1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
After writing several articles it seems this verse has a phrase that keeps "gnawing" at me! The phrase "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly" keeps coming to my mind. The word expressly carries the idea of distinctly or plainly. It seems the sense of this phrase is the Spirit speaks in a manner to be easily understood. We might say the Spirit speaks distinctly in order to assure communication. What good is speaking if what is said does not communicate to those listening? If the Holy Spirit thinks it important to speakly plainly and distinctly, shouldn't we as God's children? I think so. How do we accomplish this task?
We must not use words that would exceed the vocabulary of those we are communicating with. Of course, this has never been a problem for me.
We cannot make our message too short. All necessary information must be stated to communicate our idea or thought effectively. There have been times I have left out particulars of what I have been dealing with, but as those who listen to me on a frequent basis know, brevity has never been a problem for me!
We cannot make our message too long! "Wordiness" many times can "muddy" rather than clarify an issue, as well as exceed the attention span of the one we are trying to communicate with. Therefore we are caught in a dilemma. We want to say enough to get our thoughts across, but we don't want to "muddy" the issue, and confuse our listeners. Neither do we want to exceed the attention span of the human mind. Therefore we are constantly trying to "stay out of the ditch" on the left as well as on the right.
Now, let me get to my point. After reading several of the articles of this blog I began to sense I was being too "wordy". The reason for this is a strong desire not to be misunderstood, but at the same time this can lead to misunderstandings as well. Therefore in the future there will be a conscious effort on my part to be brief and to the point, but not too brief. I want to ask you to bear with me as I seek to find the ideal article length, and personally make peace with this issue.
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