Messes To Masterpieces

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:
they pierced my hands and my feet.
Psalm 22:12,16

White Noise

It is known that businesses and other workplaces broadcast what is known as “white noise”. The sound is a low-level, fuzzy noise projected through a sound system able to cancel ambient sound waves, thereby, casting an overall muffling effect within an area. The goal of white noise is to produce an environment where all noises and sounds are normalized. Immersed in this manicured space for any length of time and the white noise becomes unnoticeable and masks out all noise spikes or unique sound pitches.

There is a lot of white noise in our world. Hell rages. Voices of darkness come from every angle. It has been said the battle between heaven and hell is won or lost in one and only one place – the human mind. There is a spiritual onslaught today against the mind. It is a work originating from the depths and pit of hell.

God typically does not shout. And His voice is specific, unique and identifiable – a noise spike in a sea of voices. Is it possible that we can be desensitized by the white noise of the world, and as people of faith, loose our sensitivity to that “still small voice” of God? White noises consisting of lies, vulgarity, violence, foolishness, cursing and negativity? What was once considered a cacophonous roar is now simply considered white noise.

Let’s be real. We are affected greatly by what we allow into our hearing. The word tells us that there are many voices in the world. Voices all desperately vying to interject confusion and incite chaos into the hearts and minds of God’s creation:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1John 4:1

The Tongue & Voices of a Giant

It was not Goliath’s impressive stature that caused his ruin. Nor was it the designer labels strategically fixated on his fashionable battle attire that led to his fall. It was Goliath’s tongue that led to his downfall. His vulgarity and blasphemy of the one true God of Israel put him on the trajectory to destruction and eternal annihilation:

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 1Samuel 17:43

The curses emanating from the mouth of a fool is what stirred righteous indignation and raised the hackles of a young shepherd boy. Had Goliath shut his mouth he would have lived to see the light of another day. But his foul mouth and curses set in motion a no-name shepherd boy to battle. David refused to allow an uncircumcised freak who berated and blasphemed his God stand unpunished:

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 1Samuel 17:45

The Word explicitly tells us that the tongue is the hardest body part to control. If something resides in the heart it will eventually percolate to the surface through the tongue. This is why we desperately need our lives empowered by God’s Spirit. It is interesting to note that when Jesus poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost on the early church, it was evidenced by “speaking in tongues” (Acts 2:1-4) – a sign of complete control over the individual.

Let’s digress here a moment. Some say that speaking in tongues is “of the devil“. This blogger can attest to the fact that before he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost some of his most prized word choices were of the profane and vulgar four-letter variety. These words forever ceased to ebb out of this blogger’s mouth upon receiving the baptism of the God’s Holy Spirit. Now, let me ask the question: who is “of the devil” – pre or post Holy Ghost? Now, back to the subject at hand.

In His sovereignty, God shows us that only He can truly control the tongue.

The Holy Ghost is the only power that will deliver one from a profane and vulgar tongue. We cannot deceive ourselves into thinking we have everything when God has an experience much deeper and richer for us.

A Kept Heart

It is a full-time job to keep our heart right with God. It is not an undertaking for the faint-hearted. It is a task that separates (if you will) “the men from the boys”.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Proverbs 4:23-24

Is it not interesting that according to God’s word the key to keeping one’s heart in healthy resonance depends on what goes out of our mouth. Jesus stated it best:

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Matthew 15:18-20

We have authority to silence voices of the world by speaking the name of Jesus Christ over them. Jesus has empowered his church to subdue and bind evil spirits. God’s people should not be subjected to merciless, unrelenting attack by hell-bound spirits:

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:19-20

Living Above The Snake Line

Speaking of snakes and scorpions, it is reported that a minister once spoke a message entitled “Living Above The Snake Line“. The thought being that there is a place of elevation where snakes cannot and will not inhabit. There is insufficient food at the higher elevation to sustain snakes and the bedrock here makes it impossible to conceal themselves in holes or in dirt tunnels. For snakes do not like to go hungry and they will not live where they can be exposed (now you can let that one seep in a while!).

God has empowered His church with everything it needs to squelch and counteract the white noise of dark voices – voices whose mission is to stifle the will and the word of God and limit fruit production in our lives.

The higher we climb, the closer we get to heaven and position ourselves in an area where spiritual snakes find harsh living conditions. Yes, living above the snake line may be a somewhat “hard” place to inhabit. The pleasures and comforts to satiate the flesh are not plentiful here. And the lack of cushion under our feet, the thin air and the weight of gravity can make the upward journey painful and discomforting at times. But, the good news is that spiritual snakes are thinned out up here and those that are stupid or dazed enough to make the journey are put under our feet anyway:

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. Psalms 18:36-40

If we choose, we can feed the snakes and allow them to hang around long enough to eventually ferret out holes to creep into. But, Jesus has given us the power to live above the snake line and be victorious over the white noise – voices that attempt to derail our journey towards King Jesus awaiting us in heaven.