out of the heart 7-13 jun 2033

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Out of the Heart June 13Easy English Edition March 26April 111Easy Reading Edition *June 7-13Out of the Heart

MEMORY VERSE: Your words will be used to judge youto declare youeither innocent or guilty (Matthew 12:37, TEV).

WE TALK ABOUT GOD FORGIVING our sins. But do we really understandwhat it means for God to forgive our sins?

It means that we were once separated from God (Colossians 1:21). But we arenow restored1to Him through the death of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18). We were once

judged guilty because of sins (John 3: 18). But we no longer need to fear anypunishment (Romans 8:1). We were facing eternal2death (Ephesians 2:1). But we

now have the promise of eternal life (1 John 5:12). How can we have all these greatthings happen to us and notbe changed?We are born again. We are new people in Jesus. We show this change in many

different ways. What we say and what we think are among the most importantchanges.

That is why the Bible has so much to say about our words and our thoughts. Thatis why this week we will take a look at what the Bible says about what we think andwhat we say.

THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: What does James have to say about the power ofwords? Why does he paint such a negative picture? How does the Bible show

Satans use of words? Why would God care even about what we think?

*Study this weeks lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 14.

1restoredto have made something as it was in the beginning.2eternalforever; without beginning or end; lasting forever.


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THE POWER OF WORDS.

The tongue is like a fire. It [the

tongue] is a world of wrong. . . . Weuse it to give thanks to our Lordand Father and also to curse ourfellow-man. . . . Words of thanksgiv-ing and cursing pour out from thesame mouth (James 3:6, 9, 10,TEV).

Read James 3:2-13. What Jamessays about words is true of both thespoken word and the printed word. Howmany people have been destroyed bywritten or spoken words? At the sametime, how many people have beenstrengthened and encouraged by writ-ten or spoken words. Whether writtenor spoken, words are very powerful forgood or for evil.

In the next column is a list of sym-bols James uses to describe the in-fluence of the tongue. What pointabout the tongue is James makingwith each symbol?

Bits in horses mouths (James 3:3)_____

__________________________________

Ships (James 3:4, 5)________________

__________________________________

Fire (James 3:5-7)__________________

__________________________________

Animals (James 3:7, 8)______________

__________________________________

Springs of water (James 3:11, 12)_____

__________________________________

Trees and vines (James 3:12)_________

__________________________________

James is saying that the tongue maybe small, but it has a lot of influence.

The tongue can destroy the same as araging fire.

A grapevine cannot grow figs. A tongueshould not give thanks to God and also

curse other people.


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Out of the Heart June 13

The tongues influence for evil is great.In one place, he even calls the tongueevil and uncontrollable,3 full of deadly

poison (James 3:8, TEV). Clearly,James knows what words can do, so heis telling his readers to remember thatbecause they are Christians they needto act as Christians (James 2:14-26).Acting as Christians includes guarding(watching) the tongue.

What pain have you felt fromsomeone using rough or unkind4

words? What joy and happiness have

you felt from someone speakingkindly to you? Why do you thinkwords are so powerful?

LOUDMOUTH.

Do not spread lies about any-one (Leviticus 19:16, TEV).

Leviticus 19:16 shows that even in

Moses day, Gods people needed toguard (watch) their mouth.

Leviticus 19:16 uses a Hebrew wordthat means to go about as a slan-derer,5a gossiper, or even a traitor.

This word shows up again in Ezekiel28:5. Using an earthly king as a sym-bol of Satan, the Lord says: You [theking/Satan] made cleaver businessdeals and kept on making profits. Howproud you are of your wealth! Now then,

this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, amsaying: Because you think you are as

wise as a god, I [God] will bring ruth-less [cruel] enemies to attack you (Ezekiel 28:5, 6, TEV). The Hebrew

word for business deals comes fromthe same word translated lies inLeviticus 19:16. It is not hard to seethat slander (lies), and gossip areSatans favorite tools. He is the great-est liar in all creation.

What do each of the followingverses tell us about Satan?

Genesis 3:1-4______________________

__________________________________

Job 1:9-11_________________________

__________________________________

Zechariah 3:1______________________

__________________________________

John 8:44_________________________

__________________________________

Revelation 12:10___________________

__________________________________

Satan is a loudmouth, a gossip,and a liar. When we gossip and telllies, we are showing Satans charac-

ter, not Gods character. No wonderthe Bible speaks strongly about words.

3uncontrollablenot controlled.4unkindnot kind.5slanderera person who tells lies.


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Jesus has saved us. We have receivedforgiveness for all the things Satan orother people could use to make false

charges against us. But we should becareful about what we say when talk-ing about other people.

How do we deal with someonewhom we know is doing wrong? Dowe say nothing about them while theyare doing harm? Explain your an-swer.

HISTORY OF LIES; WORDS OFTRUTH.

The Bible presents a long, sad his-tory of untruthfulness.6

1. The first lie was the opposite of whatGod had said. This lie challengedboth Gods authority (power) and Hisperfect character (Genesis 3:16).

2. Early in the history of humanity,7 itbecame clear that by believing

Satans lie, humans became strang-ers to the truth. They also began toshow the enemys untruthful charac-ter in their own fallen nature (Gen-esis 4:8, 9; Genesis 12:10-20; Gen-esis 27:6-24).

3. Jesus showed that Satan used lyingand dishonesty8more and more togain control of the human race (Mat-thew 7:15; Matthew 24:23, 24).

4. Satans works of deceiving people

will continue to increase as time

comes to a close (2 Thessalonians2:9-12).

5. At last, the sad history of lying and

deceiving people will come to anend (Revelation 21:27; Revelation22:15).

Summarize in your own wordswhat Paul is saying in Ephesians4:15, 25, 29. What reasons does Paulgive for warning us about how weuse our words? What does Paulmean when he says that through ourwords we may impart9grace to the

hearers? How do you understandEphesians 4:15, 25, 29 when youthink of the history of lies this les-son describes?

There is so much in the Bible aboutbeing careful with words because wordscome so easy. All we have to do isspeak. We would think very carefullybefore we speak if every time weopened our mouths bullets, instead of

words, flew out. Words can damage ordestroy people. This is why we need towatch our words carefully. At the sametime words have the power to do goodtoo.

In Ephesians 4:15, Paul talksabout speaking the truth in love.What does it mean to speak the truthin love? Why is what we say, howwe say it, or even why we say it, so

important?

6untruthfulnessnot telling the truth.7humanityall the people of the world.8dishonestynot honest.9impartto tell about; to give; to share.


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THOUGHT CRIME.

A good person brings good

things out of his treasure of goodthings; a bad person brings badthings out of his treasure of badthings (Matthew 12:35, TEV).

In 1948, Englishman George Orwellwrote a famous story called 1984. Thisstory gave his vision of a world undertight control of government. Even wrongthoughts were to be punished as crimes.

Of course, the year 1984 has come

and gone. Most governments today donot really care what you think. They areinterested only in what you say or do.

But the Bible is clear that God alsocares about what we think.

Read the following verses. Summa-rize the important message of each one.

Exodus 20:17______________________

____________________________________________________________________

Deuteronomy 10:16________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

1 Samuel 16:7_____________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Matthew 5:8_______________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Matthew 12:35_____________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Ephesians 5:3_____________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

It is clear that God does care aboutour thoughts, our motives,10 and ourhearts. What we think, what is in ourheart, influences what we say or do.Words and actions come from the evilor the good in our hearts. This is whatJesus said in Matthew 12.

None of us live in an empty world.What we say and what we do influ-ences other people for good or evil. Ifwe think good, pure thoughts, then wewill say good, pure words and do good,pure acts. If we think evil thoughts, thenwe will do evil things and say evil things.

Many times, the Bible warns aboutcovetousness.11Covetousness is theone sin in the Ten Commandmentsthat deals with thought. Why does

God think covetousness is so evilthat He should list it with murder andadultery? What is so bad about cov-

10motivesreasons why we do and say things.11covetousnessbeing jealous over another persons things.


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etousness, which is also part of idolworship? (Colossians 3:5). Whatother evils come from covetous-

ness?

THINK ON THESE THINGS . . .

Finally, brothers, whatever is true,whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is admirableif anything isexcellent or praiseworthythink aboutsuch things (Philippians 4:8, NIV).

We learned in an earlier lesson thatwords come easy. Do thoughts comeeasy? Words require that we speak.Thought does not require that we speak.All thoughts need is brain power.Thoughts come without any work onour part. Thoughts often come whetherwe want them to or not. The Bible tellsus that we need to control our thoughts.How can we control our thoughts? Con-

trolling our tongue is easier than con-trolling our thoughts.

The first thing we must rememberis that thoughts do not come fromnothing. What we focus our minds on,what we read, what we talk about,what we do, all influence our thoughts.Even as born-again Christians, wecannot have victory over our thoughtsuntil we depend on Gods grace andpower.

What are the things Paul tells usto think on? Philippians 4:8. Make a

list of things that are pure, true, right,noble, admirable, lovely, et cetera.Then pray that God will help you

think about these things.

Nothing is more pure, lovely, true,and noble than Jesus. There is nothingin heaven or earth that shows us thesecharacteristics12as perfectly as Jesusdoes. Daily we should spend time fo-cusing on Him (2 Corinthians 10:5;Philippians 2:5), on His character, Hiswords, His actions, His love, His

mercy,13

and His obedience. Then wewill have more victories in all areas ofour lives.

This is why personal devotional timeis so important. We can begin each dayreading the Bible, praying, and study-ing. If we do, we can get a good start onthe daily battle to control our thoughts,our words, and our actions.

Think about your own life. Look

at your thoughts. What do you spendyour time looking at, thinking of, andreading about? What changes do youhave to make?

ADDITIONAL STUDY: Ellen G.White, Christs [Jesus] Object Les-sons, Talents, p. 337.

You and the ministers will do well to

review the closing scenes in the life ofour Savior. We may learn important les-sons on how Jesus refused to accept

12characteristicswhat the character is made of, such as patience, kindness, hatred, and jealousy.13mercykindness we do not deserve.


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temptations. We would profit fromspending a thoughtful hour each dayreviewing Jesus life from the cradle to

Calvary. We should take Jesus life pointby point and let our imagination pictureeach scene, especially the closingscenes of Jesus earthly life. We shouldthink about His teachings and suffer-ings, His sacrifice on the cross for oursalvation. Then we will strengthen ourfaith, increase our love, and becomemore filled with the Holy Spirit who sup-ported our Savior.Adapted from EllenG. White, Testimonies for the Church,

vol. 4, p. 374.

Thinking about Jesus life will strengthenour faith.

14unhappynot happy.15unbelievingnot believing.16appreciationwhen you let people know you think they are nice.17sympathysharing another persons sorrow or trouble.

Life is a painful struggle for manypeople. They feel their weaknesses, and

are unhappy14

and unbelieving.15

They

think they have nothing to be thankfulfor. Soft words, kind looks, and words ofappreciation16 would be the same tomany struggling and lonely people as acup of cold water to a thirsty soul. Aword of sympathy17an act of kindness,would lift burdens from a weary person.And every word or act of unselfishkindness shows Jesus love for lost hu-manity.Adapted from Ellen G. White,Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing,p. 23.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:1. Read Matthew 12:37. What do you

think Jesus meant when He spoke

those words?

Be the same as a cup of cold water tosomeone today.


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2. Why does Paul say in Colossians3:5 that covetousness is idol wor-ship?

3. From this weeks lesson, what rea-

sons can you give for having astrong, daily devotional life?

4. What other steps can you take to helpguard your thoughts and your words?

out of the heart 7-13 jun 2033

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