Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 11 - Words That Strengthen the Church

Transcript

May 11 - Words That Strengthen the Church · Bible Chat Devotional

• 0:02
  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
• 0:06
  rooted in scripture and relevant for.
• 0:07
  Today, May 11th, eyes that see, ears that listen, think about
• 0:14
  the last thing that wrecked your mood.
• 0:16
  Maybe it was a video that left you feeling gross inside, a
• 0:20
  conversation full of gossip that made you anxious, or a comment
• 0:24
  online that you just couldn't shake.
• 0:26
  We don't always realize it in the moment, but what we let in
• 0:30
  through our eyes and ears has a way of settling deep into our
• 0:33
  hearts, and it shapes more than we think.
• 0:36
  Proverbs chapter 15, verses 30 to 31 says the light of the eyes
• 0:41
  rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.
• 0:46
  The ear that listens to life giving reproof will dwell among
• 0:49
  the wise. There's something so honest
• 0:51
  about that. What you see and what you choose
• 0:54
  to hear actually has a physical effect.
• 0:57
  It either refreshes you or it drains you.
• 1:00
  Good news, real encouragement, wisdom from someone who
• 1:03
  genuinely cares. These things strengthen you from
• 1:06
  the inside out. But the wrong input?
• 1:10
  It weighs on you in ways you might not even connect back to
• 1:13
  the source. And then there's Psalm 52, verse
• 1:16
  8, where the writer says, But I am like a green olive tree in
• 1:20
  the House of God. I trust in the steadfast love of
• 1:24
  God forever and ever. Picture that image for a second.
• 1:28
  An olive tree rooted in green, thriving not because the world
• 1:32
  around it is perfect, but because it's planted in the
• 1:35
  right place. That's what trust in God does.
• 1:39
  It keeps you grounded and growing even when you're
• 1:42
  surrounded by people who lie, manipulate, or make noise that
• 1:46
  pulls you away from what's true. The psalmist wasn't writing from
• 1:50
  a comfortable place. He was surrounded by deceit and
• 1:53
  arrogance, but his anchor wasn't his circumstances, it was God's
• 1:57
  love. That's the kind of stability
• 2:00
  that's available to you too, not because your life will be free
• 2:04
  of hard stuff, but because you're rooted in something that
• 2:07
  doesn't move. Now, First Corinthians chapter
• 2:10
  14, verse 26 adds another layer to this.
• 2:13
  It says simply let all things be done for building up.
• 2:17
  That short line reframes everything.
• 2:20
  Not just what you take in, but what you put out.
• 2:24
  Every conversation, every post, every comment, every choice
• 2:28
  about what to watch or listen to, All of it can either build
• 2:31
  something or tear something down.
• 2:34
  And God calls us to be the kind of people who build.
• 2:37
  Think about what that actually looks like in a regular day.
• 2:40
  It might mean choosing not to pile on in a group chat where
• 2:43
  someone's being mocked. It might mean walking away from
• 2:47
  content that leaves you feeling worse about yourself or others.
• 2:51
  It might mean being the friend who actually speaks truth
• 2:54
  instead of just saying what's easy.
• 2:57
  None of that is dramatic or flashy, but it's real and it
• 3:00
  matters. Here's the thing about guarding
• 3:03
  what you let in. It's not about being sheltered
• 3:05
  or avoiding real life. It's about being intentional.
• 3:10
  You live in a world that is constantly competing for your
• 3:12
  attention, your emotions, your beliefs.
• 3:16
  Social media algorithms are literally designed to keep you
• 3:19
  scrolling, often by feeding you things that stir up comparison,
• 3:23
  fear, or outrage. You have to decide consciously
• 3:28
  what gets access to your heart. And when you choose truth over
• 3:31
  noise, encouragement over gossip, and wisdom over cheap
• 3:34
  entertainment, something shifts. You start to think more clearly,
• 3:39
  you feel more settled, and you become someone whose presence
• 3:42
  actually adds something to the people around you that's not
• 3:45
  small. That's exactly what it looks
• 3:48
  like to be rooted like that green olive tree thriving in the
• 3:52
  House of God. Let's pray.
• 3:55
  Heavenly Father, thank you for Your word that shows me how much
• 3:58
  what I see and hear actually matters.
• 4:01
  Help me to be intentional, to guard my heart against the noise
• 4:05
  and negativity that pulls me away from You, and to fill my
• 4:08
  mind with truth, encouragement, and wisdom where I've LED in
• 4:12
  things that have weighed me down.
• 4:14
  Bring healing and help me to be someone whose words and actions
• 4:18
  build others up, reflecting your goodness in everything I do.
• 4:22
  I want to be rooted in your love, steady and green no matter
• 4:25
  what's going on around me. In Jesus name, Amen.
• 4:29
  What if the battles hitting your family are not random and your
• 4:32
  home can become a place where darkness loses every right to
• 4:35
  stay? The Secured Home is a powerful
• 4:38
  six book prayer series for believers who want to guard
• 4:41
  their households with biblical authority, peace, and confidence
• 4:44
  in Jesus Christ. Book 1.
• 4:47
  Guarded Thresholds fortifies every doorway, room, and entry
• 4:51
  point with prayerful protection. Book 2.
• 4:54
  Cleansed Rooms helps reclaim spaces marked by fear, unrest,
• 4:59
  and spiritual defilement. Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes
• 5:03
  hidden access points and severs every agreement with darkness.
• 5:08
  Book 4, Broken Assignments, confronts oppression, torment,
• 5:12
  and attacks against your family. Book 5, Consecrated Walls,
• 5:17
  dedicates every space and rhythm of the home to God.
• 5:21
  Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how to maintain spiritual order,
• 5:25
  rest, and holy presence every day.
• 5:28
  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
• 5:32
  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
• 5:35
  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 15 verses 30 to
• 5:41
  31 World English Bible The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
• 5:46
  good news gives health to the bones.
• 5:49
  The ear that listens to reproof lives and will be at home among
• 5:52
  the wise. Psalm Chapter 52.
• 5:55
  World English Bible Why do you boast of mischief?
• 5:58
  Mighty man? God's loving kindness endures
• 6:01
  continually. Your tongue plots destruction
• 6:04
  like a sharp razor. Working deceitfully.
• 6:07
  You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the
• 6:10
  truth. You love all devouring words,
• 6:13
  you deceitful tongue. God will likewise destroy you
• 6:17
  forever. He will take you up and pluck
• 6:19
  you out of your tent and root you out of the land of the
• 6:22
  living. The righteous also will see it
• 6:25
  and fear and laugh at him, saying, Behold, this is the man
• 6:29
  who didn't make God his strength, but trusted in the
• 6:32
  abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his
• 6:35
  wickedness. But As for me, I am like a green
• 6:38
  olive tree in God's house. I trust in God's loving kindness
• 6:43
  forever and ever. I will give you thanks forever
• 6:46
  because you have done it. I will hope in your name, for it
• 6:49
  is good in the presence of your Saints.
• 6:52
  First Corinthians Chapter 14 World English Bible follow after
• 6:57
  love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially
• 7:00
  that you may prophecy. For he who speaks in another
• 7:04
  language speaks not to men, but to God.
• 7:07
  For no one understands but in the Spirit.
• 7:09
  He speaks mysteries, but he who prophecies speaks to men for
• 7:13
  their edification, exhortation, and consolation.
• 7:17
  He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he
• 7:21
  who prophecies edifies the assembly.
• 7:24
  Now I desire to have you all speak with other languages, but
• 7:27
  rather that you would prophecy. For He is greater who prophecies
• 7:32
  than he who speaks with other languages, unless he interprets
• 7:36
  that the assembly may be built up.
• 7:39
  But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with other
• 7:41
  languages, what would I profit you unless I speak to you either
• 7:45
  by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or
• 7:49
  of teaching, even things without life giving a voice, whether
• 7:54
  pipe or harp, if they didn't give a distinction in the
• 7:56
  sounds, how would it be known what is piped or harped?
• 8:00
  For if the trumpet gave an uncertain sound, who would
• 8:03
  prepare himself for war? So also you, unless you uttered
• 8:07
  by the tongue words easy to understand, how would it be
• 8:10
  known what is spoken? For you would be speaking into
• 8:13
  the air. There are, it may be, so many
• 8:16
  kinds of sounds in the world, and none of them is without
• 8:19
  meaning. If then I don't know the meaning
• 8:22
  of the sound, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he
• 8:25
  who speaks would be a foreigner to me.
• 8:28
  So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts,
• 8:32
  seek that you may abound to the building up of the assembly.
• 8:35
  Therefore, let him who speaks in another language pray that he
• 8:38
  may interpret. For if I pray in another
• 8:41
  language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
• 8:46
  What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit, and
• 8:48
  I will pray with the understanding also.
• 8:51
  I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing with the
• 8:54
  understanding also. Otherwise, if you bless with the
• 8:57
  Spirit, how will he who fills the place of the unlearned say
• 9:01
  the Amen at your giving of thanks, seeing he doesn't know
• 9:04
  what you say? For you most certainly give
• 9:07
  thanks well, but the other person is not built up.
• 9:10
  I thank my God I speak with other languages more than you
• 9:14
  all. However, in the assembly I would
• 9:17
  rather speak 5 words with my understanding that I might
• 9:20
  instruct others also than 10,000 words in another language.
• 9:25
  Brothers, don't be children in thoughts, yet in malice be
• 9:28
  babies, but in thoughts be mature in the law.
• 9:32
  It is written by men of strange languages and by the lips of
• 9:36
  strangers. I will speak to this people,
• 9:39
  they won't even hear me that way, says the Lord.
• 9:41
  Therefore other languages are for a sign, not to those who
• 9:45
  believe, but to the unbelieving. But prophesying is for a sign
• 9:49
  not to the unbelieving, but to those who believe.
• 9:53
  If, therefore, the whole assembly is assembled together
• 9:56
  and all speak with other languages and unlearned or
• 9:59
  unbelieving people come in, won't they say that you are
• 10:02
  crazy? But if all prophecy and someone
• 10:06
  unbelieving or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and
• 10:10
  he is judged by all, and thus the secrets of his heart are
• 10:13
  revealed, so he will fall down on his face and worship God,
• 10:18
  declaring that God is among you indeed.
• 10:20
  What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one
• 10:24
  of you has a Psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has
• 10:28
  another language, or has an interpretation.
• 10:31
  Let all things be done to build each other up.
• 10:34
  If any man speaks in another language, let it be two, or at
• 10:37
  the most 3 and in turn and let one interpret.
• 10:42
  But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the
• 10:45
  assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God.
• 10:48
  Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the others
• 10:51
  discern. But if a revelation is made to
• 10:54
  another sitting by, let the first keep silent, for you all
• 10:58
  can prophecy one by one, that all may learn and all may be
• 11:02
  exhorted. The spirits of the prophets are
• 11:05
  subject to the prophets, for God is not a God of confusion, but
• 11:09
  of peace, as in all the assemblies of the Saints.
• 11:13
  Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been
• 11:16
  permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the Law
• 11:20
  also says. If they desire to learn
• 11:22
  anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is
• 11:27
  shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.
• 11:29
  What was it from you that the word of God went out, or did it
• 11:33
  come to you alone? If any man thinks himself to be
• 11:37
  a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I
• 11:41
  write to you, that they are the commandment of the Lord.
• 11:44
  But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
• 11:48
  Therefore, brothers, desire earnestly to prophecy, and don't
• 11:52
  forbid speaking with other languages.
• 11:54
  Let all things be done decently and in order.
• 11:59
  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
• 12:02
  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
• 12:05
  you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
• 12:09
  you won't miss the next conversation.
• 12:11
  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope and
• 12:14
  walking. Daily with Jesus.