When I was younger growing up, I heard on more than one occasion:  “You better watch your mouth!”  I learned very quickly that you did not want to talk back to my Momma!  Most of us have heard that one statement at some point or another in our lives.  And now that I am a parent, I have even caught myself saying that exact same phrase:  “You better watch your mouth!”  It’s actually kinda funny when you think about it – because we really can’t watch our mouth, because our mouth is right under our eyes.  As a matter of fact just a moment ago I tried to watch my mouth and I could not do it.  I did get a glimpse of my lips, but that was about it.  (It’s amazing what will spend our time trying to figure out!)

 While we can’t physically watch our mouths – unless we used a mirror, but I digress!  We can mentally watch our mouths and we need to be doing a much better job than we are doing.  In fact, when I stop and think about it for just a minute…  People that profess to be Christians are some of the mouthiest people I know.  We run our mouths in all directions, at all speeds about everything that we can think about and usually for no good reason at all!

Just recently I have had the opportunity to watch and see how a person running their mouth in the wrong way can hurt, tear down and mess up the plans of God’s Kingdom!  Most everyone can be happy, growing and pleased with the direction of their life and God’s church.  But let one knuckle-head not watching their mouth come in and start running it and then even happy, growing and pleased people will begin to question all that they know is good!  I honestly am beginning to believe that more harm has come to churches and Christians from the mouths of people that say that they are caring Christians, than from Satan and a whole host of demons!

Satan can just sit back and relax and all of his demons can go to the beach, because church folks who claim to be Christians are doing a pretty good job at tearing up the church and tearing down fellow Believers!  Another saying I used to hear:  “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!”  That’s some real good advice!  Remember:  If you are not building up – then you must be tearing down!

If we are going to beat the Devil and win some victories for God’s Kingdom we might need to practice one more of those phrases we heard growing up:  SHUT YOUR MOUTH!  Watch your mouth and if you are having a hard time watching it, then just shut it!  Please – thank you!

Love is an incredible thing!  A few days ago, I was thinking about how much I love my wife and daughters!  I was away from them over night and I could not wait to see them, hold them and tell them that I love them!  Just thinking about them, what they mean to me and how they make me feel was so overwhelming that I began to cry, not tears of pain, but tears of joy, appreciation and expectation of seeing them again!  That got me to thinking about love – my love for them and their love for me.  So many times I take it all for granted, but in that moment it was the most important thing on my mind and heart.  And then I got to thinking about how much God loves me.  He loves me so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins on the cross.  He loves me so much that He allows me moments like the one I just described, moments where I am filled with emotion that words cannot even come close to describing.  He loves me so much that He shared with me those that I could love and they would love me back – how awesome!

I know what love is – because I have been given an example.  Jesus out of His great love for me – laid down His life!  He gave His life, so that I might have life – abundant and everlasting!  His love allows me to know, share and experience love and all that comes with it.  Because God has been so good to me with His love, I want to be good to others with the love that He has given me.  I want to be willing to lay my life down!  I want to lay down my attitude, selfishness and opinions, so that I can embrace others and encourage them in their walk with Christ.  I want to be willing to always give my time, energy and effort to make a difference in someone elses life, so that God who makes it all possible gets all of the glory.

Jesus is my Savior!  He came into my life and made it count for something!  It’s absolutely amazing that Jesus would save me, not because of righteous works that I do, but because of His mercy!  (Titus 3:5)  I mean, when I really stop and think about the fact that Jesus loves me, forgives me and restores me – I just can’t get over it! 

I still to this day do not know what He saw in me!  I’m not down on myself, in fact, I kinda like myself.  But I know that I am not anywhere near as good, cool or smart as I like to think I am.  Jesus does not focus on what I am – His focus is on what and who I can be! 

I can’t understand how He could love me!  I like to think of myself as a pretty lovable dude, but the truth is:  I can be very unlovable!  I don’t get out of bed in the morning – clean, smooth and charming!  Jesus sees me when I am dirty, rough and disgusting and He still loves me!  Jesus does not look at my failures and flaws – Jesus looks at my potential and appreciates me for me and all that I can be with Him!

I won’t ever be able to repay Him!  When I think about all that Jesus has done for me – I will never be able to repay Him!  I can never live good enough, long enough to even come close to giving back to Jesus all that He has given to me!  He saved me, not because of what I had done, not because of what I had not done.  He saved me – simply because He loves me and has an amazing plan for my life!  My salvation and right relationship are not based in any way on me, but all on Him and His mercy!

Because of His mercy – I don’t get what I deserve!  Because of His grace – I get what I don’t deserve!  Jesus made it possible for me to be reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit.  I just can’t get over it and I hope I never do!