A Mouth of Wisdom

UV 1208/10,000 A Mouth of Wisdom
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

Luke 21 v 15
The Lord promises to give the faithful, those who have been discipled by Him a mouth backed by a heart and mind filled with wisdom. Jesus was replying to the question of the disciples about when the signs of the judgement of Israel will be seen. He gave a graphic account of many signs that are continually happening since then. Jesus warned them that they would be brought before kings and rulers, that they would be accused but at that time they would be given a mouth and wisdom that none of their accusers would be able to deny, contradict or defeat. In keeping with this prophecy all the apostles at various times were accused and brought before kings and rulers for judgement. At that time the latter were amazed at their boldness, wisdom and conviction and had no words in reply. They noted that they were uneducated men but that it was the effect of having been with Jesus.

Being with Jesus gives us wisdom for teaching, for defending ourselves against our adversaries as well as for all the leadership and life challenges we can face. Persons who do not have the gift of the gab need not worry even as the Lord told the stuttering Moses who was reluctant to don the mantle of leadership at God’s call, “ Am I not the one who gives man his mouth and speech? Am I not the one who makes the deaf and the dumb, the seeing and the blind? I will be with thy mouth and teach you what to say.” The Psalmist wrote, “ Open your mouth and I will fill it.” As we open our mouths, He will fill it with wisdom and understanding and the words of eternal life. The Lord will put His words in our mouths and take away our own sinful words. No longer will the power of death that the tongue is endowed with be in our mouths but the power of life. But to our adversaries our tongues will be like swords in our mouths that they cannot stave off.

Very often it is our own words that embarrass us or even get us into different kinds of trouble. Our adversaries try to pull out such words from our mouths by provoking us with questions or comments. We need to pray, “ Lord, the giver of our mouths and of wisdom, be with my mouth. Teach me what to speak and when to speak and how to speak it.” He will in a figurative sense split our tongues and train us to speak wisely, aptly and effectively. We must submit and subject our tongues to the disciplining of the Holy Spirit. Then our mouths will be full of fire and spirit as we speak. Our words will be blemishless and be used as a blessing and encouragement to many to believe in Him. For this to happen we need to spend time listening at the feet of Jesus. He will open our understanding to the teachings in scripture and facilitate us in applying it in our daily lives.

Prateep V Philip