Words within a Word

 Playing with words is an enjoyment to me. Scrabble (sometimes win) Boggle (my daughter always wins) and those words to unravel in the paper always appeal. I was writing a sentence the other day and wrote the word saviour (English spelling not American). As I looked at it I wondered what words it held within it. So, guess what, I went looking.

After I found all that I could I was impressed by some of their implications for my spiritual life and wellbeing. So I went to the Word and found a few verses to validate my thinking. Then I decided why be selfish and not share this enjoyable past-time. Hope there might be something in the following which blesses you, at least for a moment in your busy day.

Saviour, the English spelling of the word, gave me the following words. Each single letter isn’t be used to spell out something. Rather, I looked for words I could make out of the existing letters. You may be able to discover more (I didn’t include ‘is, us, as.’)

Air. Our. Savour. Sir. Soar. Via. Vis. Visa. Visor. VOR.

I found these to be so appropriate for my spiritual life. When Jesus became my Saviour I knew that in Him I was saved and kept. Across the years I also found the truth the words listed above express about my/our relationship with Jesus.

Air: I was spiritually dead until Jesus breathed the breath of life into me.

Our: As Lord He has allowed me and you to say “Our Father who is in Heaven…”

Savour: In my natural and godless state I was foul. Jesus cleansed me and gave me His fragrance. He has made me/us a sweet smelling savour to our Heavenly Father.

Sir: A knighthood term I’d like to apply to all who have made Jesus their Lord. He has commissioned us to royal service and to walk worthy of our high calling.

Soar: Many references tell us that in God’s sight and by His grace we ca soar like an eagle within and above our circumstance. (Isaiah 40:31)

Via: This reminds me that there is only one way to Heaven’s glory. That is via Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth, the Life. (John14:6)

Vis: is Latin for ‘force/power’. Jesus calls us to be His witnesses. To do that we need His power. The Holy Spirit and His word is the source of power we need to be faithful and true witnesses.

Visa: To enter into another country we need its permission. Only when our proof of eligibility to entry is determined can the visa be granted. When I/you enter into the presence of our Almighty God and His eternal territory what proof of acceptance do we have? The seal given to us when we trusted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. (Ephesians 1:13-14,)

Visor: Protection for our eyes and therefore for our mind and spirit. We look at life through the visor of his Word. Our Worldview is dictated by how Jesus looks at it.

VOR: This word stands for ‘very high frequency omnidirectional range giving bearing.’ How fortunate we are that our Lord ad His word can reach us, guide us and hear us wherever we are. As the Psalmist put it ‘He will guide us with His eye.’ However, we must be on the same frequency to hear or sense His presence. Be aware of that which causes interference and remove it quickly.

There is just so much bound up in our relationship with Jesus Christ we should be constantly amazed. I guess that’s why I enjoy not simply playing word games, but searching God’s Word. It tells me more and more about what He has in store for you and me which is waiting to be discovered.

©Ray Hawkins July 2016.

Author of seven (7) ‘31 Day Biblically themed Devotionals’. The new one is ‘The Warrior Lord’s Sword.’

RECOGNITION

RECOGNIZE: a word with several meanings. Take this one.
To admit as one being entitled to be heard.

The female protagonist in my novel, The Testing of Miss Taylor Jones, is a reporter who longs for recognition. For one thing, she is stubborn and is prepared to hang in there no matter how long it takes. Which we possibly might admire, or feel irritated with.:)

But as I delved deeper into her character she made me feel uncomfortable. And I never knew the reason at first. It didn't come to the fore until I had worked on my M/S for the umpteenth time. She was my leading lady and had every good reason to act the way she did. Especially in the 1890's when quite a few brave females, even Christians, were struggling to find their identity in a male dominated sphere. Therefore I couldn't lay the blame on this young woman, so I had to look elsewhere.

Only then did I realize that longing for recognition was deeply ingrained in me. Uh-oh. I was writing myself into the poor girl whether she liked it or not! I am not one to put words into the Lord's mouth, but I am sure the Holy Spirit gracefully challenged my heart at that point. In the sphere of my writing was my motive recognition of myself? Or was I, through my characters, pointing my readers to the Lord? That is what I have always set out to do, but sometimes my old self nature worms its way in. Not into my writing as such, but the REASON for my writing. This is a personal heart attitude I am dealing with.

I wonder if any of you authors write things you are dealing with into your protagonists' lives? Or maybe even into that of your antagonist? Hmm. Perhaps it might give the characters a more honest flesh and blood reality.  That is one reason why revealing a character's motives usually explains the homing in on the goal onto which they have locked their heart.

Maybe it's that confronting Bible verse telling us our hearts are deceitful that makes us delve into why we do what we do. So I guess that should also be true for the characters we create. We all want them to be more than make-believe cardboard cutouts.What think ye?

Author Bio:   Rita is currently a scriptwriter and co-speaker on a five minute Christian radio program, Vantage Point broadcast throughout Australia. She has contributed to several U.S. non-fiction anthologies for Adams Media and has two historical romances traditionally published. She belongs to several writers’ organizations and her weekly blog, http://inspirationalromance.blogspot.com, shares personal stories and author interviews. It has a good number of international hits. She and her evangelist husband also minister together in special presentations.

Asking the Right Question

I freely admit I am not the world’s keenest or best gardener.  Our garden is more a survival of the fittest. But sometimes neglect can be taken too far.

I have two browallia in my garden. One, the newer plant, was alight with its orange and yellow flowers.

 

The older browallia was struggling to produce flowers. A friend, who came round knowing my husband and I are not knowledgeable gardeners but are always keen for advice, said, ’No wonder this browallia isn’t doing any good. Look at it! Its roots are all uncovered.’

Sure enough they were, a consequence no doubt of recent strong winds that had whipped through our area, stripping the soil from around the roots. The roots we exposed. Good reason why my poor bush wasn’t doing well. My husband got some rich potting soil and packed it around the bush so the roots were once again covered. A short time later it started to bloom till the bush was smothered in vibrant flowers.

So what does this have to do with writing? Everything I would suggest. Each of us needs to be firmly rooted in God’s Word. How can we hope to convey truths to others though our fiction, our devotionals, our poetry or whatever else we are writing unless we are firmly grounded and rooted in the Word of God? But too often it is easy to let Satan get in with the winds of discouragement and despair, or winds of criticism that make us doubt ourselves, our writing ability and our calling. I’ve been experiencing that lately. What happened? It stopped me in my tracks. The novel I was working on stalled. After all what was the point? I’d never get it finished and even if I did, it would never get published. Those were the thoughts that kept insinuating themselves and circulating in my mind.

I’d let go of God’s initial prompting and His promises. I’d let negativity take over and like that unrooted browallia I was not flowering the way I should. But God didn’t give up on me.

Sometimes it takes a while to get through to me. Thankfully the Lord didn’t give up. First I received a couple of emails. One was from another Aussie Christian writer saying how much they enjoyed Streets on a Map.  Then a friend sent me an email from a non Christian relative who received it as a birthday gift. She emailed that she ‘absolutely loved the book’ and was ‘looking forward to reading another novel’ from me. She wouldn’t have gone near Streets on a Map if the label Christian fiction had been attached to it. To her it was just a book.

As if those prompts were not enough, a lady at church mentioned that her teenage daughter was recently re-reading and enjoying Streets on a Map. She then asked what was writing now. When I told her ‘nothing,’ she asked why. I didn’t want to go into any details. But then she asked me a question. ‘Is it worrying you not writing?’

Suddenly that question, on top of our pastor’s sermon about not giving up, was like a lightning bolt hit right in front of me. I realised it was worrying me. That writing a few poems, blogs or book reviews were not enough. I needed to get back to the novel I had started a while back.

So yes, I not only got back into writing it but told her the next Sunday what had happened. She was pleased as she realised that it had been God using her mouth and words that got me back to work. Whether Sandstone Madonna is ever published or not, is not up to me. It is simply not my problem. All I have to do is be obedient, and write and try and make it the best it can be. The rest is His job.

Dale writes fiction and poetry. Her latest novel is Streets on a Map is currently available as an E book. She has also written children’s books, bible studies, Sunday school material, devotionals, and articles about marriage, home and Christian living. She is currently at work on a new novel, tentatively titled Sandstone Madonna.