Our Lips For Him

Our Lips For Him

The lips of the righteous feed many...The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

   Proverbs 10:21, 32

The days are past forever when we said, "Our lips are our own." Now we know that they are not our own. And yet how many of my readers often have the miserable consciousness that they have "spoken unadvisedly with their lips!" How many pray, "Keep the door of my lips,"when the very last thing they think of expecting is that they will be kept! They deliberately make up their minds that hasty word, or foolish words, or exaggerated words, according to their respective temptations, must and will slip out of that door, and that it can't be helped. The extent of the real meaning of their prayer was merely that not quite so many might slip out. As their faith went no farther, the answer went no farther, and so the door was not kept. Do let us look the matter straight in the face. Either we have committed our lips to our Lord, or we have not. This question must be settled first. If not, oh, do not let another hour pass! Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them. But when you have committed them to Him, it comes to this--is He able or is He not able to keep that which you have committed to Him? If He is not able, of course you may as well give up at once, for your own experience has abundantly proved that you are not able, so there is no help for you. But if He is able--nay, thank God there is no if on this side!--say, rather, as He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of perpetual failure? You have been fancying yourself virtually doomed and fated to it, and therefore you have gone on in it, while all the time His arm was not shortened that it could not save, but you have been limiting the Holy One of Israel. Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to keep your lips this day? Trust necessarily implies expectation that what we have intrusted will be kept. If you have not expected Him to keep, you have not trusted. You may have tried and tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and therefore you have not been kept and your lips have been the snare of your soul (Proverbs 18:7).  ~ Frances R. Havergal

Our Lips Kept For Him

Opened Treasures is a daily devotional book. It is a compilation of Frances Ridley Havergal's writings. I have the full text of many of her writings in other books of hers from the 1800's. Opened Treasures uses an abridged version. I thoroughly enjoy it as a devotional. This one is spot on with what i have been meditating on lately.

Our Lips For Him

The lips of the righteous feed many...The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

   Proverbs 10:21, 32

The days are past forever when we said, "Our lips are our own." Now we know that they are not our own. And yet how many of my readers often have the miserable consciousness that they have "spoken unadvisedly with their lips!" How many pray, "Keep the door of my lips,"when the very last thing they think of expecting is that they will be kept! They deliberately make up their minds that hasty word, or foolish words, or exaggerated words, according to their respective temptations, must and will slip out of that door, and that it can't be helped. The extent of the real meaning of their prayer was merely that not quite so many might slip out. As their faith went no farther, the answer went no farther, and so the door was not kept. Do let us look the matter straight in the face. Either we have committed our lips to our Lord, or we have not. This question must be settled first. If not, oh, do not let another hour pass! Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them. But when you have committed them to Him, it comes to this--is He able or is He not able to keep that which you have committed to Him? If He is not able, of course you may as well give up at once, for your own experience has abundantly proved that you are not able, so there is no help for you. But if He is able--nay, thank God there is no if on this side!--say, rather, as He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of perpetual failure? You have been fancying yourself virtually doomed and fated to it, and therefore you have gone on in it, while all the time His arm was not shortened that it could not save, but you have been limiting the Holy One of Israel. Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to keep your lips this day? Trust necessarily implies expectation that what we have intrusted will be kept. If you have not expected Him to keep, you have not trusted. You may have tried and tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and therefore you have not been kept and your lips have been the snare of your soul (Proverbs 18:7).  ~ Frances R. Havergal

Remember, your comments make this a conversation (:

Take Time; Be Soft

A soft answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger...

The heart of the righteous studies how to answer,

But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.

~Proverbs 15:1, 28

What practical wisdom for our daily lives rests in these two verses! Just think of it...  In the heat of the moment you respond brashly, quickly, harshly. You say what you never wanted to say. You see the hurt on the other person's face. Once again, you think. I did it once again. 

These two verses have hit me hard. How many conflicts could have turned out differently if i had just taken time to study how to answer? How differently could they have turned out if i would have chosen to have a soft answer? This is no easy task, let me be the first one to say it! But the fruit of walking in the wisdom of these verses is almost immeasurable. Let's consider a few benefits of taking our time to respond, and responding softly:

• we honor the Lord. By taking time to think and pray before we respond to things, we honor God. How? Frankly, because we are much less likely to sin in our response. His Holy Spirit will give us wisdom and gentleness if we ask. 

• We show respect for the person we are having the confrontation or difference with. By taking time to think, we are showing them that we care about them, and that we don't want to hurt them with our words.

• We can deepen our relationships. By taking time and answering softly, we are showing love for God and for that person. Sometimes when we face a difficult situation, a soft or a harsh answer can be the difference between the relationship surviving or collapsing. Those difficult conversations can be a turning point for deepening the relationship though, because, once again, we show them love by considering how to answer, and by not just spewing out venom. 

Left to ourselves, this is nearly impossible to do. But, praise be to God the Father, we are not left to ourselves if we have hidden ourselves in Christ. We have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and help us in our time of need. 

May we show that we love the Lord, and each other, by taking our time to respond, and by responding with a soft answer. 

 

The Healing Tongue

    The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. 

Proverbs 15.4

Oh, to have a tongue that brings healing! How our Lord must be honored when we speak words of life (His words...from the Bible) to one another. The Apostle Paul instructs us in Ephesians 5:18b-21 to... 

"be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." 

And again in Colossians 3:15-17 (emphasis mine in both)

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

So, how do we have a tongue that brings healing when we speak? We must have the word of Christ dwelling  richly in our hearts. We have to be reading, studying, and meditating on on His most excellent Word.  As the psalmist wrote in so many places, we must delight ourselves in His precepts.. God's Word.

I love the videos  that are circulating showing Christians in different countries getting the Bible for the first time. HERE is a video of the Kimyal people receiving the New Testament for the first time in their language. These people wept and danced as they received God's Word. I was sobbing the first time i saw this. Then, there is a video going around facebook of Asian Christians getting Bibles. You can watch that HERE. See how they hold it and weep with joy?! OH!! To value the Word so dearly!

How precious is your Bible to you?

How precious is my Bible to me?

If we are highly esteeming and loving God's Word, we will be hiding it in our hearts. Then, and only then, can we truly have words of life coming off of our tongues, bringing healing to those around us.

Lord, may it be so. Thank You, precious Jesus, for the Bible. May we love Your living Word. May we love You more. May You become so precious to us, that our hearts are filled to overflowing with Your truth, with Your words. May we have healing words on our tongues. Grant us hearts that desire to meditate on Your ways, precepts, and words. Then, Lord Jesus, fill our hearts with songs, hymns, and melodies towards one another as we communicate the healing words found within The Word.  For Your glory alone, Amen.

Your comments make this a conversation :~)

Shared From Desiring God

A soft answer turns away wrath, 
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
proverbs 15:1

I just read an article that was very timely. Going Soft Against Wrath by Ray Ortlund

This is just spot on.. and something the Lord has been working in me the last number of months. It sure is one difficult principle to live out! My flesh just wants to rise up and be angry right back, or insult, or be sarcastic when i am hurt. That always make things better worse. God has a much better way. reply with a soft answer, and trust the results to Him.