Lying Tongues

"O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for the wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues." ~ Psalm 109:1-2

This is a hard Psalm for me to thoroughly understand.  One part of me says, 'Hey, you better be careful with your words and the gossip, you don't want someone praying this about you'; then another part asks, 'Yeah, but this kind of appeal and cry out to God is not what he listens to, I mean, after all, God is love, not a God of mean spirited justice, right?'" But I DO think this is a plea for God to shut the mouths of wicked and downright deceitful mankind, and I DO think he can and does sometimes "shut" things, not just mouths, up.  Sometimes I think we forget that even God gets angry and that even though He is a merciful, gracious and loving God, he also HATES certain things about mankind that we have turned over to the "world".  Please notice the supernatural difference - He hates ABOUT mankind, those things the Destroyer has influenced, but GOD CANNOT HATE  MANKIND for that would be hating a very part of HIS own image.  Satan has a sharp two edged sword and uses people to be unrelenting in their trouble making lies and false accusations about you, me, and others that you love.  This is often a direct hit when we are winning for the kingdom of God and our Adversary HATES our progress.  We must stand steadfast and keep on with great perseverance "the race marked out for us" for our Almighty King!  Watching and guarding our tongues is a great place to start! ~ AMEN

Atoning Sacrifice

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. ~ 1 John 2:1-2

John knew that even born again Christians would sometimes stumble with sin.  Surprise, surprise!  He knew that if sneaky Satan can get into our susceptible minds that a lot of damage and discouragement could be, and still can be done.  We need to remember that we are no longer alone in our journey against the evil one's tasteless tactics, that in fact, it says in the bible that our Savior was tempted "in every way" by the devil.  He understands!  He came down to the earth as a sinless and perfect man to take all my wretched shame so that I could be forgiven every time I foul up (which is often enough). We have a great, merciful and gracious Savior!  I try my hardest not to fall into the many traps that Satan has lined out for me on a daily basis, but when I do fall, I need to remember that I have the greatest Advocate on my side who has loved me with open arms and a fierce passion wrapped up in unconditional love (unlike me, unfortunately, but I'm working on it)  for me from even BEFORE my birth.  Even when I make the decision to turn my back on him and  follow the world, or slimy Satan, I have a way back into relationship with God through Jesus Christ and when I come to him he is always waiting and willing to accept me right back. For that I will be eternally thankful. ~ AMEN