September 15 2013 The Art Of Cursing

The Art Of Cursing

“The Tongue has the power of life and death.” – Proverbs 18:21

UNDERSTANDING ‘THE CURSE’ BEHIND CURSE WORDS

Hebrew: herem - Greek: anathema

- The serpent was cursed (Genesis 3:14 – 15)
- Cain is cursed (Genesis 4:11)
- Curses are completely under God’s control (1 Kings 8:31 – 32)
- A curse cannot be placed on an innocent person (1 Samuel 14:24; Proverbs 26:2)
- Unfaithfulness is the source of all curses
- Faithfulness to God removes the curse (Deuteronomy 33:8-10)
- The greatest curse is the curse of sin (Romans 9:3; Galatians 3:10,13; Galatians 21:23)
- The cure for the curse of sin is the cross of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:10,13)

HOW TO TURN CURSING INTO BLESSING

1. BE AWARE OF THE TRUTH ABOUT CURSING 

James 3:8-10 “[The tongue] is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth...this is not right!”

2. LEARN TO THINK BEFORE I SPEAK

Proverbs 15:23 ““What a joy it is to find just the right word for the right occasion!”

Memory Verse: 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 my Redeemer.”

3. ENCOURAGE OTHERS WITH MY WORDS

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “So speak encouraging words to one another”

Proverbs 18:8 “The words of a gossiper are as self-inflicted wounds, And they have gone down to the inner parts of the heart.”

4. SURRENDER MY LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST

Galatians 3:10 - 13 “But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse...Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keepthe law. ...But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

February 17 2013 Relationship Rescue: Back To The Basics

Back To The Basics

Memory Verse:
“Reach down from heaven and rescue me; deliver me form deep waters.“ Psalm 144:7


Genesis 2:18 "And the Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him ."

THREE RELATIONSHIP TRUTHS:

1. Expect Problems in my relationships. (The Myth of Perfection)

Genesis 3:1-7 - Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. ''Really?'' he asked the woman. 'Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. "It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." "You won't die!" the serpent hissed "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil." The woman was convinced The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves.

2. Accept Responsibility for my relationship problems. (The Myth of Blame)

Genesis 3:12-13 - "Yes, "Adam admitted, "but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it. " Then the LORD God asked the woman, ''How could you do such a thing ?" "The serpent tricked me, " she replied "That's why I ate it."

3. Invite Jesus to be at the center of my relationships (The Myth of Self-Reliance)

Genesis 3:14-24 - So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your browyou will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

My Decision Today:

God will be the Center of my relationships!

November 27 2011 A Wonderful Counselor For Life's Decisions

A Wonderful Counselor For Life's Decisions

Isa 9:6 - A child shall be born and His name shall be called wonderful Counselor.

Why we need guidance:

° We have a selfish nature.
Jeremiah 10:23 – O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?

° Our minds are limited.
Isa. 55:8 – For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
Rom. 12:2 – But be ye transformed by the renewing or your mind.

° The Pressures surround us in our world.
Psalm 1:1 - Blesses is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Rom. 12:2 – Be not conformed to this world.
James 1:5 – If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God, that giveth to all men liberally.

I. He is a wonderful Counselor because of His perception.
John 1:1 – The Word was God. 
Gen. 1:27 – So God created man in His Own image.
Gen 3:15 – He (Christ) will crush your (satan) head.
Rev. 13:8 – The Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 4:16 – Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

II. He is a wonderful Counselor because of His personal attachment.
John 15:13 – Greater love has no man that this, that a man lay down his life for another.

III. He is a wonderful Counselor because of His power.
Matt. 28:16 – All power in heaven and earth has been given to Me.
I Cor. 2:4 – My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.

IV. He is a wonderful Counselor for He waits for permission.
Gal. 2:20 – Christ lives in me.
Isa. 9:6 – For unto us a Child is born and He will be called wonderful, Counselor.