Guess What?!

"Guess what Auntie Kate?!"-- my almost 3 year old niece Grace.

"What?"

"I GOT A NEW TONGUE!" --excitedly sticking her tongue out to show me the new addition to her mouth.

My niece is something else. Honestly, I don't know where she gets this stuff; obviously not from her favorite auntie. :) However strange she can be, this excited statement made me think tonight. The Bible speaks of tongues quite a bit actually. In fact, the word "tongue" is seen in the ESV 102 times!

James 3:6 says, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." Whoa, those are pretty powerful words.

In our old nature, the only thing this tongue can do is set fire and bring death. (Proverbs 18:21) But that's not the end! As believers in Christ, we have a new nature, a new tongue! This new tongue can build up and encourage the body. It brings words of life! And in the new nature, by the grace and mercy of God, it praises our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I wish that were the end of the story. However, that won't be the case until we reach Glory in Heaven. While we do have a new tongue, we also have the old one at the same time. In this life, we have to deal with the old and new nature--a constant battle. But by the grace of God, He gives us the victory to cling to in His death and resurrection, and we can live in the new nature by His strength.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

(2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)

Friends, you have a new tongue. How are you using your's today?

The Art of Deception

I've been thinking quite a bit about truth lately. It all started when Jordan and I started listening to one of Odyssey's newest adventures: an album entitled "The Green Ring Conspiracy" (again: I highly recommend). The four-CD adventure tells of a counterfeiting operation taking place in Odyssey. In one of the episodes, when Eugene and young Emily Parker first discover that the backpack Emily found in the woods is full of counterfeit money, Emily comments how real the counterfeit looks. Eugene explains to her that deceptions are difficult to detect because they are often made as close to the truth as possible.

As close to the truth as possible. Isn't that one of the frustrating things about Satan? He "disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). But it doesn't stop there, does it? "Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (11:15).

All around us, lies are masquerading as the truth. And Satan loves having us believe his lies . . . lies that seem so close to the truth, we hardly even think to question them. Those lies often come through smooth talking, believable persons. People that sound good, seem smart, and are respected by a large number of people. People that we would never think to doubt or question.

So, my question to us is this: how well do we know the Truth? Do we know and study the Word of God for ourselves so that we cannot be taken in by the lies? Do we take everything we hear from the pulpit, on a podcast, or on the radio and compare it with Scripture? I think as we get closer to the return of Christ, the lies are only going to look better; more and more like the truth. I pray that we would each be so intimately acquainted with the Word and so dedicated to challenging what we hear that we are not taken captive by empty, hollow, false teaching.

"So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'" - John 8:31-32

You are. Yes. You are.

You are alive today. 
You stand outside of time.

You entered our world as a man.
You remained God, yet became one of us.
You were tempted by the devil.
You did not sin.
You were loved by some, hated by others.
You died the death only sinners deserve.
You rose from the grave, victorious.

You are alive today.
You stand outside of time.

You enter our world as our Helper, Holy Spirit.
You remain God, yet become one with us.
You defeat the devil daily.
You fully forgive sin.
You are loved by some, hated by others.
You break the chains keeping sinners stuck.
You bring us new life, victorious.

You are alive today.
You stand outside of time.