10/29/12 - "LOVING LIFE AND SEEING GOOD DAYS"

1 Pet. 3:10 For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.
1 Pet. 3:11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

If you are looking for the “good life” I have your answer on where to find it and how to experience good days. God desires for us to enjoy the life we have been given, and He desires for us to have good days. If this were not so then we would not have such a promise as this in 1 Peter found in the Bible. We all know that life presents its challenges because of the fall of Adam, but that does not mean we can’t experience a life filled with the goodness of God and enjoy what God has for us. The keys are found right here in these two verses of scriptures. We will examine these keys this week as we learn what these scriptures reveal as to what we can do to enjoy good days here on earth.

1. Refrain your tongue from evil.

Prov. 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

I just addressed this issue last week in my Weekly Wisdom article. There are many verses on the tongue and the importance of our words. Here in Proverbs 15:4 we see another verse about our words that talks about speaking wholesome words, not words that are perverse or evil. Wholesome words are a tree of life. This is a reference to a tree that has fruit, which provides life and health through the nutrients that come from its fruit. That is what our tongues are like. When we say things that are godly, filled with the life of God, that is what we feed off of for we hear those words. Our words are either feeding us life or death as scripture reveals life and death are in the power of the tongue.

But when we speak perverse words, words that go contrary to what God’s Word says, then we are speaking that which is evil. Doing so does not build up our spirit man, but in fact breaks us down. Think of any situation where what you or someone else said instantly changed the atmosphere around you. How does one refrain their tongue from evil? James 1:19-20 tells us one of the things we need to do in keeping our tongue from evil. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and therefore slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

We so often just immediately speak without thinking first of what we are saying and how we are saying it. Doing so often results in saying something that we will then later regret. You must purpose to listen first before you speak, even when you are by yourself. We hear ourselves speak more than anyone else. Speaking things that are contrary to God’s Word does not strengthen our faith; in fact it weakens our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If we learn to deal with and get control over our words then we are well on the way to a good life. Your words will build you up, or they will tear you down.

Mark 4:24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

Jesus also teaches us that we must take heed to “what” we are hearing. Whatever the measure is of what you are hearing, that determines what will be measured to you. If you are listening to a lot of things that are not godly, worldly television shows, worldly media, etc., then that is what you are going to speaking. I don’t think Christians often realize how much of what they hear is in fact impacting what they say. You must stop speaking evil with your tongue. To do that you must train yourself to become good at being quick to hear, slow to speak, and pay attention to what you are listening to (feeding on), for what you feed on will come out of your mouth and produce like fruit.

2. Refrain your lips from speaking deceit.

It should be obvious why this would keep us from seeing good days. To speak words of deceit is to say things in which you are trying to mislead people. There are a couple of reasons why this will come back to rob you of a good life. First and foremost you are going to reap what you sow. If you are sowing words that are misleading people, then you are going to reap the same. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). Often people think that what they do to others they can get away with, but there is coming a payday and when that happens you won’t be happy.

The other reason you need to refrain from speaking deceit to see good days is because this would be an act of sin. Scripture reveals that your sin will find you out. There will be a time when people will begin to recognize your misleading speech. That will not only hurt your reputation with them, but will do so with others as well. You will become someone who is labeled as being untrustworthy. People will know they cannot trust what you say. This will certainly not lead to good days. So you must be careful of what you say. If you are someone who speaks misleading things continually you need to get before God and deal with yourself and your heart. If you heart is not right then your words will not be right either.

3. Turn from evil and do good.

Eph. 4:27 Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

In this life we will face enough temptations to do evil without even trying, so one thing we should definitely not do is be pursuing evil on purpose. Whenever we do not choose to turn from that which is evil we are giving the devil an opportunity in our life to do harm. Realize that he cannot just waltz into your life and do whatever he wants. He looks for ways to infiltrate our life through weaknesses he can exploit. So to turn away from evil we must also have an understanding of what our weaknesses are. If you obviously have a heart to follow after God then you are not someone who wants to live in willful sin.

One of the most important keys to turning from evil and doing good has to do with who your friends are. Scripture reveals that the righteous choose their friends carefully for even the wicked lead them astray. You see this all the time where wrong associations with the wrong kind of people have a bad effect on the believer. Sinners don’t see the type of “good days” the believer has available to them, for they don’t know God. Knowing God and walking close to Him will certainly have a major impact on how you see your days in this life. When we get to know God we come to know that which is good, God Himself. This begins to influence how we look upon life. It is hard to get close with God and not begin to experience the good life God has for you.

Rom. 12:2 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.

Another key to turning from evil and doing good comes from continually renewing of our minds. James tells us the mind (our soul) is not saved. A mind renewed is a mind subdued. If you keep your mind renewed to the Word of God as Paul states here in Romans 12 then you will prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You will not turn from evil as you should if you do not take the time to consistently renew your mind. As a man thinks, so is he. A renewed mind brings good days for you get a completely different picture on life through the Word.

4. Seek peace and pursue it.

Is. 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Last but not least to see good days we need to seek peace both for ourselves and with others as well. Isaiah reveals a powerful truth about seeking peace for yourself. Keep your mind stayed on God and He will keep you in perfect peace. When you have the peace of God that comes from within manifested in your life good days will be seen. Peace with God is without a doubt one of the most powerful things we have as a believer.

When we seek peace with one another we are not trying to stir up strife or division. The Bible teaches us that where there is strife and division the first thing that comes is confusion, and then every evil work. Clearly this type of lifestyle will not be a good one. When confusion is present the enemy moves in and there will be no resolve, just more turmoil. We must as scripture teaches choose to walk in love, treating others the way we want to be treated, no matter how they have treated us. Just remember Jesus did not deserve to die, for He had done nothing wrong. When it comes to issues that don’t involve our spiritual outcome in life we need to learn to give up the right to be right. Trying to prove your point will only lead to more strife and division.

So learn to follow these four simple yet powerful truths and you too will love life and see good days. We have a God who desires this for you. Sure life will still present it’s challenges, but when you know God you have all you need to be victorious in this life and see the good days God has for you!

See You Again Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”

May God’s Best Be Yours!

Pastor Darryl Baker