Life Is...Isn't.?

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens. Selah

Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Psalm 68:19-20 (NIV)

I've, at times, wondered why the phrase "Life is like a bowl of cherries" was used to explain idea conditions, especially since eating cherries isn't the most idea experience with the pits you have to deal with.

Perhaps that is what makes life like a bowl of cherries--it's sweet, but with pits.

Anyhoo, I bought cherries today at my local Stater Brothers, and they are really good and sweet. Thus, the photo of the day. And as I'm eating these luscious cherries and spitting out the pits, I'm pondering the subject of salvation.

What do you think of when you hear the word salvation? Probably the main thing that comes to mind is that salvation is being saved from sin and the penalties of it, through repentance and profession of faith in, and living for, Jesus Christ. So true, as that's the beginning, and yet salvation extends on to encompass much more. We have so much more to be saved from--well, at least I do. The effects of wrong patterns of thinking, negative experiences, childhood issues, past wrong decisions... to name a few issues that can affect us.

Just for an example--let's take me having a natural inclination to have a sharp tongue. It's in the blood--people in my family tend to be quick with words and satire. I grew up with a sharp wit and quick tongue,which could be funny, yet that sharpness could turn into biting sarcasm, without me intending it to be so. Also, the sharpness would be there, unintentionally, when giving correction to a child or subordinate in the work environment.
If I wanted to be a late night comedian, I suppose that would be an asset...but in God's book, it's not.

The first eleven verses of James 3, talks about the irreversible damage that can be caused by the tongue. The tongue is described as 'a fire, a world of iniquity', ' unruly evil, full of deadly poison', 'it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.'

Uh oh. Well, I could have told myself that I could just be very careful and watch my mouth...which is good. But it wasn't enough. This was a part of me. Some people may suggest some form of retraining myself, but that's depending on a man-made function which doesn't always work. I had to first of all face the fact that I needed 'salvation' from this problem, and that I needed God to help me. And that's where the person of the Holy Spirit comes in, because He is our helper. It would be arrogance on our part if we thought we could handle all of our issues on our own, in the sense of doing what is pleasing to God, without His help.

In following Jesus' example to fight with the Word (which is living and powerful- Hebrews 4:12)
I found myself a verse to confess over myself, while asking the Holy Spirit to make me aware when I was about to say something that would not be pleasing to God. I used the scripture about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, that says in verse 26 "She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness."

For a period of time, each day I would say about myself--I open my mouth with skillful and godly wisdom and on my tongue is the law of kindness giving counsel and instruction(Amplified Bible version). In dealing with situations where the temptation was there to 'go off', especially with dealing with a rebellious child that was under my care for a number of year-- the Holy Spirit would do His job to remind me that this was one of those situations, and I would take my stance ahead of time that 'the law of kindness would be on my tongue.'

I took the salvation that was offered me, through submitting totally to the Lord in this, and with this particular situation, I know God saved this relationship from 'death.'

How reassuring it is to me that God continuously offers salvation to us, in so many areas!