Manna for Your Morning

And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ — Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB) Let us keep the main thing, the main thing. Loving God with all our heart, mind and soul, loving ourselves and loving others. If we are critical and unaccepting of ourselves, then we will criticize and find faults in others. O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful [those with moral and spiritual integrity] and fully repays the [self-righteousness of the] arrogant. (Psalm 31:23 AMP) Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. — Psalm 139:23-24 (AMP)

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. — Numbers 14:24 (NKJV) In the school of ministry, we learned that “different” means next. While the other Israelites were ready to turn around and go back to the land of their captivity, Caleb was courageous and ready to conquer the enemies living in the promised land. Do you have a what’s next spirit or a what could have been spirit? Let us not have a critical, whining or complaining spirit like those who perished in the desert. The eyes of the LORD are constantly searching the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). Even though circumstances don’t appear the way you thought they should, always be ready to move on and ask God “what’s next?”

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. — Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) Above all else, guard your heart. If we let negative and critical things flow into our hearts, that is what will flow out, through our words and our actions. If we only open our hearts to the love of God and all that pertains to a godly life, that is where the course of our lives will carry us. May we be diligent to constantly guard our hearts, and only allow those things that align with the love, peace and joy of our heavenly Father to penetrate.

Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.  — Ecclesiastes 10:12 (NIV) May our speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, (Colossians 4:6a). Just as attractive and enjoyable as a well-seasoned meal, are words sprinkled with grace. Gracious words highlight the positive in others and always has a good report. Words of grace are never critical, but always full of love and understanding. Everything we say should be kind and well thought out so that we may have the right response for everyone. Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time! (Proverbs 15:23, NLT).

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. — Proverbs 16:24 (NIV) Let us do everything without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14, GW). Ephesians 5:19-20 instructs us to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before you speak a word consult with the Holy Spirit who dwells within you and choose your words wisely. Speaking negative, critical words is like hitting a board with darts. You can apologize and pull the dart out, but like the hole that is left, the damage done with negative words is still there. Let your speech always be with grace (Colossians 4:6).