Words

When words are spoken you can’t see them…

You can hear them

You can understand them

You can think them

You can write them

But you can’t see them when they are spoken…

In other words, letters don’t come flowing out of the mouth when we say them…

We’ve been taught letters; letters make words…words have meaning…and we understand the words when spoken in our language but, we cannot see the words…

God spoke words and they materialized into substance…

God said, “Let there be light.” And light appeared instantly… (Genesis 1:3)

The words of God could be seen…

Moon… Sun…

Sky…clouds…

Wind… Stars…

Water… Land…

Trees…birds…grass…mountains…plains…vegetation…sea-creatures…animals…

He didn’t speak man into being though. Oh no, this was going to be something special…this was going to be created in the image of God…So he took some dirt out of the earth he had made and formed a body…THEN…He blew His holy breath into the man and the man became a Living Soul…He said, Let us make man in the our image!

Who are the “Us?” Well there was God, The Word (Jesus) and The Holy Spirit! They made man in their own image…I know, it blows the mind…but back to words…

And when God had done all this he spoke the words…It, Is, Good!

All that God does is good! He is Good!

Words can heal and words can kill…

Words can give life and words can bring death…

Words are powerful…

God is the Word and the Word is God…God created words…

He taught Adam how to speak His language it is life giving…he didn’t want to destroy His creation…He joyed in Adam and the animals and the beautiful place he had made for man to enjoy and have relationship with…

It was never His plan to bring death…God is Life…but He also didn’t want to force us or make robots…He gave us a free will of our own…to choose….Hoping we would choose the truth…

How did the serpent tempt Eve in the garden? He whispered lies…he used words…deceitful words…Surely God didn’t say…

He used words to cause her to doubt what God had said…Words!!!

She chose to believe and act on the words of the serpent over, obedience to God…

Words are how we communicate with each other…

Words are powerful…

And how we use our words will determine if our lives are used for good or for evil…to encourage or to deceive…

Be slow to speak and quick to hear…

Let every word that proceeds out of your mouth be for edifying, uplifting, helpful so that others will be built up for good and not for evil…

God said, “Let there be…” and it was so.

How many times do we use our words to slander, judge, gossip, lie, murder, bear false witness? How many times do we use our words to produce anger and hate…blaspheme…how many times do we use our words to manipulate and scheme to get what it is we want yet it destroys someone else’s life, reputation, truth, degrades and humiliates?

Words are like a two-edged sword, they will cut to the bone and marrow of a body and soul when spoken out of abuse and anger…Words in the mouth of someone who hates can murder faster than an AK-15. You don’t usually see the results of the damage words cause until it’s too late.

Words can kill…or words can heal…

No, you can’t see words, but you can see the results of words…

Adam and Eve didn’t fall-down-dead when they sinned; but they died instantly non-the-less…

It is so important to be aware of how we use our words…

God said, “it is very good!” (Gen. 1:31)

Let your words be God-words!! Kind, loving, helpful, respectful, encouraging, uplifting…life giving…let them be, Good!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 2, 2018

Proverbs 25:11-13 The Passion Translation (TPT) Winsome words spoken at just the right time^[a] are as appealing as apples gilded in gold and surrounded with silver. To humbly receive wise correction adorns your life with beauty and makes you a better person. A reliable, trustworthy messenger refreshes the heart of his master, like a gentle breeze blowing at harvest time— cooling the sweat from his brow.

Footnotes: Proverbs 25:11 (a) The Aramaic reads “The one who speaks the word is an apple of gold in a setting of silver.” The Septuagint is “A wise word is like a golden apple in a pendant of rubies.”

James 1:19-22 New International Version (NIV) Listening and Doing

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Ephesians 4:29 New International Version (NIV) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Proverbs 18:21 The Message (MSG) Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 25:11-13 The Message (MSG) The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry, and a wise friend’s timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger. Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!

Proverbs 15 New International Version (NIV) A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

Genesis 1:10-31 New International Version (NIV) God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.