Six Degrees of Separation (Proverbs 15:4)

I know that I have said this before, but it is worth saying again. We have the power to build up or to pull down, to construct or destroy. I am not speaking about the use of hands, rather with the tongue.

"A gentle tongue [with its healing power] is a tree of life, but willful contrariness in it breaks down the spirit." Proverbs 15:4, Amplified

The gentle tongue is like a tree of life, deeply rooted. The tree which has a deep root system is not easily swayed in harsh weather and it is truly satisfied with water that the roots have found deep in the ground. If we are to root ourselves in anything substantial, it must be the Lord for anything else is to shallow and quickly passes. The only way for a tongue to be healing is to be rooted in something that has the ability to heal. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that he could give her living water so that she would never thirst again. This is why we desperately need to be rooted in the Lord to be able to cure the hunger and quench the thirst of a dying world

Willful contrariness is already rooted in the heart of the sinner. It does not need to be taught, for it is instilled in human nature. The heart that has not been touched by the Lord is a hard one and cares only for itself. for this reason, it is ready to break down any spirit in order to advance. There is no need to break a spirit other than to gain dominance or superiority over that being. A wild horse is broken. It's spirit is tamed and becomes domesticated after the breaking.

The world teaches that we should step on anyone we can in order to get ahead. Jesus tells us to take the lower place so that we might be honored by the host. A physician does not go into his office to just have the power to heal. Imagine a doctor sitting in his office and a sick patient comes in needing mending. What if the doctor tells him no because deep inside he is afraid that the man will become better than him? This would be absurd. Or what if the doctor tells the patient the reason he is sick is because of his own doing? Patients go to doctors because they know they can receive healing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people would come to us because they knew we had the ability to lead them to the One who could heal them? Or because we are gentle and offer words of comfort and are able to take them to the Scriptures and tell them about the love of Jesus.

It has been said that there is six degrees of separation. In other words, we know six people who connect us to the entire world, because they know six people and so on. In just touching those six people, we may have the opportunity to touch the entire world.

No More Cookies (Proverbs 13:17)

It is important for us to receive good news for it lifts the spirit. But it is just as important to bring good news to another as well.

"A wicked messenger falls into evil, but a faithful ambassador brings healing." Proverbs 13:17, Amplified

I like how the verse is laid out. First it speaks of a messenger, then it speaks of an ambassador. In this situation I would liken the messenger to a mail carrier and the ambassador to an actual political ambassador. Here is why.

A messenger has no real authority. All they are doing in delivering a word or a package from point A to point B. If that messenger should be wicked, then the he falls into evil. What this means is that the message will become distorted along the way. Either he will open the package, destroy the package or even change the message. Uriah the Hittite was a faithful messenger. He delivered his death sentence from the king to Joab without even realizing. Had he been a wicked messenger, he would have opened the message and saved his own life. But for his faithfulness to his king, Bathsheba will be forever known as the wife of Uriah (Matthew 1:6)

An ambassador, however, is given the power to speak for a king and in effect speak for an entire nation. We can be that ambassador, each of us individually can be ambassadors of heaven. If we are faithful in spreading the gospel, then we are that faithful ambassador. To bring a good word to a person is to bring health. It seems at time some are offended at the gospel and even hurt. Think of it like this. When peroxide goes on to an infected wound, it hurts because of all the filth that it contains. Now the less filthy the wound the less it will hurt. The same can be said for the gospel and a filthy heart. We just need to be that faithful ambassador who brings that healing word. We need to face the fact that cookies from our mothers never really healed, they just made us forget.