In His Word 8-7-17
Have
you ever said too much? Or said the wrong thing and caused an issue?
Do
you ever run on at the mouth? You know, like when you are upset about something
or excited about something and you just can’t stop talking?
Sometimes
talking a lot is okay, but other times we can say too much; then we walk away
thinking how we should not have said this or that. What we do then is
important; do we belittle ourselves for foolish talking or do we take it to
God. Sometimes it is not easy to take
this sort of thing to God because, much like Adam and Eve were in the garden,
we are embarrassed and ashamed of our actions. Will He curse us or forgive us?
We can talk ourselves out of talking to Him and continue in fear, or we can
open up to Him and trust that He gets us!
God is an amazing person! He
is so thoughtful and so insightful that He planned ahead to allow us to come
into His kingdom and how to keep us focused on His direction in our lives. When
we were saved He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us; but what happens to make
us weak? Why do we sometimes feel so distant from God?
I think it has a lot to do
with how much time we are willing to put into our time alone with Him. It seems
that at the beginning of the year we all get excited about making plans. We
plan our lives out with vision boards and resolutions and yet most of them go
to the way side before we ever accomplish the things in them. We talk like we
are going to do what He wants, because a good majority of people seek God in
January but forget about His directions by March.
Talk is cheap, like
daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. Ecclesiastes
5:1-7
I
say by March because that is when a lot of us get busy either at work or play.
Schools start working kids, and college students to complete the task of the
school around then as well. Then comes Easter and Resurrection Sunday services
that remind us of what God did for us. We find ourselves once again drawn
nearer and make all kinds of plans; but do we stick to them?
Even
our words in our mouth can become relaxed as the Summer months draw us to
beaches and camping trips in the wild; you would think these things would draw
us nearer to God but it seems often to do the opposite. We become ‘fun focused’.
Think
for a moment and ask yourselves; “Do the words of my mouth present themselves
to those around me as if I were speaking to God Himself?”
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
David
spoke this knowing the words of his mouth often did not stand, but that He
desired for us to be so. God desires for our mouths and our hearts and our
sight to be acceptable to Him not to the world we live in.
It
seems too many people who call themselves Christians fall to the worlds advice
on how to be happy, how to live and what to do with their bodies.
The
world is on a get fit , we Christians must follow suit. Not that that is a bad
thing because we all should be fit, but as an example we need to be sure we are
fit in Christ, as in our walk with Him before we worry about getting fit in our
bodies.
It
is so easy to say the wrong thing, or use slang words without the intent to
harm, yet what we should be doing is keeping our mouths clean and speaking the
truth in love. We should be encouraging to those around us not speaking of
things we should not be speaking; even if its about ourselves we can often say
the wrong thing and cause a problem between us and someone else. After all do
we know that the person we are talking with will not share what we said in jest
with someone who will not get it? We must be cautious of what we say, definitely.
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
Ephesians 4:29
If
we keep our mouths, as with our hearts, focused on God then we will be full of encouragement
instead of sharing our discouragement because we will have been encouraged by
Him each day personally. It only happens if we stay close enough to get that
Holy Spirit strength by reading His Word and praying daily. The more you pray
the more you stay in the right mind; the more you stay in the right mind the
more you are in a healthy place to start with.
Don’t be selfish; don’t
try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for
your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians
2:3-5
Dear
Heavenly Father, help us to say just enough without airing our dirty laundry
with anyone but You. Help us to give you our brokenness and trust that You
alone can heal us and make us whole again. Some trust in man, but we trust in
You. Guide our steps today and curb our mouths as we try to speak as You would
have us speak. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested
readings: Philippians 2:1-30, Philippians 3:1-21, Ephesians 4:1-32 and Psalm
19:1-14.