All in God’s Word

It is no accident that the first two verses of the very first Psalm speaks to studying God’s Word over that of men. We are told to take our counsel from scripture, and not from the ungodly. It is obvious from these words that we are being told that reading God’s Word as our foundation for study should be the sound basis for our study. Are we listening to His voice in this, or do we prefer to read from various other sources as they attempt to interpret scripture for us? How should we study God’s Word?

What is it about prayer that we value the most? Is it the time spent with God? The comfort it brings us? Knowing that we are heard? Realizing that we are never alone? Finding joy in praying for others? The list goes on and on doesn’t it... but the one thing that stifles our spiritual lives more than any other is making the answer to our prayers paramount in gauging the success of our prayer lives; and not just answers, but those we have dictated, or in other words, when we want OUR will to direct God’s answer to our prayers.

Keeping the Word of God in our hearts and mulling over it all the day long is the way we glean from it the intricate details of what has been placed there for us. By quietly chewing every syllable over and over again we find that we can extract all of the flavor it contains, and then every bit of nourishment. In this way we are thrilled, and then fed. In this way we see God in our everyday world.

Reading and remembering the Word of God is very important, but unless we actually do those things we have read then we have gathered nothing but useless knowledge. To be enamored by the words contained in the Bible without putting them to good use by doing God’s will in them is sheer foolishness. Do you live the life you read? Do you not only hear God’s voice, but obey it?

One of the questions that I am asked all of the time is about the Holy Spirit. Everyday Christian believers ask me this because they desire to know about who He is, and what He means to them and their faith, and many Pastors ask to determine what side of the fence I am on. Like Jesus He fascinates and enthralls us, brings us to a place where we feel the coolness of the inhale, and the warmth of the exhale as God Himself breathes, and yes, He scares us, and that fear often separates us from one another.

Is God’s Word at work in you? This is a question that challenges us because inevitably we ask ourselves, “what does that actually mean?” Does it mean that we ask, and the work is in His giving? Does it mean that His Word is an expression of His will, and that the work is our striving to complete it? Is His Word a promise to us, and the work how that promise comes alive? Or perhaps His Word is a lesson in life, and the work is in it being taught us. Each of these are examples of God giving His Word and it working with and in us. Do you believe His Word is His Bond? Do you believe?