Jim Class - Part 4

I was happy to get back into studying the book of James this week. I love the book of James. And we are in the middle of a series called Jim Class, J I M. We're going to class with the brother James, and he he teaches firm. He uh doesn't mind pointing out faults and failures and things that we need to think about, and I don't know about you, it's one of my favorite books of the Bible because I feel like it's so uniquely practical and direct in how it is with it. He wants us or encourages us to live our life. I think most everybody knows that he was the brother of Jesus. How would you like to have grown up in that household? I'm sure there was plenty of times that it was said to him, "Can't you not be more like Jesus?" Can't you just Can't look at your brother.

Just be like him. But I I I love how he got to see that life lived in front of him, and I feel like it plays into the words he has for us. And if you've written reading through the book of James, then you know the practicality that is there. If you haven't, I would encourage you to do that. We've got a few more weeks we're going to be in this book, and it's it's not a long book. Not not a lot of chapters there, but a lot of good information to challenge you. I feel like if I could summarize the the importance that James brings out in his book in one phrase, it would be the practice of patience. The practice of patience. I don't know about you, but I'm not always so good at being patient. And you would think that would be something that maybe you would get better with age, but I find it quite be the opposite.

Uh I find myself maybe being a little bit more impatient in things that didn't used to bother me. But as I get older, they bother me now. And I'm like, "Wow, why is it Why am I making such a big deal about this?" And I can I can hear James speaking to me and saying, "You need to calm down, Kevin. It's going to be okay." So, we're going to go to James chapter 3 tonight and start in verse number 1. We're going to spend the majority of our time in the first 12 verses of this chapter, and I feel like there's so many good things that are there, but specifically I feel like there's a repeated warning that James is pointing out and actually if you can remember back to me kicking this series off about 4 weeks ago in chapter 1 I feel like James is making a real point of making sure that we understand the power of the words that come out of our mouth.

I'm going to talk about that tonight. The fact I subtitled this feel the burn since we're going to gym class. Ever went to the gym and felt the burn? Somewhat similar but maybe different tonight. It's going to be good. James chapter 3 verse number 1 and tonight I normally always do my Bible reading in the New King James Version is my preferred version of the the Bible to read from and study in and most of my memory work is always in KJV or NKJV, but for tonight to put a little bit more of today's language on it and that's the reason I'm using it is to have some today's language in it. I'm going to use the New Living Translation. So James chapter 3 verse number 1 says, "Dear brothers and sisters not many of you should become teachers in the church for we who teach will be judged more strictly.

So here we go. We're starting off with a word to his people and I feel like he's making it really clear that people who are in a place of influence, teachers, and people that other people listen to, he says to them, "You going to need to be really really careful about the life you live and the words you say because you're going to be be judged more strictly." You don't know about you, but I started to sweat just a little bit already reading chapter 3 verse number 1. Anybody else getting a little anxious right now? Y'all alive? It's okay. We can have some fun tonight and still learn from the word of God. So loosen up. It's going to be good. Verse number 2. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. Can I get an amen? For if we could control our tongues, everybody say, "Oh my."

We would would perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. Wow, think about what he just said right there. If you could control your tongue, the rest of yourself would fall into line. I could almost just say amen and we could go home. Lesson learned right there. But he goes on, verse number three. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches, but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. Woo. I don't know about you, but I feel like he's coming at us tonight. He didn't sugarcoat it. He just went straight for the jugular right off the bat to deal with these things.

This is where I feel like James is laying the groundwork by naming something that everybody in this room is knows to be to be very, very true. And that is simply this, our words matter. Say that out loud with me. Our words matter. One more time. Our words matter. They matter. We're going to dive into this tonight. Our words have a huge impact. In fact, I'm a firm believer in this truth. Our words give shape to reality in a way that James is saying that we must pay close attention. You need to be serious about what you say. That doesn't mean you can't have fun, but it it is being mindful of what is coming out of my mouth because our words matter. He offers up to me what I feel like are a couple of funny metaphors, one about a horse and one about a ship.

He says both the destiny of the horse and the destiny of the ship are determined by this small but hugely significant piece of equipment. That the bridle steers the horse and the rudder steers the ship. In like manner, James says your words steer your life. I was curious and did a little research about words. In 1984, there was a British writer and a Scrabble fanatic. That'd be kind of an interesting way to be remembered, wouldn't it? Scrabble fanatic. By the name of Gyles Brandreth. And he predicted the average lifetime a person would speak 8 million and 60,000 words. Now, to give you a reference point for this, that would be the equivalent of you reading the Bible 100, no, excuse me, 1,110 times out loud. But I thought, is that number accurate?

So I kept digging, kept digging, and kept digging. And the best I could come up with from my research today from multiple sites is that the average North American citizen speaks about 12,700 words a day. Now, I would say that number has to go north of there in middle school girls. Just just throwing that out there. I I can speak from experience on this. I still have one. And my youngest daughter, she has to talk. Other people are not required for her to talk. She's still going to talk. But on average, from again, this is the best I could do. So So 12,700 words a day times 365 days in a year times the average North American lifespan of 79 years is three 366 million words. 366 million words. Think about that. That may seem a little bit insignificant, but if you take it as a whole, I want you to know that those words, those 366 million words, are shaping the trajectory of your life.

You may not think it, but I promise you they are shaping your world. Our words matter. They determine where you end up going. They determine what is being formed inside your life. Think about it. Your words can land you a job. Amen. I was just talking to sister Parker. She was telling us about our grads getting jobs and happy about all of our graduates getting jobs. Amen. Welcome to adulthood. Pomp and circumstance is over with. Now you get to learn about things called FICA. SSI. Yeah. ETO and all the other things that cause your heart burn. Your words can land you a job. Your words can build intimacy. They can build friendship. They can build community. Words can build family family culture. Your words can maybe have and I I know this is me have landed you in trouble.

Anybody in here willing to join me with their hand in the air that your words have landed you in trouble? Yeah. Yeah, we were all teenagers. Your words may have gotten you a date. Your words may have lost that same date. Yeah. Your words may have gotten you out of a speeding ticket. I remember one time I was running late and uh I got on to off of 840 on the 24 heading to Nashville. We were supposed to have a a dinner reservation and I was I was I was above the speed limit. And Chassity said there's a cop who just passed and sure enough there was a cop and he already has lights on as I passed him. So I I went ahead and pulled over and he did he just pulled out of his little spot, you know, and just got right behind me. He comes up and she's like, "I can't believe you're going to get a ticket."

I'm like, "I know. I'm sorry. We're late. I just feel bad about it." So he comes up to me and says, "Mr. Allen." Got my license. "Mr. Allen, is there a good reason why you were speeding?" I said, "Well, officer, today's my birthday and I was late for my own birthday party." He looks at my license and he says, "Happy birthday, Mr. Allen. Slow down." So sometimes your words can get you out of speeding tickets. Yeah. I'll never forget the day that Chassity sort of sealed our fate as a couple when she popped that big question, it sealed the deal for us. When she looked me in the eyes and she said, "Kevin, can I get you another bowl of ice cream?" She had my heart. Words matter. When we stop and think about it, it all makes sense. Words impact our lives.

They make a difference. It's important that we're mindful of this. Centuries before modern psychology was even a thing, scripture indicated that if you can get people to talking, they will begin to start understanding themselves. Some of you in this room are verbal processors, so you know what I'm talking about. Others of you are married to verbal processors, you know what I'm talking about. Words matter. Amen. The men are really quiet in the room right now. You're not in trouble, as long as you learn the lesson that words matter. Our words shape reality. As we keep reading, it becomes clear to me that in the verses 1 through 5, they sort of function as this groundwork where I, in my opinion, I feel like James is building towards. But if you go to the verse number 5, but especially that back half of that verse, he begins to introduce a new new way of thinking, a new metaphor, so to speak.

So, picking up halfway through verse number 5, it says, "But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire." Verse number 6, "And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. Ooh, my." It's a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. Man, James, let's just chill for a minute. This is intense. What's going on? What are we talking about? It's It's Well, it's truth. It's truth. We don't always like admitting it, and let's be honest. This is something that every one of us at one point or another struggle with. Is keeping our tongue under control. To me, when I read this, I feel like there's a lot happening in those words. James is comparing the tongue to a spark, a fire, and a flame.

This implication is that the words we speak do not just direct the course of our own lives, but they have this deep and resounding reality-altering implications for those around us. Like a fire. Think about that. Like a fire, it spreads. They're going to have an impact. Now, I feel like most of us in the room are smart enough, and we have a decent understanding about fire and how fire works. You know, you got to have oxygen for fire. You have something to ignite the fire, and you have something that burns. And if you have those three things, the triangle of fire, you get a fire. Now, I feel like for the vast majority of us, there's something fascinating about a fire. Anybody else enjoy just sitting around a campfire or fire just watching? It's very relaxing, isn't it?

It just kind of sort of draws you in. Now, for the pyromaniacs in the room, who like to set everything on fire, it's a different draw that's there. But I feel feel like James was drawing a conclusion based off of how uncontrollable and unpredictable fire really is. You know, even even our best efforts, we don't always know that we can completely control fire. And there's countless, endless hours of YouTube videos you can watch where we're complete and utter morons decide to blow themselves up for various reasons that are there because fire can be unpredictable. We see it, right? We see it happen. We see it like, "No, no, no, no, no. You dump 7 gallons of gas. Why would you light the match now?" Boom. They come out with no eyebrows, right? But James is connecting that same principle to our tongue.

That if we're not purposely being mindful of the words we're saying, our words can set things on fire. In other words, there can be reactions that happen or maybe a better way to say it is there is can be chain reactions, things that are set in motion based off of what we say. Has anybody in the room besides me said something in innocence, but by the time it got back to you it was completely misinterpreted and misrepresented from your original intent? No, it was your words. They were your words. They were never meant for the how it got used, but it was still your words that set off a chain reaction. Why? Because your words matter. They matter deeply. So much so that James spends quite a bit of time talking about this. Like a fire, our words will spread.

They have an impact. James is saying to us, "Understand that your words have a chain reaction quality. They can set in a motion a series of events, erratic, difficult to stop, destructive, not just for you, but for everyone around you if you're not careful." So many I feel like in this room understand this firsthand. Some of the Some of the people in the room Some of the stories that I'm even aware of and I'm not aware of everybody's story, but I know of some stories in this room to where you know all too well the effects of that chain reaction because you grew up in a destructive home. You grew up in a destructive relationship where the truth and affirmation was never spoken in love over you. Instead, it was derogatory. It was negative. You were always made to feel less than.

You were always made to feel inadequate. Words told you it time and time again that you were missing the mark. You had parents who always said they were disappointed in you no matter how hard you worked for something. And maybe you were part of a church that had strict words of legalism and you grew up with the sense of shame and you still struggle with that even today even though that was never what God has ever intended for anyone. And I could go on and on and on with those scenarios and I know that there are unique situations that that I'm not even aware of in this room today, but when I say these things you're immediately drawn to that moment where there were words that were said over you or around you or near you or by you or for you that set off a chain reaction that you're still struggling with today.

So, I say again, our words matter. Our words matter. So, let me ask you. It seems like a place for each of us to stop and to consider a question cuz you know I like asking you questions, right? It's kind of my thing. Let me ask a question, lay it on the table for each of us. Here's the question, what kind of realities are you giving shape with the words you speak every day? What kind of reality are you are you shaping because your words matter? Now, while you while while you're thinking about that, right? That's the question on the table. What reality is your words shaping every day of your life? How would your kids answer that question? How would the people who report to you at work answer that question? What about your spouse? What kind of chain reactions are you setting in the motion with the words that you say?

What did you set in motion today? What did you set in motion in the parking lot before you walked into this room? Amen, Pastor Caleb. You kind of stinging me. Yeah. It's what James does. He has a way of getting right down where we live and asking some really hard questions. And the question tonight is what reality is your words shaping every day? James continues his teaching. We'll go to verse number seven. He says this, people can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and God, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so, blessings and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.

I'm going to read that again. Blessings and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. So, as we consider the question, what kind of chain reactions are your words setting in motion? I feel like James gives us what he has drawn as two conclusions. Two possibilities, two options. He says with our words, we either bless the Lord or we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. Those are the options. Blessing or curse. And they're not stand-alone concepts. And And by that, what I mean is they're part of a larger narrative and a larger story that has really been around since the beginning of mankind. James is speaking to his audience. He's He's going after his listeners, which for today is you and I.

He's meeting us where we are. He's meeting us in our life. He's meeting us in our reality, and he's asking us some very difficult questions that are here in this grand story in which the words have the long-standing and significant impact. I want to draw our attention back to show you that this is nothing new. This has been going on since the very beginning of humanity. So, I will take you back to Genesis chapter 1, and I want you to follow along with me for just a minute because as I was studying the last couple days, something just leaped out at me in the scriptures that I never really thought about this way before. Don't you love it when that happens? The Bible's really great. You should read it. There's some good stuff in there. And every time I read it, I find something new.

That's what's so amazing. So, in Genesis 1 from the beginning we see the words have tremendous power cuz it starts off and says, "In the beginning God." And God created. And then it says, "And he spoke." And things happened. His words had meaning. Did you ever stop and think about that reality that he didn't physically do anything? He just spoke audibly and things happened. So, from the very beginning of the Bible as the story unfolds for us, we see the power that is in our words. Now, we're not God. But God starts off our story by showing his ability to speak things into existence. So, for this concept that I bring to you tonight to tell you that your words matter is not new. It's been there from the beginning because his words mattered. With his words he framed everything that is with his words.

But it gets better than that. I kept going backwards and forwards. I kept reading over the creation story that was there and just kept asking God, "Reveal to me and show to me what I'm missing, Lord. Your words have power, but is there a deeper meaning? Is there a deeper purpose that I can bring to your church and show?" From the beginning we see his words have tremendous power. When God speaks, it's not just conveying information, but rather things happen. These lasting realities come into existence. His word is life and it has an impact. So, when I go to Genesis 1, we're familiar with the story and God said. During the first 3 days, now if you have your scriptures, look at it. Just just pull your Bible out. I want to show you this. If you don't, get your phone out.

It's I'm giving you permission to get your phone out. If you get on Facebook, I hope you get a wart on your nose. But get on your phone. I want you to look at this with me. We're familiar with it. During the first 3 days, God speaks and with his words, he creates the day and night, right? That's day one. Day two, he speaks again and brings the the the sky into being. And day three, he speaks and and his words create the land and the sea. So, we're 3 days in and God has There's nothing and God takes nothing and makes something by speaking to it. But it gets better, right? Because This is really really good. And maybe this is just for me. Maybe this was just a little epiphany moment that Kevin had in his office this week, but I feel like this is huge.

We're 3 days in. But what happens on the next 3 days, days four through six? With each corresponding day, God fills Listen to me. God fills the void he spoke into existence during the first 3 days. The night and the day, on day number four, he fills with the sun and the moon. On day number five, the sky, he fills with birds. On day number six, the sea and the land, he fills with living creatures. These words were intended to tell us something that's very true about the character and the nature of our God. What we see is when we read through it in this lens, when God speaks, his words fill voids. There was nothing. And in nothing, he spoke something. 3 days of creating something, but those somethings were still incomplete. They were not yet what at all he intended for them to be, and he didn't stop.

But he goes on day four and he fills the voids that were there with more. Our God's words fill voids. Our words matter. His words matter. That's why you need to constantly be putting the word of God in you because we walk around often times feeling empty and hollow inside. Poured out because we as Chastity said so well Sunday in her message as she she she spoke to us, we are we are broken cisterns. And it leaks out of us. So, we got to constantly be pouring his word back into us because his words fill voids. That's why often times we find ourselves struggling with so many things because we're trying to put something in us that doesn't fill the void. It's the same way as you know that the advertising geniuses out there that say, "You know how yourself when you're hungry?

Eat a Snickers." I'm going to tell you right now a Snickers doesn't last. Cuz it's empty calories. Now, it's delicious when you when you eating it. Nougat and caramel. Peanuts and chocolate. I mean, wavy little top on it and it's delicious. I can smell one right now, Randy. Well, let's be honest. After about 20 minutes, I'm hungry again. There's a lot of things in this world that you can try to fill the void with, but it's not sustaining. You need the word of God. His word sustains you. Has a way of keeping you. Has a way of filling those voided empty spaces in our life like nothing else can. We need his word. When I read that to myself, I thought, "Man, when God speaks his word fills voids." He brings life. He's the kind of God who sets things in motion in time filling up all the empty spaces.

But then, I kept reading. You get down to verse number 27, it says this. This is right after he creates man. Listen to the words. Words are important. Your words matter. God's word matters. So, God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. There's a sermon right there for today. Then God blessed them. Did you catch that? After creation in 27, the very What was the What was the next thing God did? He created them and then he did what? He blessed. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So do it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on earth. Again, there's a pattern. Are you guys picking up on the pattern?

The God does something and then he comes back up and he fills it. He created and then he filled the void of space. He created man. I mean, you can go further in chapter two. It says the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth and he breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. Why? He created something but it wasn't full. It was empty. It was void and he breathed life into it because that's what God does. There's a pattern that is there. I love it when you recognize the patterns in the word Word of God is full of patterns. God brings something into being and then he affirms it. He has value and he uses his words to bless it. A.W. Tozer said it best the said it best in my opinion. He I'm quoting directly. The word of God is the breath of God filling the world with potential.

With potential. From the very beginning of scripture, we also see another story that unfolds in Genesis chapter 3. The serpent's deceptive. Now again, say this with me. Words. Your words matter. Your words matter. Words matter. With words, the serpent convinces the man and the woman to eat from the tree claiming that it will be the best thing for them. They will be like God. He's giving them words but his words are empty words. It leads to death. Talk about another chain reaction. Look at what those words set in motion. From there, Adam used his words to blame the woman. Eve used her words to blame the serpent. And it's never stopped because we continue to do this in 2026. Blame. The chain reaction that was set in motion in Genesis chapter 3 is still going on today, but we have to stop it.

And understand the potential that we have with our words. This is where James is bringing the focus back to us. James chapter 3 is asking the question. He's asking you and I, when we read it, which chain reaction were you and I be a part of? Which one are we going to perpetuate? Which one are we going to be involved with? Which one are we because we can choose. I can choose what words I use. I have control of those things. As I say to my daughters all the time, you can't control the people, but you can control you. Which chain reaction do you choose to live with your words every day? Will you speak words that bless, that move into empty spaces and bring life, or do you use the words that have a different story? Instead of being motivated by God's story, motivated instead by your own little kingdom, and your own ego, and your own deception, and your own truth, and your own anger, and your own vulnerability, because it's just too risky.

Which one are you choosing? Are you going with how you feel over what you know to be true? Cuz your feelings will mislead you. To me, James makes it clear, choosing this way will ultimately lead to our own demise. I go back to his word. He says, "The tongue set on fire in itself by hell." Pretty powerful, straight words to you and I that we have that ability through the tongue. Is there any question now or doubt as to why God chose the tongue for the sign that you're completely surrendered to him with the infilling of the Holy Ghost? The one thing that James says you can't control. That you have to surrender over to him. Yeah, the pattern, right? There's the pattern. And we got to go back to the pattern as laid out before us. The word there used in hell in verse number six is the Greek word Gehenna.

It's actually a valley outside of Jerusalem. James wrote to the city of Jerusalem. He lived there his entire life. He'd been very familiar with it. Tradition had it that there were certain kings that would offer sacrifices of their own kids there. Eventually it became a trash heap. I remember the first time I went to Madagascar. Uh Ryan DeVol was with me. We went over there. We were making our way to the national campgrounds where we winded up in this mountain and we had to we passed by this where you could see around the bend. There was a big big deep ravine over there. And smoke's bellowing up out of it. It smelled awful. I asked Chris Richardson, the missionary, I was like, "What is that place over there?" He said, "That's the trash heap."

He said, "People just come up here and they'll drag dead dead animals out there and throw it out there on the fire and let it burn." So, when I went to read this, I have a vivid image of what that would look like in my mind and this is what he says that that fire was set on. James is issuing this strong warning that if you're not careful your tongue can land you there. If you're not careful your tongue will land you there. Some of you may have said things you wish you could have taken back. Anybody ever been there? Yeah. The reality is usually the moment it escapes your lips you regret it. Right? You feel it. You know what you're feeling? You're feeling life rip away. Because you didn't speak life. You spoke death. You set something in motion.

Why? Because our words matter. Sometimes we say things that bring death and separation and loneliness. To me, loneliness is some ways like being in hell, separated. All because we couldn't control our tongue. All because we just had to say it. No, you didn't have to say it. You allowed it to be said. And when you did, you set something in motion. You set a chain reaction off. But at the same time, I feel like there's not a one of us in this room that hasn't been a part of speaking life into someone else. You affirmed them. You encouraged them. You spoke words of love. And in those moments, there was a connection. And when it when when it left your mouth, you felt it. But it was different. It wasn't a hurt. It wasn't a sting. It's more of a of a joy.

It was light. Even refreshing. What what what what It's It's life. You You spoke life. Our words matter. What are you choosing to speak every day? What what narrative are you writing? What chain reactions are you setting off? Because it matters. You don't live in a vacuum. And how much damage have we all collectively caused because we were so caught up because something wasn't going the way we wanted it to go? Or we were succumbing to pressures or whatever. You fill in the narrative there. But, for whatever the reason is, you lost and spoke death instead of life. And maybe maybe for a moment maybe for a moment you felt good, but it never lasts. It never ever last. It always is followed with a sting. Cuz that's what death brings. Always. So, I don't know about you, but as I was reading through this chapter again, I know I'm the one studying it out to bring it to you to deliver what I feel like God has for us out of this.

But, as I was reading it, I had to keep asking God to forgive me. Cuz as I was going through this narrative myself, in my mind I was replaying conversations. I was replaying moments. I was replaying words that I had spoke, and they were not words of life. They were words of death. And And even though it had been time that had passed, I was still feeling the sting of that pain that I caused, the chain reaction that I set off. I said, "God, please please forgive me for not understanding, not really processing how much weight my words carry, that I, instead of speaking life, spoke death." It's very sobering to think through that. Here's the thing about chain reactions. Many of you know Many of you know this, right? They perpetuate hurt. Many of us in this room have experienced that.

We've been a victim of erratic, unpredictable, burning-induced pain. And it's hard to find your way out of that particular story. But, James ends this passage of scripture with this statement, verse number 10. Out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursing. My brethren, these things are not so to be. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives and grape vine bear figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt water and fresh. In other words, I'm going to read to you what I typed. We can only speak words from where we are and who we are. And who we are has been largely shaped by the words that have been spoken to us. And by whatever chain reaction you and I have been a part of.

That's why there have been and probably even are instances in this room of generational death marches. Because generations have spoke death instead of life. And all of us are the sum total of the experiences that we have lived out, both for the good of the bad. So, we can either ride the flow that we're stuck in or we can choose to swim the other direction. And I'll tell you, when you swim against the current, it's hard. But, it doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile cause. But, you can change. Just because that's how your family has always been is not a reason why your family always has to be that way. You be the change agent. You be the one that starts the life speaking. You be the one who recognizes that my words matter. And even though that's been my experience and what I have been raised with and what I have gone through, I refuse to let that be what I continue to do in my life and those that I have influence and power over.

I will evaluate every day what lays on my table, who love my words are actually impacting. Am I speaking life? Am I speaking death? What reality What reality is my conversation shaping? What reality is my words forming? And it's never too late to start this. I don't care how old you are. It's never too late. Start speaking life. Not death. So, I'm going to get into our message. That was the opener. I got a couple of points for us here. Cuz I feel like this is the real the real work of gym class. The first and perhaps the most essential observation from the scripture is this. If you're taking notes, here's a note for you. We have to change where we stand. We have to change where we stand. Psalms 19 and 14. Familiar passage. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight.

Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Now, I want you to notice the first part of this prayer in this petition that the psalmist is writing to God would align with what we say. The literal words that come out of our mouth should need to align with his will and purpose. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable. Oh God, don't let me speak anything that's not acceptable. Don't let me Don't let me Don't let me think on anything, God, that doesn't go with what your will is. That's part one. But, the second part of the verse, the prayer makes a crucial acknowledgement. He says, "The Lord is my rock and my redeemer." Two things that have to go together. We have to start with saying the same acknowledgement. We must understand that we receive God's blessings and therefore I can bless others.

Because I receive God's blessings, therefore I can bless others. I taught this several years ago that you and I are meant to be conduits of love, not reservoirs. As Bishop Jakes would say, a reservoir, if you store it up, you get no more. You got to let it flow. You have to. And far too many times, we get very self-focused and self-centered, especially when we've entered into a season when things aren't ideal. Anybody facing an uh an uh situation that's not ideal? Yeah, that happens, right? And then we got to be careful in the less-than-ideal situations that we don't store up the blessings of God. I can bless others because I am blessed. But the moment I stop blessing others, the flow gets cut off. Cuz I'm meant to be a conduit for the love of God.

So that when I see others, even if I'm having a bad day, I don't take it out on my friend. Just because things haven't gone my way, doesn't mean that I can't be encouraging to somebody else who's had a really good windfall in their life and be happy for them. But it all comes back to me understanding where I am. Cuz even on my worst day, I'm still blessed. Now, I know that's not popular teaching, right? That's not going to get my YouTube channel any hits. But I'm going to tell you this, if your worship of God is solely dependent on everything going your way, you've missed the point. You're not a worshiper. True worshipers worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. And the truth is, you're blessed. We are blessed. We're breathing air right now, we're blessed.

And your car may have a flat tire in the parking lot. The oil change light may be on. There may be something going on, but I'm telling you, you're blessed. You're blessed. Uh you're not getting it yet yet and you don't Blessed means you worship always. There's not a day that you don't worship. Even when your head hurts and your toe hurts and your foot hurts and your shoulder's not 100% yet, you still you still worship God. Why? Because you're blessed. You're blessed. You don't allow the complaints to come out, you stop them. You stop them. You don't get in that mindset. You don't get attitude just because it's not going your way. Doesn't mean life's still not good for you. You're blessed. Only when you have that mindset can you allow the blessings to flow through you.

Now why is it that we find ourselves with those people who are always joyful, happy, even though things aren't going well, agitating? Let's be honest. There's some folks in this church, I'm not going to name any names, but they are just always bubbly happy. And I know their life isn't that great. Not by my standards. But they've realized something that the rest of us struggle with. That every day I get up, I am blessed cuz I have an opportunity to worship God. And because of that, I can be a blessing to other people. We find it defensive because let's be honest, sometimes we like to wallow in it a little bit. As my my papi used to say, we like to get down in the mullygrubs. I don't even know what a mullygrub is, but it sounds pretty bad. Now be honest.

There are some days you just like to wallow around in the misery, don't you? You just want to be sad. Things didn't go your way. You just want to You just want to sit in the corner and suck your thumb. That's not living a blessed life. That's not allowing you to bless other people. That is not you and I'll get I'm going to get down to where it really really really stings. That is not you being the ambassador you're supposed to be. There's not an out clause on the days when my head hurts. He's still good. My feelings do not diminish his goodness. Unless we first let the truth of God's love and redemption find its way to the very core of our being, our struggle with words will forever be a losing battle. Why? Because we're going to be stuck in that story.

Stuck house, stuck by my own feelings. But an awareness that the truth of God's heart towards us, that's where we find our identity. That's where I found my security. Without it, we become reactive and defensive and we always feel like we have something to prove and we will tear down others and we will boast and we will gossip and on and on and on and on it goes. Our words will bring death, not life. The proclamation that the psalmist gave is, "The Lord is my rock and my redeemer." It's the psalmist's way of saying, "I'm okay. I know where I stand, therefore I'm free to bless." I feel like that's why James is making an important distinction here and acknowledges the importance of our words being used to worship God because when we worship, we recognize what God has done for us.

As I've said before, you cannot be depressed and worship God. You can't. You can't do it. It's an impossibility. Cuz as long as you're depressed, you're focusing on you. Worship, if you truly worship, your worship goes to him. Off of your problems, I'm not saying you don't have real problems. I'm not saying there's not a reason that you're depressed. But as long as you're stuck on what's not right, you're not worshiping. You may say words of worship, but you're not worshiping. If you worship here and you're worshiping here, you're focused on him. It's an impossibility for you to be sad. That's why you can't worship and it doesn't make sense. Again, we're going to cry and we can lament and when there's a lot of psalms written about lament, there's a whole lot of times that David said, "God, where are you at?"

So, I'm not saying that you can't have some of those moments, but you can't live there. You can't live there. If that If If that's where you live, that becomes the reality. That becomes the narrative, and that's not the truth. That is what the enemy set in motion in the garden. Making it about you. But if you start making it about him, he is life. And if you make it about life, life's what you get. If you make it about death, death's what you get. Maybe you just need to stop and say to yourself sometimes, "The Lord is my rock and my redeemer." He is my rock and my redeemer. I mean, you get out there and if your car don't start, "The Lord is my rock and my redeemer." Look at your flat tire, "The Lord is my rock and my redeemer." Now I'm going to put some air in you.

So, the first observation is we have to see ourselves differently. So, my first point was simply, you have to change where you stay, and my second point is, you have to change what you see. James doesn't offer a direct input about how we are to do this, but he gives us a hint in verse number nine of chapter three. Says this, "Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God." Talking about the tongue. The implication here is that we should not curse. Curse That's not Yeah, it's not a word we don't use a lot in 2026, right? So, I I went in broke it down the best I could in our language. To wish and hope doom in someone's life. Well, I hope their cat dies. Yeah. And someone cuts you off in traffic, "I hope the cop pulls you over."

Oh, don't act like you don't have your fair share of cursing. That doesn't mean you actually have to say curse words. Now, if you're saying that, that's another sermon for another day. Some of you know. But if you have thoughts of, well, I hope your tire falls off. Or I hope you get fired. And what what are you doing? What are you with the same tongue that you try to give praise to God? James is saying, how do how do you get how do you get bitter water and sweet water out of the same well? How does that work? How do you get salt water and fresh water out of the same spot? It doesn't work. To be an image bearer of God is to have his representative likeness in us. James is saying each time we curse another person, it's though we are cursing God himself.

I know what you're saying there. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know the thoughts in the room right now. Well, you don't you don't know the woman I live with. You don't know my 13-year-old smart mouth. I may. You don't know the boss I work for. You don't know you know you you you're probably right. I I don't know all the circumstances. I'm sure, you know, you're like, you know, if you knew I mean it's like I'm living with Adolf Hitler. We we we all have trying people in our life. That does not negate the principles of God. It doesn't take them away. I'm going to give you a real life lesson. I'm going to help you out for the rest of your life. I don't care how old you are right now. I'm fixing to help you out. You ready? It's a principle that your mama should have taught you a long time ago, but you didn't listen.

So, I want you to listen to me. This is this is probably one of the most valuable things that I've ever said in this room. Are you listening to me? This is I'm being serious with this. This isn't funny. This is it's going to sound funny, but it's serious. You are not the exception to the rule. Okay? We all think we are. You are not the exception to the rule. Your life circumstances is not so unique that is the one thing that God did not cover in his word. I'm sorry. I love you. I hate you going through it, but you're not unique that way. You got unique fingerprints and eye prints and voice prints. You're a piece of work. But you are not the exception to the rule. So stop thinking like that. It's causing you to live in death and not life. The word of God was given to you to live out.

James is drawing your attention to it. It matters what you say it over yourself. Some of you have such negative talk over yourself. Stop it. Whether you believe this or not, this is a true statement I say, you are a child of the king. He purchased you at Calvary. He paid a very high price for you. Live up to it. Stop saying the negative things. Speak life over yourself. And start living the life he purchased for you. Quit making excuses and acting like you're the exception to the rule. Here's the truth. We all have hard days. We all have days we want to give up. We all have days we don't like anybody. We all have those days, but we don't quit. The Lord is my rock and my redeemer. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Speak life. I heard the motto doing good things is hard. Our Our family motto at our house, the Chastains and I, is we do hard things. Our girls like to fuss sometimes. We just look at them and say, "You know what? We do hard things. That's what we do here. If you don't want to, you you can you can move out. Get your own place, but here we do hard things. We don't always like it, but we do hard things." Life brings hard things. You know, our culture is painting a picture and and writing you a a check that it can't cash. I'm sorry, it's not always your way, Burger King. It's just not. That's why they went bankrupt almost. Had to fire the king. I'm running out of time. I got more notes. To change our vision so that we see the image of God in others is difficult, especially when that image seems to be buried way, way, way down in there.

But here's the beautiful reality, and it's so important. When we change our vision and speak words that affirm the image of God, it has a way of bringing that person into focus for who they really are. I'll be honest with you, some of you are hard to love. Bible didn't say I had to like you. It said I had to love you. I don't know which one's worse. But I have learned that if I remind myself they're a child of the king, it has a way of refocusing the value back to where it's supposed to be. Our words matter. Say it with me, our words matter. Last point, I'm going to bring this to a close. We have to change what we say. We have to practice being people who speak words of blessings. But before you speak, you got to ask yourself, "What I'm fixing to say, is this going to be encouraging?

Am I building somebody up or am I tearing somebody down?" The word of God says that you can speak the truth, but it says to do it how? In love. Well, I'm just telling it like it is. That's just what the truth is. Well, yeah. It says speak the truth in love. Have you learned how to do that? Some of you have way too much fun speaking the truth, and there's no love involved. Am I communicating the best interest of the person I'm speaking to? Does what I say align itself with God's commandment that I love? Consider these things before you speak to your co-worker in the meeting, before you fire off randomly at somebody on your social media post, before you fuss at the waiter because something wasn't quite the way it was supposed to be. Like, think.

Sometimes it just doesn't have to be about you. Maybe that person's hanging on by a thread. Maybe you have an opportunity in that moment the difference between life and death in how you react. And you are the ambassador. How are you bearing his image? With the same tongue, you can speak life or you can speak death. Make it a goal that every person you interact with this week will be better. What if that was your goal? I mean, it's Wednesday, right? You guys basically have two more work days. I don't think that's too high bar to ask, right? What if What if that's your goal as we leave here that everybody else I interact with or release this week, my goal is to make them better. That they'll come away with a blessed understanding that God loves them.

As I end, I want to pray for us. I want to pray for us to be honest with ourselves. As I said, this week as I was putting this together, there were there were several moments I had to just stop and put my head in my hands. I had to ask God to forgive me. Cuz I'm guilty at times of speaking death and not life. And that's not what I'm asked to do. It's not what you're asked to do. Our words matter. Will you pray with me? Jesus, ever since the beginning of time, God, you have been a life giver. I want to take a moment and just let the reality of that fact settle in our minds and our hearts. God, you came that we would have life and life abundantly, but I'm afraid often times, Lord, when things don't go the way we want it to, we become anything but living an abundant life.

We become caught up in speaking death. God, I pray that you would help us to stand confidentially confidently in your love. Being led by your spirit in all that we do, Lord, that we would evaluate every moment before we open our mouth to speak and ask ourselves the question, am I speaking life or death? God, give us the strength and the confidence to see people like you see people. To be filled with encouragement and fullness of life. God, I ask for your help that Will be able to switch the narratives when we need to to get past our own feelings and emotions and hurts and hiccups and hang-ups and realize Lord we represent you everywhere we go. Help us do it well. We can only do it or being led by you. Our rock and our redeemer. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.