I was standing this morning watching Mike walk out to the shop to get his truck.  It was cold and windy, and the driveway was snow-covered.

Before he headed out, I had suggested that he take the car that was parked in the house garage because it would be warm, and it would eliminate the trek all the way out to the shop.  His response to me was that the shop isn’t that far of a walk.  

Well, as usual my mind took off on its own little bunny trail of sorts, haha.  My perspective was, you’re walking “all the way” out to the shop, while his perspective was, I’m “just” walking to the shop.  

Man, how words can reflect perspective and affect the way you feel about something.  To me, given the weather, that was a long distance; while to Mike, it was just a short walk.  And ya know the funny thing?  Regardless of the perspective each of us chose, the distance from the house to the shop remained the same.  

As I stood there thinking, it hit me once again how powerful words are, and how words shape one’s feelings and reflect one’s perspective. 

At that point, God interrupted my musing, and the Spirit whispered to me, “That’s why I have written in My Word that ‘the tongue has the power of life and death‘ (Prov 18:21).  

I answered back, “O, I know, Lord; I’ve memorized that verse.  Got it!”.  

But as it is when God is trying to drive something home to me, He continued on by asking me “Ok daughter, if you’ve ‘got it’, then answer Me this – “where do your words get their origin?”  

Hmmmm.  Well it was no surprise that the Spirit reminded me of another verse that I’d stored away in my head — “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of“, (Luke 6:45).  

Wow.  That’s pretty sobering when you put those truths together.  Tongue/words –  the power of life and death – mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  

As I saw Mike driving down the driveway toward the house, the last thing God reminded me was “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov 4:23).  

God seized an ordinary moment this morning to speak His truth to me.  But isn’t that just His way to walk with you through life, as an earthly father does, using ordinary life situations to drive home spiritual truth?  

I truly love my Abba Father.  As a result of Him walking with me through my thoughts this morning, I will focus more diligently on guarding my heart, because the truth of the matter is, it is a short trip from the heart to the mouth, and words are powerful things.