the power of life or death

     I am not sure why, but during my studies and writing lately, God has been moving me to look up the different meanings of words, and it amazes me how we have lost the value of what words truly mean....how we pick and choose different definitions  and "lock" our language into that small box, that small "fenced" in area, and  give power to our speech that it never really should have had.  I have been in classes lately, where the speaker has given the "Greek" word that was actually used in the Biblical text, and how the Greeks used several different words to mean things....love is an example of this, we use the same word, love, to describe several different levels or factions of that, they used different words to express their meaning....it truly was something that literally was lost in translation, and we are the ones who are missing out because of it.

     This came to my mind after I shared some special time with a friend, well to be honest, several friends over the past few days.  What gave us the right to use our words to tear each other down the way we do?  Our speech is one of the things that separates us from the rest of the creation, and yet we have let it become such a tool of the enemy.  We were given our voices to praise, to edify, to speak blessings.  How and when, did we reliquesh   control of that part of who we are?  We are so far removed from using our voices as God created it, that I wonder if sometimes He regrets even giving us that ability?   How arrogant we have become, to open our mouths and speak the curses that we do upon each other, to rip each other to shreds, to put those life changing, long term, deep rooted bruises that take the power, literally, the power of Almighty God to heal.    Who are we to take the gift we have been given, and with just a few careless words tear down and cause doubt upon  everything God has said?  I could maybe even see the justification if we did this only to our enemies, but far to often, this isn't even the case.  Our best victims are the ones we are sworn to love, sworn to protect, sworn to defend.   I am sure we all can close our eyes, and drift back in time to someone, usually someone who was or is supposed to be our safe place, with just a few words cut us to our very soul, inflicting wounds that if without the grace of our Father, will follow us to our graves.  Talking to my friends, it amazed me how the people that were supposed to love them the most, were the ones to speak such ugliness to them.  It made me remember those times in my life, it made me take inventory today and remind myself, that no matter what lies, what judgements, what hatefulness has been spoken over and to me, remind myself what He says,....that I am fearfully and wonderfully made,....that in the garden, He handcrafted me, and then gently breathed life into me......that He delights over me each nite, and watches me like I often do with my boys, thinking....."she's mine.....I created her.....I love her".  How easy it would be to get "locked" into those careless words, that pierce with the marksmanship of an arrow, straight to our souls?  How easy it would be to believe those lies?  How easy it would be to not force ourselves to see past the "broken" people that are speaking them, and see the true enemy behind them?  The precious friends that I have been sharing with this week, are some of the most beautiful, amazing people I have ever met.  It infuriates me to imagine how wounded they are due to these attacks, how the enemy has gained ground into their life, how he has his talons deeply rooted into them.  But, as much as that infuriated me, imagine my joy, as I was given the unique opportunity to tell them otherwise.....to look them in the eye and tell them it was, and is, all a lie......that there is someone who loves them so much, who values them so much, that He traded all of Heaven just for them.....and tell them, He would have done it, even if they had been the only one.  How amazing is that?  To watch HOPE, even if it is a small glimmer, HOPE start to grown in their eyes!!  After a lifetime of being told, they are worthless, they are hopeless, they will never amount to anything, they are stupid, they are ugly, they are less than this stupid boxed in definition of perfect that we have created, ....to start somewhere deep in their soul to feel the love of a saviour they have not even met yet, to have His power, His love, His TRUTH, start to take root and start to undo all of the pain, all of the anger, all of the lies, all of the past, and to start to rewrite their story, to align it back into what He had intended all along.

     I will never know what He sees in me to allow me to be a part of this journey and the amazing people that I am meeting along the way, but I will be forever grateful for the chance.  We have an amazing Father, it humbles me to my core to watch Him work, watch Him love, watch Him heal......overwhelmed at Him all over again.....onward to tomorrow....but for the grace of God go I.....