Draw Close to GOD...Part Four

©Lightwritingmatters 2015

Theme scripture

“Let the sayings of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, Be for a pleasing thing before Thee, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer!” [Psa 19:14] – Young’s Literal Translation

Additional Theme Scriptures:

 “Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to the hearers; 30 and make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice,” [Eph 4:29-31] – Young’s Literal Translation

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” – New Living Translation

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“Complain if you must, but don’t lash out. Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.” [Psa 4:4]

“BE agitated, but do not sin. Have YOUR say in YOUR heart, upon YOUR bed, and keep silent. Seʹlah.”

Quick series recap

We are continuing in the next of the series of posts digging down into Phil 4:8-9. We have arrived at ‘pure’ – fourth in the list of character attributes by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian congregation of believers.

Part Four:

ü whatever things are pure [Chaste]

Greek word: hagnos

Definitions: "pure from every fault, immaculate," .” [Strong’s Definitions G53]

To expound a little more on the definition:

From Vine’s Expository Dictionary: Pure, Pureness, Purity:

Adjective: "pure from defilement, not contaminated" (from the same root as hagios, "holy"), is rendered "pure"

Breaking it down ¯

There are a couple of components to consider here: the sexual component and the speech component. This post will focus on speech. [NOTE: While the sexual component is not the focus of this blog post it is no less important to maintain the same level of purity within the sexual experience as is outlined in the Bible. In this respect, should you be required to defend your stand, your purity in speech will most definitely be important.]

Conversational speech

Instance One – What you should do:

^“your word always in grace -- with salt being seasoned -- to know how it behoveth you to answer each one.” [Col 4:6] Young’s Literal Translation.

~       Word/speech always in grace

§  Do you listen and then respond with kindness, with patience, with understanding?

§  Do you let someone finish their thought before you respond?

§  Do you recognize their thoughts are important to them?

§  Is your response edifying?

~       Seasoned with salt

§  Salt served to provide an income

§  Salt is used as an anti-bacterial

§  Salt a seasoning

In the use of salt in this verse of the Bible it is obvious we can use it in its entire worth as a figurative way to speak to others. Our words can be valued/valuable; can be medicinal removing the sting of hurt and of course our speech can be seasoned and pleasant. We are not hereby endorsing use of our speech as a billing item when speaking to friends, nor as a burning side effect of in routing out something unpleasant in another nor to make our words difficult to swallow because they are too salty. When we speak it is always to be encouraging, edifying, loving which amounts to our ‘word always in grace’.

Instance Two – what you shouldn’t do:

“Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.” [Pro 4:24] KJV

~       Froward is not a word we hear in our day. We use words like ‘distortion’ and ‘crookedness’.

~       Perverse lips. In our day and age we can form an opinion on what this means and come close to it. Strong’s defines it in this instance as ‘perverse’ with additional synonyms like deviation and crookedness.

o   One of the acceptable and common forms of self-expression is the use of expletives and obscenities. Also, in today’s world --- in some western cultures --- there seems to be no sense of propriety and modesty when referring to bodily functions or parts. It is one thing to insist on using the proper word for body parts but quite another to prance around in public with hats on one’s heads allegedly representing the vagina and other such acts. They do not inspire a sense of socially acceptable ‘purity’. [More on this in a future post on Matt 7:14]

o   Is it ever acceptable to GOD to use expletives/obscenities? It may be tolerated by someone who does not know GOD completely or at all if they are making that conversion. But if we are in a solid relationship with GOD then ‘whatever things are ‘pure’ or ‘whatever things are WELL SPOKEN of’ should be our guide. While we may slip, a constant use or disregard for purity of speech shows disrespect to GOD. If you find that your language is peppered routinely with ‘swearing’ or ‘cussing’ and you decide it must cease do not give up trying to change the habit. GOD is most assuredly available to work with you in this and despite the occasion quick slip an immediate apology and mental note that you slipped will help in eradicating the habit from your lifestyle. It is a task.

As we consider the bottom line, we should not speak in a distorted, crooked or deviant way. In other words, embellishing would be incorrect. Practicing deceit in words would be incorrect. And of course, to speak in a way to mislead by deviation would be incorrect.

If you look over ‘Instance One’ you can see where speaking with salt would be antithetical to Instance Two. It would prevent hurting someone through practicing deceit, or crookedness. It would serve to preserve good speech and it would prevent our speech ‘stinging’ by being perverse. 

Putting things together:

©Lightwritingmatters 2015

We have learned in the previous posts we must be ‘true’, ‘honest’, ‘righteous’ and now ‘pure’ in whatever things we do. You can see how the ladder is being built rung by rung. The steps are being built up the ladder with foundational precision. We cannot be honest or righteous if not true. We cannot be true, righteous and pure without honest, etc. They are independent and interdependent. As we progress to part 5, ‘whatever things are lovely’ we will likely see how intricate that is to the ladder of character.

Conclusion:

Of course, we should be absolutely aware of the Wisdom of Solomon: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: … a TIME TO BE SILENT AND A TIME TO SPEAK…”

Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you

©Lightwritingmatters 2015

©Lightwritingmatters 2015