Day 73 – 90 Days in Proverbs - The Mind-Mouth Connection
Proverbs 12:5-6 [ESV] The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
This isn’t the only place in the Word of God where we see a connection between thoughts and words. One scripture that I often repeat to God in prayer is the request of the psalmist found in Psalms 19:14 [ESV] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
If you’ve ever read about having a positive attitude and speaking of things “as though they already are” then you may want your prayer to be phrased this way: Psalms 49:3 [ESV] My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
Whichever you choose, please notice that the good or the bad begins long before the words come out. We have this admonition in Proverbs so that we know that we need to change our thoughts in order to direct our words. And we have these examples in the Psalms so that we understand that the way to change our words and ensure they are words of love and peace and edification is to change our hearts and minds first.
As with so many changes required of Christians, what we really need is not to adapt our existing minds but to exchange them for the mind of God.
Our carnal minds are naturally very far from the mind of God. Isaiah 55:8-9 [NKJV] 8 "For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
What kind of thoughts does God have? Well, here is an often quoted example that sums it up nicely: Jeremiah 29:11 [NKJV] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Peace. Future. Hope. These are the thoughts of God.
Our thoughts can become aligned with God’s. Philippians 2:5 [KJV] commands us: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: We need to exchange our human, carnal minds for the mind of Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
Once we exchange our human, natural way of thinking for the mind of Christ, our words will become aligned with His as well. Luke 6:45 [NKJV] puts it this way: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. When heart and mind are aligned with God, then godly speech comes out of us.
Sweet sisters, I pray that our thoughts will be aligned with the Father’s – with those of Jesus – becoming thoughts of hope, peace and future and that our conversations are filled with talk of hope, of peace and of the beautiful future that God offers all of us.
PRAYER: Father God, with Jesus Christ at your right hand, today I ask that you exchange my carnal, human mind for Jesus’ own mind. Exchange my human heart for a godly one – a heart of love. And lead my words to flow from my new heart and mind so that they glorify you and edify others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Your thoughts —
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