From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive. – Proverbs 16:23 NLT

If you want to help your family and friends overcome stress, then you must measure your words carefully. And that’s exactly what God wants you to do. God’s Word reminds us that “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18 NIV).

Today, make this promise to yourself: vow to be an honest, effective, encouraging communicator at work, at home, and everyplace in between. Speak wisely, not impulsively. Use words of kindness and praise, not words of anger or derision. Learn how to be truthful without being cruel.

Remember that you have the power to heal others or to injure them, to lift others up or to hold them back. And when you learn how to lift them up, you’ll soon discover that you’ve lifted yourself up, too.

Attitude and the spirit in which we communicate are as important as the words we say. – Charles Stanley

Part of good communication is listening with the eyes as well as with the ears. – Josh McDowell

We should ask ourselves three things before we speak: Is it true? Is it kind? Does it glorify God? – Billy Graham

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, You have warned me that I will be judged by the words I speak. Keep me mindful, Lord, that I have influence on many people; make me an influence for good. And, may the words that I speak today be worthy of the One who has saved me forever. Amen

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Psalm 95:6-8 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

Medical professionals estimate that as many as 80 million people in the US have some form of heart disease and 720,000 die every year as a result. It’s the No. 1 killer in the country. But something just as lethal threatens your spiritual life. It’s a blockage in your vital relationship with God that the Bible calls hardheartedness. Psalm 95:7-8 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

My heart is hardened when I refuse to respond to God’s prompting to change a specific area in my life and instead put my fingers in my ears. It happens when He wants me to thank Him for something but I’m silent. I’m hardhearted when the Lord presses in closer to me to show me a bigger plan for my life, but I stiff-arm Him away. No further, God. You’re just asking too much right now. In a sentence, we harden our hearts not when we sin, but when we won’t let God deal with us about our sin.

We all have nifty tricks to rationalize our lack of response to God. One common way is procrastination. Tomorrow, God. If God could do in our lives all the things that we’ve already surrendered to Him, our lives would be on fire. Too often we say, “I won’t hang on to this sin my whole life; I’ll just struggle with it a few more days.” Is this true for you? Are you still battling with God about something you gave over to Him years ago?

You may ask, How do I know if I’m in trouble? What does a hard heart feel like? That’s the scary thing. It may be painful in the early stages when God is convicting you of what He wants to change. But if you say instead, “Hmm, I see what You mean, God, but I’d rather not go through all that pain,” then slowly, imperceptibly, you stop feeling anything prompted by the Lord. Hardheartedness has set in.

If you’re like me, you’re ready for the remedy. It’s simply this: Today, do something about your heart. At a former church I served, we had Psalm 95:6-8 written on the back wall of our sanctuary. We never want to be far from the reality that the condition of our heart is our responsibility.

In the most loving and urgent way I know how, I extend to you God’s invitation to draw near. Today, if you hear His voice, respond.

Don’t delay… Take care of your heart today!
Blessings,

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint – Isaiah 40:31

The dictionary defines the word patience as “the ability to be calm, tolerant, and understanding.” If that describes you, you can skip the rest of this page. But, if you’re like most of us, you’d better keep reading.

For most of us, patience is a hard thing to master. Why? Because we have lots of things we want, and we know precisely when we want them: NOW (if not sooner). But our Father in heaven has other ideas; the Bible teaches that we must learn to wait patiently for the things that God has in store for us, even when waiting is difficult.

We live in an imperfect world inhabited by imperfect people. Sometimes, we inherit troubles from others, and sometimes we create troubles for ourselves. On other occasions, we see other people “moving ahead” in the world, and we want to move ahead with them. So we become impatient with ourselves, with our circumstances, and even with our Creator.

Psalm 37:7 instructs us to “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (NKJV). But, for most of us, waiting patiently for Him is hard. We are fallible beings who seek solutions to our problems today, not tomorrow. Still, God instructs us to wait patiently for His plans to unfold, and that’s exactly what we should do. Sometimes, patience is the price we pay for being responsible adults, and that’s as it should be. After all, think how patient our Heavenly Father has been with us. So the next time you find yourself drumming your fingers as you wait for a quick resolution to the challenges of everyday living, take a deep breath and ask God for patience.

Remember that patience builds character . . . and the best moment to start building is this one.

The best things in life seldom happen overnight; they usually take time. Henry Blackaby writes, “The grass that is here today and gone tomorrow does not require much time to mature. A big oak tree that lasts for generations requires much more time to grow and mature. God is concerned about your life through eternity. Allow Him to take all the time He needs to shape you for His purposes.”

Blessings,

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Psalms 105:4, 5 and 8
Seek the LORD, and His strength: seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of His mouth . . . He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations.

Memorial Day (This weekend) is set aside to remember those who have fallen in our nation’s wars. Sadly, the day will pass and most of us will be so caught up in picnics, family gatherings, or outdoor projects that we won’t even give much thought to the real meaning of the day. That’s too bad, because remembering does many things. It brings me back to the reality of what actually happened. It also encourages me to see the dedication of those who fought and died. Remembering stirs within me a sense of gratitude and appreciation, and it strengthens my resolve to do my part in serving God, country and others.

Throughout the Bible, God’s people are instructed to stop and recall what He did for them. Psalm 105 is a song of remembrance of God’s goodness to His beloved ones. It traces His direction, provision and protection through their history and the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. As believers in the 21st century, we can look back over a much longer history and see how God’s plan has and is unfolding, and observe His incredible goodness to us.

Psalm 105:1-5 shows the natural progression of what happens when I pause to remember—I give thanks to Him and continue calling on Him. I sing of Him, and talk with fellow believers of all He has done. Then I must go tell others of His greatness. When I stop to trace the work of God’s hand in my life and in the world around me, these things just come naturally.

But the key to being able to rejoice in the past is not found in counting the number of good things that have happened, but in remembering that God remembers! I can rejoice because He never forgets His plan and He never forsakes His promises. Even when life is tough and things don’t seem to make sense to me, I can rest assured that He is in control and He is working out His plan. He has my best interest at heart. Knowing this encourages and strengthens me, and pushes me to do my best to live for Him.

A song that was popular when I was younger went something like this:

“When I remember the cross that He bore,
When I remember the thorns that He wore,
My heart cries out, ‘Oh Christ divine, I’m thine forever!’
When I remember what He did for me.”

I encourage you, my friend, at this Memorial season, take time to remember.
Blessings,
†
Chaplin Rob