The Guard!

The Guard!

Ephesians 4:29 KJV

[29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, had good reasons to remind his audience about the demands of their new faith. Recall that this letter was written to the saints in that church, the faithful in Christ Jesus, and at the start of this chapter, there was a reminder to them to walk worthy of the vocation to which they had been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering and love. You do not make such demands from people who are not aligned with the position that makes it possible for them to comply. How can you demand God's kind of love from someone who has not yet submitted his heart to the control and influence of the One who is called Love? That has to be the first step: letting God in. 

When God has come in, He is able to birth and sustain all that I need to prove my life's call and ministry. It is in my human nature not to take an insult, but to give as good as I get.  It is in my human nature not to settle for anything that is uncomfortable for me. That is why the Bible makes it clear that flesh and blood cannot please God. The human nature will always resist all that is God's, because it is not easy for it to submit to God's laws. One of the quickest ways to know who is in charge of a man's heart is to hear what comes out of his lips. The mouth is the quickest expression of that which lives in my heart. A heart that is yet to encounter God is unpredictable; almost anything is possible. How would you expect a dead tree to produce good fruit?

The expectation of fruit that can edify comes from the seed that has been planted and allowed to thrive and germinate. The fruit must look like the seed. If I will edify, it means that I have first been edified. If I will build up, it means that I have been properly founded and able to support others. If my life will produce that which will minister grace to those who hear me, it means that I will have spent time on that which gives grace. A man cannot give that which he does not have, and this is one demand that you cannot fake until you make it. If I will give grace, I must have grace. If I will produce life, I must have life. If I will heal with my words, it means that I have allowed the Word to heal me first. Does this describe me at the moment? God's time of favour is here.