6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
“The right word spoken at the right time is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl.”
Prov. 25:11, New Century Version
I’ve been thinking about this particular verse for years. I had an older translation and I couldn’t decipher it. It is really good to understand what you have just read.
This verse tells us that there is a certain cadence– a timeliness for just the right word. There is a proper sense, a beautiful art in making the situation perfect. The wisdom comes in a conversation, and suddenly everything makes sense. There is a elegance that’s shared by everyone, and a dignity that the Holy Spirit bestows on our words. We only have to ask Him to bless what we say (or write.)
People speak wrong words as well. Rather then edifying, they tear down. Thirty years ago a Christian girl I was working with would always try to counsel me. Soon, I had enough of it. I walked up to her desk and said, “Becky (name changed), God has given me a word for you!” She looked up at me and smiled. ‘It’s Judges 16:16’, she got out her Bible to read the verse I just had given her. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.”
I absolutely crushed her spirit. I had used the Word to assault her like a blunt instrument. Tears welled up in her eyes. It would be a time before I sought her forgiveness. I was hard and brutally used the Bible to purposefully hurt her. I do not suggest that you do this. I will never forget what I did. Oh man, did I ever learn.
That day I would learn the awesome power of my words— for good, or for evil.
Let us also decide that our words will bring life to those who we meet today– wise and encouraging words!
There are so many that are outside our walls. Those who are blinded and confused by the Church and the gospel.
People are for the most part not this blatant or obvious in their pain. But it is what they are asking that tunes us in. “Where?”
Humans have been created with a special spot inside them. This place is designed by our Creator for his use only. Life just doesn’t make sense unless he is the center. Christians are just people who are trying to be fueled by God’s Spirit.
Answers abound to questions unasked. Confusion is rampant and it seems no one can get a unified direction for his companions. This is precisely why the Bible brings a piercing and clear call to the children of man. Its promises are not dated, they are not obsolete.
They are many who have gone before us, thousands of generations who have found light and solace for darkened and wounded hearts. They testify to us of the spiritual reality that can be found in God and in his Word. We are not called to perfection, but a real obedience of faith and love.
At this throbbing moment in history, Jesus is calling so many to “follow”.
He is populating eternity with beggars, the sick, the poor the addicted. He loves “sinners”. He loves the mentally ill. The Bible tells us, “that he ever lives to make intercession for them”.
You have a purpose, and life does have clear meaning. Don’t lose hope and don’t try to fill yourself with foolish and empty pursuits. Come to Jesus, ask for forgiveness. Find the people that will help solidify and confirm your decision. Feel free to contact me about your decision to follow Jesus.
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
For more info on becoming a believer please contact 1-888-NEED-HIM.
Christ Pantocrator, God incarnate in the Christian faith, shown in a mosaic from Daphni, Greece, ca. 1080-1100.
One night a dear friend of Roslyn’s named Joe McGill was praying over this passage in John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).
In the bright darkness of faith, he heard Jesus say: “Yes, the Word was made flesh. I chose to enter your broken world and limp through life with you.”
On the last day, when we arrive at the Great Mansion in the Sky, many of us will be bloodied, battered, bruised and limping. But by Christ, there will be a light in the window and a “welcome home” sign on the door.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”
Revelation 22:14
From The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning. Copyright 1990 by Brennan Manning. Used by permission of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
Broken Believers 