by DJ Martin (SingleFocus Ministry®)
I believe that this is God’s resolve for us. I’ll let Him speak in His own Words…
“Why boasts thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God [endures] continually.
Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, and lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all-devouring words, you deceitful tongue!
God shall likewise destroy thee forever, He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bolder in their wickedness. But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise You forever, O God, for what You have done. I will trust in Your good name in the presence of Your faithful people.” Psalm 52:1-9
- Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
- And put perverse lips far from you. Proverbs 4:24
The fear of the LORD is to
A. Hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way; And the perverse mouth I hate.Proverbs 8:13
B. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue, Keeps his soul from troubles.Proverbs 21:23
- Do not be quick with your mouth,
- Do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so
- Let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2
“For the leaders of this people cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are] destroyed.” Isaiah 9:16
“Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a snare for him.” Jeremiah 9:8
“Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand [is] stretched out still.” Isaiah 9:17
“Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ” James 3:10
But He answered and said, “It is written,
- Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4
“Who [is] a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?
- Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. ” James 3:13
“That we [from now on]
- Be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:14
- But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: Ephesians 4:15
- Put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Ephesians 4:22
- Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Ephesians 4:23
- Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:24
- Wherefore putting away lying,
- Speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Ephesians 4:25
- Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:27
- Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: Ephesians 4:31
- Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ” Ephesians 4:29
” My mouth shall:
- Speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Psalm 145:21
- In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever. Psalm 44:8
- Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. Psalm 47:6
- For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm* of praise. Psalm 47:7
- Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of His holiness. Psalm 48:1
- For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14
- That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11
“I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be
able to contradict or resist.” Luke 21:15
Indeed we have exited an old year and entered a New Year full of lying tongues from ungodly leadership and their followers to godly leadership and members of their churches. As you see in His word, God is not only concerned with deceitful tongues of leaders, but He is concerned about each person, individually. Christ is concerned about what proceeds out of the mouth of the person. This mighty God is a personal God, concerned about what proceeds out of the mouth of the individual and our personal singular growth. Taking His correction is good for our body and soul. May we resolve to take seriously God’s warning about guarding our tongues. We should pray for discernment, because the wicked is cunning and deceiving. Remember the conversation in the Garden of Eden? The whole earth was served notice that this is the plan of attack: cunning and deceitful words from the devil. Because of his cleaver words they were deceived and believed a lie.
May we resolve to be careful who we hang out with and whose words we hear or we may not only believe a lie, but we will become disciples of liars and repeat their lies, even to our children. Test the words of your acquaintances, your leaders and your lips to see how their words measure up to the word of God. May we resolve to: guard our tongues; to not deceive or slander men; and to not diminish their spirit with our words, but rather use our lips to praise God, speak truth, extend grace and encourage others.
Let our conversation be in love and careful not to grieve the spirit, but speak words of truth, which is His word, glorifying and praising God daily! May this New Year bring to our lives: evidence of Praises to God; ever-increasing appetite for His word; and lordship of Jesus Christ over our tongues.
As we plant seeds of blessings; grace; righteousness and truth with our mouths, may we reap bountifully the same in return (Luke 6:38).
“Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” Psalm 141:3
That’s Todays’ Single Focus
Thankfully, we made it to the other side before the storm came. There were palm trees whose leaves rustled in a gentle breeze as we approached the shore. We passed the trees into a city where the sunshiny sky was clear, blue and calm. There were no signs of an approaching storm. In fact, I don’t remember rain at any time during my stay in Israel.
SingleFocus
SingleFocus 