–Jeremy TK Farley  (The Gospel According to Texas)

 

       “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

                    –Romans 3:13-14 (NIV)
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          “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little.
          The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom.”
                     –Proverbs 10:20-21(NKJV)

     Here we have another Proverb dealing with the tongue and the fool.  “Choice silver,” does that describe the words that come from your mouth?  We should be speaking properly and bringing “spiritual nourishment” to our listeners.  Bob Beasley says, “Our tongues should be of choice silver in speaking of the eternal nourishment He gives through His body and His blood.”  Dan Dick adds to this, “When words of truth are spoken from the heart, they reach out to people to give them a rich blessing.”
     Cursings, taking the Lord’s name in vain, yes and that includes “Oh my God,” babblings, profanity, these words should never be found coming from the Christian.  Yet, so many just laugh it off as if it is normal.  If we are born again, cursing is not normal!  Truly we should be speaking words of silver that encourage, edify, and comfort others.  When we speak it should be out of sincerity, not cursing, mocking, sarcastic, or being snide.
     Sincerity–it is one of those character traits that is being seen less and less.  To be sincere means to be honest, genuine, free of deceit or pretense.  Barnabas was known as the Son of Encouragement, when he spoke the words were filled with encouragement and sincerity.  The world looks at what is said to gain something, or in other words use the Machiavellian thought, “the end justifies the means.”  Say what you want, as long as you get what you want.  This is a false practice and it is for selfish gain or vindictive purposes.  “The due and proper use of any natural faculty or power is to be judged of the end and design for which it was given us,” (Joseph Butler) not to fulfill our lusts and passions.  
     We can either exhort or tear down; encourage or slander.  Know that we are to be Christ’s Ambassadors as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (NIV)  As an ambassador we speak the words of the One who sent us.  We are His representatives on earth, our words are to be His words, to uplight, to speak truth, to reach the lost.  William Arnot proclaims, “The bread of life which the disciples distribute is not like common bread.  The more you give of it to the needy, the more remains for your own use.”  
     One day, the tongues of the peoples of the world will be cleansed.  One day they will speak only the truth, and will be uplifting.  Zephaniah states, “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” (3:9, NIV).  Until that day, we will continue to see the fool die for his lack of wisdom.  Mouths will run, shame will flow from them, mockery will sneer in the face of good.  Now, there will be the Kimmels who mock the wife of the President saying that she has the glow of a widow.  I will say, mock now, for there is a day when the mocking will cease.  Someone has translated verse 21 this way, “A good person’s words will benefit many people, but you can kill yourself with stupidity.”  The fool is heading down a dark path, and know this, the speech of a person marks them.

                    –A.K. Vyas  (Dodge City)

                    –G. Cameron Cooke (Trail of the Gunman)

       “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
                    –2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)
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     We really cannot even begin to imagine what it was like before creation.  Back in infinity and eternity before God spoke the cosmos into existence, what was it like?  In reality, my friend, it really doesn’t matter.  During this period (I can’t use the word time, for it had not been created yet) there was God, and there was–God.  I do not believe that it was total darkness for all there was, was God and God is light so perhaps it was total light.  The light of God, light unbelievable.  Where there is God, there is light.  I don’t believe darkness appeared until creation.  We read in Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (1:1-2, NKJV)
     Something to ponder, and here’s something else.  This darkness on the face of the deep, was it without light or was it dark because it represents evil?  It was before the creation of light and He divided it from the darkness on the first day.  One other thing to add to your pondering is that every day, God saw that it was good–except the second day.  The day of the firmament separating there was no pronouncement by God that it was good.  Hmmm….  In this regard Joseph Parker states, “Our wisdom is like a tree growing only questions.”  Don’t be fretting over it, certainly don’t lose any sleep or grow an abundance of grey hair.  But even in these questions, our ponderings if you will, know that we can never understand them with our puny little finite minds.  “The mysteries of the creation are but shadows of the mystery of the Creator.” (Parker)
     A hike in the midst of God’s creation.  Oh, the splendor of a hike in the world around the high lonesome where the trail leads to a high altitude mountain lake just filled with trout.  The serenity of that blue mountain lake, the thought of trout for supper, or perhaps breakfast.  Look around at the majesty, the mountains–the natural altars of God.  Maybe the hike has led through a copse of aspen in the fall with their golden foliage quaking in the breeze.  Glance upward through the golden spires and it might be a dream of the pathway into heaven to those streets of gold.
     Ponder Eden, that marvelous garden.  Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon?  Ponder that magnificent sight if you will.  Ponder the view of water roaring over Niagara.  Know this, all of the wonderful creation on earth had to be worthy of the Creator’s work.  It wasn’t just throwing a dab of paint on an endless space in a vacuum.  It was in the mind of God–the time, the setting, the creation itself.  
     But hold on!  This marvelous creation, the work that came from the lips of God.  No matter what you or I have seen or been, it is not enough.  Glance at the sun that routinely “comes up” every day set forth by the physical laws of nature–created and put in motion by God.  All of this–all of it, is not match for the sight of God Himself.  That is why there can be no graven image of Him.  Who can see Him in all His glory?  Parker says, “The most intellectual conception of God would seem to me to be that God cannot be intellectually conceived.”  We cannot see God!  We cannot fathom the fullness of God!  How then do we recognize Him?  Only by the heart.  “God is great and we know Him not.” (Parker)  That is unless we are born again and have a new heart.  Then we can know a tiny piece of God for “as Christian believers, GOD is in every part of our life; He has manifested Himself to us; He has taken up His abode with us.” (Parker)  
     Oh, what a marvelous thought, one that is too grand for me to grasp.  “Though our minds cannot grasp His infinity, our hearts can feel His love; though our imagination cannot search His understanding, our conscience can respond to His righteousness; though we cannot explain, we can pray.” (Parker)  Take time today, and often through the journey of life to think grand thoughts of God.  Know that He fills and satisfies; that He comforts and inspires.  We cannot understand so we must bow before it.  We accept Him by faith for we want to please Him.  We are eternally thankful for who He is.  He is the all completeness of righteousness; holiness and unapproachable in His wonderful, yet terrible light.  But never forget this my friend, He is also our heavenly Father in whom we can go to with any issue, problem, and sometimes just to sit and be with Him.