God Speaks {4.16.13}

I wrote earlier in the month about how I'm trying to be more intentional with sharing words of Life and how God is speaking {because He is faithful to do so}. 

Here is what He's been saying to my heart recently . . .

the Spirit 

Ephesians 5:18 . . .

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

I think a lot of us, me included, can read this verse and think we can check it off . . . I don't even drink, so I'm definitely good on this one.  But as I meditated on this Word this morning, the Lord took it way farther than some wine.  

Getting drunk numbs you . . . to pain, to worry, to fear, to life.  I might not frequent a liquor store, but what other things do I turn to when I am tempted to numb myself?  Do I get drunk on TV?  Drunk on facebook?  Drunk on sleep?  Drunk on food?  I need to take a hard look at what I run to when life is overwhelming that ends up drawing me away from God.

But that isn't where the questioning of my heart can end.  The greater questions is "Am I being continually filled with the Spirit?"  

I can't just flee the drunkenness.  I must pursue the filling.  

And this is where my meditation will continue . . . what does it look like to pursue being continually filled by the Spirit?  Ephesians does a great job of describing a life lived in this way and how it is primarily demonstrated in how I interact and serve within the Body of Christ.  Oh Lord may my life line up with your Word!

my words

Edgewater is studying Ephesians right now and has been issued a challenge to read 1 and now 2 chapters a day each week.  I'm on my fourth time through the book now and it is good.

Today the verse that jumped off the page to me was Ephesians 4:29 . . .

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Whew.  Did that slap you in the face get your attention like it did me?  God was speaking loud and clear with this Word . . . I've already posted the verse by my kitchen sink and bathroom mirror and added it to my new memorization system {more on that another day because I'm really excited about it!}.

What made this verse so profound is that today, I read it as a mom.  I had a rough day yesterday, not gonna lie.  I've got so many crazy emotions going through me because of this surgery and everything else going on and yesterday it was just all a little too much.  I didn't want to be around anyone, which is tough when you have two kids.  And is even tougher when your buttons are super sensitive and your sweet blessings are bent on pushing them as many times as possible. :)

 {Grayson has evidently seen enough mommies with babies in a sling so he asked to carry around his buddy like this!}

So yesterday was a long day made even worse by the fact that I was foul.  I even apologized to Ava at one point for having a rough day.  She told me it was fine to have a rough day, but that I still needed to have a good attitude.  Grrrrrr . . . she was so right.  I was being rude and snippy and impatient and harsh when they didn't deserve to be spoken to like that at all.

So then I go and read Ephesians 4:29 this morning and end up in confession and repentance.  Bleh.  I can completely blow it sometimes.  But oh the grace, the kindness that leads to repentance.

I know the way I talk to my kids at times does the exact opposite of building them up.  I can tear them down with just a few words or tone of my voice.  And I can speak the exact opposite of grace.  At times I pour out words of shame and guilt and anger that only serve to push them away.  

Oh how I want to build up my children and speak life into their little hearts and minds!  I want to speak grace into their ears so that their hearts are softened to the grace of our great God.  I want to speak with the same kindness and gentleness that God uses with me when my heart needs to repent or needs tender care.  May these be the words I speak to my little loves!

My eyes have been opened to these realities before, but a reminder is always good and needed.  But what stood out most to me today was the first description of this talk . . . corrupting.  This literally made me shudder.

There will be no shortage of evil and sin and the desires of this world that will wage war to corrupt the minds and hearts of my children.  I never want my words to be on the wrong side of this battle, useful for the enemy in corruption.  

The weight of that reality is heavy, but God's grace is greater.  And it wouldn't hurt to keep my mouth closed a little more often either. :)

How has God been speaking to you?