The Lord has promised to place His words in your mouth, as He did for Jeremiah (Jer 1:9; see also Mt 10:20). From that day, He will "set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant" (Jer 1:10). With God's Word in your mouth, you will be a world force. In fact, the Lord will not only occasionally place a word in your mouth; He will fill it (see Ps 81:11) with His words of spirit and life (Jn 6:63). You will be like Samuel in that God will not permit any word of yours to be without effect (1 Sm 3:19; see also Is 55:11).
The Lord will make your mouth a powerful, glorious instrument of His righteousness (Rm 6:13), if you repent. You must cry out as Isaiah did: "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips" (Is 6:5). The Lord will send an angel to touch your mouth with a burning ember (Is 6:6), and then He will say: "Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged" (Is 6:7). The Lord has promised you: "If you repent, so that I restore you, in My presence you shall stand; if you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be My mouthpiece" (Jer 15:19). You can be the mouthpiece of God.
| PRAYER: | Father, use every part of my body for Your glory. Control every part of my body through my purified mouth (see Jas 3:2-3). |
| PROMISE: | "Part of it, finally, landed on good soil and yielded grain a hundred- or sixty- or thirtyfold. Let everyone heed what he hears!" –Mt 13:8-9 |
| PRAISE: | St. Apollinaris was the first Bishop of Ravenna in Italy. He was beaten and exiled several times. Finally he was sent back to Ravenna and martyred. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College