words are like medicine

 

Words flow, consonants and vowels display in response to the pressure of a keystroke as the cursor blinks… waiting.   They line parchment, bound and jacketed to fit close on shelves, housed in sections and in piles. Words ignite hearts, start revolutions, calm stormy seas, form lullabies, entertain, instruct, and… so on.  Words are full of power, which can bring hope and healing or destruction and chaos.

These red-letter words, painting beauty in our midst, they beckon me close. They drew me in  from the first moment my eyes beheld the message; a message of truth, of love, of hope, and  of redemption.

I met the King here, reading the Words that brought me to Truth. He said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, the Life; no man comes to the Father except through me.’  (John 14:6)  I wanted to know more. I devoured the Word, clung to it with the hope and fervency that this sickness in my soul was curable.  This dying deep within needed medicine that could only be administered by the Author of Grace.

This living power source extends mercy by the sword dividing rightly and discerning purely.

Grace, favor we don’t deserve, pours out daily… like the mercies of God, into the vacuum of our souls. We hunger and thirst for more of its delightfulness; we desire its sweetness.  We were made to crave truth in its fullness, yet we take the words like pills to measure our worth and we miss the power of what they fully mean.

For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

Words can be medicine, healing the soul and restoring the creative power of life within.  When used appropriately, we have the ability to distribute grace in full measure, worthily, mightily exercising favor and mercy in epic proportions.

They have the power to destroy, all too easily, though.  Proverbs 18:21 reminds us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

Death or life, friend, our words carry a weight in their dispensing; power to medicate with life or poison toward death.

Where are you letting your words fall, today?

Words make or break, they heal or hurt, they pave the way or they set a trap.

Words are the fabric of our communication with God, with others, with ourselves. The reality is that we waste time throwing them around effortlessly, as if they are empty and weightless.

Words create possibility. Words created the world we see. Words matter.

Our words can be double-minded and unstable: seeds of hope or the swords of enmity….but God…

His Word is ALWAYS filled with  grace, healing, wisdom, and forgiveness.

hawthorne quote

Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as stand in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hand of one who knows how to combine them. – Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hawthorne’s quote makes me stop and think.  I reflect back on the proverbial wisdom of Solomon; death and life are in the power of the tongue,  and I wonder how are you spending words, friends? Do you ponder the effect of the syllables you stumble over, like me?

Sometimes, when careless words escape, I am reminded of Matthew’s admonition about inoperable words. (Matt 12:36)  It catches me and I hear His Word speaking straight into my heart about the accountability of what I speak.  And then I think of Isaiah, who needed a hot burning coal placed upon His lips; a self-proclaimed man of unclean speech. (Is 6:5-7) This Messianic Prophet, who saw the vision of the coming Lamb which was meant to take away our sins, reminds me the power of a heart fully changed by the Lord. There is a drastic change when words become the piercing arrows leading posterity towards hope.

If God can change this dramatic word firing prophet, touching His lips with the live coals of heaven so that His speech would be sweet, then I trust Him to do the same for me.  But an investment must be made for the return to be of profit. We have to fill up on this living bread of life, the Word of God, which is the power source for our soul. (Is 55:11)

We can’t expect to speak operable words, the very words that creation hears and obeys because of the immutable laws of God, without first meeting and filling up on the very inspiration that our souls were meant to receive.

Have you filled up on the Word of God, the bread of life, the power source of your soul friend? Are you drawing deep from the well of wisdom?

I have been reading through Margaret Feinberg’s new book, Fight Back With Joy. She shares amazing insight at the journey she took through a terrible diagnosis by choosing a word to remind her to fight. Choosing JOY as her weapon, she relates the power of also choosing to accept, adapt, and depend fully upon God to lead her on her journey to joy-filled living when the circumstances seemed in grim opposition. I am inspired by the challenge she offered, to choose joy rather than regret, to celebrate in the face of fear, to speak life-words… power truths in the very midst of each storm which rocks our boat. Remember friends, even the winds and waves obeyed the One who speaks peace.  I am challenging myself to a journey of choosing words that reflect His Grace, His Hope, His Truth,  & His Redemption.

And Friends, can  I  challenge you this week to make a difference in someone’s life by spending words that are seeds of grace intended to bear fruit in abundance?

Many of us choose words for our year,  waiting, praying, seeking, studying, and considering the message that the Lord is speaking to our hearts.  These words are often contenders for the hopes buried deep within, reminders of what we are believing for, or platforms we are springing off of in our leap of faith.

What is your WORD for this year? If you have one, I would love to hear the story behind it.

I am BEHOLDING this year. I have only written to you about this word a few times. I am holding it close… waiting, remembering the peace that came with its choosing. A peace that my desperate soul needed, like the pill of hope I swallow when I take in His promises, the very power-filled epitaphs that draw me to my knees with gratefulness. His Living Word is the healing hope my soul requires to continue the journey. Like Isaiah, it sometimes feels as if a hot coal was pressed upon my lips. I am altered by the moment, changed to be a difference maker… to point the way to Truth.  The Word, living nestled in my heart, the seat of my living, planted and growing, produces abundant fruit through prayer, encouragement, and edification. It is this grace friends that I cling to… the one that will stand when all else falls away.

And I joyfully resolve to Behold. Behold the Word, the living Word of God, trusting that every yes means yes, and every Amen is the so-be-it I can count on to be true.

I am praying for the power of His Word to bathe you in glory today, for the promises of yes and amen to reach your ears and turn your eyes to the One who answers breath prayers. I am praying that your faith will be renewed like the eagles and you will soar on wings of hope and joy through the storms that threaten to rob you of the power to make a difference, even with the very words you speak.

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Linking up with friends for the journey:

SDG Gathering, Make A Difference Mondays, Playdates with God, Unite, #RaRaLink Up, #TellHisStory, Coffee for Your Heart, Wednesday Prayer Girls, Three Word Wednesday, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Thought Provoking Thursdays, Front Porch Inspired: Conversations, Live Free Thursday, My Lens and Pen, Shine Blog Hop, Fellowship Fridays, Missional Women, Faith and Fellowship  Blog Hop, Counting My Blessings,  Grace and Truth Link Up, Saturday Soiree, Still Saturday,My Freshly Brewed Life, Give Me Grace , Faith N Friends Blog Hop