Everyday Joe Ministry

I know that I’m getting old but there used to be a saying. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” I understand the idea behind the saying and in some ways I wish it would come back around.

Today in America everyone is offended by anything anybody says. Oh, you hurt my feelings. I can’t believe you would say that. Your not sensitive to who I am today. The reason I say today is because they seem to change what or who they are day by day. Honestly, I’m not trying to offend anyone but I can’t keep up with what is the new Wokeness.

I think we need to grow a tougher skin and stop letting everything offend us. Your not going to die just because someone used a racial slur. Trust me, you will survive if your vegan meal is interrupted by the duck call of a duck hunter. Or if a tree huger calls you a cannibal because you ate something that once had a face. Get over it, quit crying in your Grits (Maize if your not from the south), grow up and act like a Man (or woman, whichever the case may be). When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: But when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11.

So as I move into the real topic of discussion, please understand what words I am talking about. It’s not freedom of speech. I believe vary much in Freedom of speech. It is a God given right, in my way of seeing it. You have the right to say whatever you want to say, no matter how wrong you are. A preacher I know said “you can think whatever you want to but let me tell you what God and I think”. I Say “You can say what you want to but let me tell you what God and I say”. Ok what I say is not so important but God’s Word is everything. Psalms 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is Flawless; He shields all who take refuge in him.

I am not talking about something that is in your head or comes flying out your mouth. I am talking about the words of the Heart. See life is in the words. Wars are started by words. People are killed by words. But people are healed also by words. Nations are started by words. Once again quote John Wayne “Mon-sewer, Words are what men live by, Words they say and mean”. How good is your word. When you say I will, do you? When you say I won’t, do you not. What comes out of your heart is what defiles a person Jesus said. Can people trust you. When you say something do people role their eye and think this man can’t tell the truth. One of my favorite saying about a someone that just can’t be honest is “he would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than to stand on the ground and tell the truth”. What is your word worth? It is the measure of a man. It is your witness. people know your heart by what you say.

Can people say this about you? The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130 Ok Joe, the words that we live by matter. But what words? So glad you asked. The word of God is our example. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God 3. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. Jesus Christ is the the Word, the word to live by. As a matter of fact without him we are not alive. We are dead men spewing filth from our mouths.

So if we are to live and walk as Christ our words should be his words. Luke 11:28 He Replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Words we say and mean. So what words should we live by? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Philippians 2:14-16 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation”. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (Jesus)

Years ago I heard of a women that dropped the jaws of the preacher and all the people of the congregation when she stood up and said “I would rather stand on the word of God then to be in Heaven. She remembered Jesus is the Word and this Word will never pass away. If everyone new every word you said, and you was held accountable, what would you say? What wouldn’t you say? God know our thoughts and Our words are recorded. Watch what you say. Let everything that comes out of your mouth lift up the body of Christ. Let ever word be True and Lie not. If you say it mean it and if you don’t mean it don’t say it. Pretty simple, wright? I have to admit, I am still a work in progress myself. But I need to always remember my word is my bond and I am bound in Christ Jesus. That’s my Word Today.