Oh Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

(I apologize for the tardiness of today’s entry. I have been without internet access since Thursday night. Thanks be to God I came in this morning to find it had “fixed itself.” God is good!)

Proverbs 16:23-30 3 A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. 24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. 26 The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on. 27 A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. 29 A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good. 30 He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity; he who purses his lips is bent on evil.

Matthew 12:34 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

It is easy to assume out heart is right with God when we are seemingly doing the right things and when we seem to have the right theology. Of course, it is only easy when doing and believing are outside of the context of worship. There is no way to come before God other than through naked confession. The light of his presence is like that of a nuclear blast, both exposing and incinerating all of our wickedness. That is why there is no way to come away from his presence other than with humility, having seen your dirty sinfulness but blissfully coming away pure white.

It is also easy to determine when our time alone with God is lacking. Listen to what you are saying. What do you talk about most? How do you speak to other people? Even more, how do you speak about other people? How do you use your time? What occupies your mind? What is your experience when you meet with other believers in and out of church?

Worship is a word often associated with what takes place corporately within the body of Christ to the exclusion of what takes place when we are alone. The result of individuals who have been meeting alone with God all week coming together for corporate worship is revival; it is the body of Christ. The result of individuals coming together who have not been meeting alone with God during the week is a body who is bored/stagnant, self-absorbed, judgmental, and selfish, to the embarrassment of the body of Christ.

This week I am going to be focusing on the elements of personal worship. Learning this truth has literally changed my world.