AND HE CLEANSED MY LIPS

Isaiah 6:7  "With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

These words are on a worship track that I have been listening to in the car.  I saw the Lord, seated on His throne, He was clothed in glory, exalted high; the train of His robe filled the temple, and the angels circled round him and cried "You are Holy, O so Holy, You are Holy Lord of all".  The words of this song touched me deeply today as I heard "Woe is me, for I'm unclean, for my eyes have seen the Holy King", and then they sang  "And he cleansed my lips right before Gods eyes, the pillars shook as the angels cried, "Holy is the Lamb".

He cleansed my lips.  Have you thought of when you would  see the Lord?  I thought of this today, and when my voice went to speak to my Lord, I could not as I thought of all the things in my life I had said that were not of my Lord; that were so unworthy of who He made me to be.  Things are different now, but when I think of the things that have come from my mouth, I knew I had to write this, to perhaps help someone else that still is praising in one voice and saying things unworthy of a child of God with another.  We cannot be divided in our speech, in our thoughts.  You have heard the verse, "for out of the heart the mouth speaks".  I shudder to think that this is true when I have heard some things come from people I know from church.  I don't always think they even realize it.  This is one of the reasons I have had to not continue to read some of the authors I use to enjoy, or to watch some of the TV programs that I use to think were good.  It was a true revelation the night I was reading one of the authors, whose books I would wait to be published, and I realized that the language had really gotten bad, and the "intimate scenes" had nothing left for the imagination. Some movies I would wait to play at the theatre began to make me so uncomfortable.  The Holy Spirit began to deal with me concerning them.  You know, it all looks different when you realize that you are not alone, ever.  If you ask the Holy Spirit to be with you, to lead and guide you, where do you think He is while you are in the movies, watching TV or reading books.  He is right there with you.  When I realized that even thought I could skip over the words, turn a couple of pages past those scenes, I could not shut my ears or close my eyes always when watching those shows I thought I enjoyed.  All of a sudden, they were shows that I could not believe I had forced upon the Holy Spirit.  He will be with you and begin to deal with you concerning them, to show you that these are not the things of the Lord.  Those sitcoms that everyone thinks is so funny, but that most of the material is very off-color.....do you think the Lord is enjoying them, or enjoying seeing you laugh at them?  If you do not heed the voice of the Holy Spirit, he will leave and not return until He doesn't have to be subjected to them anymore.  I cannot tell you how few TV shows I watch anymore, and movies....I usually ask about them before I will go see them.  Sometimes I am just told, "you won't like it".  Of course then, I wonder why did they?

The Holy Spirit cleansed my lips, cleansed my heart so that when I see my Lord, my King, my Savior that I so long to tell of my love, my adoration for Him.  I don't think I could do that if my mind, my thoughts and probably my voice were full of those things that are not of God.  Lips that praise the Lord should never be used for words that are not Godly.  Hearts that love the Lord should never be clouded with images and words that are not something you could tell the Lord.  I just had to clean up my act....I do not mean to put a "trip" on anyone.  This is something the Holy Spirit dealt with me about and it is an individual thing.  Unless He is speaking to you on these things, then this message is not for you.  But I know there are those that have been torn about the things that they have been watching, reading, seeing and wondering how the Lord feels about it.  This is for those of you that need that word from the Lord.  If it bothers you, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, if you feel like your lips are unclean from it.....cease to watch, to read those things.  Don't let anyone put you on a guilt trip about not wanting to watch those things, or read them....never let man make you feel like there is something wrong with you wanting to please the Lord, wanting to make sure that you do not bring the Lord into places that you would not openly invite Him.  Remember, He never leaves, He goes with you as long as He is invited.  So often we don't even realize what we have done.  If this is you, ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse your lips so when you worship and speak to the Lord, when you ask Him to be with you, then it is in the sanctuary of His making, not the world's.

Thank You, my Lord, for giving me Your Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me in the ways You want me to go, the ways You want me to live, to be a witness of Your Glory and Your mercy.  Your forgiveness, Your sweet grace on my life is giving me such joy.  There is nothing more important to me but worshiping You, my Lord; nothing more urgent than giving You the honor, the adoration that belongs only to You.  I will bless You at all times, morning, noon and night....with cleansed lips, singing out words that will be pleasing to You, my God.

02-06-12