Think Good Things In Your Heart And Your Mouth Will Follow

During my Lord’s Supper this morning these were my readings.

The first reading was from:

Ben Sira 27:4-7 (from the Apocrypha)

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so, do people’s faults when they

speak. The furnace tests the potter’s

vessels, the test of a person is in conversation. The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so, speech discloses the bent of a person’s heart. Praise no one before he speaks. for it is then that people are tested.

I thought, ‘Um, okay..’ Then the gospel hit me right between the eyes. It said, it was from Luke 6:39-45,

39 And he told them a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. 41Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

43 A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. 45 A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

I gulped and thought, uh oh. I knew exactly what the Lord was talking about. For the past two weeks, I have been struggling with gossip and judgment towards others. And just that morning, my beloved and I had a long conversation as we took our walk. I remembered thinking of the things I said to and afterward saying, ‘Lord, I’m so sorry. I repent of gossip. Dang, I realize I’m judging, Lord. Please forgive me.”

A friend of ours’ marriage was really struggling as well. Although we were praying for her and her husband I found myself casting a lot of judgment on the husband. Judging his motives and equating his actions to assumptions and being very critical of him because of the pain our friend was going through.

Then there were a few new house girls who came to help around the house, and I was very critical of one more than the others. I had a bad and painful experience in the past and I was discerning something about one of the girls. I even had a vision and just wasn’t too crazy about her. I had definitely judged her and the others. I wasn’t this guarded when I first came. I was so open and loving to anyone I met, especially the house help, because I always wanted to make them feel like family, make them feel loved and valued, and that had changed. I even remember before arriving in Ghana my cousin told me Ghana would change you because she too had changed and was mistrustful of people and a bit critical. I was like, ‘Girl just love everybody, and everything will be fine’. Now I understand—this place is a battlefield.

I was also critical and becoming so frustrated with the street boys and the Muslim families we helped during the food ministry on Fridays. They were just out of control at times when we did the outreach. The shouting, the pushing sometimes the fighting over food, it was so stressful, and I was so over it. I was over [with] doing the ministry. I had no desire, no love in my heart as before, if I can be honest. I had noticed my heart beginning to change and losing my love more and more.

And as I said, this particular morning I had a conversation with my beloved and we were talking about things. I shared my concerns, (I would like to call it) with him, concerning the girls and even gossiped about one. Then I had shared some thoughts about my childhood in our earlier conversations and realized I had even judged my parents and shared about how some things in our household here could change and realized that was critical and judgmental too. I had seen it and realized it all. Every time I did repent after my conversations. But after getting these readings I realized my heart had become bitter.

Oh Lord, forgive me and help me. Lord, my heart isn’t right, and I don’t think it’s been right for a long time now. I am so sorry.

Lord, why does my heart hurt?

“It hurts because it’s the pain of the sword that you have pierced in the back of others with your critical thoughts and judgment.”

Lord truly I am sincerely sorry. Help me to get rid of this bad habit. I realized I was doing it more often and I could hear the bitterness in my heart when I was speaking.

Jesus began,

“Yes, Beloved many judgments are formed from trauma, pain—it’s an offshoot of a root of bitterness and scorn. When one makes a rash judgment, you don’t take into consideration why the soul has made that choice, what circumstances led them [from] their situations, or also what pain and trauma they went through as a child to cause them to be twisted in thinking or getting into the bad habit that you are judging. That is why it’s said I am the righteous judge (Psalm 7:11). I take all of that into account—you are just seeing the fruit of the many symptoms a soul carries. You judge that—but I see the heart and intent. You have no idea, My little one—some of the worst crimes have been done with such pure intentions.

“Take Paul for instance. He truly believed, wholeheartedly, he was doing My work. According to Jewish law, those who blasphemed and opposed the ways of God—declared there was another god besides the one they knew in the Torah—were to be killed.

“So, he sat and watched Stephen stoned. He rather condoned it and delighted that he was doing God’s perfect will. So, his heart was pure, but his actions [were] very wrong (Acts 7:58). It took My love, my mercy, and my light of truth to show him his blindness before me and open his eyes to the truth that He didnt know. So, you too, have been walking blindly in self-rightness to the stench of your own sin and now have become the judge of others. Is that what I have taught, My beloved one? Is that what I desire of my brides?

Eehh…, no Lord, I’m sorry again. Please clean and purify my heart. I have noticed it has changed with all the various betrayals I have gone through; my heart has become hardened. I have noticed, not justifying it, but please soften it again and help me to love without fear again and see the best in people. Lord these battles against the kingdom of darkness have been tough—or should I say the attacks. Please help me.

“My beloved, I was met with the same type of attacks daily, the same assignment of betrayal over and over again. Judas was not the first, but in My prayer time with the Father, I learned there His heart. I then saw the hearts of those around me—why they made the decisions they did, what affected them to cause them to think the way they did, I also saw the enemy’s influence, and rather than be frustrated or hardened towards them, I had pity on them. You used to see that, Beloved, but you have been blinded by your own frustrations and self-righteousness. If It was not for My mercy and My mother’s prayer for abundant grace, you would be so much worse off than all the others you judge, Beloved. You would have given yourself over to witchcraft, easily using others to manipulate to get your way, used for the purposes of darkness. As you once saw in a dream revealed to you, they would have called you “the princess of darkness’.”

No way Lord. Really? I would be that depraved in sin?

Wow, guys, and as an aside, when I first came to the Lord, that was one of the first dreams I had. In this dream, I was walking in darkness and some forest, and all the animals were scared and were running—squirrels, rabbits, deer, you could name it. I could see my feet. I was barefoot, walking in the forest and I could hear their thoughts, or hear what they were saying to one another. They were all whispering, “Here comes the princess of darkness, here comes the princess of darkness…” I remember waking up and I was like, “I rebuke that in the Name of Jesus! That’s not who I am! That’s not my identity!” And I was going through a lot of various attacks at the time—a lot of demonic attacks. There was a demonic spirit that was in my apartment that was tormenting me for about a month and a half. So, wow…!

“Yes, Beloved. It was through prayers—so much in your bloodline and the relocation of your parents that caused you to live where you have lived, which benefited them to know Me and live for Me and teach you all the same. So, you are who you are by grace. All those around you are who they are by grace. Some are walking in greater levels of faith than you because they have been given small measures of grace and that is the best they have done with it. You have been given an abundance of grace, yet you have wasted so much—so much, Beloved.

“So once again, I don’t see how you see. Many will be given greater honors than you in heaven when you judge as man sees. I am being this honest with you because I love you. Not to cause you to be despondent or discouraged but it’s also to bring in the reality to all my brides who have fallen into critical thoughts of others, judging others, and gossiping about others. It’s not just you but this is going on and is prevalent in my Body right now. And how it brings ache to my heart to see my brides be held captive by this oppressive spirit and being vomited on by the demons with their lies and negative thoughts of others, that feed your thinking and judgments towards them.

“I am painting a picture so next time, My brides, any one of you [who] wants to judge or have a critical thought of another you can bet that if it wasn’t for my grace you would be worse off than they. The very one you are critiquing will be given a higher honor than you in heaven. So, keep your eyes only on your salvation and work it out with fear and trembling. When you see a soul in sin, a bad habit, or acting out unrighteously in any way pray for them. Sincerely pray for them from your heart. Carry them there, My beloved ones, and do not get frustrated with the time it takes to see your prayers come to fruition or their lives changed. When I allow a soul to struggle in a certain area and another one to walk in freedom in that area, it means to grow you in virtue. That soul becomes a gift to you, to prune you, fashion you, and transform you into My likeness. Do not take betrayals to heart, I do not want you to close your heart off to that soul, distance yourself, or put your guard up. I did none of these when dealing with a friend such as Judas who betrayed me. I continued to love him, keep him in my company, and pray for mercy for him.

“Those who wish you ill intent, love them all that the more, beloved ones, with your prayers and acts of kindness towards them, That alone I will use to bring conviction at the proper time. If a soul is meant to be out of your life I will remove them, you won’t have to distance yourself from them because it will happen organically and naturally by My hand unless I make My will known to you to let go. So, My beloved one let your heart think good things and your mouth will follow.”

That was the end of Jesus’ message.

Proverbs 20:19

He who goes about talking to hurt people makes secrets known. So do not be with those who talk about others.