Tongue Taming~

Thursday greetings~

A few months after I started wearing braces, the orthodontist analyzed the way I swallow and

determined I was a "tongue thruster."  My tongue would always hit the back of my front teeth

while I was swallowing, and this was causing my slight overbite. 

The solution was a little metallic device – don’t know what  it’s called – that was glued onto the

back of upper teeth.  Whenever I swallowed, my overbite-causing tongue would go up there and

be harshly pricked by the needle-like pincers that were attached to that device.  The orthodontist

called it a “deterrent.”  I called it for what it truly was: “Child abuse!”  Sometimes it would make

my tongue bleed.  Poor little Yenisita.

But guess what?  It didn’t take long for my tongue to go to the roof of my mouth when

swallowing, leaving the front teeth alone.  Before I even realized it, it became a habit; I didn’t

even have to think about it before I swallowed.  My tongue had been tamed to do the right thing.

There was a payoff too; I still have most of my teeth:

   

From a spiritual perspective it is a good idea to have a tamed tongue too.

1 Peter 3:8-12 "Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble...no exceptions. No retaliation.  No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless  -  that's your job, to bless.  You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.  Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful...God looks on all this with approval...responding well to what He's asked."

God intended for us to use our tongues to bless others; He says it's our job.  And we will get paid well for doing our job. We will get blessed ourselves, our days will fill up with good, and God will respond well to what He's asked.  

If only there were a device that could be attached to our mouth that would redirect our tongue when it's about to say something mean or critical.  Well, there kind of is.

Psalm 141:3 “O Lord, set a guard at my mouth.  Keep watch over the door of my lips.”   

God wants to reward us so much for using our tongues wisely that He will even help us do it!    

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are right.  Set a guard at our mouths today, and keep watch over the door of our lips because life is better when we speak beautiful things.  Our days are good when there’s nothing evil or hurtful in our language.  We are blessed when we run after peace.  And it’s all because You respond to us.  Thank You for all the help You give us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~  

It Only Takes a Spark...

Greetings in the name of our Lord! He is the One Who sustains us, loves us, protects us, guides us, and when we call upon His name, HE IS IN CONTROL! If you feel your situation is out of control, then stop right now and invite Him to take over! AMEN!

This past weekend I had a chance to visit with a beautiful, elderly lady who has been a spiritual mentor to me for most of my life.  She is an amazing woman of God and a true depiction of what the Bible says in Titus 2:3-5 “Older women are to teach what is right and good,  so that they may encourage young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children,  to be sensible, pure, makers of a home [where God is honored], and good-natured…”

During our conversation she said something powerful: “Yenise, I have never gotten into trouble for keeping my mouth shut. But I have suffered many consequences for those times I didn’t!” 

Wouldn’t you know that the Bible agrees?

James 3: 5-6 “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!  It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

I certainly wouldn’t want to bring destruction because of something I said, nor would I want to turn harmony into chaos, or much less, go up in smoke because of my speech. So I loudly “amened” my mentor’s wise words over and over and nodded my head heartily in agreement, and then last night I OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!!!

I will spare everyone the details of the vulgarity that I spewed at my husband in front of my kids and their lovely spouses. Even the dogs stopped for a moment, cocked their ears, and looked at me funny. But I can assure you that what I said right from the pit of hell. Ugh!

What is wrong with me? I wished I could have taken it back. But at least I had the good sense to apologize immediately, and Jorge quickly forgave me. 

Moving forward, I am asking the good Lord to remind me that I will never have any regrets if I KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your Word gives good advice. If we follow Your wisdom we will avoid setting off forest fires with our words. Help us; it’s never worth it! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.  

A Tamed Tongue~

Thursday greetings~

I wore braces for four long years, partly because I refused to wear a head gear.  That would have knocked off 18 months of treatment, but when you’re 14 years old, the last thing you need are wires protruding out of your mouth that wrap around your head.  That’s the way it was back in the day.  Today’s braces wearers have no clue.  But there was something even worse I had to put up with.

A few months into treatment the orthodontist asked me to show him how I swallow.  Turns out that my tongue would always hit the back of my front teeth while I was swallowing, and this was causing my slight overbite.  The orthodontic world labeled me a “tongue thruster.” 

The solution was a little metallic device – don’t know what’s it’s called – that was glued onto the back of upper teeth.  Every time I swallowed, my overbite-causing tongue would go up there, where it was harshly pricked by the needle-like pincers that were attached to that device.  The orthodontist called it a “deterrent.”  I called it for what it truly was: “Child abuse!”  Some times it would make my tongue bleed.  Poor little Yenisita.

But guess what, it didn’t take long for my tongue to go to the roof of my mouth when swallowing, leaving the front teeth alone.  Before I even realized it, it became a habit.  I didn’t even have to think about it before I swallowed.  My tongue had been tamed to do the right thing.  There was a payoff too; I still have most of my teeth:

   

From a spiritual perspective it is a good idea to have a tamed tongue too.

1 Peter 3:8-12 “Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here’s what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he’s asked.”

We need use our tongue the way God intended, which is to bless others.  He says it’s our job.  And there's a payoff here as well.  If we work at it, if we take a moment to contemplate our responses, if we tame our tongue, our days will fill up with good.  But before we get to the part where God approves and shows it by responding to our prayers, we have to “say nothing evil or hurtful.”  Ouch and help me, Jesus.  If only there were a device that could be attached to our mouth that would redirect our tongue when it attempts to be mean or critical.  Well, there is, sort of.

Psalm 141:3 “O Lord, set a guard at my mouth.  Keep watch over the door of my lips.”   

Over and over again I have talked about how living the Christian life is a win-win.  This is why.  God wants to fill our days up with good, but we need to keep our tongues under control for Him to do so.  I personally have never been one to say evil things, but hurtful things?  Mean things? That is too easy for me sometimes.  But God does not leave me on my own.  He wants to bless me so much that He will help me do the things He asks by keeping watch over me and my mouth.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are right.  Life is better when we speak beautiful things.  Our days are good when there’s nothing evil or hurtful in our language.  We are blessed when we run after peace.  And it’s all because You respond to us.  Thank You for all the help You give us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~