8 Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
They have become a theme in my reading, praying, and writing over the last few weeks and months.
Yesterday, while I was praying, I was led to this verse from Ephesians 6- I did not lead myself there, I didn't even know it was in there. I was just praying for the full armor of God when I 'accidently' prayed this:
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
That verse right there confirmed for me that my topic for 31 days would be Open My Mouth.
Last night and this morning, I was thinking hard about what I would write today. For whom would I open my mouth? And, God, through His Holy Word, gave me guidance again, this morning in my already assigned reading:
Luke 21 14 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
GOD will give me a mouth. And wisdom! Bonus for you guys who read this. :)
So I am just shooting from the Holy Spirit hip here and I will be just a surprised as you as to what I am about to write next.
Who is speechless? Who is appointed to die? Who is poor and needy? What is it that people need most?
People need Jesus. The speechless? They need Jesus. Those appointed to die? Jesus. Poor and needy? Jesus. Jesus is the answer.
How do you get Jesus? How do you share Jesus?
John 3: 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Max Lucado, on John 3:16:
"A twenty-six-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God's treatment is prescribed in John 3:16.
He loves. He gave. We believe. We live. He loves. God loves you because he chooses to do so. "God wasn't attracted to you and didn't choose you because you were big and important... He did it out of sheer love..." (Deut. 7:7-8, MSG). God's love for you depends on his goodness, not yours. And since he is totally good, you are absolutely loved. You don't need to win his love, you already have it. And since you can't win it, you can't lose it. He will love you forever. You may step outside of his will, but never his love. Mark it down. He loves you. So much, in fact, that... He gave. He gave his one and only Son. Jesus is God's "one and only." He is unlike any other person in history. Every quality we attribute to God, we can give to Jesus. Jesus has an eternal life span, unending wisdom, and tireless energy. Most of all, Jesus is sinless. When he lived on the earth, he never sinned. "He never did one thing wrong. Not once said anything amiss" (1 Peter 2:22, MSG). We, on the other hand, do wrong things daily. We stretch the truth. We hurt people. We take advantage of the weak and disrespect our family. What should God do? He has made his position clear. "Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14, NCV). Where does that leave us? It leaves us depending on the 3:16 promise. "God... gave his one and only son..." Though sinless, Jesus took our sin. God placed our sin on his Son and punished it. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us in our place. Our response to this great gift is simple... We believe. We trust Jesus to do what we can't. We don't trust our own efforts to save us. We can't save ourselves. We don't place our trust in other people to save us. We believe in him. We take similar steps of trust daily, even hourly. Believing the chair will support us, we set our weight on it. Believing water will hydrate, we drink it. Trusting the work of the light switch, we flip it. We have faith in the doorknob, so we turn it. We trust power we cannot see to do work we can't accomplish. Jesus invites us to do the same with him. And when we do, when we believe... We live. God gives us brand-new life. He gives us joy in this life and the promise of eternal life with him. We have joy because we have his Spirit living within us. Little by little his Spirit changes us to be more like Jesus. No guilt in life, no fear of death, he gives life, now. And life for eternity. In Heaven you will be you at your best. No anger or sadness, tears or trouble. Never weary, selfish, or defeated. Clear mind, tireless muscles, unhindered joy. And, most of all, God "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and the knowledge of God" (Romans 11:33, ESV). Heaven is a perfect place of perfected people with our perfect Lord. He loves. He gave. We believe. We live. Would you like to accept the 3:16 promise? You can. Tell God you accept him. "Father, I believe you love me. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I choose you." Jesus awaits your prayer. Believe in him and you will... Not... Perish... You will have life, eternal life, forever. "
Video: 1 minute, 14 seconds.
If you already trust Jesus with your whole life, and obey His commands, GO! Share this message of John 3:16- It is the hope of the world. The rest of my posts for the rest of this month mean nothing if people do not have Jesus.
If you are not sure if you trust Jesus and obey Him, or if you are sure that you do not- hope is offered to you today. If you are hungry for this hope, if you are hungry for God and His goodness, read the book of John. Pray for God's Holy Spirit to open your eyes to His truth. Get in touch with someone you know who loves and obeys Jesus and ask them questions and ask them to pray for you and with you.
This task of illuminating the darkness requires first that the light shines in our hearts and in our lives.
John 8:12 -Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
If we want to make a difference in the lives of those lost in the darkest dark, let us make sure that our lights are lit and fully fueled. Seek the Light of the world, and take Him to the dark.
Get the Light, be the light,
Jocelyn
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