I had been working on another thought for this weeks blog....but yesterday this verse was part of my devotion...and it really spoke to me as I meditated on it...broke it apart and looked at it.
(It is a life verse of a very dear friend of mine, and when I see it I always think of her! ❤)
It is totally amazing to me how God has been continuing to show me "rest" in verses that keep coming up! As I read this, even though the word "rest" isn't in the verse it solidified things, for me at least.
REST, as I have said, isn't just the physical staying still, stop moving sort of rest. Quiet our soul....so that we have nothing of ourselves in our minds as we rest....but we are filled with Him.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 1 Peter 1:8
It is fairly easy (well, maybe not for everyone) to control the words of our mouth. In James it talks about how difficult it is to control the tongue.
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6
but if we try hard we can usually stop those words from coming out our mouth. BUT the thoughts are still in our mind! We have them in our hearts! We may not tell that person just what we think of them, or that situation or that choice they made, but we sure think about it....even dwell on it ...let it make us angry or bitter or resentful. Or just self-righteous.
If the meditation of our hearts aren't all Christ then we can not expect our words to be pleasing. And if we have "pleasant" words, but what is on our hearts is not pleasing ...those words are not pleasing to God.
The verse says ....the words of my mouth AND the meditation of my heart! We must rest in Him so that we can capture every thought!
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
So that what is going on inside is as pleasing to Him as the outside seems.
and what I see in scripture and what I know of the character of Christ.....He is as much or more concerned with matters of the heart....what's inside! (another BLOG!)
The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
So as I read the verse, Psalm 19:14,
I realized that the stillness/rest I seek is for my soul....so that I can meditated on Him....so I am filled with Him. and then the words of my mouth will flow from that...from Him...and then both....the mediations of my heart AND the words of my mouth please Him today!
And my prayer for you is the same!
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11
Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11
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