“Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea;
listen to my cry.
Give ear to my prayer -
it does not rise from deceitful lips
May my vindication come from you:
may your eyes see what is right.

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
though you test me, you will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
As for the deeds of men -
by the word of your lips
I have kept myself
from the ways of the violent.
My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
Psalm 17:1-5

Notice how many times in just these five verses the psalmist makes reference to what comes out of his mouth? “My righteous plea” – “It does not rise from deceitful lips” – “My mouth will not sin” For the psalmist, purity in speech and word are equal to having a pure heart (vs 3) and walking in obedience (vs 5). James, in his epistle, echos that sentiment when he wrote, “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check” (James 3:2). For many of us, the first step to walking in holiness before God is to tame our tongues.

But the psalmist does not stop by declaring that the words of his lips have been righteous. He also declares the very source of his obedience. “By the words of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent” (vs 4). It is by the Word of God that the psalmist guards his own words. That is just as true for us today as it was for the psalmist. Yet we have experienced the Word of God in a more powerful way than the psalmist ever imagined. We have the Word of God become flesh in Jesus Christ. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). Our lips, our actions and our hearts will be declared righteous as we hold to the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Occasionally, I will provide a short list of books I’m reading at the moment.

• Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by John Frame
• Understanding Four Views on Baptism edited by John Armstrong
• A New Kind of Church: Understanding Models of Ministry for the 21st Century by Aubrey Malphurs

Congrats to Chris and Rusanne (my cousins) on the birth of Corinne yesterday!  Both she and mom and doing well and expected home sometime today.  Now Dillan gets to explore to wonderful world of being a big brother.

In preparing for this devotional, I did a search for “one another” in the Bible. That phrase occurs in 72 different verses in the Bible, 56 of which are in the New Testament! Consider a handful of those verses (don’t worry, I won’t list all 72 of them!) and what they mean for us.

Romans 12:10 – Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 15:7 – Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

1 Corinthians 1:10 – I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Galatians 5:13 – You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 3:23 – And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Here’s the point, God wants us to “do life together.”

At Waypoint, we talk a lot about being on a journey. But we can’t do the journey alone. We aren’t supposed to do it alone. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. Rather, God, in his grace, has given us to one another that we might share life’s deepest struggles and life’s greatest triumphs with one another.

Reflection: With whom are you sharing the journey that knows the deepest hopes and pains, triumphs and struggles in your life?

Application: Look through your Bible and find a couple more of the verses that talk about “one another.” What are they calling you to do and to be?

Application: Join a small group! At Waypoint, they are the way that we want to be intentional about connecting with each other.