The Word For Today

There is a little phrase repeated 436 times in the Bible: 'It came to pass.' Whatever trial you are going through today, remind yourself, 'It came to pass - not stay.' If the fulfilment of the vision God has given you seems to be taking longer than you thought, remind yourself 'it will come to pass'!

In his biography, God in My Corner, two-time world heavyweight champion George Foreman tells a story of an elderly woman who was asked her favourite Scripture verse. She replied: 'And it came to pass.' She explained why: 'I know that whenever a trial comes, it doesn't come to stay; it comes - to pass.' And the Scripture on the flip side of this coin reads: 'Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion' (Philippians 1:6 NIV). In other words, he will bring it to pass! Either way, God always finishes what he starts. 'The vision is yet for an appointed time...Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come [to pass]' (Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV).

Battling an illness that threatened his life, and enemies who wanted to take his throne, David turned to the Lord for help. And God didn't disappoint him. Read these two Scriptures and stand on them: 'Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning' (Psalm 30:5 NLT). 'You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever' (Psalm 30:11-12 NLT)!

Nearly all key relationships in your life can be broken down into three broad categories: confidants, constituents and comrades. Let's look at each...

(1) Confidants. These are the people whose relationships with you are lifelong. They love you unconditionally, stand by you and have your back in good times and bad. Your best interest is their number-one priority. They never seek to use what they know about you for their own gain or throw your secrets back in your face. Paul said concerning Timothy: 'I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character' (Philippians 2:20-22 NKJV). (2) Constituents. These people share the same goals, values and principles as you, but they aren't always there for you. But having constituents in your life is important. They contribute energy, passion and enthusiasm. And you can work with them to accomplish common goals and build bridges. Just be sure not to expect constituents to have the loyalty of confidants. They are with you for a reason and a season, and then they move on. (3) Comrades. These are people who are attracted to you because of what they are against. They may not get to know you, or even like you, but on the field of battle, they join you as soldiers to defeat a common enemy. Once the fight is over, the relationship ends or at least cools. Your only bond is your common enemy.

So get to know who's in your life: confidants, constituents and comrades.

More than a hundred years ago, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said, 'The chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, Heaven without hell.' That's as true now as it was then.

Paul exhorted the leaders of the Ephesian church to declare, 'The whole plan of God' (Acts 20:27 GWT). He said: 'Look after yourselves and everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock he bought with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I am gone, others will come like fierce wolves to attack you. Some of your own people will tell lies to win over the Lord's followers. Be on your guard! Remember how...I kept warning you with tears in my eyes' (Acts 20:28-31 CEV).

On the eve of Paul's execution, he passed the baton to his successor Timothy with these words: 'Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine...they will turn their ears away from the truth, and turn aside to myths...keep your head in all situations...duties of your ministry' (2 Timothy 4:2-5 NIV).

The Bible says, 'A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And...the tongue is a flame of fire' (James 3:5-6 NLT). People living in warmer climates know the danger of ravaging bushfires driven by desert winds and can readily identify with these words: 'See how great a forest a little fire kindles' (James 3:5 NKJV)! A single spark from a match has started many massive fires. Spreading faster and farther than we might ever imagine, that kind of fire destroys homes and businesses worth millions of dollars, leaving a scorched landscape and devastated lives.

Similarly, how many reputations have been ruined by a careless word? The impact of our words spreads far and fast, especially in our digital age. A word tweeted anywhere can be retweeted all over the world in seconds. Like a fire, that word can get out of control and do irreparable damage. Hence James wrote: 'No man can tame the tongue' (James 3:8 NKJV). But God can. 'The fruit of the Spirit is...self-control' (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV).

The Holy Spirit can take a tongue that peddles gossip and turn it into one that brings glory to God. He can take a tongue that spews bitterness and turn it into one that speaks blessing. Gossip is saying something behind someone's back that you would never say to that person's face. Flattery is saying something to someone's face that you would never say behind the person's back. And both are wrong. So let's join the psalmist in praying: 'May these words of my mouth...be pleasing in your sight, Lord' (Psalm 19:14 NIV).

The Bible tells us: 'If we could control our tongues, we...could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth' (James 3:2-3 NLT). If you've ever bridled a horse, you know the bridle that slips over the horse's head and behind its ears has a 'bit', a metal bar that goes in its mouth and lies on top of its tongue. When the rider wants the horse to stop, he pulls back on the reins and the bit presses down on its tongue. The rider who controls the horse's tongue can actually control the horse's whole body - steer it to the right or left and bring it to a stop with a simple pull of the reins.

Likewise, your tongue needs to come under the control of the Holy Spirit. A horse can't bridle itself; the one who masters it puts on the bridle. Try as you might, you can't control your tongue through your own efforts. Haven't you said things you wish you could take back? Haven't you caused trouble for yourself and others by some of the things you've said? And haven't you said things that, in hindsight, you can't believe actually came out of your mouth?

The trouble is that what you say does not originate in your mouth but in your heart: 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks' (Matthew 12:34 NKJV). So having a Spirit-controlled tongue is the result of being Spirit-filled and having a heart committed to doing God's will in every circumstance.

There is a saying in baseball: 'Three strikes and you're out.' We tend to play life the same way. We give people two or three chances, but no more. But God never gives up on us; it's not in his nature.

When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, Peter presumed, 'Seven times?' But Jesus set the gold standard: he upped it to 'seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:22 NLT). Then he ups the ante even more with a story of a master who forgave his servant a 10,000-talent debt. Let's do a currency exchange. One talent totalled 180 months' wages - that's fifteen years! And that's just one talent. So a 10,000-talent debt totalled 150,000 years of wages. Using today's average life expectancy, it would have taken his servant 2,232 lifetimes to pay off the debt. Of course, the average life expectancy in the first century was less than half than now, so it would have taken twice as many lifetimes to pay off the debt. Let's put this debt into dollar value. Using a minimum wage of $23.50, for a nine-to-five job, Monday to Friday, that's an annual income of about $48,000. This may not seem like much, but when you multiply it by 150,000 years, it totals about $7,200,000,000. That's a huge debt paid off!

Through what Jesus accomplished on the cross, your sin debt - past, present and future - is paid in full. That's a truth you can be confident in and stand on.