not add to it. Rather, we should seek ways of relieving the world of the pains it is groaning under. Let’s spread some cheers. Seek out people who are hurting and burdened, and speak some words of hope and cheer to them. In Christ, the hopeless finds hope. Speak of Christ to them today!

THE TRUTH MEDIA

… building the body of Christ

Russian Roulette

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:22

A rich man wanted a driver to convey his only daughter to school every day. Three men were outstanding during the verbal interview but the gentleman would test their competence at wheels. So he took them on separate days to the winding road just outside town, the route to his daughter's school.

At the most dangerous bend overlooking a deep plunge into the valley below the road, he asked each driver to take the wheels. Two would-be drivers, wanting to impress, maneuvered the car as close to the ravine as possible and then drove skillfully to the other side. The other man simply stayed as far off from the edge as possible. He got the job.

Some people want to toy with objects of temptation. They are so confident of their "ability" to pull away just before sin is committed. They often end up in a great transgression. The Russian roulette is a deadly game in which the chances of blowing off their own heads are one in six. There is no virtue in playing the Russian roulette with heaven and hell. Stay away from every appearance of sin and stay safe. Only a fool treads carelessly where angels fear to tread.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

…building the body of Christ.

Welcome To October: O Brethren, Life's Journey Beginning

Text: Romans 6:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Month!!!

O brethren, life's journey beginning,

With courage and firmness arise!

Look well to the course thou art choosing;

Be earnest, be watchful, and wise!

Remember, two paths are before thee,

And both thy attention invite;

But one leadeth on to destruction,

The other to joy and delight.

God help you to follow His banner,

And serve Him wherever you go;

And when you are tempted, my brethren,

God give you the grace to say "No!"

O brethren, yield not to the tempter,

No matter what others may do;

Stand firm in the strength of the Master,

Be loyal, be faithful, and true!

Each trial will make you the stronger,

If you, in the name of the Lord,

Fight manfully under your leader,

Obeying the voice of His word.

O brethren, the Saviour is calling!

Beware of the danger of sin;

Resist not the voice of the Spirit,

That whispers so gently within.

God calls you to enter His service -

To live for Him here, day by day;

And share by and by in the glory

That never shall vanish away.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

...building the body of Christ.

A Hole In The Wall

Text: 2 Chronicles 16:9; Proverbs 5:21; Hebrew 4:13

Prophet Ezekiel was directed by God to enter a room in the temple through a hole in the wall. He obeyed and was met with a surprise. There were the elders of Israel engaged in idol worship right inside God's temple! Their conclusion was, "The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth." Really?

Many people hide under cover of darkness to engage in unspeakable evil. Darkness does not hide you from God because light and darkness are alike unto Him.

A young Christian almost yielded to temptation. He got his fiancée behind closed doors and proposed sex. The godly lady calmly replied, "No problem". Then pulling out a handkerchief from her bag she said, "Before we proceed please take this and cover the face of our Father in heaven because I don't want Him to see what we are about to do."

The message was powerfully driven home and the young man broke down in tears. "The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men" (Psalm 11:4). God sees us from His throne and nothing escapes His attention.

THE TRUTH MEDIA

...building the body of Christ.