When dealing with kids, whether you are a parent, teacher, or just around kids, I am sure that you have been asked what the 'S' word means or what the 'A' word is. Or you’ve had the tattle-tale say, Miss Tackett, Billy just said the 'B' word. We all know that we learn at a young age what these words mean, despite our efforts in keeping these words a secret.
Well, we as adults have made cuss words out of the most precious words from God and His Holy Word. We can't talk about the 'B' word (believe), because then we are speaking of debatable doctrine. Jesus said in John 3:16 that God loves us so much, that if we only believe what His son did for us, that we shall not parish, but have everlasting life. As Christians we made a beautiful word like 'believe' into a cuss word when we try to add or detract what God has said.
Now, I know Satan and his demons also believe in Jesus, and we all know they are not entering the
Let's talk about the precious 'S' word from God. Saying we are 'Sorry' for the wrong choices we make daily. I will take this a step further - telling others that they need to say they are sorry - or that they need to repent. Did you know that telling others to repent was what John the Baptist and Jesus did right from the start? Telling others to repent for the Kingdom is near (nearer now than in Jesus’ day) was what John the Baptist was preaching in the desert as he baptized sinners, yet many were coming out to the desert to hear this 'REPENT' message, and in return, being saved and healed.
Now I know that it is hard to tell others to repent when our own lives are sinful sometimes, but really, telling God you are sorry is how we are saved. I John 1:9: If we confess our sins, God is faithful enough to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness'. I tell my kids that by telling other kids they are sorry when they hurt them, (even if it was an accident), then usually most of the hurt goes away.
Continuing on to the dreaded 'F' word. Now we know the 'F' word is a horrible cuss word and that it is dreaded for good reason, but I hope you realize that it is just as bad to choose 'Fear' over 'Faith'. In my previous e-mail I explained that it helped me to think of Fear as an acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real.
I debated this acronym since my last e-mail and questioned if Fear is really from false evidences most of the time. Cancer is real and not false, evil is real and not false, adultery and broken marriages are real and not false... Could one really use the acronym False Evidence Appearing Real to ease their fears? Yes, if we choose the good 'F' word - Faith. Faith in God to deal with the real evils in our lives.
Really, if you think about it, worrying about fearful things does not make fearful things go away, right? But, God can make these fears go away just by us choosing the 'H' word - Hope. The Bible says that Faith is the substance of things Hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. We as Christians can Hope in God, even though we don't 'see' Him. Many of us can write a book filled with evidences when God was holding us in the midst of trials and tribulations, and many of us have seen miracles when God overcame evil right before our eyes.
In my last e-mail I shared what God gave me in my heart during another early morning - the acronym for Faith: Father Above Is Triumphant HALLELUJAH!!! He is triumphant, so let's not make 'Faith' another 'F' word, or something debatable. Because as Christians, Faith is what truly saves us: Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through FAITH - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
So the next time you hear the 'F' word, do not gasp, do not judge, because we as Christians have also made cuss words out of the very words of God, Holy words that save and heal us.
In His Hands,
Love, Glen