Food enters our mouths—but words come out.
Food doesn’t defile us—although there are some people, like Jews, who won’t eat
port, and others who won’t eat crickets. Remember the story of Peter of the
rooftop—and the sheet descending from heaven filled with all kinds of
four-footed animals and crawling creatures and birds. Peter was told that what
God has cleansed was no longer considered unholy (Acts 10:5-16). So it is not
food that corrupts people but what they say—at least what the Pharisees were
saying. Now days it maybe that someone hasn’t given God control of their
tongue.
Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of
great things. See how much wood or
how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! And the tongue is a fire. [The
tongue is a] world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and
setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man’s nature), being itself
ignited by hell (Gehenna). For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea
animal, can be tamed and has been tamed by human genius (nature). But the human
tongue can be tamed by no man. It is a restless (undisciplined, irreconcilable)
evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it
we curse men who were made in God’s likeness! Out of the same mouth come forth
blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so. Does a
fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and
bitter? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither
can a salt spring furnish fresh water. James
3:5-122 Amplified.
The tongue used for cursing…may it never
be…but it happens every day. Frustrated and disappointed people with no regard
for God’s word swear. You hear it on TV and in movies—words that are
offensive. Jesus was speaking to the
multitude in this Matthew passage—teaching them that it is what they say—not
eat—that defiles them.
RSVP:
Jesus is inviting us to clean up our vocabulary—the words we speak that may not
be edifying to Him or to others. How will you respond to Him today?
Prayer
~ May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to
You, Lord. Psalm 19:14.
Friday’s Feast at the
King’s Table
It
is pumpkin time of the year. These
cookies have been a fall favorite for years--they melt in your mouth. Enjoy!
Pumpkin
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1
cup canned pumpkin
1
cup white sugar
1/2
cup vegetable oil
1
egg
2
cups all-purpose flour
2
teaspoons baking powder
2
teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2
teaspoon salt
1
teaspoon baking soda
1
teaspoon milk
1
tablespoon vanilla extract
2
cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2
cup chopped walnuts
Combine pumpkin,
sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking
powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and
stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla,
chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by spoonful on
greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for
approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.
© 2014 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
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