From “Goszner’s Treasury” by Johannes Gossner

     The mouth and the heart.  There’s a big connection between the two.  Too many of us fail to realize that our mouths too often speak what is in our hearts.

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. Pro_23:26. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. 1Pe_3:15. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Mat_5:8. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Mat_12:34.

 

To give one’s heart to God means to preserve one’s heart pure from everything which is not God; to cling with one’s heart to naught but God and Christ; to have the same will as God; to delight in everything in which God is well pleased, and to shun everything that displeases God. He who is ever filled with God, filled with love to Christ; who in all things is led and constrained by love to Jesus only, who does not ask, “What will the world say about it?” but who asks, “What does my Beloved wish? What does the God of my heart delight in? What is His good pleasure? How am I best to find the will of God?”, he sanctifies God in his heart. He who does not permit himself the slightest unrighteousness, not even things permissible, though he gain the whole world thereby, because he knows that God, Christ, does not wish it, or is unwilling that it shall be done, has given and sanctified his heart to God: his heart is pure; such a heart sees God. He whose heart is filled with love to God, can not with his lips give utterance to anything which is not of God. The mouth is the betrayer of the heart. But it is also often a deceiver and a liar; for in the hypocrites it can speak of God and of love to Christ, while God and love to Christ are not in the heart. Yet not always. The mouth betrays at times that which dwells in the heart, because the mouth of those who are not on right terms with God in their heart, is changeable and does not always say the same thing.

 

Lord, in ceaseless contemplation
Fix my thankful heart on Thee,
Till I taste Thy full salvation,
And Thine unveiled glory see.

 

　

 

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From “Morning and Evening” by C.H. Spurgeon

   

November 20

     As christians, let us not forget that we’re to walk with confidence.  We’re to live as if we already have what we’ve been promised.

“0 Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.”

Lam_3:58

Observe how positively the prophet speaks. He doth not say, “I hope, I trust, I sometimes think, that God hath pleaded the causes of my soul”; but he speaks of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. “Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.” Let us, by the aid of the gracious Comforter, shake off those doubts and fears which so much mar our peace and comfort. Be this our prayer, that we may have done with the harsh croaking voice of surmise and suspicion, and may be able to speak with the clear, melodious voice of full assurance. Notice how gratefully the prophet speaks, ascribing all the glory to God alone! You perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. He doth not ascribe his deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own merit; but it is “thou”-“O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.” A grateful spirit should ever be cultivated by the Christian; and especially after deliverances we should prepare a song for our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful saints, and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of thanksgiving. How joyful Jeremiah seems to be while he records the Lord’s mercy. How triumphantly he lifts up the strain! He has been in the low dungeon, and is even now no other than the weeping prophet; and yet in the very book which is called “Lamentations,” clear as the song of Miriam when she dashed her fingers against the tabor, shrill as the note of Deborah when she met Barak with shouts of victory, we hear the voice of Jeremy going up to heaven-“Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.” O children of God, seek after a vital experience of the Lord’s lovingkindness, and when you have it, speak positively of it; sing gratefully; shout triumphantly.