Words pt.2 – “From the Heart”

Before we get into how to control our tongue, I want to share more about how serious of an issue our words can be….

It’s rare that I get “personal” on my blog, but I feel it’s necessary to show how I came to this revelation about our words:

I once dated a guy who was a faithful church-goer–a musician for the church actually…..he seemed to know God’s Word & even wanted to hold Bible studies with me…He didn’t drink, smoke, or curse—or at least, I thought he didn’t curse.  Whenever we got into an argument, he would call me names or put me down and he would even throw my misfortunes back in my face by saying, “that’s why ____ & ____ happened to you” or “That’s why those other guys you dated ____ & ____  because you’re so ____”…that’s when I learned that this guy didn’t use profanity, but he definitely cursed me out.

When I realized that our arguments were becoming more frequent and his insults more demeaning, I asked God about my relationship with Mr. Tongue Lasher.  Then I randomly flipped to 2 Corinthians 6 in my Bible after posing that question and my eyes landed on the following verse:

Formerly known as “Easter”

 ♫ Hippity-hop-hop….hippity-hoppity, Easter’s on its way ♫

As a young girl, I didn’t give much thought to what this season that I formerly knew as “Easter” was all about.  I was too distracted by pastel frilly dresses and hats, colorful baskets of chocolate bunnies & chewy lil marshmallow birds, and of course,…the traditional egg hunting & coloring activities.  Yet, after I a became born-again believer, I soon found out how the egg-hunting and egg-coloring activities were actually ceremonies celebrating the Goddess of Fertility & Sex Eostre (or “Ashtoreth” of the Old Testament or the many other names for this goddess depending upon the culture).

As harmless as those activities seemed—now I look back & realize how much those traditions kept my mind off the real symbols of this Passover season—the blood, the lamb, and the cross.  

Words pt.1- “Your Tongue’s on Fire!”

James 3 

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

6 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.

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Whoever coined the phrase, “Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” had little understanding of God’s Word.   The sad part is that this contrary statement was told to countless children who dealt with taunting or teasing in school–whether it occurred on the playground or school bus.  While parents and teachers advised kids to ignore the negative words of others, kids learned quickly that those words were  pretty hard to ignore. Why? Because words really do have power.  

Remember Me??

Greetings WP Family!

Yes….I know it has been awhile–ok, a looooong while–since I’ve posted.  I just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know I haven’t forgotten about you.  I apologize for my absence but I was caught in a whirlwind of changes.  Towards the end of last year, I became a new auntie, got a new job (Hallelujah!), relocated to a new city, and my head was still spinning by spring of this year.  I must say, God has been soooooo good; from the job hunt to the “big move,” God has truly shown Himself…and I’m learning more and more what it means to trust Him because the enemy tried to steal my joy throughout the process.

So I wanted to drop in and let you know that I miss you guys.  And although I still have a lot going on, I want to get back to writing.  I mean, I’ve been doing my devotions and reading God’s Word….but I want to get back to ~studying~ God’s Word.  I have some posts coming up that I can’t wait to share with you all….but I want it to be “just right.”  Also, I will continue my Clearly Seen Invisible (CSI) series.   So…in a nutshell…..”I’m back!”

 

Love & blessings,

~Nir

By “Grace”

Dear WP family, I am excited to announce that my fellow sister in Christ has started her very own blog Gracefullyblessed. Not only am I  gracefully blessed to know her, but I am just in awe in what God has done with her life and what He continues to do through her.

Here’s an excerpt from her introductory post Lifechanger:

“I grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood. Surrounded by thugs, gangs, prostitutes, drugs, etc. there was definitely no room for religion in this acquired lifestyle- or survival. I ‘grew up’ in a church however; I only remember attending church on special occasions (maybe twice a year ex. Christmas and Easter). Baptized at the tender age of 9 because I wanted to be saved, and yet I was able to live 23 years of my life not knowing that baptism doesn’t save you…”(read more, 220 words)

Please give her a warm WP welcome….and Enjoy!

~Nir

L.M.S.I.C.

Seeing the Rainbow

Hello my WP family….I know it’s been awhile, but I wanted to check in and let you all know that the rain is finally subsiding.  In other words, things are going alright with me–well actually, more-than-alright with me—at least now they are…I’ve been experiencing some major life changes within the past few weeks.  Those who have been following my blog for awhile know that 2013 hasn’t been the kindest to me—ok, that’s an understatement.  To be honest, the beginning of this year has been particularly difficult because I’ve found that the issues I’ve been dealing with I could not share with anyone.  I’ve tried to share part of my turmoil only to find that others either don’t understand, judge me based on what I’ve shared, or needed the full story to begun to grasp what was going on–and no way was I risking that.  It’s just one of those seasons when you can only talk to God, because only He knows the whole story and why things really bother you.

♫ “Strong God”♫

I had to share this amazing song because this song is the theme song of my 2013…And in no way could I understand this song without my faith being tested and my weaknesses being revealed to me through the course of this year.  But even more amazing is how God has shown Himself in such a season [2 Corinth. 12:6-10]

~Nir
“STRONG GOD” by New Life Worship

Featuring Jon Egan
Written by: Jon Egan, Jason Ingram & Meredith Andrews

Father to the fatherless
Defender of the weak
Freedom for the prisoner
We sing

Teaching Kids about God

Hey Guys, I just wanted to share this precious video from Kriss & Ty’s channel showing how they teach their two boys about the Bible.  It’s so nice to see parents, not just Sunday School teachers, teaching (and showing) their kids how God can work in their lives.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

Enjoy,

~Nir

Do You Have the Serpent’s Bible? – pt. 3

So what about the New King James Version??

Genesis 3:1 reads “Now the serpent was MORE SUBTIL than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made….”

One would think that the New King James Version would be closer to the King James version…Well, there are some subtle differences, or shall I say “subtil” differences…

KING JAMES VERSION v. NEW KING JAMES VERSION

just a few taken from: http://www.libertytothecaptives.net/KJvsNKJV.TXT

2 Tim 2:15   KJV: “STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God …”
NKJV: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…”

Comment: We are supposed to STUDY the Word of God.

Matt 18:11  KJV: “For the Son of Man IS come to save that which was lost.”
NKJV:  “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”

Comment: The NJKV says Jesus Christ “has come” to save that which was
lost;  a PAST TENSE statement. The NKJV implies that ALL who were to
be saved, HAVE BEEN saved. Not true. Anyone TODAY can be saved
by Jesus. The correct reading is PRESENT TENSE. There are
NUMEROUS places where the NKJV changes the verb tense. These
types of NKJV corruptions are very subtle.

Psalm 109:6  KJV:  “Set thou a wicked man over him: and let SATAN stand at his right hand.”                                                                     NKJV:  “Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.”

Comment:  Satan has been REMOVED from this verse in the NKJV.

Before you say, “At least I’ll get the gist of the Word,” let’s look at 3 other subtil changes:

Do You Have the Serpent’s Bible? – pt. 2

“Missing Verses and Lucifer is Jesus??!!”

First of all, I want to say that this is difficult message to bring to my brothers and sisters in Christ. But not only are we supposed to encourage and edify each other, we should also warn each other of deception.

Think on this:  If the Constitution was “translated” into various modern versions so that more people could “understand it” would we still think that we are holding to the original words of the forefathers of this country??

Now, of course, the constitution has been amended, but at least we know which words were amended!

So why are we okay, with the inspired words of our Heavenly Father being changed into a version “we can understand?”

Get your Bibles out!!!  Or use biblegateway.com to read verses in different versions (NIV, NLT, NASB, etc.) & parallel them to see various versions at once.

*The following is just a few taken from http://www.chick.com/information/Bibleversions/comparison.asp

KING JAMES VERSION v. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Why did Jesus come to earth?
KJV–Luke 9:56: For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save  them. And they went to another village.

NIV–Luke 9:56: and they went to another village.

&

KJV–Matt. 18:11: For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

NIV– Matt. 18:11: (missing)

 ……………

Is repentance important?

KJV– Matt. 9:13:…I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

NIV–Matt. 9:13: …I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

……………

Was Joseph really the father of Jesus?

KJV– Luke 2:33: And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

NIV– Luke 2:33: The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

……………

What about forgiveness?

KJV– Mark 11:26: But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

NIV—Mark 11:26: (missing)

****

Yes, you saw it right, there are even WHOLE VERSES MISSING!!!  Important ones at that!  There’s a lot more missing (click here). Also, this is NOT JUST the NIV–again, check the other versions or the modern versions you own.

Now people, these arent “donkey”-to-“mule” or a “straw”-to-“hay” changes here, something isn’t right….then lo and behold…

The NIV calls Lucifer, “Jesus” ??!