A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Prov

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Prov. 25:11). In order for someone to even have "a word [to be] fitly spoken," it has to be put in them by the Lord, which means there has to be open space in their heart for him to put it there. Jesus told us something really integral about HIS word, and about the effect his words have on a righteous heart: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." What transpired next between him and those he was speaking to, explained what it was that he meant: "They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (Jn. 8:33,34,36). So there it is, sin must be cleared out of our hearts if we expect for the words of Jesus to come into our hearts. It really is that simple. The word 'indeed' at the end of this passage, comes from the Greek word 'ontos,' and it means, "truly, or in reality." So what this amounts to is that Jesus came to this world to make a way for man to REALLY be free from the inner nature of sin, and to have the words of God dwelling in him thereby. In short order, I'll just say that the way sin is removed from anyone is by absolute faith in Jesus, that he died to pay the penalty for our sins, and that he rose from the dead to take them away: "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). But I need to clarify here that it is the faith that produces the experience of Jesus baptizing us with the holy Ghost, that does the job. That is what John the Baptist said Jesus was coming for, and that is what Jesus told his followers would be their faith in what he came to earth to accomplish (Mk. 1:7,8; Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 1:4,5).

The apostle Paul made it crystal clear that it is the infilling of the holy Ghost that truly makes us "free indeed:" "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). Oh yeah, I should add that there is no such thing in the Bible as 'receiving' the holy Ghost before or apart from being 'baptized' with the Spirit; and there is no such thing in the scriptures as receiving the holy Ghost without the original accompanying sign of "speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance" (Acts 2:4). Okay, so that is how we initially get ourselves purged from sin on the inside, and also how the divine nature of Christ is infused into our inner being, as the scripture also affirms: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). Now let's get back to "a word fitly spoken," and how the word of God is imparted to a heart that is pure from sin. First we must understand and acknowledge that the word of God is NOT the Bible! The scriptures are inspired by the Spirit of God, but the Bible has never SAID a word to anyone. Not only so, but of everyone who reads or has ever read the Bible, there exist thousands of conflicting interpretations of the scriptures. The word of God is just that, it is what actually comes out of the mouth of God. When Jesus battled Satan in the wilderness, and he tempted him to turn the stones into bread, Jesus told exactly what the word of God is: "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the MOUTH of God" (Mat. 4:4). Jesus spoke just as plainly about the word of God in his closing statement to each of the messengers of the congregations in Asia: "He that hath an ear, let him HEAR what the Spirit SAITH unto the [congregations]" (Rev. 2;29). Again we see that the word of God is something that is divinely spoken, and something that we must divinely hear.

So the truth is that God speaks by his Spirit, and if we have received his Spirit and we keep our hearts pure thereby, we will have space in our hearts to receive and hear his words. This is what Jesus meant when he spoke of "continuing in my word." If we have sin blocking our hearts from a pure channel to God, then we aren't going to be hearing what God is saying because we have muddled the channel. It would be foolish to assume that everyone who continues to read the Bible is made 'free indeed,' because anyone can read the Bible and make of it whatever they like. But I will say that those who keep their hearts honest and pure "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," will be the ones who will be able to be overshadowed by the holy Ghost to understand the truth of what the scriptures are actually setting forth (Tit. 3:5). We know that the scriptures are inspired by the Spirit of God, so it only stands to reason that we must have the Spirit, and have a pure channel for the Spirit to operate in, in order to receive what the Spirit is saying (II Tim. 3:16). So all of that brings me to this point: If we are really [indeed] "purifying [ourselves], even as he is pure," then we should be free from the things that prevent us from having God's words readily available to us; and we should often have "a word [that is] fitly spoken" for those we are around in our lives (I Jn. 3:3). And what we SHOULDN'T have is all of the pop-up walls and petitions that people constantly resort to in their daily communication with others. What is really grieving is when you love to communicate with others, and you are able to communicate purely on any level; and people are going to their pop-ups so much that you just can't even communicate with them. Someone who keeps themselves pure and has a clear discernment in the holy Ghost, can see all of these defense mechanisms that everyone uses habitually in their communications. It is very, very sad in fact to see constantly how that almost no one at all is speaking directly, openly, and without strife, or fear, or pride.

Everyone has so many blockades, detours, and like I said, pop-up petitions and walls that they resort to; instead of freely communicating with their fellow man from their heart with openness, honesty, and truth. This can only mean one of two things: Either sin is present, or there is a demonic hindrance on the person that makes them unable to speak directly. And the latter is always going to result in sin if it isn't sin already. Fear is the main culprit, because fear is always worried about what someone else is going to say, think, or do. Worldly fear was not part of the equation when Peter gave us the following admonition: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and [godly] fear" (I Pet. 3:15). Peter was writing there about having "a word fitly spoken" for those who need to hear it. Fear is the catalyst for the world renowned malady known as 'political correctness.' Everyone is afraid of offending someone, and everyone is afraid that maybe they aren't 'fitting in' with the majority. But all of this fear can only mean one thing, and the scriptures give it to us straight up: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" (I Jn. 4:18). As long as we are afraid of what someone else thinks, or what they will do about what we have to say, we simply are not operating in the love of God. All of this smooshy 'love' that dominates the politically correct landscape is not love at all. It is fear, and the Bible makes no bones about where fear will take those who are prone to it: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8). When it's all said and done, Jesus came to this world to make the way for all men to be saved from the wrath of God, and to be where he is for eternity (Jn. 3:16; Jn. 14:2,3).

As John said, being perfect in love, which is to say being complete in our hearts in the love of God; is the only way for fear to not have dominion over us. And of course that is as big as it gets, because we have seen very clearly that the scripture declares that we will go to the lake of fire for eternity if we finish our life in fear. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not do some 'cram session' on how to get rid of fear when they were threatened with the fiery furnace for not bowing to the king's idol. They lived their lives that way every day, and they were thereby able to communicate very purely and directly on a regular basis. That is one reason they were promoted so highly in the kingdom of Babylon. You may recall also that they had no problem whatsoever speaking very directly and openly to the king of Babylon upon his threat to throw them into the fiery furnace: "Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? ... but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up" (Dan. 3:14-18). There were no detours, blockades, or pop-up petitions or walls of fearfulness or pride in those words my friend. If there had been, then the story would have turned out much differently than it did. So if we keep ourselves pure in heart by honesty, prayer, and the power of the holy Ghost; then we can be open and direct in our speech with those around us, and we can also avoid that eternal fiery furnace that awaits those who remain fearful. I might add that we will have "a word fitly spoken" available to us for those who need it. I think that says it for now. God bless.