AH YES, HOW GOOD IS A TIMELY WORD

Proverbs 15:23 says, "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!" This verse resonates within me. When I am sought out for advice I really desire to reward that person's confidence in me with an appropriate assessment and possible resolution according to God's Word. I also want to have my physical and spiritual ears attuned to whatever I am to learn in any given situation by the Holy Spirit. How I do that or how anyone does that is to stay in God's Word; to continue reading the Bible.

In God's daily suit of armor for us, the "timely word" I am speaking of given by the Holy Spirit is called Rhema. This word means a quickened word meant for that specific situation. An example from our Lord would be when He was in the wilderness being tempted. At every temptation, Father God quickened to Jesus the response for Him to speak aloud and the devil fled. 

This revealed word is portrayed as a weapon in Ephesians 6:17. The verse reads, "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." You see Christians are not always to be on the defensive. For defense we have - the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth and shield of faith (shoes of peace can be offensive, spikes on the bottom, different lesson). Then we get to the sword of the spirit. The word "sword" in this verse is the Greek word machaira, which is a close combat dagger weapon, sometimes up to nineteen inches long, razor sharp on both sides of the blade and at times even twisted like a cork screw at the end.

I bring this to your attention because our enemy gets close and personal and so can we with God's Sword or God's Machaira - His Revealed Word. The understanding here though is that if you desire a Rhema or Revealed Word for yourself or others you first have to have your Sword sheathed in The Belt of Truth or Logos or Written Word of God. You and I have to know God's Word before God can quicken it to us. Before we can know God's Word we have to be in it. Once we are in this groove we can be able to say more frequently, "Ah yes, how good is a timely word".