Guard Your Mouth by David Baldwin

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. —Psalm 141:3

Everyone has had the experience of saying something they wished was never spoken. You long to take those words back and forget them. Unfortunately, once words are expressed there is no tape to rewind and start over. You can see why the Scriptures refer to the tongue as a weapon:

Reckless words pierce like a sword…. —Proverbs 12:18

Being the weapon it is, the tongue must be handled with care and aligned with the Scriptures. Sadly, when untamed the tongue can leave in its wake divorces, broken friendships, wars, destroyed confidences, job losses, crushed spirits, etc. The unharnessed tongue of a believer damages the kingdom because no untamed tongue can represent the love, mercy, and glory of Christ.

In contrast, a spiritually inspired tongue is one that spiritually heals others as revealed in the second part of Proverbs 12:18:

…but the tongue of the wise brings healing. —Proverbs 12:18

In its entirety this scripture reads, “Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Now when you add Paul’s teaching about the fruit of the Spirit (…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Galatians 5:22-23) to your speech, the Lord becomes glorified; His healing is revealed. To do otherwise is just loitering in the evil one’s playground of hate, joylessness, unrest, pressure, lack of sympathy, unfaithfulness, harshness, and lack of control.

The bottom line: your speech is intended to plant seeds of hope and healing into those around you. Never forget that your speech is part of your testimony, which has a direct impact on your ability to reach others for Christ. So with your speech comes the choice to say either spiritually wise words that heal and bring hope or unwholesome words that pierce the kingdom. Sounds harsh, but it’s one way or the other. Either your words will lift others’ spirits up and draw them closer to the Lord for restoration or they won’t. Words represent your testimony, so I encourage you to choose your words wisely so they align with the Lord’s holy testimony.

Takeaway:

Allow your speech to be a fruitful testimony of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Do not allow your tongue to transform you into a spiritual hypocrite by praising the Lord with one side of your mouth while the other side is spewing untamed piercing words.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. —James 3:9-12

Reflections:

• How well are you in control of your speech?
• Does your speech always represent God’s love, mercy, and grace?
• Do you need to reconcile with someone regarding words harshly spoken?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord asking Him to reveal the areas of your speech that do not represent His love, mercy, and grace. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. —James 1:26

Have Perspective by David Baldwin

…there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. —Revelation 4:1-3

Here you see the Holy Spirit giving John a glimpse into heaven. This scripture prompts me to sit still long enough to put my life in proper perspective—to focus on my purpose for this gift of life, to reflect on my ultimate destination, and to avoid being constrained by any shortcomings of this world. Doing so, I am reminded not to allow life’s tough circumstances and disappointments to enslave me. 

This world is not bigger than your God, so there is no reason to allow this world to knock you off balance and disrupt your faith. Since we all will have to deal with unpleasant situations during our lifetime, it is important to have the perspective that this world is only temporary—so why be dragged down by it? The good news is you can rely on the very power of Christ, who overcame death, and God’s love to keep you uplifted.

Your perspective on life is so important because it fuels your actions. The wrong perspective can cause anger to stir, it can cause you to lash out, it can cause darkness to fall on your faith, etc. However, the right perspective on your final destiny leads to hope, peace, understanding, forgiveness, and a healthy faith. Most importantly, it leads people to the Lord. Be careful not to allow your perspective of this precious life to become contaminated. Focus on your final eternal destination, and ask the Lord how to use your experiences, both good and bad, to advance His kingdom.

A great example of this is found in Acts 16, the story of Paul and Silas when they were falsely accused, stripped, severely beaten, thrown into prison, and shackled. Now that would be one horrific day. Were they bitter and angry? No, as we see them around midnight praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners were listening to them, including the jailer, who in the end gave his life to Christ.

Every time I read this scripture I think WOW! What great perspective and faith they had, amazing vertical alignment. I want that for my life, what about you? Even though they personally suffered greatly, there was purpose that needed the proper perspective. A big question: are you willing to suffer at the gain of someone else’s salvation or as encouragement to another believer?

So there can be a great testimony in your suffering, but the testimony requires the right perspective. When you are sometimes joyful, sometimes prayerful, or sometimes thankful, then your eyes have become horizontally focused on the world, which is spiritually unhealthy and unaligned. A healthy spirit is one of constant vertical focus, one that embraces the gift of one day living in eternity with our Lord. The temporal things of this world must never weigh you down. There may be situations where you receive an earthly blow that knocks you down. Just don’t let it knock you out. Rise back to your feet knowing that God works for the good in all circumstances. 

You may not understand, but that’s okay because faith does not require understanding. Faith knows you have a loving God. After all He allowed His one and only Son to die for your sins. How was that fair to Christ? Faith is not intended to equal fairness. Faith does require vertical perspective. Because of Christ, you can give thanks in every circumstance knowing that you have eternal security. So hold on tight to the right perspective on your life—live with vertical focus. 

Takeaways:

Your final destination is not within this world; it is in the heavens above, so put your focus there in order to keep whatever events are thrown your way in the right perspective. Focus on the final destination and not on the bumps in the road.

Align your spiritual perspective vertically, not horizontally.

Reflections:

• Have you ever lost the right perspective for your life?
• Lately, has your perspective been more horizontally focused or vertically focused (eternal)?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord asking Him to filter out any contaminants of this world that are hindering your ability to focus on your ultimate destination. Ask for the perspective of Paul and Silas. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.