Tag: Mouth

Consider your ways!

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.”

“Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure”.

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is”

“My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

“but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Psalms 37:23  The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.

Psalms 17:5   My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

Psalms 85:13  Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.

Psalms 119:133   Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Psalms 121:3   He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

Psalms 121:8   The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

1 Samuel 2:9    “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.

Proverbs 16:9   The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Jeremiah 10:23  I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

Hebrews 13:16    Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Ephesians 5:15   Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise

I have been thinking about resting in God.  Relying on Him.  Waiting on Him.  Trusting in Him.  I wonder what this looks like lived out.  Does resting mean we are not constantly searching to know and understand Him more?  I think we have a tendency to become complacent and we stop at “resting”.  Notice scripture today in pondering our path and God’s leading.  Can we know this if we are complacently resting?  Our purpose in this life is to humbly serve, honor, glorify, and obey God.  To do this we need to continually spend time in His word with a heart deep desire.  Spend time in His word.

 

Known by his acts

“By steadfast loveand faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.”

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”

Psalms 36:1   Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.

Proverbs 20:11   Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Matthew 7:16  You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Matthew 12:33  “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.  You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Titus 1:16   They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Proverbs 8:13   The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Ecclesiastes 12:13   The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Romans 3:18   “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The heart of man is deceitful and full of arrogance and pride.  We can know this and always be on guard for when it wants to raise its ugly head. Or, we can say it is not there and never be looking.  How sad is it when we choose to deny there is any thing wrong with our thoughts, intents, words and actions?  Out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks.  It is also true that what fills our mind and thoughts feeds our heart.  How is a person to recognize right and wrong thoughts, intents, speech, and actions?  A live time could be spend on what it means to Love, and the same for Joy, or Peace, or Patience, or Kindness, or Goodness, or Faithfulness. The only way to understand our own heart is to examine it in light of scripture and seek God to reveal that which is opposing to living, acting, speaking in such a way that humbly serves, honors and obeys Him.  Filling our mind with His word on a daily basis will start this never ending  growth in our service to Him.  Rejecting or putting off time with His word allows our heart to become complacent and hard.  We are unable to grow, unable to display fruits of His indwelling in our lives, unable to serve Him,  and unable to honor and glorify Him.  Our actions, thoughts and words are a direct reflection of our walk with God.  David wanting to humbly serve, honor and obey God put it this way. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”  You know you are on the right path when your prayer is in line with this.

A True Heart

What comes out of the mouth originates in the heart.  Do you find yourself at times saying things that should not be said?  Are there thoughts that come to your mind that are wrong and expose an area of darkness in your heart?  What goes into the the heart and mind are what is most likely to come out.  Commit to daily feeding both your heart and mind with God’s word.  Desire to have Him the center of all you do. Try this for 7 days and see if your thoughts and what you say doesn’t change.

Matthew 15:10
And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.
“Explain the parable to us.” And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.

James 3:8
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.

Psalms 140:1
Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
who plan evil things in their heart
and stir up wars continually.
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,
and under their lips is the venom of asps

Live for God

Do we do a “pretend” church life of honoring and glorifying God?  A life where we think honoring and glorifying God boils down to a single event of making sure we are in church on Sunday.  The purpose of being in church is to corporately  worship God.  Somehow I think many miss this purpose and instead use Sunday as a means to be right before God.  God wants our entire life’s desire to be Him and His plan/purpose in our life.  This desire is 7 days per week not just one.  Don’t water down the gospel in your life – keep it pure – live all seven days of the week for God.

Matthew 15:7
You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

Matthew 23:15
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves

Colossians 2:20
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world,do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ( referring to things that all perish as they are used) —according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh

Ezekiel 33:31
And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain