06/08/2021
Without the Word of God we are lost, and without His Son Jesus Christ we will remain so. God’s Holy Word teaches us of life, of Himself, and of His Son Jesus. It gives us His commandments, promises, and His assurance that we are not alone, but it also reveals our deep affliction in sin, and how precarious our life is relative to eternal death. Then, in our darkest hour, and deepest moment of hopelessness, comes Jesus, sent by God’s love, and prophesied of throughout God’s Word… our healer, savior, and redeemer who is the vessel of God’s amazing grace.
“I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word!”
Psalm 119:107 ESV
We are fragile creatures both physically and spiritually, and as such we are afflicted not only by Adam’s original sin, but also by our own daily application of personal sin and evil. In this way we are drawn away from God, as the world tempts us to place our own desires before His. Through God’s Word we see our unrighteous affliction clearly, and though we are convicted by it, we are also encouraged to overcome it. His Holy Spirit allows us to understand our plight through the application of His Word, while Jesus Christ, by His sacrifice, redeems us, and gives us healing victory over sin, which is our spiritual sickness. Jesus also shows us how to live out God’s will and plan for us. The Word is God, just as Love is, and together they stand ready to heal us… heart, soul, and mind, but do we accept the gift of God’s love, and do we pray His Word every day?
Jesus taught us to pray God’s Word, and He did so in a powerful way from the cross where He prayed Psalm 22…
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””
Matthew 27:46 ESV
Now listen to the Psalm…
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”
Psalm 22:1 ESV
So calling on God by using His own Word in our prayers is powerful indeed, and should provide us with the ultimate in divine focus as we converse with Him, and it will shorten the suffering we experience in our spiritual affliction by increasing our understanding of Him through the influence of the Holy Spirit, and by revealing the New Covenant we have in Christ.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 ESV
So, how are we habited, and dedicated, when it comes to God’s Word? Do we read and study it daily? Do we pray it? Do we ask the Holy Spirit to give us an understanding of it? Are we looking for, and towards, Jesus in it? If we do these things then our weak and afflicted selves will be healed, and we will receive life in abundance.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Word, your love, and your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that comforts us, and gives us understanding, and an insight into your Word… which is you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who is good, and has made provision to save us from the affliction of our our sin, even from the foundation of the creation. Praised be your name for sending your Son Jesus to redeem us, and return us pure and clean to you. Mighty are you who saves us body, mind, and soul, and great is the gift of your grace that is given to us so that we shouldn’t believe we have earned our salvation by our own works. Wash us clean in the blood of Jesus, and by this cleansing, find us worthy to love sit at your table forevermore.
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’””
Matthew 4:1-4 ESV
Rich Forbes