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May the God of all grace, speak to your heart and His voice enrich and enlighten you, as we continue to meditate upon His blessed promise – The Lord bless you out of Zion; And may you see the peace, the prosperity of Jerusalem, All the days of your life. [Psalms 128:5,6] The peace of God is what can be yours, as you enjoy the presence of God. And the blessing of God is to become more and more like Him, to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. And it is a progress, a godly maturity, that is made evident, as taking pains, you remain absorbed in the the word of God. [1 Timothy 4:15]
Aim for perfection:
You may not have arrived at the place of perfection, but you may aim for it, and travel towards it journeying with God in a pilgrimage,so to speak. It is how the apostle Paul himself describes what his position was, though he had accomplished much in his christian walk. [Philippians 3:15,16] For, he was even able to say of himself, ‘Follow me, as I follow the Lord’. [1 Corinthians 11:1]
Godly maturity – more Christlikeness:
It’s your intimacy with God that leads to maturity; and it ought to be expressed or visibly seen in your talk and behaviour.But all our righteous acts are like filthy rags, declares the scriptures.
Crucified with Christ:
It is why Christ came into this world, to die on the Cross for your sins and for the sins of the whole world, and that you may not continue in your sinful ways, but live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God. For, receiving Him as your personal Savior, declares that you have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer you, but Christ who lives in you. [Galatians 2:20] And a sign that godly growth or christian maturity is developing in you, is that it takes you from Childishness to maturity. Paul describes his progress in the realm of godly maturity thus When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. [1 Corinthians 13:11] Childishness is ultimately at its core, a self-centredness. And it is nothing but sin, that can be defined as a seeking of one’s own ways, and in the process, rejecting the ways of God, His good and perfect will for your life.
Your prayer:
Therefore, when it comes to prayer, whether you are praying to get what you want, or is it about preparing to receive what He is giving you, is a question that you need to ask yourself. And fasting needs to be a spiritual discipline that you exercise that leads you to being sharpened that you may listen to what He speaks to you and not a hunger strike to get what you want. For, He is ableto do exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or imagine.And He causes all things to come together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purposes. [Romans 8:28] It is this knowledge that needs to become truth in your life, the godly maturity that you need to grow into. It is surrendering yourself to the will of God in your life, in trusting His word to you to say as Mary did, ‘Here I am, a servant of the Lord. Be it unto me, according to Thy word’. [Luke 1:18]
Whose report will you believe?
God’s word to the Israelites was that He would take them to the land of milk and honey. And trusting in it to have the confidence to venture forth, were only two of the twelve spies, namely Caleb and Joshua. The rest of them, spoke fear and doubt, that was contrary to God’s word to them, causing a failure of the mission, the will of God for them. [Numbers 13:25-33] Let not any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, it is written in the scriptures, the apostle Paul’s counsel to the Ephesians. [Ephesians 4:29] And any word that you speak that is not aligned to God’s word, could fit into that category to be speech that needs to be avoided. It also explains why the Lord touched the lips of the prophet Jeremiah, putting His word upon his mouth, and the angel of the Lord cleansed the speech of the prophet Isaiah by touching his lips with a live coal from the altar of God. [Jeremiah 1:8, Isaiah 6:6,7] Unclean lips will make your life unclean. And also one cannot hide behind an empty cliche that declares unwholesome speech as a mere slip of the tongue; for it goes much deeper.
Out of the fullness of the heart:
It is out of the fullness of your heart, that your mouth speaks. And salvation becomes your experience, when in your heart you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. In fact the genuineness of it will be attested by the godly language that you now speak, while earlier it was quite the opposite.
True prayer transforms:
And therefore, when you spend time with God in prayer and supplication, it needs to be reflected in the manner in which you communicate with people who are around you, beginning with your home. It is why it needs to be a dialogue where you not just speak to God, but also hear from Him, listen to what He has to say to you. It is then, that change happens. And true spirituality is being progressively transformed to become more and more like Him.
A godly flavour:
The key to your speech transformation, is receiving the grace of God. As Paul writes in the epistle to the Colossians. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were, with salt, that you may know how to respond to each person. [Colossians 4:6] And as a result of it, as you are transformed there will be a godly flavour in the way you speak. In the life of the prophet Elijah, the change in the words that he spoke, the effect of it was observed by the widow, as she said, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth. [1 kings 17:24] This could be your experience too, as people are drawn to you, to hear your words ministering to them, give them comfort, solely because it is the word of God that you are sharing with them, one that is a sign of your transformation. And sometimes it could involve holding your tongue or not speaking in a particular situation. It is why the psalmist’s prayer is Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch at the door of my lips. [Psalms 141:3] Godly maturity is ageless! And it is the grace of God that you and I need, for spirituality is not necessarily connected to seniority. It was a young servant girl in Naaman’s household, who displayed godly maturity beyond her years, in guiding her master to be healed, and ultimately for salvation to come to the entire household. [2 kings 5:1-19] And therefore, with a heart overflowing with thankfulness, for His awesome word to you, and the privilege of being a child of God may it be your prayer unto the Father, that the words of your mouth, and the meditation of your heart be pleasing in His sight. And may His work of grace in you, see Him touch your mouth, put His word in you, that the words you speak are the very oracles of God, that your progress, His blessing of godly maturity may be unmistakably evident to all, that He may be glorified in your life. In the Name of Christ Jesus amen.
