The Pursuit of Holiness 4: The Fountains of Our Mouths…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

It is Thursday April 24th of 2025.  We have a partly cloudy and warm day forecast today with a high of 79.  Spring is most certainly here!

God is faithful.  His faithfulness endures forever!  He knows who is His and none of His fall from His loving Hands.  As Paul teaches us there is nothing that can separate us from the Love of Jesus Christ.

God is faithful to forgive.  If we go before the throne of God with a humble heart and in repentance, confessing our sins and turning from them He is faithful to forgive.

However.

God is also faithful to correct.

Hebrews 12: 1-8

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.  You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.  And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”

The chastening of the Lord—the trials we go through that strengthen our faith—the correction of the Lord is what gives us direction in what to work on with Him during our sanctification. You might hear some of our brothers and sisters talk about being convicted by the Holy Spirit. This is a common way of describing the chastening of the Lord.  Correction can come as a gentle reminder, or it can arrive as a serious test of our faith—a life-altering moment. It’s really up to God.  But we can be assured that…

Romans 8: 1

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

And although there is no condemnation for those of us who walk in the Spirit, that does not mean there is no correction when we begin to walk down our own paths.  We should not forget the Israelites in the wilderness. God was so angry with them that He considered destroying them all and starting over with Moses. It was Moses’ prayer and intercession that stood in the gap for those who did not fall in the wilderness that day.  The prayers of a righteous man avail much.

Today as we continue to explore the pursuit of holiness I’m hoping you’ll take a look at a particular piece of the puzzle we’re talking about.

Today let’s explore the fountains of our mouths.

James 3: 1-12

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.  For we all stumble in many things.  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.  Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.  Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.  Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.  The tongue is so set among our member that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  But no man can tame the tongue.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.”

So.

How are we doing with corrupt communications?

How are we doing with shedding our hypocrisy?

If you didn’t know, I’m a music teacher by trade. I love music. I have music playing most of the day when I’m not studying Scripture in one way or another. If I’m not playing music or practicing, I’m listening to it. I’ve done this my entire life.  To this day, I still love putting on some good tunes and singing in the shower. I sing songs in the house, on the street (not too loud though—I’m no trained singer), and in the car.  And after a while of walking with Jesus, I started to consider what it was I was singing as I enjoyed the music.

2 Timothy 2: 15-16

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.  But shun profane and idle babbling, for they will increase to more ungodliness.”

We are to shun profane and idle babbling.  So I took a look at my playlist—and wham—there came the conviction of the Holy Spirit. As I examined the music I was singing along to, I realized that some of it was profane. By joining in with those lyrics, I was engaging with the very things I was called to leave behind.  And then there’s idle babbling—which, in my humble opinion, applies to just about any music that calls itself post-modern.  It wasn’t easy, but I began to repent and clean up the music I was singing. Because when I sing—whether it’s in the car, the house, or the shower—who else am I singing to, except the Holy Spirit, who is right here with me?

Now.

This is just a personal example. I think it’s up to each one of us to work with God on what we listen to when it comes to music.  But considering the words that were coming from my mouth—and more specifically, considering what those words mean to the Holy Spirit—was my way of trying not to grieve Him more than I already do with my singing voice.

It is hypocrisy to sing one thing and believe another.

It is friendship with the world to elevate the music I love above God which then turns it into idolatry.

It is poisoning of the fountain of my mouth to let corrupt, profane, blasphemous and other ideas to pour forth from me.  As James teaches: these things should not be so.

And so to shed hypocrisy, I purge my playlist.

Proverbs 15: 4

“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach of the spirit.”

We are to lay aside every weight. We are to look to the Word. We are to understand the Word. We are to abide in the Word so that we may recognize and identify sin. And once we do, we are to turn away from it.  We do all of this to run the race that has been set before us.  The specifics may look a little different for each of us—and I would even say they should look somewhat different. We each have a different measure of faith given to us. And we each have our own personal things we need to deal with before God.  But much of it will look the same—for we all know, love, serve, praise, and worship the same God.

We are to consider Jesus—and consider the cross—while we go through our trials and corrections. For it is the strength of Jesus, and His unwavering conviction of love for us—each one of us individually and all of us collectively—that should stir our love for Him and help carry us through the difficulties of correction.  I find it hard to continue listening to—or more accurately, to subject the Holy Spirit to—some of the music I once enjoyed. And honestly, it makes me feel very silly to even struggle over something that seems so small.

Proverbs 29: 1

“He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

But our mouths, our tongues, the communication that comes from us is meant to be holy.  It is meant to be given to Jesus and to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 17: 3

“The finishing pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but The LORD trieth the hearts.”

It comes down to what kind of vessel do we want to strive to be.  Do we want to be a vessel made for honor in the House of the Lord or do we want to be a vessel for shame?

James 1: 12-18

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.  Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will he brought us forth by the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”

What comes out of our mouths must first come forth from our minds.

Jesus teaches when confronted by the Pharisees after casting out an demon…

Matthew 12: 25- 37

“But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.  Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Sprit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.  Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.   But I say to you that for every idea word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

So.

Today let’s continue to work on setting aside our hypocrisy.  Let’s work on the fountains of our mouth and what streams we use to feed that fountain.

Don’t forget to rejoice!

Give thanks in everything!

Pray without cease!

And I think that’s a good place to start for the day.