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by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2013, all rights reserved. Some people have difficult things to do. Digging ditches with a shovel is quite laborious. I've done a little of it. They do it differently now, but when riveters were riveting steel ships together, that was very hard work, and rather dangerous handling those very hot rivets. Being a cook is not thought of as hard manual labor, but they often work in hot kitchens. It can be very hard to breathe if you're climbing Mt. Everest. But the hardest thing to do is control the tongue. ___James chapter 3 1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies. 4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants. 5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how great a matter a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind, 8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be. 11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries? Or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh. Notice verse 2 above, those who can control their tongues, can control their whole bodies. The only possible way to be perfect at controlling the tongue is by praying for, and receiving God's help to do so. A prayer that David prayed is, "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips." (Psa 141:3) "When you pray, believe that you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them." (Mark 11:24) Winston Churchill was thought of as a great public speaker, and led Great Britain as Prime Minister during World War 2. But I've heard that in private, he could use some nasty words, especially if he had been using alcohol. Proverbs 23:33 says you'll utter perverse things if you get too much wine in you. My Dad had a high I.Q., and could speak intelligently about many subjects. But when he chose to, he could also be very foul-mouthed, depending on his mood. Some people have foul mouths because they have demons in them. I'm sure my Dad had some demons. He professed to be an Atheist, and now, sadly, he resides in hell. In Acts chapter 19, the seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out a demon. Starting with verse number 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, decided to call over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We command you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 And there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did that. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" 16 And the man that had the evil spirit jumped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. The sons of Sceva were unsuccessful at casting out the demon because they were not Christians, so they had no authority to use Jesus' name to cast out the demon. They were not only unsuccessful, they got beaten up. The demon in the man used the man's voice to answer the seven sons of Sceva. Proverbs 18:21 tells us "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon told his wise men, "Either you tell me the dream that I forgot and its interpretation, or you'll be executed." Surely he meant it, and I'm sure his orders to execute would have been carried out. On that occasion though, Daniel told him the dream and the interpretation of it. Thank God for prophets like Daniel. (Dan chapter 2) The Apostle Paul opened his mouth and pled his case before Governor Felix in Acts chapter 24. I'm sure the Lord helped him with what words to use. When Porcius Festus replaced Governor Felix, Paul again pled his case before the new Governor. Words are the difference between life and death. Charles Capps has taught that our words can defeat us, or give us victory. ("God's Creative Power Will Work for You," by Charles Capps) God's words in the Bible tell us how to go to heaven, and also tell us why men go to hell. The greatest teacher there ever was, Jesus, told us that in hell there's crying and gnashing of teeth, where their worms don't die, and where the fire is not quenched. Jesus taught that all of us will go either to a beautiful heaven or to a nasty hell. Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John chapter 3) The Apostle Paul gives us more detailed instructions in Romans 10:9,10: "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you're saved. For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made for salvation." You pray a simple prayer asking Jesus to save you, confess Jesus as Lord, and believe God raised him from the dead. Easy to do. A profession where there's a lot of temptation to say something that shouldn't be said is the profession of Salesman. Salesmen are often tempted to make promises that they are not in a position to keep. I think I'd rather be someone who works with his hands than be a salesman, unless I'm selling products I know to be top quality. I had a career as an Electronics Technician, Electrician, Computer Programmer, and TV station Engineer, before retiring. People should ask God's advice about choosing a profession so that they don't get a profession that will hurt them. At a place I lived in Illinois, down the street was a ballet academy. Parents would take their daughters there for ballet instruction. I was standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles behind a man. He was getting divorced. He was there because his lawyer advised him to sell his truck. He said, "Don't ever marry a ballerina, they live in their own little world." I think that statement is probably correct. Young girls learn ballet, and after a while, ballet is their whole world. I've heard, too, that there is a lot of sexual perversion in the vocation of ballet. In 1 John chapter 2, 15 Don't love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passes away and its lust, but he that does the will of God lives forever. Show biz is a profession that has a tendency to require all of one's time. If your profession requires all of your time, how will you have time left for Jesus? And God says that he's a jealous God. He wants to be number one in our lives. (Matt 10:37) King Solomon had a reputation for being the wisest king. But he let his many unbelieving wives lead him astray. So much so that God had to split the nation of Israel into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. King David did a rather good job for the Lord, and was known as an important General of the Army. But he fell into the trap of adultery, and then arranged for the woman's husband to be killed. So God brought much evil against David. His own son, Absalom rose up against David, and tried to become king. Jonah was a man God sent to preach to Nineveh. But Jonah was concerned that after he warned Nineveh that God would destroy it, God might change his mind. So Jonah didn't go to Nineveh. He got on a ship. Out in the ocean, the sea was very tempestuous. The sailors found out Jonah was rebelling against God, and threw him overboard. God had prepared a whale that swallowed Jonah. In the book of Jonah in the Bible, Jonah described it as "The belly of hell." After the whale spat out Jonah, he still had to go preach at Nineveh. A better plan then for Jonah--when God says go preach, just do it, and skip the part about the inside of a whale. But Jonah did a good job preaching at Nineveh, and the city repented. I'm looking forward to seeing Jonah in heaven. The Apostle Paul was first an enemy of Christians, and persecuted them. He thought it was false religion. On his way to persecute Christians at Damascus, the Lord confronted him, and asked him why he was persecuting Him. (Acts chapter 9) Paul said, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord answered, "I am Jesus, whom you're persecuting." Paul made the wise decision to become a Christian instead of persecuting them. The Lord made Paul an Apostle, and he wrote about half of the number of the books in the New Testament. Scriptures quoted are from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version and the New Testament, Hoehn Version, both available as ebooks for the Kindle readers from Amazon.com.
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