Corrupt Communication

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This post is from a dear Sister in the Midwest. It is a no-gloss, genuine writing about a matter with which many believers struggle; corrupt communication. In other words, talking and thinking badly about other people.

We are thankful for people like this believer who are ready and willing at our Lord's prompting to share the intimate - and sometimes not so flattering - details of the actual journey with Christ.

Because of their humility, we are encouraged that we are not alone in our journey, and find hope in the answers they have received from God as they sought to deal with issues in their lives that many of us face.

Another Sister in Christ, Patsy Clairmont, talks about how she felt like her "clay vessel" was all cracked. Then one day, she says, our Lord acknowledged that there were cracks in her vessel, but then asked her, "Where do people see My light shining from when they look at you, Patsy?"

The answer was clear and life-changing; people could see His light in her because it was shining out to them through the cracks.

Because of believers like the author of this post, who share some of the "cracks" in their vessel and how God heals those up even as He allows His Light to shine through them, we are all better for having learned from God through them.

Lately I have been quite stressed -- I mean really stressed about some things going on in my life and on my job. I know all the bible verses to lean on and what I should do, but just like Peter was on the night that Jesus was arrested, I was just in a rotten state of mind. Somehow we know what we should do, but we let our emotions take over and cause us to take a slight detour into the wilderness. I know how Peter must have felt because he even began to curse out the little girl. I didn't curse out any children, but I have to admit that I have probably cursed more in the past few weeks than I have in a long time. I even remember saying to [someone] yesterday that I was out of control and needed to get some alone time on the sidelines with the Lord because I knew that I was spinning out of control.

Each morning I have prayed forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to help me to "keep my cool today". But it is short lived. I have been having a short fuse and it didn't take much to set it off. Everything and everybody got on my nerves -- even the dog!

I cherish the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need Him every day and depend upon Him to keep me on track. He is my very best friend. One of the secrets of this journey that I have learned is that you must have alone time with the Holy Spirit or your life will be shipwrecked. You will find yourself crashing into the rocks through every storm if you don't have that relationship with Him. It is vital that you set aside time with Him every day to get the game plan for the day.

The bible says that in the presence of God there is joy and peace. I can always tell when I am not in His presence because my life is out of balance. Something is not quite right. It's like having on two left shoes. When I am in His presence, even when my life is upside down, He gives me a peace to get through it. But He withdraws His Presence when I choose to be ugly and let my fleshly thoughts rule me. When I am being prideful and self-centered, I feel a heaviness and everything seems to go wrong. I just feel ugly.

The bible says in Hosea 5:5 - "I will go and return to My place till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early."

When I say that the Holy Spirit withdraws His presence, I am not saying that He leaves us or forsakes us. He promised to never do that in His Word. But the presence of His joy and peace is lifted from our lives when we choose not to be obedient to His Word, or do things that are sinful. Its like when one of the partners of a marriage becomes offended at something the other partner said or did. It doesn't end the marriage, but there is a strain there. The atmosphere changes. That's what it is like when we offend the Holy Spirit. It strains our relationship with Him because He is offended. But what great joy! Because the bible says He is open to be reconciled with us if we will acknowledge our wrong doing and seek Him for forgiveness.

Well, the Holy Spirit woke me up this morning because He was offended at my speech and behavior these days. I have had accusatory and unflattering conversations about others, I have allowed my anger to cause me to lose balance, and I have not used my words to edify others. I’ve really been the Grinch to put it mildly.

The Holy Spirit told me this morning, “You have offended Me”. When you called your boss those names and you talked about your coworkers….and He went on and on and on down the list. I said in my defense, “Well, what I said was true!”. Then the Holy Spirit said, “Yes, but I heard you and you have spoken destructive words about people who are precious to Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit said to me, “Words are important to Me. Your conversations matter to Me. When you engage in corrupt behavior and corrupt communication, it grieves and offends Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to open my Amplified Bible Ephesians 4:29-32, which reads:

“Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word, nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it….

As I squirmed and swallowed hard, knowing that I had really blown it just in the first verse…the passage continued to read,

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him}, by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

Then I sat back and said to the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit, you know that I am not trying to hear this, but I know this is you because I am guilty. Let’s read on…”

Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive and blasphemous language) be banished from you with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind)…

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! I have done all of these things in the past few weeks. Read on…

“And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely] as God in Christ forgave you.”

Then I said, “Holy Spirit, I know this is you because in my flesh I don’t want to do these things but I know that you are holy and to be holy goes against what my flesh desires.” Then I repented for every offense.

One of the biggest things I learned out of this was the unending grace of God being extended to me a helpless sinner. I was busted and was guilty of every charge set before me this morning. Yet, God dealt with me gently, with love and compassion, which is far less than I dealt with those that had offended me.

But don’t be fooled. God dealt mercifully with me today. If I had chosen to stay on the path I was on, He would have given me more chances to turn around and eventually would have taken me across His knee and spanked me really good! The bible teaches us that God chastens those that are His and those that He loves.

One of the last things I did this morning was to thank the Holy Spirit for correcting me. You see, if the Holy Spirit is correcting you, then you can know for sure that you are His. But if you are living a life where there is never any conviction of sin, something is definitely wrong and maybe you aren’t really saved. Something to think about.

Anyway, I wanted to share this message with you to encourage you in your walk with the Lord.