SUNDAY 5TH NOV.,2017

TOPIC: THE WORD FROM THE TOP (4)
TEXT: Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder…”

The sixth commandment says, ‘You shall not murder. ‘ Now, most of us don’t need a lecture on murder, so let’s address the real issue: the tongue, which kills by destroying a person’s self-worth and future hopes. Paul writes: ‘All the law is fulfilled in…this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” but if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!’ (Gal.5:14-15). In 1994, a tabloid headline, ‘killer bug ate my face’? The reporting was sensational, but the stories were based on factual cases of invasive streptococcal bacteria found in Gloucestershire.
A pharmacist describes what happens after the deadly microbes take hold: ‘The bacteria multiply rapidly, producing toxins… For three days the patient may suffer swollen lymph nodes, rising fever, and
excruciating pain at the site of infection. Penicillin can stop the attack at this stage, but by day four, infected tissues start dying. Bacteria saturate the bloodstream, destroying muscles and organs, sending the body into shock, and death can follow within hours… invasive streptococcus is rare, but unforgiving.’ You say, ‘That’s gruesome!’ Yes, and so is gossip, and slander! They’re deadly. They make people feel worthless by destroying their self-esteem and undermining them to the point where life doesn’t seem worth living.
Learn to guard your tongue and speak words that bring life, not death.

MEDITATION: James 3:2

BIBLE STUDY
2 Kings 18, Philemon, Hosea 11, Ps. 132-134