Thought for January 22, 2024

•  1508: First Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican
• 1879: The Battle of Rorke's Drift. 150 British troops hold off 3000-4000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses are awarded, most in any engagement in British history. 
• 1941: First mass killing of Jews in Romania
• 1968: "Laugh-in" premiers
• 1970: First commercial 747 flight
• 1973: Supreme Court decides Roe v. Wade
• 1999: Missionary Graham Staines and his 2 sons are burned alive by Hindus in Eastern India
• 2006: Kobe Bryant scores 81 points
• 2020: Wuhan China locked down due to Covid
• Born: Francis Bacon, William Kidd, Lord Byron, U Thant, Sam Cooke, Bill Bixby, Graham Kerr [Galloping Gourmet], Diane Lane, George Seifert [49ers coach in Super Bowl LI]
• Died: Queen Victoria, Alan Hale, Lyndon Johnson, Rose Kennedy, Stanley Marcus [Neiman-Marcus], Heath Ledger, Joe Paterno, Mary Houghton Brown ["I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go"]

John Dykes died on this day in 1876. He wrote the music for "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Jesus, The Very Thought of You" and over 300 other hymns. In your hymnal, the tune for "Holy, Holy, Holy" is called Nicaea, referring to the Council of Nicaea in 325 that affirmed that Jesus is of the same essence as God the Father and not created. Thus, the hymn says, "God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity."

Anna Bartlett Warner died on this date in 1915. She and her sister, Susan, are responsible for the words to the first Christian song most of us sang--"Jesus Loves Me." Her family's wealth was destroyed in the "Panic of 1837" so they moved from NYC to Constitution Island in the Hudson River in sight of West Point. Anna and he sister wrote poems and stories to supplement the family income. One of the stories was a novel called "Say and Seal" about a little boy who was dying, Johnny Fox. In the novel, Johnny's Sunday School teacher would rock him and sing a little song--"Jesus Loves Me." The book was a best seller, second only to "Uncle Tom's Cabin." William Bradbury read the book, loved the song and wrote the tune we sing. Anna and Susan conducted Bible study classes for the West Point cadets for over 40 years. They are buried at West Point, the only civilians buried there. West Point maintains a museum in their honor.

Thought:

Do you ever have a problem with your tongue? Say the wrong thing at the wrong time with the wrong attitude and the wrong words. Does your unfiltered speech indicate a spiritual issue? I have told you that one of the ways to know a man's spiritual heart is to have him hit his thumb with a hammer on a cold day--whatever comes out of his mouth is unfiltered. I watch this on the television as I see what players or coaches say after a "bad"call or missed opportunity and then listen as they give credit to God for their victory. A very short miracle story has my attention this morning. 

In Matthew 9:32-34 we read the story of the demon possessed man who was dumb/mute. In this chapter we have the story of the synagogue official whose daughter is healed, the woman with the issue of blood, and the healing of two blind men. Now we have these 3 verses. 

• The man could not speak. You know, sometimes that might be a blessing. I do fine until I open my mouth. As I listen to politicians and legislators I often think that demon possession does not mute people, it causes people to speak in ways that are not helpful. Perhaps we would all be well served to read Philippians 4:8. Here Paul tells us what we should think about. Maybe we should apply that to our speech and only say things that are true, honorable, right [God's Right], pure. lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise. 
• A demon had his tongue. Been there, done that. Has a demon ever had your tongue under control? Your anger poured out in words; your hurt made you want to hurt someone else with your words; your impatience finally caught up and you blurted out something. James has much to say about the tongue in his letter--be quick to hear and slow to speak; no one can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 
• Jesus casts out the demon and the man speaks [9:33]. Do you wonder what he said? Were his words praises for Jesus. 

Now what I see here is that I have a tongue that is prone to evil. But I have a Savior who sent the Holy Spirit to help me in my weakness. Today Lord, free my tongue from the power of Satan and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You.

Blessings

Larry