Elevate Your Day with Andi and Brian Hale

Question #6 - Why Did Jesus Come When He Did?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 6 - Why Did Jesus Come When He Did?

Question #5 - Why Joseph?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 5 - Why Joseph?

Question #4 - Why The Song Of Mary?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 4 - Why The Song Of Mary?

Question #3 - Why Mary?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 3 - Why Mary?
 

Question #2 - Why Did God Become A Man?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 2 - Why Did God Become A Man?
 

Question #1 - Why The Prophecies?

Book Reading with Andi and Brian Hale
Why The Nativity - by Dr. David Jeremiah
Questions and Answers based on the major motion picture, "The Nativity Story"
Chapter 1 - Why The Prophecies?

Remember Surrender Confess

By now, we can probably agree that our mouths can get us in trouble. The problem is, we can’t live without them. We can’t decide to never speak again. So, what do we do? According to the apostle Paul, we can remember, surrender, and confess.
Romans 12:1-2 ESVI appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
When you remember, you acknowledge that you are a powerful person because your words have tremendous force. Every time you open your mouth, especially when you’re angry, frustrated, or wound up, you have the ability to do harm. At any moment, your potential for good and your potential for evil are unlimited.
Once you remember, you have to surrender. This is an invitation to surrender your mouth and your words to your Father in heaven. The apostle Paul, when he wrote a letter to Christians living in Rome in the first century, said that Christians are to offer all the parts of their bodies as living sacrifices to God.
Finally, we have to confess when we mess up. And we know from the book of James that we’re going to mess up. This isn’t an if; this is a when. Remember, your tongue can’t be tamed. You manage it, you guard it, and when you mess up and those words come out, you immediately confess. Don’t explain. Don’t make excuses. Own the fires you have begun with your words.
The good news is that we have the power to avoid the consequences of an untamed tongue if we choose to take Paul’s wisdom to heart and surrender this powerful tool to God.

Choosing Words That Build Others Up

Ephesians 4:29 ESVLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
You can do more damage with your words than you can with any other part of your body or any other thing you have control over. With technology and word-of-mouth potential, you can destroy a person with words and not even be in the same room with them.
There’s good news on the flip side of that, though: Your words have the power to build others up. The tongue really is a miraculous thing. We don’t see anything else in all of nature where two opposing things can come from the same source. The tongue has the power to destroy and the power to build up.
James 3:3-12 ESVIf we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Most of us had a teacher whose words encouraged us or a coach whose words inspired us. Maybe your grandma changed the way you see yourself with her kind words, or you still carry around a note your dad wrote you years ago. People choose hobbies, careers, and even spouses because of what someone else said to them. 
Words are free and always available. They have the power to change your life. And every day, in every conversation, you have the power to speak life-changing words to those around you.
1 Thessalonians 5:11-15 ESVTherefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
This is not a mandate to avoid saying hard things. In fact, it’s the opposite. Paul’s encouragement in his letter to the Ephesians is to say “only what is helpful for building others up.” Sometimes that requires you to say hard things in a kind way—to dial into the emotions of those around you and to speak words that are helpful.
Can you imagine what would happen in your family, your marriage, or your workplace if you leaned into the power of words that build up? The words you say matter. Who needs to hear them today?