Soap in My Mouth

I've got a mouth on me - meaning I talk a lot and at times, I'm sorry to say, my words are not pleasing to God or anyone within earshot. I've struggled with this trouble with the tongue all my life. I have vivid memories of getting soap in my mouth at the hand of my well meaning mother. I thought it horrible punishment at the time. Now that I'm a mother and a Christ follower, I'm glad she did it... it means that she loved me deeply. She wanted to "clean up my act." And I'm sure it troubled her at many levels that she had to take this action with her only daughter. If she were alive today, I'd be giving her a call with this conviction on my heart seeking her forgiveness.

In today's verse of thanks, Paul is instructing the Ephesian believers how to conduct themselves as representatives of Christ. He teaches that unity, maturity and purity are our goals. That we must battle the fleshly desire to sin, partner with the Holy Spirit who gives us the power through Christ to have a new lifestyle, and to be always mindful of Christ's presence in us. He is specifically teaching that obscene or foolish language has no place coming out of a Christian's mouth.

"Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or course joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving." Ephesians 5:4

The off-color language that Paul is referring to is not limited to cursing and dirty jokes, but also the more common and overlooked gossip. In The Message this verse is written like this: "Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect." Foul language or talk about shameful things is so common that we begin to take it for granted. Paul cautions that vulgar speech should have no place in the Christian's conversation because it does not reflect God's gracious presence in us.

I love how Paul doesn't just tell us what not to do, but what we should do instead. He's such a good teacher. Thanksgiving is the answer to our struggle with letting the foolish talk escape our lips. By being grateful for all that God has given us, we can displace evil thoughts and words.

Having just studied the book of Revelation, giving thanks as an antidote to evil made me think of how thanksgiving and praise are continuous in our next life, our eternal life in heaven. If we get serious about taking the Holy Spirit up on His offer to help us use the power of Christ in our every day by giving thanks instead of speaking evil and destruction, we would be bringing a little heaven to earth each time.

Oh, can you just imagine the smile on our Heavenly Father's face that He doesn't have to put that soap in His children's mouths! It says in Ephesians 4:30 that we grieve the Holy Spirit of God when we let unwholesome talk come out of our mouths. We have the power through Jesus death to avoid grieving our Father and avoiding the "soap" of conviction simply by not saying what we shouldn't and saying what we should. Wow!

Being aware of my struggle with my words, and my desire to change, years ago a dear friend made a wall hanging for me as a gift, the prayer on it reads:

I want to be a woman with praise and affirmation on her lips.

It's my desire to have my children remember that I 

celebrate their accomplishments and applaud their efforts.

Help me to be a mother who reflects joy, peace, and serenity 

- instead of disapproval, irritation, and criticism.

Put a guard on my tongue.

Fill my mouth with tributes to You and to those I love.

What we say probably affects more people than any other action we take. Let us work hard to be children that please our Heavenly Father by giving Him thanks and avoiding the taste of evil mixed with soap in our mouths.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

Getting to Know You

Often believers and unbelievers as well, will ask me to pray for them and their circumstances. It's an honor that I don't take lightly. But I've never before been asked to teach someone how to pray.

Recently I was asked exactly that by a sweet friend, "Can you teach me how to pray?" I am overwhelmingly honored by this request. It is the whipped cream (the real stuff) on top of the hot fudge sundae that the Lord has been blessing me with this year. Last year God prompted me to want to get to know Him better and to understand His holiness more. This year, it doesn't surprise me that His training program for me was to get to know Him more through the avenue of prayer.

Dr. James Dobson writes this about prayer in his devotional, Night Light;

He (Jesus) longs for fellowship with us. And when we kneel before Him and spend even a few minutes in prayer, we bring joy to Him. The apostle Paul said Jesus wants to hear your voice "continually" (1Thessalonians 5:17). But, when we let ourselves get caught up in the busyness of life and put off time for prayer, we become less sensitive to His voice and His leading in our lives. 

Relationships, whether human or divine, must be cultivated and maintained if they are to be vibrant and meaningful. Let's make sure we spend time every day with our loving Master.

Dear Lord, we seek a thriving prayer conversation with You. We need it - to know You better, to hear You more clearly, and to love each other more deeply. Teach us to pray. Amen

Speaking of the apostle Paul, in today's verse of thanks (and the surrounding verses), Paul is praying a beautiful prayer for the Ephesian believers:

"eversince I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:16 (including v. 15 and 17 to complete the thought)

Paul writes these loving words to the churches in Ephesus from prison in Rome (he's in prison for preaching the gospel message). Paul is emphasizing the culmination of God's purpose to bring all things in the universe together under Christ ("to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" Eph 1:10). It is imperatively important that Christians grasp this, so in this prayer Paul prays for their understanding and their relationship with Christ Jesus.

Paul's prayer for the Ephesians was that they might really understand who Jesus is. Jesus is our goal and our model, and the more we know of Him, the more we will be like Him. Study Jesus' life in the Bible to see what He was like on earth 2,000 years ago, and get to know Him in prayer now. Personal knowledge of and personal relationship with Jesus Christ is life-changing. I can personally testify to that!

As I was pondering the gratitude that Paul has to God for his fellow believers in Ephesus and his deep, deep desire for them to really know Jesus personally, I thought of this little song that Julie Andrews sang when I was a child; Getting To Know You.

Getting to know you,

Getting to feel free and easy

When I am with you,

Getting to know what to say

Haven't you noticed

Suddenly I'm bright and breezy

Because of all the beautiful and new

Things I'm learning about you

Day by day

I'm pretty sure she wasn't singing this about being in prayer with Jesus, but it sure does describe the things that God is revealing about having this beautiful relationship building tool available to me 24/7 - no appointment needed.

My dear friend's asking for help with prayer allowed God to open the eyes of my heart (Eph 1:18) to understand more deeply that prayer is mostly about being with Him and getting to know Him. Paul is deeply touched by God's message and purpose being received whole-heartedly by the folks that he poured his life into in Ephesus. He continually gives thanks to God for this amazing transaction of hearts. I, too, am touched deeply and give thanks to God for the beautiful lives that He is changing as I and those around me are Getting to Know Him.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

THE Gift

Friends, I've missed our meeting here. God had other plans and places for the "seeds" He has given me to be sown recently. He most certainly blessed those efforts in the form of a celebration of identity and accomplishment and a lovely harvest of fruit! Our ministry had the great privilege to applaud the efforts of 32 women that committed 66 weeks over the course of 3 years to delve into the entire counsel of God's Word! That's right; we studied 1 book of the Bible a week for 66 weeks. Hard work and effort that was truly worth celebrating and each of us that partook are the ones that received the best gift, THE Gift.

In this post I'll be bringing Paul's teaching on the results of generous giving to a close with today's verse of thanks.

"And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. (v.14) Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

My last two posts started this momentum of praise to God for His generosity to the Corinthians that they in turn shared their abundance and confession of the gospel with their brothers. Here Paul is bringing them full circle back to the source of love and life - God - the giver of his indescribable gift.

God is the original giver; He selflessly gives Himself to us in the person of his Son, and all true Christian giving is our response of gratitude.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:9-12

God's indescribable gift - eternal life through His own Son, Jesus' life, death and resurrection - is the surpassing grace that is freely given to us. Whether or how we receive it and what we do with THE Gift will determine how effective our life on earth is and that will in turn be measured in praises back to God and our rewards in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

"Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, so there is only one stamp of holiness, the holiness of Jesus, and it is His holiness that is gifted to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new order spiritually." ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Some receive THE Gift with immediate gratitude that overflows out onto others. One of the precious celebrated women in my study group is the "cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7) that God loves. When I asked if she would be willing to share her story about what God has been doing in her life through the study of His Word, she immediately replied by quoting "be prepared in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2b) and a "Yes!" Her testimony at our celebration was articulated beautifully in her day to day struggles and how God carries her through and answers her prayers. She also shared how difficult it is to fit studying God's Word into a busy life and the reason she has persevered through it. This sweet sister understands receiving and giving. God is glorified!

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15

We have the hope of eternal life because God lavished us with His indescribable gift. When the revelation hits us that receiving this gift brings Jesus' holiness into us and we now possess an abundance to bless others with, holding back grieves the One who gave it. Give thanks to God for THE Gift and ask Him to give you the courage you need (like my sweet sister-in-Christ) to share it with others.

"Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is THE gift of God." (emphasis mine) ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b