Cease Listening...

Cease listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.PROVERBS 19:27 NASB

 Following my earlier train of logic about the Holy Spirit standing at the gate of where thoughts that shape the words written or spoken - this verse fairly leapt off the page to me. Our goal oft repeated in scripture is to listen and follow the words. This verse clearly says that if we stop listening we will stray.

 So many voices shouting for our attention. Th real trick is to slow down long enough to tease apart the voices of the world and the ones in our own head that scream from fear, insecurity, pain, desire and envy...

So grateful for the Spirit who promises to keep us close and speak truth.

Lord deliver me from the lie that I must always do things to be in your favor. Help me slow down and hear you. I can't even reach for you on my own without your Spirit drawing me. I want to be so filled with the life and knowledge that your words bring that the doing of your word takes root in me not to earn favor for myself but because your manifestations of the word through me is what brings about your favor.

Amen

The Voice Of The Lord

The voice of the Lord is powerful, The voice of the Lord is majestic.PSALMS 29:4 NASB

Okay, my brain is weird. This whole psalm is about the Voice of the Lord... the spoken word, the Word that is voiced and with it creation came into being.

So if God is the spoken Word... and if the bible calls Jesus the Word made flesh... then does that make the Holy Spirit the Words unspoken? Is the Holy Spirit that part of divine communication that proceeds the Word before it is spoken, written, or manifested in action? The written word we carry around and memorize was inspired by the Spirit, one intellect, guiding such a diverse collection of individuals...

I don't even know where I am going with this, chewing it out loud I suppose, but it gives me clarity when I think of the Holy Spirit as the one who stands between the idea or inspiration of the thing to say, and the formation of the word that crafts and shapes it.

Not surprisingly that is also where temptation, guilt and fears reside too.

I am so grateful for a loving God who sent one who can help us battle the internal demons as well as the ones who stalk us from the outside.

Power Of The Tongue

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.PROVERBS 18:21 NASB

Sometimes I wish that the product of our mouths actually manifested. Instant biofeedback. A physical and plain way to tell our effect on others that cannot be spun into platitudes of minimizing importance.

What we say matters, things are loosed or bound in heaven by our words. James talks a lot about the power of the tongue, using word pictures just so there isn't any confusion about the meaning.

The world was created with a word.  The Holy Spirit is the CONTENTS of the Breath of God... and when we use this borrowed breath to speak there is power in it.  Borrowed power.

So the question is, what will you do with the words you have inside you?  What will you do with the borrowed power that's been lent to you?

Will you use your power for good?

Hope Deferred

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.PROVERBS 13:12 NASB

For years I've regarded this as an axiom for human responses concerning the disappointments of life... but what if it's instead referring to the need to put our hope in God who never fails and never lies and always seeks out life?

In either case it makes me look at where my hope is placed, questioning the sources of what makes me feel fulfilled, and looking square at the things I desire.