This week's Bible Journaling verse was such a blessing to my heart! I love how the design of the heart turned out for sure. The mouth... not so sure but it was still a very fun verse to play with. But... of course... it was about so much more than the art!
At first, it caused me to examine my heart and think about my words and to be honest... I was convicted in a couple of areas. One was gossip... and the other... as always... was about how I talk to myself. Both are ugly. Both are hurtful. But conviction is good... because now I am being more attentive to both.
Oh does the mouth ever speak! But even though this verse very much applies to my life today... and the constant challenge it is to keep an ear to the words I speak both to myself and to others... the truth is that as I pondered this verse... my heart was filled with gratitude. It reminded me from whence I've come and how much God has changed my heart and my words.
When I tell people about the kind of words that came out of my mouth before I came to know the Lord... I usually get this wide-eyed look of surprise... maybe a little gasp... and a whole lot of disbelief. Oh yes. And I wasn't just a potty mouth... it was so much worse. I was a young woman who was so filled with pain, anger, bitterness and even hatred... that all that emotion kept spewing out my mouth... out of control... outbursts of anger and jealousy and rage... hurting the people I loved the most. My heart still cringes and cries when I think about the person I was.
And then I met Jesus...
Did the words I spoke change overnight? No. But my heart did... from the very first moment He came to live within me it began to change... to heal... to find peace... to discover joy. His light broke into my darkness. His abundance began to permeate my heart! His unconditional love filled the immense emptiness. His truth began to replace the lies I grew up with. His forgiveness filled and overflowed my heart... forgiveness for my sins and for those who had so terribly wounded the fragile child who lived within me.
And I've never been the same since.
So even though I know this verse can be convicting... and it should be... for today... for me... with tears of joy and gratitude... it reminds me of how much God has done in my life... and how blessed I am. It also stirs within me a longing for so much more of His abundance to fill my heart... overflowing love... so that the words I speak will be words of life and not death. Love and not hate. Truth and not lies. Building up not tearing down. I want always to speak words of hope and encouragement... and not just to others but to me too... to that fragile child that still lives within me... because I need to hear those words too.
And so do you.
Thank you all so much for loving me and allowing me the opportunity to share my heart here. Sorry this was so long... but I do hope you are encouraged to want more of God's abundance in your life too. Believing Him for it together!
BIBLE JOURNALING FOOTNOTE...
For those of you who might be interested in Bible Journaling... I always start with a pencil sketch... sometimes in my molesking journal or graph paper sketchbook and sometime in directly in my ESV Single Column Journaling Bible
Thanks again for the visit... sending Love and God-hugs your way...
