Sunday, February 6, 2011

Want to Know a Secret - Part 3

Hello,

Today I want to focus on sharing knowledge, and the thin line between a special secret and gossip. Some thing are black and white, or yes and no, some are not. I want us to find the balance between sharing a special tidbit of knowledge with a Sister or friend and passing on information that is hurtful, harmful and or deadly. I know that sounds harsh but let me explain. Often times in God's word, He references death as a consequence for an action. Now in some cases it can mean physical death, but more importantly it is referencing our spiritual deaths. Our spiritual life and health is the most important thing we have. It is what governs our physical health, prosperity, well being and life.

Deuteronomy 30:15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. 17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. (NLT)

In a nut shell, if we stay within God's boundaries, we are safe and protected. I have this visual of when you put a baby in a playpen to keep them from getting into things they shouldn't get into. That's what God is trying to do for us with His word.

Webster defined Gossip as: 1. a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others. 2. a rumor or report of intimate nature.

What does God say about Gossip:

Exodus 23:1 You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Psalm 15:1-3 A psalm of David - Lord, who may dwell in your holy hill? 2 He who walks uprightly in his heart, 3 He who does not back bite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach to his friend.

So what do we do? Meditate on God's word. Confess it over ourselves daily. Here are some scriptures I came up with, spend some time digging into God's word and find some for yourself also.

Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips.

Remember the part about not letting our ears be trash cans, guarding what we hear? Faith comes from what we hear, good or bad. Want faith in good things?

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Romans 6:15-23 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)


Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Remember - Seed (God's Word) Time (you reading and confessing it over your life) and then comes the Harvest.

I hope this has helped you to realize, having to know everything that is going on around you, is not really as important as you thought it was. Sometimes it is better to be left out of that loop. With everything there is balance and I pray that everyone that reads this will ask God to show them the balance for their life.

Blessings,
Lynn