Are Your Conversations Full Of Grace?

Paul, writing to the Phillipians tells us to have conversations that is worthy of Christ and His gospel. Every word that we speak should be words that we claim to believe are worthy of Christ and His Word. If we think about it, we have marriages that are spoilt, relationships that are spoilt because of the words that come out of our mouths.
We can judge someone's spirituality by what comes out of their MOUTH. Out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart, the mouth speaks. You can judge someone by their conversation very clearly.

There was a time when we all talked filthy talk...well, I did (I don't know about you). I would swear and I spoke as I wanted to speak. But Paul tells us in Philipians 1:27 - "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the One Spirit, striving together as one of the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that will be destroyed, but that you will be saved - and that by God. For it is granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."

Is your conversation WORTHY of God?

Gosh, that's scary to think about. I mean, when I am upset, I do speak all kinds of profanity. If God was to come right now, what would He hear?

Covetousness
Hebrews 13:5-6 warns us let our conversations be without covetousness; and to be content with the things we have. There's nothing wrong with wanting better things, but when it possesses your heart that you HAVE TO HAVE IT at all costs, that's when it becomes serious. When it's all you think about it, how to get it, how to figure it out, it's in your thought life.

We seem to think our conversations and words just fall to the ground and die, or they disappear, but our words live on and they do not die.

You may be going through a lot right now; you're out of employment, you're sick but it's always a testimony when you build UP others in SPITE of what you go through. You speak with CONFIDENCE despite your problems. Your words reveal what's going on in your heart (Luke 6:45 - A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

If someone is gossiping about someone else, to avoid gossip, say something nice about the person and then change the subject. If you have those friends that are constantly bashing others, the best thing to do is mention it to them and tell them you're not comfortable with it, if they continue, avoid them but pray for them. You also have to evaluate your own heart because words say a lot about who a person is.

Words said out of impatience can really hurt others and ruin a friendship. I know I have a problem with this...or used to...still do? Maybe? Well, when I am upset or very very HUNGRY, I can be so impatient and can snap at people. But...clearly, I should listen to God a lot more, clearly. LOL. He tells us in Proverbs 15:28 to be patient and think before we speak.

You can honestly tell a lot about a person by listening to what they have to say and how they say it. What do your words reveal about you?

ALL in ALL - I know you cannot LIKE EVERYBODY, because some people...eish, it's hard to like them because of their mistreatment towards you. BUT that doesn't mean your behaviour towards THEM has to change in anyway...think about how Jesus was on the CROSS, people threw insults at him, they cursed him, they mocked him, they embarrassed him, they ridiculed him, but he didn't retaliate. In the end, all he said was 'Father, forgive them...'. Think about it in that way...

Let us change, guys. Let us speak words that are uplifting to others.

Faith, What's That?

This year has been a testing year. I have friends who are also going through stuff and it made me think about faith. As a Christian, I am always told to have faith. I am always told that I have to trust in God. I am always told that God knows what He is doing. My Mother and my Cousin most especially. They tell me the importance of prayer. It's so easy to be upset because good things happen to other people, but they never seem to happen to you.

So, what does faith mean to me? Faith means having complete trust in God no matter WHAT happens to you. Faith is having hope in the fact that He has your back. It's expecting the best instead of the worst. It's accepting that things happen for a reason and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.

I can now see that looking back in life, everything I have prayed for...came to pass. If it didn't come to pass, I now realise that it happens later down the line or I didn't need it. Either way, God knows what He is doing. I know sometimes I can let ONE thing destroy my day. If I do so badly on a test or assignment, or I feel that I performed badly after writing an exam (that was just recently, hehe), I let it ruin my day, sometimes, my whole month. Then I think about Jonah's conversation with God after he preached at Ninevah. He was so upset because he thought Ninevah didn't deserve the grace of God. It just seems selfish thinking about it now but it seems like we do this too.

"But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
But the Lord replied, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
"Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord provided a leafy plant and made it grow so up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort and Jonah was very happy about this plant. But at dawn the next day, the Lord provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die than to live."
But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?"
"It is," he said, "I am so angry, I wish I were dead."
But the Lord said, "You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Ninevah, in which there are more than a 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left - and so many animals?"

So, reading about Jonah's conversation with God made me think. There's no point in letting one thing ruin my day or month or year. Besides, the Lord Himself told us that we shouldn't worry about tomorrow, let the day worry about itself. It's so much harder than I thought but I'm working on it.
GOD Himself asked, "how many of us add A SINGLE HOUR to our lives by worrying?" - Matthew 6:27

So, God lovingly allows us to go through tests in life in order to build our faith - to test us to see what is in our hearts. We obviously crack under pressure and look at the scenario through human eyes rather than the Word of God. Right now, looking at my situation - I won't lie, I'm kind of scared, trembling in fear, in fact. What if I don't find a job? What if I don't pass? What if I die in sin? What if I don't truly know God as much as I should. What if my parents are disappointed in me? I have a friend going through this right now. She is in an interracial relationship but afraid that her parents will not accept it. The whole point is, we look through our situations through our own eyes rather than the the Word of God. Nevertheless, unbelief in the fact that God isn't going to pull us through isn't an absence of faith, it's just insufficient.

As I said before, faith is actively believing that God can do it. When we believe that God can do it, there is an action, a response to God's WORD. Faith goes far beyond an intellectual awareness of the Bible. The whole point is...obey and TRUST and BELIEVE in Him.

This whole thing has been around for a long time. It makes me think of the Israelites. How they would relish in the fact that God had delivered them then when a test had come, they would grumble and complain. I don't want to be like that. I want to have faith and relish in the Word of God.

Having faith is the only way that you will ever be able to face calamity or affliction. It was the only way in Habakkuk's day (Read the Book of Habukkuk), it was the only way in the Old Testament and the New Testament and it's the only way NOW.

So if you're going through something, whatever it is...I don't know, fear of being forever alone, fear of failure, fear of neglect...remember that those thoughts are a burden.

• You shouldn't have to accept them. It's important to get into that place of positivity, hope and faith that the things that are to COME are for your own GOOD. The situations that YOU face now are not forever. You have to look outside of YOURSELF. 
• Be extremely positive. If you don't have faith or hope, you have nothing. Always remember that whatever you're in NOW is not forever. It's just a stepping stone for what will happen in the future. 
• Things will not be HARD FOREVER - It will humble you.