Monday, November 26,
2012, 6:40 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “He Touched My Mouth” playing in my mind, followed by the song “My Sheep.”
He
Touched My Mouth / An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based off
Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9
Oh,
I saw the Lord
Seated
on His throne,
High
and lifted up;
Holy
is the Lord!
The
earth is full
of
His glory.
“Woe
to me,” I cried,
“I’m
of unclean lips.”
My
Lord touched my mouth
With
His cleansing pow’r;
Removed
all my guilt,
Paid
for by His blood.
He
asked, “Whom shall I send;
Who
will go for us?”
I
said, “Here am I.
Send
me!”
Before
I was born,
God
set me apart;
He
appointed me
To
His servant be.
I said,
“I don’t know
How
to speak.
I
am but a child.”
Then,
the Lord replied:
“Do
not say to me,
‘I
am but a child.’
You
must go to all,
And
do what I say.
Do
not fear them,
For
I’m with you.”
My
Lord touched my mouth;
Gave
me words to say.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 1 (NIV 1984):
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked
or stand in the way of
sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in
the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does
not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked
will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the
righteous.
For the Lord watches
over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The
Lord Replied
This song, “He Touched My Mouth” is based off the passages of scripture in
Isaiah and in Jeremiah which describe God’s calling on these men’s lives. Isaiah,
aware of God’s holiness and righteousness in comparison to his sinful and
fallen nature, called upon God’s mercy in repentance and faith. He received
cleansing from the altar of God, upon which blood sacrifice was made for sins,
which was a prefiguring of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for
the sins of the entire world. Isaiah chose to not participate with the sins of
the people around him, but rather to turn to walk in obedience to God. Then, God
gave Isaiah his calling, and Isaiah responded positively, “Here am I. Send me!”
For Isaiah, the roadblock to obedience was
either that he had not yet repented of his sin to God or else it was the fear of
being unworthy to be used of God when faced with the absolute holiness of God
in comparison to his sin nature. Oh, that we would all have such cognizance of
God’s holiness and divine character and will so that we do not take him for
granted or miss out on what he has for each of our lives. And, such realization
of his holiness in comparison to our earthly natures should drive us all to our
knees in repentance.
For Jeremiah, the roadblock to obedience was his fear that
he lacked the wisdom and maturity to know the right words to say. God dispelled
that fear by assuring Jeremiah that he would give Jeremiah the words to speak.
Jeremiah had been called to be a prophet of God even before he was born, yet he
feared that he was not yet ready for such a task as this. In both the case of
Isaiah and that of Jeremiah, God touched these men’s mouths, and he gave them
the words to speak.
So, what does this have to do with me (or you), and how does
this fit with Psalm 1?
Examples for Us
Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets of God in
Old Testament times. When they spoke in the name of the Lord God Almighty, they
spoke the exact words of God for his people, i.e. they were the word of God.
All the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word
(see John 1). He is God. We have the written word, the Bible, and we have the Living
Word, Jesus Christ, via his Holy Spirit, living within those of us who are
truly His. He speaks his words into our hearts, and he speaks out through us,
his servants. We are his witnesses. We are to teach, encourage, strengthen,
counsel, and give guidance. All of that comes from his written word and from
the Living Word living within us and out through us, and in the power of his
Holy Spirit touching our mouths and giving us the words to speak.
So, although we may not be prophets, that does not mean we
are any less called of God. We read in Psalm 139 that, before we were born, all
the days ordained for us were written in God’s book, even before one of them
came into being. God created each and every one of us with a specific purpose
in mind. We are all called to be holy, to be the Lord’s servants and witnesses
(see Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8), and to walk humbly in faithful obedience to
Jesus Christ. We are all to be his hands and feet to the world around us. Yet,
he also has very specific gifts and ministries to which he has called us
individually, as well. And, it is important that we first of all answer the
call to his general calling upon all of our lives, and then to the specific callings
he has for each one of us individually.
This song, combining these two men’s stories together, gives
us a good picture of the sequence of events that need to take place in our
lives if we are to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way
of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers, but to have our delight in the law
of the Lord, meditating on it day and night, and bearing good fruit.
Bearing Fruit
We must first of all be aware of God and of his holiness and
righteousness, i.e. to stand in absolute awe of him and of his purity in
comparison to our sin condition. We must be filled with grief over our sin and
come humbly before him in repentance (turning from our sin) and in faith
(repentance + obedience). We must choose to leave our lives of sin behind us
and to reject the ways of this world, refusing to participate in the sins of
those around us. We must accept God’s cleansing in our hearts and lives by
choosing to shut the door on our old way of living, to be transformed in heart
and mind via the working and power of the Holy Spirit of God within us, and we
must turn to follow God/Jesus in obedience and surrender to his will for our
lives (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-24).
This is not a one-time decision we make at an altar and then
largely live our lives out to please ourselves. This is a life-time decision that
should affect every aspect of our lives on a day-to-day basis. Jesus said we
must take up our cross daily and follow him. John, in 1 John, gives us a good
picture of how that works. We must no longer walk (order our lives according
to) the ways of sin (darkness), but we must walk in the light (truth;
righteousness) of God and of his word, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from
all sin. Notice this is a daily walk (ordering of our lives), so this is a
daily purification from sin.
We must no longer be conformed to the ways and patterns
(norms; traditions; thoughts; behaviors; and attitudes) of this world’s system
and its values (see Rom. 12:1-2), but daily we must allow the Holy Spirit of
God to continually transform us in mind and heart and will to his ways. This
means we go to God for counsel, not to ungodly men (or women). We don’t
participate with the ungodly in their ungodly acts, and we don’t agree together
with those who would mock God and/or his servants and/or mock God’s ways of
dealing with mankind. Our goal is not to please men (women included here), but
our goal is to please God in all ways, even at the exclusion of man’s
acceptance and approval of us, and even at the risk of man’s rejection and even
mocking of us.
Then we can truly delight in God/Jesus and in his word
within us, and allow what is written in the word of God to be what leads us,
guides us and gives us understanding for how we are to live for Jesus Christ
each and every day of our lives here on this earth. This does not mean that we
merely give God a few minutes each day in his word and in prayer, but it means
that we are continually in an attitude of prayer and with receptive spirits to
hear God speak to us throughout the day and night, ready to respond, “Here am
I. Send me.”
When our lives are fixed in the word of God and in our
relationship with Jesus Christ, then not only will we not be easily shaken by
the storms of this life that come against us, but we will be able to bear fruit
(offspring; outgrowth) for God through our lives and testimony for him. The
fruit will come in season, though. We may not always see the fruit for our
labors for the Lord, because the season for it to be revealed may not yet have
come. Many a missionary spent years laboring in foreign countries, sharing the
gospel, before they ever began to see lives turned to faith in Jesus Christ. We
don’t always know the effects of our labors for the Lord, and we may not see
them in this life, but we have the assurance from God that if we walk in
obedience to him, that the fruit will come in season.
The Wicked
The wicked are described throughout the New Testament as
those who continue in willful sin and rebellion against God. Many of their
specific sins are named throughout scripture – lying, cheating, adultery,
sexual immorality, slander, gossip, and the like. These are those who continue
to walk in darkness, even though they may have received the knowledge of the
truth. So, it is possible to think you are among God’s children because you
prayed a prayer at an altar, but actually be among the wicked because you
continued in sin. Know that you will not be able to stand in the day of
judgment, and you will not be included among the righteous when God calls you
to account for what you did with Jesus Christ in this life. The way of the
wicked will perish, so make sure today you are among the righteous through
repentance, faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, making him your Lord (master).
My
Sheep / An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John
10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
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