Gtcotr/ss020826
Superbowl Sunday – Superbowl LX – Seahawks verses Patriots
According to the National Chicken Council (NationalChickenCounsel.org) Americans are projected to eat 1.48 billion chicken wings today. I wonder if those are like the whole wing or like the wing cut into two pieces. Can you believe commercially oriented marketers have convinced Americans to accept that half a wing is a wing? At any rate, it takes a lot of chickens to make up 1.48 billion wings of any sort.
1.48 billion wings divided by the near 350 million people who live in the USA today equals like 4.22 chicken wings for every man, woman, child, and baby. This means I will need to let you out early today so you and the family can get started early. Some of us are going to have to eat more than our share.
On a retail note: The National Retail Federation (nrf.com) has forecasted, and even made a neat little chart, that 213.1 million adults plan to watch the Superbowl today. They will spend a total of 20.2 Billion Dollars on food, clothing, new TV’s, decorations, and other furniture. That equals $94.77 per viewer.
America is a great place to live, if you can afford it … everyone wants to live in America – unless you’re a chicken I suppose.
Are you ready for the Word?
Before we get to our text today, I’d like to invite Jeff Phillips, one of the Elders of our Church, to read Psalms 8, which is our Psalm for this week.
We have been reviewing the story of The Prophet Balaam which began in Numbers 22 when the King of Moab hired him to curse the Israelites. Evidently The King of Moab and all the Elders of Midian believed the Prophet Balaam had the power to bless and the power to curse. They were willing to pay a very large sum of money if Balaam would proclaim a curse on Moses and the Children of God. (The Prophet Balaam represents you; the king of Moab represents the devil; and the Children of Israel represents all the people on earth the Lord is trying to save.)
Numbers 22:6 “Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Not only did the Moabites and the Midianites believe what Balaam said had power, but God and His Angel also believed it.
Numbers 23 NKJV
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”
12 So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?”
The whole account was made a matter of Biblical record so we would realize how powerful our words are and how important it is to God that we bless people and not curse them. In fact, every Born-Again Believer has the Holy Spirit living in their heart and their words are much more powerful and impacting than any of the Old Testament prophets could imagine.
Jesus said there was never a greater prophet than John the Baptist but the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28)
For this reason, the New Testament continues to admonish us as Believers to watch what we say and to make sure we do not idly or willfully curse people. God is trying to save them! Furthermore the scriptures give us several keys to controlling what we think, what we say, and what we do.
Romans 12
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
Thoughts produce words – better said – Words come from thoughts. We may not be able to fully harness our words unless we can first control our thoughts. Jesus said it this way:
Luke 6:45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
James 3: 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
We should all strive to be perfect and to exercise a reasonable amount of self-control. Self-control is a greater asset than one might realize. Self-control, it turns out, might just be a byproduct of filling our mind with the right stuff!
At any rate, people end up saying what they think – maybe not to everyone but certainly to themselves and eventually to someone else.
Problem is, when we think in terms of curses, we tend to curse.
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Curses are real! God would not have given us instructions to not curse people unless He believed our cursing actually had power to harm them.
God gave strict instructions to Balaam to not curse the Israelites. In fact, an angel of the Lord stood ready to kill the prophet because he did not want any curse words coming from the prophet spoken against those God wanted to save. Evidently curse words hurt … even when we speak them about ourselves!
Proverbs 4
20 A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Numbers 14:28 "Say to them, ’As I live,’ says the LORD, ’just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:”
It’s not only what we say about ourselves, but also what others may be saying about us. Verbally denounce and condemn the curses others have spoken over your life, family, finances, and future.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
Remember – It will please God if you will quit cursing others!
How can you do this?
- · Fill your mind with the good Word of God! (Proverbs 4:23)
- · Think on the best you can imagine God can do. (Philippians 4:8)
- · Speak that which is good. (Ephesians 4:29)
- · Renew your mind and it will renew your life! (Romans 12:1-2)
