I Tell You the Truth

Day 37 of 40 days of Lenten Posts

Below are quotes taken from the prologue of: The Lost Choice by Andy Andrews.

As I was reading these words, used to describe a possession the father had, the only thing he would be passing on to his son, I was struck by how these words described the power of writing.

“It is an object of fear and an object of promise. An object of ridicule and of power. The possession displays abject poverty and incredible wealth. It contains death and birth and blindness and sight. And one day, it will be yours to protect.”

Do you see: this is what the written word can and does do?

He further says to his son:
“I told you exactly what it is. As for what it does? It does nothing. It does, however, represent the power to do everything. It is believed and doubted, contemplated and ignored, pursued and avoided. Men will kill for it…and I would die to protect it.”

Individual words do nothing, but strung together in a particular order they represent the power to do everything. The Bible is an incredible example of this. It is believed and doubted, contemplated and ignored, pursued and avoided. Men kill others for possessing it and men die to defend the truth it contains.

“He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue.” Psalm 15:2-3

Another quote:
“It is a gift from a father to a son.”

The Bible is a gift from our Father God to his sons and daughters. Our writing: stories, articles, novels, fiction and non-fiction are given to us by our Father, a gift to be used rightly to bring light or with evil intent to take others into darkness.

"He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him." John 7:18 NIV

“The possession itself—the object—will never, alone, do anything.
“An object can inspire, arouse, prove, encourage, justify, and confirm. But it can never produce.”

My writing by itself will never do anything.

“Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.” Proverb 23:23

“It is only by your hand that the mind’s choices bear fruit. Intentions are like physical beauty—they mean nothing. At some point, a person must actually do something. One’s beliefs must become works. By your hand, you establish evidence for others in the truth of what you believe.”

It is what people choose to do with my words…change the world…or destroy it… that gives it power.

One person, changed by my words, brings something new into their world and to those around them…like a pebble thrown into a still body of water, the ripples extend on and on.

Long after I am gone the words I have written will continue on. Would I be pleased with what remains? Would my great, great grandchild be proud of what I have placed on paper or would there be shame because of the pain my words have caused.

“I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:30-32

If my words are truth there will be no shame.

Jesus continually said: I tell you the truth… Why did He have to repeat this phrase over and over? Was it because there was so much deception, was it because there would be many who would doubt His words? He knew His words were truth so He could declare them with boldness.

If Jesus felt it necessary to declare the truthfulness of His words should we not at least check our hearts and ask ourselves, is what I am writing truth?

I am not saying we shouldn’t be writing fiction, novels are filled with life impacting words.

I am challenging us all to consider what message we are coveying.

How are we handling the words He has put in our possession?

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:31 NIV

All Ears

Day five of my 40 days of Lenten posts.

Listen to me! For I have important information for you. Everything I say is right and true, for I hate lies and every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing of evil in it. My words are plain and clear to anyone with half a mind-if it is only open! My instruction is far more valuable than silver or gold." Proverbs 8:6-10 TLB

Are the words we speak worth listening to?

FOR WRITERS ONLY...OR NOT

B.I.C. – no I’ll not talking about the lighter, although using a BIC lighter to get a fire going under a stuck writer may not be a bad idea. BIC means, Butt in Chair, this being the best position for a writer. Discipline is what it takes to continue to crank out words. My blogsite is titled: Need More Words, because that is what a writer always needs. I will qualify that; a writer needs more of the RIGHT words. Sometimes it is words for the story and sometimes it is words coming from someone who gives them wisdom or is there to cheer them on.

Today I want to give you some Words of inspiration from other writers.

“The most important thing for a young writer to learn is that writing doesn’t come easy: it’s work. There’s no point in fooling with it unless you have to—unless you have a need to do it. A publisher friend of mine says that most writers are not real writers; they are just people who “want to have written.” Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write.” Robert Penn Warren

“Ask yourself in the quietest hour of your night: must I write? Dig down into yourself for a deep answer. And if this should be in the affirmative, if you may meet this solemn question with a strong and simple, I must, then build your life according to this necessity.” Rainer Maria Rilke

“The moment comes when a character does or says something you hadn’t thought about. At this moment he’s alive and you leave it to him.” Graham Greene (I love this one)

“Writing is simply the writer and the reader on opposite ends of a pencil; they should be as close together as that.” Jay R. Gould

“Hitch your unconscious mind to your writing arm.” Dorothea Brande

“The discipline of the writer is to learn to be still and listen to what his subject has to tell him.” Rachel Carson

“Get black on white.” Guy de Maupassant

“If you wish to be a writer, write.” Epictetus

I will end with that quote.
Happy writing.

Photos: Courtesy: Morguefile

Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

The Lord led Ezekiel to a valley filled with bones, bones that had been there a long time, they were dry, really, really dry.

Those bones had been there a while but Ezekiel didn’t know they were there until the Lord took him to the valley and showed him. God wanted Ezekiel to do something about the dry bones. He wanted Ezekiel to talk to the situation.

Is God trying to take you to a valley in your life to show you dry bones, ones that you are not aware are there? If He is, it is because he wants you to speak to those dry bones, to those situations in your life that you believe are hopeless.

With God on your side nothing is hopeless. Your words will determine your outcome.

God asked Ezekiel a question, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Ezekiel saw an impossible situation but he didn’t speak out what he saw. His answer was, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

Ezekiel started out by recognizing who God was; then he acknowledged that God was the one who had the answer. God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones. That must have clued Ezekiel into the miracle that was about to take place.

God commanded him to speak what was necessary for the bones to become living people, the bones needed tendons on them and flesh to come upon them and to be covered with skin. Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones and told them what needed to happen.

When you speak to your situation, your dry bones, be specific, not general. If you are in need of finances be specific about the amount you need. If you pray and say, “God, I need some money.” God can prompt someone to give you $5.00. He has answered your prayer. But you had in your mind that you really needed $200.00 so your electricity doesn’t get turned off. Yes, God does know that you need $200.00 and he could give it to you but he wants you to be specific in your spoken words. If I go to Starbucks (where I am writing this, I gave myself a treat) and I say I want a grande coffee, and that is what they give me, I certainly can’t complain that I didn’t get the cinnamon dolce latte that I really wanted – I got what I SPOKE.

When Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones he got what he spoke. The bones now had tendons, flesh and skin. God told him he had one more thing to do. He had to speak again for it to be completed. If he would have stopped at this point all he would have had was a bunch of bodies. They had no life yet.

When speaking to your situation don’t stop before it is complete. When Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones we don’t know how long it took for the tendons, flesh and skin to appear. Did it happen instantly, did it take a day, a week, a year? We don’t know. Ezekiel spoke the last step as God commanded, he stayed to completion.

Ezekiel 37:10 “So I spoke as He commanded me, and the wind entered the bodies, and they began to breathe. They came to life and stood up on their feet-a great army of them.”

What dry bones situation is going on in your life? Speak what God would say to that situation. You will have what you say, so say what you want.

Thank you to Coleen Shaw Voeks for the picture