There's Power In Shutting Your Mouth

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

Philippians 2:14-15

James 1:19 says, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Cutting straight to the heart of the matter, we must learn to simply shut up… What plagues most Christians in their pursuit of Christ is the ability to listen and hear; often times we become entrapped with words that we miss out on what it is that God has for us or the very blessings that will be manifested in our lives… Not only must we shut up and learn to listen, but Paul takes it a step further when He instructs us about refraining from disputes and conflict. If you believe God is at work in your life, it should be evident not only through your words but also through how you handle adversity… I have often wondered why is it that Christians believe that by accepting Christ as their personal Lord and Savior that the temptations of this world and trials will cease… The word of God tells me that when Jesus was baptized (accepted God’s call) and then He was tempted of the devil… One thing that we must come to understand and know is that by accepting Christ’s offering on Calvary we are subject to the schemes of the devil... One of the more true sayings I heard was this, “if it comes easy and with out much work or endurance to obtain it than it must not be worth much…” A good friend of mind told me this when I was going through a troubling time and I believe this words are what Paul is trying to convey to the church of Philippi… You have to work in order to achieve, greatness will not fall into you laps and that’s why we are to do all thing without complaining… Paul writes a clerical message to the church of Philippi informing them of the maturation process that a child of God goes through… He speaks today to the fact that as a child of the most high things will not always be the way you desire… Paul says “do all things without murmuring and disputes,” everything you receive of the Lord is not always going to be what you have asked for, but what Paul is saying today is that whether we like the position we are in or we wish things were different, don’t criticize God nor involve yourself in meaningless disputes with another person over things that you can’t control… These are the meaningless disputes that Paul speaks of, the devil will always try to distort the vision that God has for your life and he will use those closest to you to do it… Keep your faith in Jesus and stay the course… The bible is filled with passages that speak to the tribulation that a child of God will face, Isaiah said “this is the way, walk in it” in the 30^th chapter of his prophetic book and then stated that we will be given the bread of adversity and waters of affliction… When Paul was Saul and God struck down on the Damascus road, the Lord said that “he will see how much he will have to suffer for my name sake…” Jesus told his disciples to keep in mind that “they hated him first…” There will come times in your life where you are unhappy about your current situations or circumstances. There will certainly be times in your life when things may not make since to you, or you are simply bewildered at why or how these things are taking place within your life. The message on today is for you to simply shut-up (SMILE) J. So often we find ourselves complaining about this, complaining about that, or becoming so disheveled that we just need to rattle on and on about things that nobody else seem to be concerned with. Paul reminds us that we will have to deal with turmoil, we will have to deal with trials, and we need to simply remember who it is that we serve. Remember the story of Job and how he lost everything and his wife told him to “curse God and die…” Through all his trials and tribulations Job kept inquiring of God to no avail. Then God answered Job some time later with a question of his own! “WHO ASSEMBLED THE EARTH AND THE SEAS?” God has a testimony within you, and a light that needs to be shown to men. This can’t be accomplished if you are always complaining. Paul says do all things without murmurings and disputes; he put is nicely, but as I stated earlier, sometimes we just have to shut-up and walk in faith!!!!!!!

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!