Luke #14 – An Opened Mouth

Luke #14 – An Opened Mouth

“And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, ‘His name is John.’ And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, ‘What manner of child shall this be!’ And the hand of the Lord was with him” (Luke 1:62-66 – King James Version).

I tell young people who complain about their parents that they probably are not obeying their parents. One such young person said “I hate my mom!” I thought those were pretty strong words and told the youth that. He said “All we ever do is yell at each other or say nothing at all.” I told that teenager that the cure to that was obeying their mom. He said “She’s not a Christian and she doesn’t understand me at all.” I asked, “Are you giving her a picture of faith worth noticing? It doesn’t matter if she is not a Christian, YOU are still ordered to “honor” your parents. If you lived a faith worth noticing, began to rejoice in God rather than acting like a sad-sack your mom and you would have a different relationship.” This particular teenager was at a camp that I spoke at for a week. I saw him a year later. He informed me that he began to obey his mom, began to ask God to help him live a more REAL faith, he and his mom began to have a great relationship, his mom began to come to church with him, and she accepted Christ.

Zacharias reacted with unbelief when God told him that he and Elisabeth would have a son, so God prevented Zacharias from speaking for a while. The moment Zacharias got on the same page with God he had a lot of praising to do. Concerning this passage, J. Vernon McGhee said, “As a rule, weaker saints do not do much rejoicing. The stronger saints, with more faith, rejoice in all circumstances.” Zacharias’ faith increased the moment he began to obey God. Again, the angel had told Zacharias and Elisabeth to name the child John. When Zacharias obeyed God on this note he had something to rejoice about.

That teenager and Zacharias had something in common. When they began to obey God they had something to rejoice about. Further, others noticed something miraculous in their lives when they began to rejoice. What, in our lives today, would cause rejoicing if we really began to obey God? Would our jobs and school experiences be different if we began to honor those who have authority over us? Would our homes be different if we began to honor our wives, submit to our husbands, and obey our parents? It makes no difference if those people around us are not people of faith; our personal responsibilities remain the same. How much praises would come from our lives if we lived lives of obedience?

Listen friends, it makes no difference what people around us do or don’t do; believe or don’t believe. Our relationship with God is not conditioned by those around us, BUT it should be effective to those around us. What I mean is this; we are responsible to God and when we live for and through Him it will have an effect on every thing and everyone else around us. When we are obedient to God, He will not disappoint and we will then praise Him and others will notice. When we are praising God and loving God in spite of our circumstances, people will want to know what made the difference in our lives. Our faith will become contagious!

An obedient life of faith between us and God will lead to an opened mouth. That mouth will praise God…no matter the circumstance.