Guard my mouth O' Lord

All my life I have been a "misses know it all".  If you would come talk to me I would always an answer, even if the answer was wrong as long as I had the last say, it did not matter.  Lately I have been asking God to convict me when I am not doing or saying things led by the Holy Spirit.  Recently God convicted me about listening and responding.  I was reading a book written by one of my favorite Evangelist and she stated:

"So choose to listen, resist the urge to criticize, insult, laugh, or make sarcastic remarks.  Battle the press of time and urgency and the hunger to get away.  Just lean in, quietly, emphatically, purposefully" (Shirer, 2011).

It wasn't just these couple of sentences that hit me it was the whole chapter.  I thought to myself, I have not been a good listener.  I started replaying various conversations with different people at different times in my life and I realized that I have been quick to speak, slow to hear and sometimes fast to anger.  Conviction hit me like a ton of bricks.  In the book of James chapter 1 verse 19 states "so then, my beloved brethen let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. (James 1:19 NKJV) I obviously had been doing it wrong.  Saints, God wants us to get it right.  There is a reason he has given us two ears and one mouth.  It is our job to listen more and speak only when guided by the Holy Spirit.  I am not just saying this to you but to myself as well.  The question is do you truly hear what someone is trying to say?  Do you wait on God to provide the answer? Then do you speak with the love of God? Or are you barely hearing what someone is saying, then responding with all of this "wisdom" that you MUST share with the world.  If it is the latter I pray that God convicts you on this immediately, as He did me.  It is not our job to have all of the answers or to always have something to say.  It is our job to listen and to provide "wise" counsel.  For Proverbs 12:15 states "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but he that heeds unto counsel is wise".
So I say this saints, let us be quick to hear, wait on the Lord to provide wisdom, then speak with love and the wisdom provided.

Here are some verses to help you along the way:

Quick to hear (Great Listening Skills)
Proverbs 17:27-28:  He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.  Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. (NKJV)
Proverbs 18:13: He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.

Wait on  the Lord to provide wisdom
Proverbs 5:1-2: My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, and your lips my keep my knowledge
Proverbs 2:2: So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-7: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord ad depart from evil
Proverbs 18:2:  A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.
Speak Wisdom
Ecclesiastes 3:7: A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. 
James 1:26:  If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

So as I grow closer to a birthday milestone and embrace this new chapter of life I pray that God helps me in this area.  My prayer is that I listen more, speak less and wait on the Lord to give me the words to say. I continuously pray, Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalms 141:3).  Saints I pray the same for you.  Everything does not need an immediate response, everything does not need your worldly wisdom.  What people (friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc) need is God given wisdom, filled with love and understanding. 
I close with this as Elihu in the book of Job said to Job, I also hear God saying this to me and apply your name if you see it fit;
Give ear, Pamela, listen to me!  Hold your peace and I will speak, for I desire to justify you.  If not, listen to me; Hold your peace and I will teach you wisdom.


Be Blessed
Pamela. A
BrandNewME

 

A Father to the fatherless!

Psalm 68:5 He is a Father to the Fatherless.

I didn't grow up with a good father, in fact for many years I despised my earthly father. Most young girls learn how to date, how to choose a good husband, how not be treated wrongfully by their fathers. A fathers love is secure and allows you to view the world differently. Unfortunately, as I became a teenager I searched for a father in men, I yearned for that fatherly love. I had father figures in my life, but was heartbroken and felt unloved because the only relationship that mattered what own father. As time went on and I did not receive that love, I became very defensive and disconnected to the relationship world, settling for less and allowing men to hurt me way more than I should. It took me a long time, even now doubt creeps in, to learn that I have a loving Father who loves me even when I mess up, a Father who, when I am hurt, I can sit on his spiritual lap and just cry, a Daddy who I never have to worry about hurting me. A Father who supplies all of my needs. (Matthew 6:26). Sometimes my Father whispers in my ear, "you are my daughter" just to reassure me that I belong to Him, that He loves me. God, my Father loves me so much that he knew me before I was in my mothers womb. (Jeremiah 1:5). I am His daughter, I was His daughter before my mother and father could claim me as their own. My Daddy was with me through all my hurt and pain as a child when no family member knew what was happening, when suicide was plaguing my mind. God's love is so deep for us that he sent His son Christ to die for us. (John:3:16). It took me 32 years to realize that I always had a Father even when my earthly father had forsaken me. I thank God my Father in heaven. The Father my Gaga (grandma) spoke so much about, the Father who has always seen me for who I am even when I masked the pain from not having my earthly father (psalms 44:21) and the Father who has shown me that He is even a Father to my earthly father. So while father's day is approaching, I want you all to pray for my father, pray that he comes into the knowledge of Jesus Christ, pray that those demons that has plagued him since he was a child is removed, pray he is delivered. For while, my father and I haven't spoken since the death of my Gaga, since I dropped that letter off releasing all of my pain, my hope is he gets saved. While I may see my father one way, God sees him another. So today pray for my earthly father as I will with a sincere heart that he gets delivered and saved.

To those who never knew their father, who was hurt by their father, who lost their dad, there is a Father in heaven who loves you more than I can describe. He will give you a perfect peace about your earthly dad, he will touch your heart more than anyone on this earth can and help you forgive your absent dad. Get to know The Father, read His word, accept him into your life. For I know its hard to get to know The Father when you never had a father but it'll be the best relationship you ever had! (2 Corinthians 6:18).

After reading this please listen to Chris Tomlin's Good Good Father!

https://youtu.be/OfJrxvVnmkE



Much love,

Pamela. A