Okay, this is Eleanor Mann. We are continuing with our study from Titus 2 about the kind of woman God wants us to be. And we are going to specifically be talking this week about what it means to honor God with our speech. Salome, I see you've joined us. Greetings. We are glad for you to be here today. Titus 2 verse 3 says, older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior and not malicious gossips, nor enslave to much wine, teaching what is good. Last week we talked some about what it means to be reverent in our behavior towards God. This year we are going to be a little more specific and we are going to talk about We're going to turn the idea of not being malicious gossips into more of a positive thing of honoring God with our speech and talk about what that means and how we can do it. And we will actually be dividing this lesson over two weeks. So we will do half of it today and we will do the other half on March 23rd. I told some of the ladies that we are not meeting next week on the 16th as I will be out of town. But we will resume our meeting on Thursday, March 23rd. So let's dive in. And you should have received these notes on your email and also two worksheets that we will talk about later. Again, if for some reason you did not receive them, email me or you can do the chat screen and let me know and I'll make sure that we get that to you, okay? So we're going to talk about how we honor God with our speech. last week about reverencing God, that that's something that God wants us to be, and that is a quality in an older woman who will be used by God in the lives of the younger women in the church. And whether we are at that point yet, like me, or whether we are heading in that direction. Seeing God build these things into our lives is what's going to equip us for being available to Him in future years and draw us closer to Him now. So let's talk about what this means. God is worthy to be honored. We talked last week about reverencing Him and purity We're going to take just a little bit of a different tack this week. Honor, according to the Nelson's Bible Dictionary, means to esteem, to respect. To honor God is to give him reverence and homage, for God alone is worthy of our highest honor. Kedi, can you read 1 Chronicles 16, verse 27? Sure. Chronicles 16 verse 27 Splendor splendor and majesty are before him strength and joy are in his place. This is the God we serve He is full of splendor. He is majestic. Strength and joy are a part of Him and are with Him wherever He is. This is a God who is worthy of our highest honor. In the Vines Expository Dictionary, it says that honor and esteem are things we do when we worship God. 1 Timothy 1, 17. Thelma, can you read that please? And then Salome, can you read Revelation 4.11 please? Yes. 1 Timothy 1 verse 17. Sorry, let me open it. No, that's fine. This week I don't have the verses printed out on the screen. I just have the references. Okay. 1 Timothy Okay, it says now to the king of eternity Incorruptible and immortal Invisible the holy God be honor and glory forever and ever through the age to the ages of ages Amen Okay, so God wants us to honor him and he is worthy of it and How about Revelation 4.11? This is one of my favorite verses. Okay. Revelation 4.11. Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power because you have created all things and because of your will they exist and were created. I first learned about praising God from this verse because we would pray it up to God during our prayer times and then tell Him how we considered Him worthy and just pray back to Him all of these qualities that were mentioned. So I love this verse. But it does say that He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. So it's not just me saying this about God. Scripture says The apostles wrote about how God was worthy of honor. And we can either honor or dishonor God with our speech. Isaiah six verses one through seven. Let's see. Sarah, can you read that please? What reference, please? It is Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 through 7. We will put you to work. Now, Sarah, I didn't ask you. Are you feeling okay to read this? Well, I can. I can read it. If you would rather not, I can ask someone else. That's kind of a long passage. and I know you have not been feeling well. Okay. Well, someone else can read it. I can take something she'll have. Okay. Let me ask, let's see, who else can do that? Howa, have I asked you to read yet today? No, not really, but the pharmacist told me. Ah, okay. So can you read this passage or do you want me to ask someone else? Okay, I will ask why don't I let me Find it and I will just read that me. It's kind of a long passage Sometimes too. It's hard to read a longer passage because the Connection doesn't want to let you do that Okay, Isaiah 6 1 through 7 and this is about Isaiah's vision in the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple so in this vision he sees God and Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 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. So what I wanted us to see in this passage is that when Isaiah came face to face with the Holy God in his vision, his response was to realize how unclean his lips were compared to the Holy God and to what the angels were proclaiming about God's character. So when we realize the holiness of God, one of the things that results is that we realize how in our own strength we fall short. So that's our situation. Now we know through Jesus, when God looks at us, he looks through Jesus. And we know that Jesus' blood has cleansed us from sin. But in terms of our realization of how we compare to God, Compared with a holy God we are unclean Agnes I see that you've joined us. Welcome. We're so glad you're here today So we're talking about Honoring God with our lips or with our speech and the way Titus 2 says this particular thing is that a woman who is a in a position of influence is not to be a malicious gossip. So let's talk just a minute about what gossip means and then we'll get back to talking about more specifically about how we get caught up in it and what we can do about that. Gossip is information shared when the person being discussed is not present. In other words, you're talking about them behind their back. Usually detrimental, usually it's negative about them. Usually it's tainted and malicious. So in other words, you are not sharing it to benefit them or to encourage them, but you are, Sometimes it's trying to put yourself forth as someone who knows something that other people don't know. And in that sense, elevate yourself. And there's no good intent involved in it. So according to scripture, gossip is malicious. It's not innocent. It's not just something you go to the hairdresser and you discuss people with other people who were there, but it is malicious because it causes hurt. And a lot of times it is not true. But even if it is true, it is still something that does not honor God. So let's go on from there. So that's what we're talking about and what scripture's talking about when it says not malicious gossips. Gossip should not be a part of our speech. And it is so easy, excuse me, to slip into that, excuse me, It's something we have to watch out for when we are in prayer meetings. If the person who's the subject of the gossip is not there, they should not be discussed. Even if people have the understanding that What is shared in the prayer group will not be shared outside the prayer group. It's good to just be cautious with what you're saying about other people. It can do a lot of harm and sometimes you end up not even having the full story. So let's talk about that as we go on through this. Clarice, I see you've joined us. Welcome. And I saw somebody else too, and then they disappeared. So they may have my screen. Let's see. Sometimes my screen doesn't show everybody at the same time. So I have to keep rotating so that I can see all your faces and names at some point or another. Okay. So let me find my pen and my place. Okay, so how do we honor God? On the outline on the screen, which you all should have gotten a copy of, I hope, we're on Roman numeral 2. Good, and Agnes, I see your message that you are not feeling well. I'm so sorry. I know there's several other people who are in that same situation. I'll be praying that you can recover quickly. It's never easy to be sick, but especially not when you have a small child. So pray that God will give you strength and grace. So let's talk about how we honor God. We honor God with purity of heart, when we have truth in the innermost being. Let's see, Kedi, some of you, I may be calling on you a lot to read because I know there are some others who are not able to. So Kedi, can you read for us Psalm 51, verses six and seven? Sure. Psalm 51, verses six and seven. Psalm 51, verse 6 and 7. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. So this is a prayer from David to God. Hyssop was a shrub from the marjoram family. And we use marjoram here in the US as an herb. I don't know if you guys have it over there or not. It was used in the purification ceremonies described in Leviticus and also used to hold the sponge of wine, which was offered to Jesus on the cross. So when it says, purify me with hyssop, that's what the herb was. used for, for purification purposes. But it says, thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part thou wilt make me no wisdom. So God desires us to have truth in our hearts, not falsehood. And a lot of gossip and just careless speech ends up being false. Things that we say about repeating a story about someone can do an awful lot of harm and sometimes ends up not even being true. or if it starts out true or just a little bit off from the truth, by the time it's gone through several different people, it has really become distorted. So that doesn't honor God and that's not how he wants us to live. Psalm 15 verses one and two. Let's see, Thelma, can you read that please? Yes, I can. That's okay. We don't mind a little chorus behind your reading. But it's okay if you need to go be a mom. No, I'm carrying her. Okay, Psalm 15 verses 1 and 2, it says, Lord, who shall dwell temporarily in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell permanently on your holy hill? He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who walks righteously and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart. Okay, thank you very much. Yes, so who, when it talks about abiding in God's tent and dwelling on his hill, those are people who are in relationship with God, who have drawn near to God. And the characteristic of that kind of person, according to this verse, is he who walks with integrity, works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. So truth is something that God really, really values. I think in our culture today, truth has to, very strong degree become relative. We say, well, this may not be exactly the truth, but at least I'm not outright lying like this other person is. But in God's economy, truth is absolute truth. And anything less than the truth is untrue, is lying, or is distorted, or is false. So God desires us to have truth in our hearts, not falsehood. Not telling it about other people, not assuming that we have all the facts, and not just saying hurtful things that are going to cause injury and pain to someone else. Our tongue reflects what's in our hearts. Let's look at what Matthew 12, 34 says. Clarice, can you read that please? Matthew 12, 34. He's giving me a minute. Oh, I understand. Today I don't have the verses printed out. I will do that again next week because I think that makes it easier. And Ifyama, I see that you've joined us. Welcome. Thank you. Matthew 12, 34. You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So what is in our hearts is going to come out eventually in our mouths. So if you focus on, um, if you focus on how upset you are with someone, if you are concerned with how someone else is treating you, if you are concerned with, um, feeling like someone else is speaking badly about you, That is going to come out in your speech. Or even if you're just caught up in enjoying hearing bad things about other people, what goes in your heart is going to be reflected in your speech. Matthew 15, 18 says almost the same thing. It says, but the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and those defile the man. So what is internalized in my heart will be reflected in what comes out of my mouth. They are not separate, they are linked. Okay, so let's go on. What hinders us from honoring God with our speech? We've talked about how we don't want to do that. We've talked about what it is. We've talked about how it affects God that he doesn't like it. But what hinders us from honoring God with our speech? And the very first thing is that the tongue is a fire, a very small part of us, but exerts a very large influence over us. Have you ever started a fire, maybe a campfire? maybe a cooking fire outside and it starts with a very small flame but when it has fuel it does not take long at all for that fire to become much bigger. When it's small you can still put it out but if you let the flames grow until it's become a large fire then it could even spread outside the confines of what you want where you want it to be and start causing damage. So the tongue is a fire according to scripture. James 3 verses 3-6. Let's see. Sharon, are you able to read? Yes, I can read. Thank you. What does James 3, 3-6 say? Okay, I'm coming. Now if we put meat into the horse's mouth, we make them obey us. We guide their whole body as well. And look at the sheep, even though they are so large, and are driven by strong wind, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See, by comparison, how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark, and the tongue is, in a sense, a fire. The very world of injustice and unrighteousness, the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, as set on fire because of our life, the circle of man's existence, and is itself set on fire by hell. OK, thank you. So that gives us two images of the tongue and the influence of the tongue over the rest of the body. First is the bit in a horse's mouth. And then the second one is the rudder of a ship. So what would happen? Let's talk about the bit in the horse's mouth first. What would happen if they are used incorrectly? And then what happens when it is being used correctly? Sorry, we have workmen outside our house working in the yard and so it'll be loud for just a few minutes and then it will not be loud. So let's talk about these two images. I live in Texas, which is in the middle of horse country. I have a good friend that I'm in Bible study with, and I believe she has three horses on her property. So I am a city girl. I've ridden a horse before, but I've not really been around horses or taken care of them very much at all. But I have talked with her, and she says, when it describes in verse 3, if we put the bits into the horse's mouth so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. The bit is a little metal bar that goes in the horse's mouth and on either side of it are strips of leather which go back behind the horse and they become the reins that the rider uses in order to direct the horse while they're riding him. A horse's mouth is very tender, which is why having that little bar of metal in it will actually control the horse, which is a very large animal. A horse's head, when I'm standing next to a horse, the horse is much taller than I am. And for me to climb on top of the horse to ride him, I have to actually step on something in order to be able to swing my leg over the top because it is too tall. So horses are tall, big animals, but their mouths are tender so that that little bit in their mouths, when the reins make a pull on the edge of that bit, it will turn the horse's head. And wherever a horse's head turns, that's where the rest of his body is going to follow. When it talks about the power of the tongue, it is saying that, and it compares it with a bit in a horse's mouth, it is saying that if the rider is incorrectly using the bit, sometimes new riders will pull too hard on the bit or they'll pull on one side of the rings or the other, and it can injure the horse's mouth permanently and make it impossible to ride them because you can no longer put a bit in their mouth. And if the bit is not used correctly, then there is no way to control the horse. You do have to hold the reins firmly but not pull hard on them. So it's a little bit of a learning process and people take lessons in horseback riding in order to learn how to do it correctly so that they can control the horse but not injure him. And that's one of the images of the tongue is how just a very small thing can cause damage, but can also be used for good. The same thing, because if the bit is correctly used, then it will direct the whole body of the horse, and you can ride him and pretty much have him go wherever you want him to go. The ship's rudder is the other example it gives here. And it says in verse four, this is James three, verse four, look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. A ship is larger than a boat because a ship is large enough to hold a boat. So we're talking again about a pretty large structure, but the rudder is a small, um, I don't know what you'd call instrument. In the old days, they would be made of wood. Now they're metal or, you know, I don't know what material they're made out of, but they are not very big compared to the whole ship. But when you turn the rudder, that's what guides the ship, depending on the, the, direction you turn the rudder and it's all connected up with the wheel so the captain can steer the ship with the wheel if it's large enough. If it's not that large, there's kind of a, I don't know what you'd call it, a bar that comes up into the ship and the captain can turn it with his hands and manually turn the rudder and make the ship move. But that's what is used to guide the ship through the water. But if it's used incorrectly, it will damage the ship. It can break off. And there are some places where it talks about a rudderless ship. And that's a ship that has no control because the rudder, for whatever reason, is not working. Again, when it's used properly, it can direct the whole ship. When it's used improperly, then the captain of the ship loses control. So when we refuse to let God control our tongues and deal with issues that he reveals to us, then we can get out of control with our speech. And I don't know, when I grew up, there was a little rhyme they taught us that said, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That is not true, because all of us can remember things that someone at some point in our life said to us, which were very, very hurtful. And even if the person apologizes later those words are still in your mind you can forgive them sincerely But those words are still in your mind and can do much damage So how much better? for us to Learn how to control that time to realize that it is that it is an instrument which God can use for good or for bad. The Bible also, let me move the notes up a little bit so you can see them. The Bible also describes the tongue as a sword. It can be used as a weapon of attack. Psalm 64 verses 3 and 4. Jodine, can you read that for us please? Jodine, how is the weather up in Canada? Everybody has been telling me today how hot it is, but I don't think it's very hot where you are. Do you have snow on the ground? That's very different. My son lives in a state called Colorado, which is about 3,000 kilometers north of us, and they have a lot of snow on the ground. But where I am, we have palm trees, we have Everyone is planting their garden and I think I told Sarah at the very beginning that yesterday it was 30 degrees here in Houston which is unusually warm for now, but it's interesting just how a few hours of travel Make a huge difference in the weather Yeah, okay, so let's talk about Psalm 64 verses 3 & 4 how can is the tongue of can be used as a weapon of attack. Now when I read this verse, it really pierced my heart, describing how the tongue can be a weapon of attack. This is David describing his enemies when he was fleeing from them. says who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. That's what they did with their tongues. They sharpened them like swords, then they aimed them like arrows, and shot from a concealed location at their unsuspecting target. Now see, that's what gossip does. Your tongue is sharp, You are shooting from a concealed location because you're talking about someone who's not there. And they don't have any idea that you are talking about them. And you're doing it basically anonymously because you're not talking to their face. You're not trying to help with a situation or a problem. You are just spreading the news about it. To shoot from concealment at the blameless, We just need to remember that words can hurt greatly. Have you ever felt ambushed or attacked, cut to pieces? We've all been hurt by the words of others. I can remember something that some other kid said to me when I was five years old. There's a lot that I can't remember. It's been a long time. But I do remember those sharp words that really, really hurt. Our words can be used as a weapon of attack. The tongue has the potential for doing much harm or much good. Proverbs 12, 18 says, there is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. So when we are not paying close attention, maybe not thinking ahead of time, not pausing to consider the effect of our words, and we are speaking rashly, then our words can thrust like a sword and can cause a lot of harm. But the tongue of the wise brings healing. So what we want to do is figure out how do we become wise in the use of our tongue so that we can do good instead of harm. Our lives do produce fruit. We want to produce good fruit. Matthew 7 17 through 20, says that a tree is known by its fruit. So a mango tree is only going to produce mangoes. It is not going to produce papayas as much as you would like it to produce papayas. And if you plant a mango tree thinking that it will produce papayas, you are going to be disappointed. I planted an herb in my garden last year thinking that I was planting one thing. But then a friend of mine came over to my house and I was showing her my plants and she said, well, I thought I was planting, well, actually we talked about it earlier. I thought I was planting marjoram. But when she came over to my house, she said, that's not marjoram, that's oregano. So it doesn't matter if I wanted to plant margarine or not. The plant that I planted was oregano, and that's what I got, is oregano. So let's make sure that we know what we're planting, we're aware of it, and then let's make sure that what we produce with our lips is good fruit. Proverbs 18 20 says, From the fruit of his mouth, a man's stomach is filled. With the harvest from his lips, he is satisfied. So the question that we can ask ourselves then is, are you satisfied with the harvest your mouth is producing? If you are caught up in gossip, saying things about other people when they are not around, then the harvest of your mouth is discord, hurt feelings, isolation, pronouncing judgment. Those are the kind of harvests from our mouths. But if we are intent upon doing good with our mouths and are speaking with wisdom, Then the kinds of things that that produces are healing, encouragement, restoration, forgiveness, all of those good things. But we choose which direction we go with our mouths by what we first put in our hearts and then what we allow to come out. This verse is not on your list, but something I pray every morning for me is Proverbs 31 26. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. I want to produce kindness. And what it says from Proverbs is the way you do that is opening your mouth with wisdom. And one of the keys of that is stopping to think before I speak. I cannot tell you the times that I have been crushed to realize that I blurted out something that was very hurtful to another person just because I didn't stop to think what I was saying or how I was saying it or the kind of effect it would have or even if it were true. So I pray that for myself that God would help me to open my mouth with wisdom and that Teaching of kindness is what would come off of my tongue So we are going to continue with this next week, but I wanted before we Stop today. I sent you two Worksheets that I wanted to go to and look at let me turn from this that we are sharing and Let me look at these two worksheets with you. You should have received these in your email. Like I said, if you didn't for some reason, let me know and I'll make sure that you do. This is called Spiritual Speech Inventory, and it is from a book called Conversation Peace by Mary Cassian that really ministered to me in this whole area of speech. Because remember, what we are talking about is honoring God with our speech, because if we are doing that, then we're not going to be caught up in things like gossip. Slander and all the negative things that You know I have seen it tear apart friendships families churches The time just like we learned has a huge amount of power for good or for evil So let's use our tongues for evil, but to me going through this now. Let me see real quick if I can I'm trying to see oh here. I think I can make it bigger and there, what's easier to read from the screen. This is a little tool for you to use in evaluating areas that you might be using your tongue unwisely and you don't even realize it or it's become such a habit that you're no longer aware of it. So let's look at a few of these and then You have this available and you can go through it on your own. The way it works is you read the question, then you can look at the verses that are given, and then you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5. Do you never do this? Do you seldom do this every once in a while? Do you occasionally do it, maybe sometimes? Do you often do it or do you regularly do it? Now this is not something that you're going to share with me so you can be honest without worrying about being embarrassed. I did go through it and I did have definite areas that I needed to improve and things that when I started thinking about it and looking at the scripture I went, oh my goodness I do that. So this is in order to help make the study a little more practical. As I mentioned at the very beginning, some of you have joined us since we first started. Next week we are not going to meet. I am going to be out of town. So this is something that you can actually do on your own the week that we are not meeting. And then we will come back together. We will not meet on the 16th and we will come back together on the 23rd and finish up this whole topic of honoring God with our speech. What we are doing with this spiritual speech inventory is trying to evaluate where do we stand? What areas are we doing well in? What areas have we maybe fallen into bad habits? what areas do we need to change what we are doing and exhibit a little more control over what we say about other people. It is very easy to gloss over and say, well, I am not gossiping. I'm just talking about someone. So we just have to pray and ask God to help us be honest. If you could see my sheet, Let me, I don't think you can see all the things I've circled, but there are definite areas that God brought to my attention when I did this. So I am not speaking from a position of perfection in this at all. We are all learners, but it is an area that God wants us to grow in and wants us to recognize and deal with. And we'll talk some more about that next week. Okay. So let's look at this, a couple of these. just in terms of understanding what we're talking about and then our time will be up. Okay? So let's look at number one. Proverbs 11, 13. First the question. Do you gossip? Do you enjoy repeating the latest news or rumor you heard about another person? You know, sometimes I do. It's interesting to hear things about other people. And it is easy to get caught up in this. But Proverbs 11, 13 says, he who goes about as a tailbearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy conceals a matter. So in other words, we can choose, we can choose if we're going to be a tailbearer telling people secrets, or we can be trustworthy and keep our mouth shut. So, think about that. Think about the last time you got together with a friend. Now, we're not talking about sharing with someone when you were face-to-face about what's going on in your life and she shares what's going on in her life. That's not gossip, that's sharing. We're talking about sharing things or stating things about people who are not present. That's what gossip is, that's the difference. And if you are not a part of the problem or a part of the solution, you don't need to be talking about that person. Unless it's, if it's positive, you know, you've heard, oh, so-and-so is going to have a baby or so-and-so just got a promotion or they have acquired a new house or something that's positive. That's okay, as long as it's positive. But then any continued speculation, well, they have made this new purchase and you're happy about it, then someone else says, well, Are you sure they should have spent the money on that? I heard that they were not doing well financially. See how now we have veered off into gossip and talking about them without them being present. Okay? Number two, do you slander? Do you say things about others behind their backs that you would not say to their faces? Do your words cast others in a less than positive light? Some. 50 verse 20 I'm doing some of this reading for you because I know several of you have either have small children around or you're just not feeling real well So it won't make you work when you're not feeling well Psalm 50 verse 20 you sit and speak against your brother you slander your own mother's son so that defines what slander is speaking against someone when they are not there to counter what you've said. That's slander. So take inventory on these things. You know, the next one now, maybe you don't think of this as something bad, but do you nag? Number three, you know, the purpose of nagging is repeating your desires and opinions to others until you get what you want. So it's not just bringing up a matter again in order to be heard, but it's doing it in order to get a result, which is what you want to happen. And just yesterday, I was doing this with my husband. I was trying to communicate something that I wanted to happen, a change I wanted to make on our schedule, and we were discussing it. And then I realized that I had said the same, I had voiced my opinion about four or five times, which is way more than I needed to in order to communicate. So I backed off and apologized. But that's nagging. That's nagging, repeating your desires and opinions until you get what you want. Proverbs 21, 19. A lot of these you'll notice are in Psalms and Proverbs. Proverbs 21, 19. Then we're gonna look at one more thing on the second sheet and then we'll be done. 21, 19. It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and vexing woman. When I was nagging my husband yesterday, I was not being a very pleasant woman to live with. And I do not want my house or my relationship with my husband to feel like a desert land. Because usually what you do with a desert is you run somewhere where it's not a desert, where you can get some water. And I want my home to be an oasis in the desert, not the desert itself. Okay, so that's the purpose of this, is not to make anybody feel bad, but at the same time to allow the Holy Spirit to point out to us areas where we want God to do his work. Okay, so there are two pages of this, there are 20 things to consider. Then let's look at this other page. Okay, recognizing lies. Every area of defeat and bondage in our lives can be traced back to the lies that we believe. Do you recognize any of the following lies? And then you can put a check beside the lies with which you struggle. The first statement is the lie. The second statement where it says truth is the truth with a scripture verse to back it up. Okay? And a lot of times, when we are not honoring God with our speech, it's because we have allowed some of these lies to penetrate our hearts and influence our thinking to the point that that is going to be reflected in our speech. Because remember the verses we looked at at the beginning, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Okay, so let's look at a couple of these and then we will be through. The first lie, God isn't good. God isn't good all the time. But the truth is that God is good. He is good apart from circumstances, apart from whether you are having difficulties, He is still good even in the midst of all that Psalm 119 verse 68 Let's see caddy. Can you do that? Yes Psalm 119 68 mm-hmm got it. Oh You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. Okay, that's pretty clear, isn't it? So the Bible says that God is good and he does good things. So if you find yourself questioning the goodness of God, then you are believing a lie. that the enemy has put in your mind or someone else has put in your mind and it is starting to influence your thinking and your heart. So don't believe a lie, believe the truth. So some of these, some of these, you'll look at them and say, no, I don't believe that. But some of them, you may look at it and say, oh, I have fallen into that. That is influencing my speech and my attitudes towards other people, towards my family. Look at number three. I am unacceptable. Do you ever feel like you're not quite measuring up to what you should be? That what you're doing isn't good enough? Or do you ever feel like you need to prove yourself? The truth is that in Christ you are accepted. Ephesians 1.6. And then we have to choose what we are going to believe. Are we going to believe what maybe some one person has told us, or just what we're feeling, or what the world says, that if you don't do these particular things, you are unacceptable? Are we going to believe what the Bible says? Ephesians 1.6 says, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved, So we are in, let's look at verse five too, because I think that goes with us. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will. So God's intentions towards us are kind. They are not condemning. In Jesus, we are accepted into God's family. And when it says we are accepted, that means we are acceptable. We no longer have to prove ourselves to God. We no longer have to do things in order to earn his favor. He has given it to us in Jesus. So that's what this sheet is there. It's talking about common lies that can worm their way into our thinking, which worms its way into our hearts, which worms its way into our speech and can influence how we relate to other people. Not just how we feel about ourselves, but it comes out in how we relate to other people and what we impart to our children. I want my children to know that my love for them is unconditional. But if I'm caught up in, especially this truth we just, or this lie that we just talked about, that I am acceptable, unacceptable, that I have to prove myself, that's what my kids are gonna feel. Because I will pass that attitude down to them, and I will even treat them the same way, as if they have to prove themselves to me. Okay, so this was really Helpful to me. This is from that same Bible study as the spiritual speech inventory is from conversation peace. But this really, really ministered to me. And I hope as you work your way through that, that it will minister to you all to focus on the truth. We need to recognize the things we believe that are not true, but the real focus should be on what is true and asking God to align our hearts and our thinking according to how he views us and what is truth about his nature. Because in essence, if we question, if we declare that we are unacceptable or that we are unworthy, then we are questioning God's character because he has already said that we are accepted and we are worthy. And if we say, no, that's not true, then we're telling God that what he has said about us is not true. That's questioning his character and we don't want to do that. Okay. So I will pray. You all should have these available. Let me check in the chat room and see if Ah, okay. Let me address that in just a minute. Let's pray first, and then if anyone needs to leave, I know some of you do, please feel free to do that. And then if anyone wants to stay and share or ask questions or listen to the discussion, you are welcome to do that. I'll stay online for a while. So father, thank you for the work you do in our lives. Thank you for your love for us, for your constant attention. The fact that the Bible says you never sleep. You are always aware of what's going on in our lives. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for your deep, deep desire to draw us close to you and to clarify in our thinking the truth of who you are and how you desire to relate to us. And because of that, how we are able to relate to other people, and specifically, Father, how we can honor you with our speech. I just pray that in the coming weeks, you would make us more aware of how we speak and what we speak about, and help us to seek to honor you with what we say to you and about other people. So Father, I commit this time to you, pray that you would use it to your glory, that you would clarify your word to us. Help us to draw near. And I pray, and I also pray, Father, that you would heal those who are sick, that you would help us to be able to adapt to changes in the weather. Give us wisdom as we order our days. In your name I pray, amen.