Southwest First Assembly of God Church

Psalm 19.14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and Redeemer.”

Thought of the day: Galatians 5 lists the Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I’ve always thought of the Fruit of the Spirit as a term to describe a person living under the influence of the Holy Spirit. These nine qualities are not only to describe our actions; they are to describe our words. Proverbs 12.13 states “the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 18.21 states “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Choose your words carefully because someone is listening. Those of you who remember the song, sing along with me: “O be careful little mouth what you say……”

Amos 1.9-10 This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.  Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, (10) I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses.’

Thought of the day: The people of Tyre were facing judgment from God because they had violated treaties with other countries.  Some people might read this and complain that God was overreacting.  The problem was, the people of Tyre had broken their word.  They lied.  According to the teachings of the Christian Bible, a man who continually lies has a serious problem and eventually will have to answer to God for it.

I realize that integrity and honor may sound like old-fashioned ideals, but imagine life without them.  Every relationship depends on people cooperating within terms of agreement.  Violate the agreement and the relationship suffers.  This principle is true in marriage, in business and in any other relationship you can think of.

Deuteronomy 6.24 teaches that we will prosper when we fear God and honor His laws.  Psalm 37.28 teaches that the Lord loves and preserves the faithful.  Proverbs 2.8 teaches that God will guide the course of the man of integrity.  The people of Tyre had not been living according to these principles and were soon to pay dearly for it.  Get the picture?

As noted in our recent morning devotions, I truly believe our culture is in need of a spiritual reformation.  While that reformation includes important principles such as prayer and repentance, let’s not overlook the practical issues of decency, honesty and credibility.  Protect them because if you lose them, you don’t have much left.