Words Have Meaning. Saunas and the Psalms. Update.

Words Have Meaning

Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

“Keeping your word is important to God. The ability to speak, to make agreements, and to make things happen with words is one of the ways in which we were created in God’s image. He created through speech, and He relates to us by speech. When God spoke, the universe was. His interaction with us has primarily been through the spoken word and its fulfillment: the prophets, preachers, and most importantly, through the Word made flesh in the form of Jesus.

When we speak, like God, we make things happen. We create. We can change the universe by opening our mouths. “If you will say unto this mountain, ‘Be moved and cast into the sea,’ it shall be done.” Notice that Jesus did not say if we ask God to move the mountain. He said we can speak directly to the mountain, and it will obey. Our words have tangible effects on the world around us. Even if you speak without intent, there may be power in the mere sounds. The more significant your words, the more significant the consequences are sure to be.

If you say, “This country is going down the tubes,” that might only be your observation of what you see around you, but it isn’t necessarily true. By putting it into words in that manner, you reinforce a negative outlook in yourself and the people around you, causing you to behave as if the country is already lost. You are making a statement of faith that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Don’t say that America is doomed and leave it at that, especially not if you believe it to be true. Rather say, “America is doomed if we don’t repent and return to God and His Law.” You will accomplish three things by modifying your speech in this manner:

1. You will reinforce in yourself and those around you that there is a way out for America. If Nineveh could be saved, then so can America.
2. You will reinforce belief in the truth that America’s redemption will come only from God, and that He respects and rewards nations who obey Him.
3. Your words, spoken in faith, will have power to change reality.

Remember that your positive faith is in competition with the negative faith of millions of others, so it is important for all those who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to speak in unity and in favor of repentance and obedience. We must not allow the voices of unbelievers to dictate our future.

In the end, it is possible that America’s demise is necessary in God’s overall plan. In that case, there is nothing we can do or say to prevent it. Like the national repentance of Israel under Josiah’s leadership, the most we could accomplish is a reprieve. That isn’t reason to give up hope, because we don’t know what the future holds. That generation or two of delay might mean the ultimate salvation of millions and the greater glory of God’s Kingdom.

Be careful what you say. Don’t speak hopeless negativity against yourself and your people. Let your words be full of encouragement and hope and repentance.

Words have meaning, frequently more meaning than we will ever know.”  From: http://www.americantorah.com/2014/07/19/words-have-meaning/

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Saunas and the Psalms

What do saunas have to do with a passage in the Psalms?

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/pqP1v0CS5d8

[Steve Myers] “Have you ever been in a sauna? I had an experience one time. I had never been in a sauna before, went in there, and it is overwhelming. I found out maybe I’m a little claustrophobic. Maybe that temperature and all the humidity in there was not for me. I was only in there a minute or so, and it’s, like, let me out. Open that door. And suddenly, oh, you can breathe again. And it was, like, this is fantastic. It was more fun getting out of the sauna than ever, for me, getting into it. Because I needed the breathing room. I just couldn’t take that pressure and that humidity.

And, you know, when you think about that, life is kinda like that at times. We may feel like we are in a compressed kind of a situation where humidity and stress of this world really weighs on us. And there’s an interesting passage that you could consider if you ever feel like this. It’s over in Psalm 4. Right at the very beginning. It kinda gives us this picture of this sauna of life, and how we can really get some breathing room. And it begins like this. It says, “Hear me when I call, oh God of my righteousness.” That’s where all righteousness is, with God. Then it goes on and says, “You have relieved me in my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” And I kind of envision opening that sauna door and getting out of all of the stress and the challenges, of the weight that might weigh on us, and getting out into the open where we can breathe again.

And when we turn to God, that’s really what He’s telling us. That He relieves distress. He relieves the challenges and stress that can weigh on us. In fact, at the very end of this Psalm, it says, “I will both lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety.” You want peace in your life? You want to have that relief that only God can give? Call out to Him. He will hear. That’s the great part. Hear me when I call, oh God. And He does hear. And He is a God that gives us breathing room.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/saunas-and-the-psalms

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Update.

Still no church, so I watched sermons on the computer on the Sabbath. 

On the Monday I drove to Brenham (TX) and see if the drive there was more relaxing than the one to College Station.  It was a long hilly country road and as soon as you got to the brow of a hill, there lay a ribbon of more miles of country road ahead.  I thought I was never going to get there  Then I found out that the HEB and Walmart are way off on the opposite side of Brenham, so, of course, I got lost.  The lady at the Visitor’s Center marked my route on a map and I finally got outta there and home. 

I wish we had better stores here in Navasota.  It is mostly Victorian houses and antique stores so the town wants to stay quaint, and not commercial.  Even the Walmart is just a tiny little store, with no tires or groceries, not that I bought Walmart groceries anyway. There isn’t even a health food store.  For so many things you have to drive at least 20 miles to get to a big grocery store or big box store.

The organic vegetables that I had bought needed to be cooked, so I sautéed some on the stove, roasted some, made some in crockpots, and then froze most of them in Mason jars.  So now I am stocked up on cooked food, but then I usually am.

As I had decided to keep the window unit, I had to make space for it in my storage unit, so I took an old beat-up trunk that I was going to restore, to the mission here, and had a look-see in their thrift shop. I try to see what they have once a week anyway.  I am still looking for an armoire.

My oldest son, Peter, turned 63 on Friday.  Many Happy Returns, I remember that day 63 years ago very well.  Also on Friday, Cherry and I studied the church’s Bible Study for this week, even though there wasn’t going to be a service there the next day.  Then we went on a quick trip to this little Walmart. She wanted to get a book, and I needed to return some shorts that I had bought in Brenham.  Even though they were the same size, they were not made by the same manufacturer and didn’t measure the same as the ones that I had bought before.

Even though there wasn’t a service at the church, I went over there this morning anyway.  An elder and his wife are there every Sabbath morning to check the mail and receive any visitors, even if there is no church service.  The lady who usually sets up the Zoom Bible study wasn’t there, and we couldn’t get the sound to work on Zoom on their phone, so we had our own Bible study, which was very interesting.  Later a few more showed up to go to a park for a community program especially for the local kids.  It was good to be around these good folks.

The sermon was live on Facebook as usual, but we will have to watch it when we get home because we all had trouble hearing it on the elder’s phone today.