DAY 253     Proverbs 16:24     Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.

For every lady this verse should be a watchword.  We should have it as an "engraved plaque" in our minds!  Some of us could use it as a wall decoration where we would see it often.  Our morning prayer should plead this verse: "Lord, let my words be pleasant today!"  There are really three applications of this verse: Outward, Inward, and Godward.  The positive effect of pleasant words can be from us to others, others to ourself, and in communion with God.  It is our privilege and responsibility to be dispensers of grace to the hearers.  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  Ephesians 4:29  But also it is an occasion for deep reflection when we consider how unpleasant and unhealthful words spoken in haste for for personal design can be.  God calls it corrupt communication, not a very pleasant description.  What interesting things words are.  They can be bitter or sweet, stinging or comforting, destructive or healing, angry or entreating, hateful or loving.  The choice is really ours.  It is not only the actual words we say, but the manner in which we speak them that determines their effect.  Nothing can hurt our heart more than a rebuke harshly spoken or words full of hatred.  But what a comfort and joy we find when pleasant words are given.  Truly they can be sweet as the honeycomb.  The sweetness will go right down into our innermost being, our soul.  It will help us hold our heads high and keep our backs straight and tall; giving health to our bones.  Did you ever notice a person whose spirit has been wounded by harshness and discouragement?  Their shoulders are slouched, the head bowed, and they feel weak all over.  But speak words of comfort and encouragement, and even their body will revive.  The shoulders will go back, their head will have a new set, their eyes will lose that vacant stare and show a ray of hope.  Words can do all that.  How important such little things are!  Their power is great.  God has given us the responsibility to use words as our instruments everyday.  How we use them is one of our greatest responsibilities.  Solomon understood this, not only in Proverbs but in Ecclesiastes.  As he summed up the message of the entire book, he thought about this responsibility: The preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.  The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from the shepherd. Ecclesiastes 12:10-11  Solomon knew that words could be used to build others up.  Just as the responsibility of a master builder is to carefully place the nails in the joints and fittings of a house, so we must be masters in the use of our words.  The only place we should find our words is with the One Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  Think of how He used pleasant words.  His words brought peace, comfort, healing and life.  He spoke a word and the winds of storm were calmed, a child was healed, the dead raised, and understanding given for salvation.  Lord, help me to go to You as the source of pleasant words.  All other sources will prove but empty and vain.  As I search out Your words in the Scripture today, I know they will be sweet to my soul and health to my bones.  Help me to speak pleasant words to others and minister to their need.  And, Lord, I need to hear pleasant words from others today to encourage me, especially from those I love!  Lord, as I speak to You in prayer, let my words and thoughts be pleasing to You.  Give me grace to speak pleasant words today!  Let them be sweet and full of health even to my own soul!

I had read this verse many times and never seemed to notice the little word "BUT" right in the middle.  God does not put a word in His Scripture without meaning.  Many times I have heard the description of the refining process where silver or gold ore is put in the fining pot and placed in a hot furnace.  There the intense heat melts down the raw material and the impurities are separated out.  After the refiners skim those impurities off and pour out the molten metal, they have a purified form of silver or gold worth many times what it was valued before the refining.  It has been likened to our lives, testing in the furnace of trial so that the impurities will be made known and the Holy Spirit will remove them, making us of more useful "worth" for God’s service.  All that is true, yet what a special meaning and new direction is given when we consider the word "but."  We are not silver or gold; we are not in a refining pot or in a furnace.  We are unique creatures, who must be tried in a different way!  Our works can be tried, yet as by fire, and God uses the fire and wind to separate the chaff from the wheat, but we are children of His love.  BUT He chooses Himself to be His own instrument.  He alone is the method and master of the refining of our hearts.  We need not be fatalists.  He will not always use the heat of trials.  He can use the tenderness of love, the gentleness of gratitude for a blessing given, the dawning of understanding of who He is and what He desires for us.  But the LORD trieth the hearts.  For the heart there is only One refiner: the LORD.  He alone knows our hearts with all the intimacy of the All-knowing Creator.  While there may be a set method to refine silver, to sterilize a surgical field, to cleanse an instrument; God can use whatever method He chooses to try and purify our hearts.  We must be ever available to Him, with open heart, to receive His workings.  We must be sensitive to His gentle touch, His firm prodding, His strong moving within our hearts.  As I searched through some related verses on God’s trying of hearts, I found something else unique.  All the verses had end results shown in the lives of those who were tried.  In Proverbs 27:21, it was so they would show forth praise!  And even deeper, be praise themselves!  As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.  That is an astonishing thought, but we are already acquainted with it: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. Ephesians 1:12.  We are to show forth His praise in our hearts and in our lives.  Our outward lives will show forth that which is within.  Just as a young seedling plant pushes up and out of the ground to flower and bear fruit because of the nourishment of the sun, so our outward lives show forth the workings of the Son of God on our inward lives.  But, also, we are to be praise.  The verse says, so is a man to his praise.  Are you being a "Praise" to God?  If there are habits, or sins, or attitudes that are not praiseworthy, they will certainly cloud the picture of praise you should be.  What a privilege is ours to be praise to God!  What a humbling and convicting privilege indeed.  We should each examine our hearts to see what God is "trying" to show us and let His refining work be done so we could be praise to His name.  In Zechariah 13:9, God is shown trying the hearts of His people so that He can clearly say, It is my people, and they will shout back, The LORD is my God.  God desires a people for His glory!  A people who will stand up and be counted as belonging to Him!  A people who will acknowledge God as Lord of their lives and the Lord as the only God for the world.  We need to stand up and be counted!  But it will take submitting and responding to His refining process.  In Malachi 3:3, God is shown as trying the hearts of His people so that they might offer to Him in righteousness.  Everything we do should be done in righteousness, and that accomplishment can only be as we allow His refining process in our hearts.  Our works must not be for self or self glory, but unto Him and by His strength.  Our prayers can only be offered aright as they are done in righteousness.  Even our love must be purified and wholly of Him who is all true love.  I am thankful today for the little word BUT and for God’s unique refining process in our lives.  "Oh to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer...pure as Thou art!"

Have you ever met a young lady who is newly engaged and has just received her diamond ring?  That gift representing the pledge of love and future commitment, is of the upmost importance to her.  She holds it out to catch the rays of light and marvels at the sparkles that are sent forth from the precious stone in the setting.  Her left hand is continually displayed, and that precious stone on the ring is her delight.  That stone is valuable, not just because it is worth a lot of money or is of rare quality or precision cut, but because it represents the one she loves and the promise of life together.  When it was given it spoke the commitment, "You are precious to me."  When it is shared with others, it speaks of the confidence she can have in the pledge of young love.  Jesus Christ is often spoken of as the Bridegroom of those that are saved.  He has given to us the most precious gift of all, the gift of salvation as purchased by His blood.  Whichever way we view that truth, it shows forth rays of wondrous light, shining unto the perfect day.  When we consider it from eternity’s view point, we see an endless life with the One we love.  From the present vantage, we see a life filled with commitment and promise that was not there before.  From the inner vision, we see peace and comfort.  From the eyes of others, there is change and a new radiance to behold.  Whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.  Precious stones are talked of throughout the Scripture.  Several references came to mind as I thought on this verse and the beauty of the precious stone.  The first was in the charge of David to Solomon concerning the building of the temple.  He said that when he had prepared with all my might for the house of God, that among other things, he had collected stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. I Chronicles 29:2.  God’s house was to be a place of beauty to show forth the glory of His person, humble the worshipers, but also to remind them of heaven above.  The term "precious stones" is also used of our works that are of eternal value.  We are told in I Corinthians 3:12-13, that if our works are of enduring value, pure and precious as gold, silver and precious stones, that they will be made manifest when our works are tried by fire.  Those of wood, hay and stubble will be burnt up.  But If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (verse 14)  This reward is likened to precious jewels to present to the King of Glory.  When we are given a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21:11, it is seen as Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.  This is the very first verse of description of that city as it descends from above!  God’s gift to us for eternity carries with it all the preciousness and promise of a glittering jewel!  But the most important reference is to the Lord Jesus, Himself, as that most precious stone given unto us in love.  I Peter 2:4-10, contains one of the most beautiful descriptions of the believer and of Christ in the Scripture.  The Lord Jesus is spoken of as a living stone, chosen of God, and precious.  He was laid in Zion [as a] chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.  The most precious and beautiful gift ever given to us is the Lord Jesus.  We should wear Him like a jewel of promise for all to see.  Whichever way He is viewed in us, the beauty of our changed lives should show forth the reality of His promise and pledge of love to us as believers.  We should hold Him out for all to see and speak of our betrothal to Him.  Invite others to partake of the Marriage Feast ahead.  Invite them to the wedding.  Speak of His love!

Isaiah 50:10, asserts to us that salvation is found by trusting in the name of the LORD.  Trusting in the name of the Lord, means fully accepting and believing everything about Him, placing ourselves in total commitment to Him.  His name implies all that He is and His unique sovereignty.  At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in recognition of His absolute Rulership when He is revealed in Judgment.  Our prayers carry a unique value when they are prayed in the Name of the Lord.  One of the many qualities of knowing and trusting in the name of the LORD, is safety and protection.  Our verse tells us that His name is like a strong tower, walling us about with safety and protection as the walls solidly built of Rock encompass us in our times of fear or danger.  The saved can run to that tower and be safe.  In the ancient land of Israel, there were towers built near to the entrance of every town.  If a man was out in the wilderness and an enemy began to chase him, he would flee in the direction of the nearest town.  Think of the encouragement he must have felt, when far across a field he spied the shape of the town’s tower.  Long before he could see the individual houses or even the city wall, that tower stood out in the landscape.  He would keep his eye upon it as he ran, knowing that help was ahead.  But his safety was only realized when he made it all the way across those fields and into the tower.  To stay out in the fields would be death, to enter within the tower would mean life.  As Christians we have been given the knowledge of Him who will help in time of need.  We know where to run for safety.  Yet often, and always to their detriment, a Christian will run deeper into the wilderness.  It is the enemy’s territory and he knows all the hidden places there.  Some will even start towards the things of the Lord, and then linger in the fields of sin for a while.  Again the enemy will surely overtake him.  How disastrous for a Christian to go deeper and deeper into the ways of the world.  Yet how equally dangerous for one to come near to the safety of walking with the Lord, and yet remain in their areas of sin that have kept them just outside the tower.  The end results will be the same.  Perhaps you are living close to the tower, but not fully within it.  The things of the world have allured you and beckoned you outside the protective walls that God has provided for you.  Remember how close safety is!  All you have to do is flee within.  Leave the fields of sin, bad habits, worldly past times, and enter fully in!  There is peace and safety there in the Name of the Lord.

Even though this verse seems to be written to men, as women, we can take deep reflection on our responsibility implied in the verse.  I wonder how many men would say, "My wife is a good thing in my life."  And how many could repeat that thought at any given moment throughout the week?  Hopefully, it can be said of each one of us, as wives.  But we need to take it as a watchword of responsibility and warning.  I have always been impressed by my mother’s victory throughout the years in the area of weight.  One time she told me that her secret was what she called her five pound warning.  If she goes up one or two pounds, she is not that concerned.  But if she goes five pounds above her ideal weight then she goes on a mini-diet.  She never has to lose more than five pounds and never goes five pounds over her ideal weight.  In order to do this, she had to picture her ideal weight, and have the commitment to maintain it.  Then she had to be observant so she would know if she went into her warning zone.  As wives, we can use this verse to help us in a similar way to maintain God’s ideal of a good wife!  We must realize what God’s ideal for the perfect wife is and what we must do to maintain that ideal.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us warning signs if in any area we begin to deviate from the best we can be.  Then we must be willing to correct those areas where we may be failing.  If it means losing some habits and pastimes, or gaining new priorities and mannerisms, then we must be willing to do it.  Our vigilance in the area of ministering to our husbands and allowing them to confidently say, "I have found a good thing in my wife!," will be one of our greatest accomplishments.  By ministering to our husbands, we also minister to our children as they enjoy a better home environment.  Then that ministry extends to our church in helping to provide a more stable home unit and a more qualified man and woman in the Body.  Think of the men you have heard about who have been ruined by a woman who was not "a good thing."  In the Scripture, Jezebel seems to be the prime example.  Her husband appears to have been so very influenced by his wife that his actions were most often dictated by her whims.  Her scheming and evil desires brought evil to bear on successive generations.  Even her daughter that married into the Southern Kingdom’s royal household was one of the most evil women ever recorded in Scripture (Athaliah).  Our reflection should be on Jezebel’s husband for a moment.  He had the direct ministry of Elijah upon his life.  He had great responsibilities as king.  He had many opportunities through confirmed miracles and powerful preaching, to turn to the Lord and lead a nation in revival.  And yet, all along the way, we see his wife hindering him, urging him to do wrong, planting seeds of bitterness and evil.  In our lives everyday, we have the opportunity to be either God’s instrument of good to our husbands or just the opposite.  Our power to influence the most important men in our lives is great, even beyond what we may realize.  I wonder how many men have failed to reach their potential because of the discouragement of a wife that was less than the godly ideal.  On the other hand, it is surely true that many men have become what they are by the encouragement and support of a godly wife who was indeed a good thing to them.  Because of her consistency and great love, they could truly be seen as having been blessed by the Lord, having obtained His favor.  Before you react to situations, before you make that next comment, stop and think...how will this affect my husband?  When God says that two are joined together as one in a marriage, He means it in the fullest sense.  Your commitment to the ideal that God holds before you in gracious Christian living and wifely devotion, is so uniquely intertwined with your husband’s life that you could be the determiner of his success.  Let each one of us set the challenge and warning of this verse before our spiritual eyes.  If we ever start to fail, may the Holy Spirit reveal it to us and may we be humble and willing to abide by our spiritual diet!

I was an only child.  For the first eleven years of my life, my family moved many times.  When I was very small, I had an imaginary playmate named Garfee, but before I was five I had decided she was just not what I needed.  From that time on, for many years, I dreamed of the brother or sister that I wished I had.  Or I imagined myself the heroine of my favorite books, such as Heidi or Anne of Green Gables, and I always had that special friend of the tale.  Outside the quietness of my room, however, I soon found that real life friends were a very exciting thing.  Because we moved often, I was quite young when I realized that if you wanted to make a friend, you had to show yourself friendly!  I know that is the reason that I am not in the least bit shy.  God marvelously used my need for friends to prepare me for the life of a missionary, where I had to be able to meet strangers in a strange culture and quickly gain their friendship so they would learn of Christ.  We all know that if you are going to make friends you must often initiate the contact.  But let’s read the verse again.  It says that a man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.  The verse is really talking about the responsibility that we have to maintain and develop the friendships that we have!  Often times, we take our friends for granted and fail to continue to "work at" the development of those friendships.  Friends are a precious thing.  Without them our lives would be lonely and lack so much vibrancy that it is hard to imagine.  My best friend is my husband, so this verse gives me a double warning: work at your relationship with your husband as a friend, not just your marriage partner.  Marriages that have that full friendship relationship are the best marriages of all.  They are the ones that stand the test of time and adversity.  My daughter has always been a special friend to me, I need to continue to show myself as her friend as she continues to mature.  My sons are grown and far from me but I have a responsibility, not just as their mother, but as an adult friend to fill a need in their life.  My daughter-in-laws are precious to me and even more so as I see the friendship levels developing more and more.  The list could go on and on, extending into our church where God has given each of us precious opportunities for friendship.  That means I will need to take the time to really know each of the ladies in my church, know her as you would a friend, her personality, her needs, her heart’s desires.  Remember talking half the night to your dear bosom buddy of the ten year old time in your life?  Telling all your secrets and dreams?  We need to become that close to the greatest Friend of all, the Lord Jesus.  The end of our verse says, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  Surely, Jesus is that Friend in the highest sense.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  He will listen to our every deep fear or joy, dream or burden.  He is our Special Friend, even if all others were to fail us, family and friends alike, He alone would remain constant and true.  Have you taken the time to develop your friendship with Him today?  Have you shown yourself as a friend to Him who is already a Friend to you?  Don’t forget the first part of the verse tells us "you must" work at developing that unique, strong bond with the Lord.  It will cause you to know the fullness of the best friendship anyone could ever know.  That means we must spend time with the Lord as we would with a dear friend.  We must talk to Him and then listen in return, a true sign of real friendship.  In our lives, also, the Lord will place those human friends who will stick "closer than a brother."  God knows our heart need for a close friend that we can absolutely trust in life.  If you have been given such a earthly friend, don’t ever take them for granted.  Show yourself a friend indeed.  Be loyal and work at maintaining that friendship in its fullest joy!

What a wonderful verse for the Christian to hold close to his heart!  True fear of the Lord results in salvation from sin, eternal life in heaven and tendeth to life of the fullest sort here on earth.  When we have these things, we SHALL abide satisfied and NOT be visited with evil!  That is the description of a truly happy Christian, contented and full of confidence.  The part of the verse that really stood out to me was the middle clause: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied.  Throughout my Christian life, I have met a great many Christians who did not act like they were really satisfied with their lives.  Yet our verse tells us that if we have the fear of the Lord, we shall abide satisfied.  The word "shall" is very strong.  I always teach children that it means: "absolutely, positively."  Abide means to live in the fullest sense.  So we could read our verse: "The person who has the fear of the Lord will absolutely, positively live his life in complete satisfaction!"  Does that description fit your life?  Are you absolutely, positively satisfied with every area of your life?  Granted, there are those areas of life that the Lord will impel us to be dissatisfied with IF they are not in accordance with His will.  This could include our prayer life, devotional life or any area God would want us to improve.  He gives, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a godly dissatisfaction that should spur us on to improve those areas.  Then if we are not doing what God wants us to do, He may suddenly give us a lack of satisfaction with our present mode of life.  This often is one of the first signals in areas such as a "call" to different employment.  But we must always test the spirits to see if the dissatisfaction is from the Lord.  If we can clearly see that we are falling short of God’s goals, then we can be assured that He is speaking to our hearts and know that true satisfaction will come as we submit and improve in the areas of God’s dealing.  But in many cases we can not readily determine if that is indeed the factor involved.  Also, often there are many decision factors involved.  Then we must proceed with care, knowing that the devil himself can deceive us with the sense of dissatisfaction to cause us to doubt or move away from God’s designed plan for us.  Often when people leave a church or a job, you will hear them say, "I just wasn't satisfied."  I wonder, did they test the spirits honestly and prayerfully?  Often that process could reveal hidden bitterness or unconfessed sin in our own lives that God wants us to deal with.  Or perhaps, it is because the Lord has been trying to point us to new heights of victory and the devil has come in using one of his tools to distract us.  Satisfaction is a direct benefit of godly living and abiding in Christ.  If your life is not full of satisfaction, would you pause right now and prayerfully consider each area.  Make a list.  Then question yourself: Why am I not satisfied?  Is there bitterness, unconfessed sin, a brother I need to have restored fellowship with?  Am I doing the wrong thing in this area?  Am I not doing all God wants me to do in another?  Or is it Satan's trick?  Just examining is not enough.  We must be willing to take action.  Leave that bitterness on the altar. Confess that sin and forsake it.  Seek out our brother.  Stop doing that which is not His will, while beginning to do that which is His will.  All the time claim the victory through Christ over the devil and his devices.   Satisfaction is a blessed gift from the Lord.  It tells our hearts: "All is well with my soul AND with my life.  I have peace within and confidence in the path I am walking."  Don’t give up until you are flooded with satisfaction in your life!  In all areas of your life.  It might mean some changes need to be made, but they will always be for His glory.  Think of how blessed God’s warning sign can be in a marriage.  Knowing that it is God’s will for you to continue in your marriage, use dissatisfaction to advantage and let it cause you to be a better wife, to revitalize your marriage, make it more romantic, of closer friendship, of better priorities.  Take courage, ask your spouse what areas he is dissatisfied with in the goal of gaining satisfaction in your marriage and relationship.  Or is the lack of satisfaction in your church life?  Ask God to reveal to you what you can do in your life to be a better member, since He placed you within that body of believers.  Take a more active part, pray more, and take courage to ask your pastor for his concerns.  And then take hold of some of the promise verses concerning satisfaction: For he satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:9.  And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11