Sneak Peek At Zip It pt3
I was just sitting here going over my talking notes for tomorrow and thought it would be cool to give you a sneak peek.
The first two talks of Zip It were about conquering complaining and kicking criticism. (Trust me, it was a lot more fun than it sounds.) The last two weeks we have learned that our words not only affect us, but they also affect others.
Part 3 is going to examine what can be gained by simple strategic silence.
Mom used to always say, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Many times in life we would be better off Zipping It and keeping our mouth shut rather than saying what’s on our mind. When someone wants to “give me a piece of their mind”, I usually think they need all they can get and really should keep it for themselves.
There are times in your life when being silent would serve you well.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
You have the right to remain zipped. Anything you say…
Maybe your life would be better if you would observe your very own “moment of silence” every once in a while. Selah
Excerpt From Zip It
Taken from Zip It Pt1, Conquering Complaining.
Side Effects of Complaining
#1 Inaction
Instead of spending your time, energy and resources doing something that would make the situation better, you spend your time complaining how awful it is. The person complaining about how it can’t be done should not get in the way of the person who is doing it.
“If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
#2 Self Pity
Why did this have to happen to me? My life is so bad. Nothing ever works out for me. Why would I ever expect anything good happen to me? I’ll never get to have that. Complaining will often turn you into a “victim”. Paul and Silas could have complained and felt sorry for themselves.
#3 Tunnel Vision
The more you complain, the more your vision will be tuned to see things in a negative way.
Complaining will warp your perspective.
It’s like the guy who went out to his garage to get his saw and realized it missing. He then remembered that his neighbor’s boy built a ramp for his skateboard the week before. Knowing that the kid must have stolen his saw, he started noticing suspicious behavior. The way the kid walk, what time he left the house, the friends he hung out with… Then a few weeks later he discovered the saw had only fallen behind his workbench, the kid’s behavior suddenly returned back to normal.
Begin to look at the things that you have been complaining about, but look at them from a different perspective. Rather than zeroing in on all of the negative and on all the bad, and God knows you can find that stuff. You don’t have to look that hard, but instead, take a step back and look at the same things that you have been complaining about, and look at them from a different perspective.
#4 Death
If you want to take an an otherwise healthy marriage and kill it, start complaining. Just complaining about everything your wife does. Or at work, start complaining about the moron of a boss you have, that they don’t pay you enough. Or with money, complain about all the bills, how expensive everything is, about your debt…
Mom used to say, “You can have what you say, is that what you want?”
Life and death are the consequences of your tongue.
If you are not fully miserable, let me tell you how you can hate your life. Complain about everything, everything, I mean everything…complain and complain and complain and you will be miserable.
The words are only a symptom of the real issue that takes place in our heart. The heart is the main issue. Your words reveal the condition of your heart. All of us, the words that we speak reveals the condition of our heart.
Matthew 12:34-37 (New Living Translation)
34 …For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
Does Satan Really Exist?
If you didn’t see the Nightline Face-Off about Satan, God, Religion, check out this link. http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff
I listen to Mark Driscoll very often. If you don’t know who Mark is, you should subscribe to his podcast.
OC is 8 wks old!
Wow! On Sunday Ovation Church had its 8th service! (3.22.09)
I have to admit, I have the tendency to OVER analyze the services on Sun afternoon and Mon. But I can honestly say that I enjoyed the service. It was one of those services where everything was just clicking. Of course it is always helpful when people laugh at my sense of humor.
It is so awesome to see how far Ovation has come in such a short amount of time. I love seeing so many new faces. I never stop praying that the people who walk through our doors will start or deepen their personal relationship with Jesus. I can’t even explain how humbled and thankful I am to see people who before weren’t really into the whole “church thing”, but have now been coming the past 4-5 weeks and want to be involved.
I have this excitement, tension, passion, expectancy inside of me that God is going to explode at Ovation. I pray that we represent God and show His true love to those who are running from Him and are skeptical of church. I know when church is done in a raw, real-life way, it will draw people to God instead of drive them away from God.
I’m so thankful that God is bringing together such a great group of people who understand the importance of reaching out to the 60% of people who don’t think church is all that important or needed. I love how Paul says in Romans his ambition has always been to reach those who are far from God instead of those who already had a relationship with Him (Rom 15:16-22). I pray that Ovation never begins to turn inward and focus on comforting the already convinced, but will always reach out to those who have not yet surrendered to God.
After 8 weeks I can wholeheartedly say, “I was born for this and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Make your life count. Let’s do something great for God!
Your Words Guide Your Life
In Mark 11:14-24 we read about how Jesus’ words affected a fig tree. Just like Jesus’ words changed the fig tree, our words affect our lives.
Proverbs 18:21 (New Living Translation)
21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
Consequences are neither good nor bad. They are neutral. You can do things right and get good consequences or you can do things wrong and get bad consequences. According to Proverbs 18:21 life and death are the consequences of what you say.
The words you say will directly affect your self-esteem. YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF MORE THAN YOU BELIEVE OTHERS!
Proverbs 15:4 (New Living Translation)
4 Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
Your words will bring life if they are good, but destruction if they are not. Here are 6 words you should remove from your vocabulary right now.
1. Can’t – Phil 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
2. Never – Mark 9:23 …“Anything is possible if a person believes.”
3. Quit – Gal 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
4. Depressed – Phil 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
5. Hate – Rom 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6. Broke – Phil 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Your #1 Priority – Excerpt From Golf Balls
God is not the #1 priority in my life. God is the totality of my life.
Revelation 22:13 (NLT) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
The danger with not realizing that God is the totality of our lives is that we will try to shove God down to what we can understand and slide him into “Priority Slot #1.”
If we reduce God down to priority #1, then after we go to church, read the bible, compliment someone, or do something nice, we then check it off and move on to the rest of life. You can fool yourself into thinking you met your spiritual quota for the day or for the week, and then when you go to other priorities… family, work, money…you don’t include God in them because priority #1 is already checked off and done.
God should not be the #1 priority in your life. God should be the totality of your life. Everything you do should honor Him.
You must make your relationship with Him the #1 priority in your life.
The closeness and intimacy of your relationship with Jesus is determined by you. Jesus desires a personal relationship with you. According to John 15:15 Jesus wants to call you His friend.
It isn’t the church’s responsibility to maintain or grow your relationship with God. That may shock you! Your closeness with God is determined by you NOT where you go to church. Nobody can do it for you. Students, your parents can’t do it. Husbands\wives, your spouse can’t do it.
James 4:8 (NLT) Come close to God, and God will come close to you.
When it comes to your relationship with God, it’s your move. The ball is in your court.
Yeah, just see it for yourself!
In January I did a series of talks at the church titled Church Matters. One of my statements was that often times the church or Christians do things that drive people away from God rather than draw people to God.
How about them apples?