Life in The Word

Today I would like to point out 7 things that the Word of God has the power to accomplish in our lives and discuss how we can access this power.

2 Chronicles 14:4-6 AMPC

Asa did what was good in the eyes of The Lord. When he became king of Judah, he took away the idols of his day and destroyed them. He commanded all of Judah to seek The Lord, the God of their fathers, in verse 6 [to inquire of and for Him and to crave Him as a vital necessity] and to obey the law and the covenant.

Asa tore down the temples and places of idolatrous worship. Scripture teaches that the land had peace and that God gave Asa peace. Verse 7 states that they, the people, prospered, because they sought the Lord and yearned and desired Him with all of their desire!

We are in a moment in history where the world offers no solutions to what ails society. World leaders, business owners, spiritual leaders, doctors, scientists, are all examining issues that plague our nations, and no one is yet to offer viable solutions. They offer answers, like more tax dollars, more therapy, more political correctness-wokeness, more education, more tolerance and diversity training, more genders, more wars. It would seem that more and more we, the church, are seemingly finding ourselves either giving into their solutions and ideologies, becoming withdrawn hoping no one talks to us about it, and simply stepping back as we fall short of showing others that there are answers to life issues.

Those without God, the Bible calls wicked. The counsel of the wicked results in blindness, loss and oppression.

Proverbs 4:19 TPT

But the wicked walk in thick darkness, like those who travel in fog, and yet don’t have a clue why they keep stumbling!

We love to read all of the blessing of obeying the Word of God in Deuteronomy 28 AMPC, but as we proceed to read the remainder of the chapter, verses 28-29 declare:

28 The Lord will smite you with madness and blindness and dismay of [mind and] heart.

29 And you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness. And you shall not prosper in your ways; and you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to save you.

We are not like those who walk about blindly.

I want to share with you some ways that our lives are transformed by living with the Bible as our guide and our foundation. A life lived in the Word of God will result in us living to our fullest potential in Him. This cannot be accomplished apart from knowing His Word. In it He reveals His heart and His plans for and towards us by what is written in the Bible.

John 8:32 AMPC

And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

The Greek word for truth is “Aletheia” Strongs concordance 225 describes this word truth as a manifested reality, a divine truth revealed to man.

It is not an idea; it is not simply some information that we receive. It is a principle based on a proven fact that will never change.

The Passion Translation (TPT)

32 For if you embrace the truth, it will release true freedom into your lives.

John 14:16-17 AMPC
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—

17 The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.

Jesus has sent The Holy Spirit to partner with us, He has given us the Spirit of truth to guide us, to counsel us, to help and intercede for, to advocate for us. The Holy Spirit will strengthen us and stand by us in this life! This is our truth and our reality; it will never change.

The Word of God was authored by over 40 individuals, all inspired by the Holy Spirit. Sixty-six books were penned into what we call the canon of scripture written over the course of 1500 years. Our Bible has one common theme in mind: the creation and redemption of the human race by God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Men from all walks of life – kings, judges, priests, singers, preachers, prophets, fishermen, farmers, tax collectors, doctors, lawyers, tent makers, soldiers, shepherds. Various upbringings and social classes. If you take 40 politicians to come up with solutions to problems today, you will have 40 different ideas and chances are, very few of them will be in agreement. Yet, all of these authors, so different from each other, managed to pen the most vibrant, life-changing book in human history to be united in theme. The Bible, all 66 books, was written in complete harmony and unity. This perfection of unity on a myriad of subjects that scriptures address can only prove that there was One Divine author.

2 Timothy 3:16 AMPC

16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action)

There’s so much evidence to prove the validity and the historicity of the scriptures. I have heard from many unbelievers and those who attend church that the Bible is irrelevant for today. Many “believers” think that it was written for a people of yesteryear and that it couldn’t possibly apply to life today. I have had some tell me that they are mere fables, simply teaching a good “moral of the story.” That life has changed and that the challenges we face are not the same as it was during Bible times. Solomon declares in the scriptures that there is nothing new under the sun.

Instead of turning to the scriptures to see what God has to say, we have become so accustomed to going to our Google searches and phoning our friends to find out what their opinions are. How sad is this that we have neglected to measure every issue by what the Bible has to say? We have become infatuated with our own ways and thoughts.

There are 7 things that I would like to point out that a life, lived in the Word with God’s knowledge applied to it, will have the power to do:

1- Power to Reveal

Gen 1-2

We see how and when the earth was created. These chapters explain God’s heart and mind toward us and we also see the cause of the fall of man and what happened after this. Evolution cannot explain this. It takes more faith to believe we came from a big bang (evolution’s stance would be that we developed ourselves by our own effort, rather than a big bang) than to believe in divine creation. The Bible, God’s Word, reveals that we have a greater hope and a future. Science cannot give this to us.

2- Power to Demolish

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

The Word of God, the Bible, will positively refute all lies of the enemy. It will bring to nothing all arguments of human, scientific and natural philosophies. There are no lasting solutions to the issues of life without finding the answers in the Bible.

We can without a doubt declare if the Bible is for something, then we are for it. If the Bible rejects it, there will be nothing that we can do that will make it work.

You’ve never heard it said, “this tastes just like frog legs.” Instead you say, “this tastes just like chicken.” Why? Because chicken is one of the staple meats in our diet. Everyone knows what chicken tastes like. So it’s like a standard for meats that we might not know about.

We are looking for a way to explain what we are eating to others. Trying to convince them that they will like it if they just tried it. This is the way it should be for spiritual concepts, morality issues, our politics, our health issues, etc. We should be measuring everything by the standard that our Christian faith is based on, the Bible. Always asking ourselves and others, what does the Bible say about this? And if it doesn’t taste like the Bible, then we reject it! God’s Word is the standard for every issue in life, not our basic human ideologies and another person’s opinion.

The Word is powerful, and it will push back every and any debate and all arguments of unbelief. It will tear down and demolish every human reasoning. But to do so, we must know it. No one could stand against Jesus’ wisdom. He only said what Father said. We too should know and speak what Father speaks.

3- Power to Replicate

Luke 8:11 TPT

Here, then, is the deeper meaning to my parable: The word of God[a] is the seed that is sown into hearts.

Jesus tells us that the Word of God is like a seed. The Word has the power to grow like a planted seed and to create like fruit. In the book of Acts, we are shown how the church grew. History shows us that century after century, the church came under attack. One thing that the persecuted church did was to retell the written and documented stories of those who had paved the way before them. They retold the story of Jesus’ walk in the world, His words and His acts. In the retelling of scriptures, the church did not die out, but it grew and was not extinguished.

There was a time that people were burned for accessing and owning a Bible. It was banned in Rome. For 600 years the Catholic Church hunted down those who had access to a Bible, and these men and women were killed. During the 13th to the 19th centuries people were imprisoned and burned alive for this Word. Yet, the faith grew and the Christian population increased. God’s Word, when used, will produce the same thing time and time again: those who want to see others born into the kingdom of God!

4- Power to Restore

1 Peter 2:25 TPT

You were like sheep that continually wandered away,[a] but now you have returned to the true Shepherd of your lives—the kind Guardian who lovingly watches over your souls.

A destroyed life is brought into newness of life with Jesus. We are reconciled from our sins and brought into a restored relationship with the Father.

Every person that I look at as a life hero of the faith has one thing in common: they began by reading the Bible.

5- Power to Revive

Psalm 138:7 TPT

By your mighty power I can walk through any devastation, and you will keep me alive, reviving me. Your power set me free from the hatred of my enemies.

God’s Word brings the weary soul comfort. It offers hope to the hopeless. Hope brings restoration. It enables me to believe that things will be better. It has the power to influence and encourage my mind and my heart. Scripture teaches that without hope we become depressed and sick (Proverbs 13) .

Psalm 19:7 TPT

Yahweh’s Word[a] is perfect in every way; how it revives our souls! Yahweh’s laws lead us to truth, and his ways change the simple into wise.

6- Power to Reward

Hebrews 11:6 AMPC But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

What kind of life would we live if we had nothing to look forward to when we took our last breath?

As we talked, she told me that the bottom line for her was, “when they die they are going to hell anyhow, so they might as well live their happiness on earth now.” I was so grieved at this response. These friends of hers are eternal beings, when they die, they do have a destination to inherit.

At the end of the day, it comes down to, if there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, if there are consequences for sin, I will take my chances on seeking heaven. If living in ways that a Holy, loving Creator did not intend for His creation to live will place myself and others in hell, then I want to know and warn others.

So it matters not what I think, it matters what God thinks of our lives. If we believe in God, we must choose to believe in the Bible. It’s simple. Imagine if there was no Bible, and we all had an idea of a god. How nuts do you think it would be? Look at all of the religions in the world. Millions of gods. Some gods require human sacrifices, prostitution of young people. Child marriages.

We can all live a good life and simply be at peace with no lasting effects, where the only rewards are having folks say kind things about us when we die. What comfort is that to a heart that thinks that there should be more beyond death? Do we really want to have a life to live and simply work hard, or some not work at all, live, pay bills and then just die? What’s the point of living?

When we read the Bible, it reveals the Father, our Creator. It reveals His heart, and it reveals that we have a future and a life that is full after our earthly lives are spent. We have hope and a future. Our reward is to know Him. While we are on this earth, it is to have a personal relationship with Him. To live heaven here on earth. Not to live a life of suffering and lack and sickness and death. It is to give us an eternal home.

Romans 1:16 TLB

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God in this same way.

Just that He would reveal His heart toward us by giving us this roadmap to life. This is our greatest gift.

7- Power to make us ready

Luke 12:40 NLT

You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Jesus admonishes us to live ready. This is done by living as a faithful steward and wise man/woman. The Bible is our handbook. There is no room to cry ignorance. In fact, the scriptures declare in:

Hosea 4:6 AMPC

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to Me; seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

We must never reject searching and finding out true knowledge; there’s just too much at risk!

The Word – Greek Spermah – the seed. It has the ability to change every part of our lives. It is prophetic. Therefore when we declare it over our lives and the lives of others, it has the power to create, to produce life.

1 Corinthians 14:3 AMPC

But [on the other hand], the one who prophesies [who [a]interprets the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching] speaks to men for their upbuilding and constructive spiritual progress and encouragement and consolation.

The Word will edify, it will encourage us and it will comfort us. The Word draws us towards God. It doesn’t push us away from Him. It will not reject us.

It is incorruptible and will live forever.

1 Peter 1:23 TPT

For through the eternal and living Word of God[a] you have been born again. And this “seed” that he planted within you can never be destroyed but will live and grow inside of you forever.

This Word, this seed, cannot be mixed like a hybrid seed. There is no cross-breeding it by science or man’s wisdom. It is pure and it defies all common sense. It is spiritual, and we must approach it by putting our feelings aside. We cannot make it fit our personal preferences and feelings.

Ephesians 6 teaches us about putting on the full armor of God. The Word of God, the Bible, is the one tangible weapon we have against the enemy that God has given to us. We must be able to utilize it and put it to work for us, or we will lose out in life.

Accessing the Power

There’s a story told of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, coined the Prince of Preachers. He was a benevolent man with a heart to help the poor and downtrodden. He had homes that were called almshouses that were connected to his church. Mr Spurgeon would visit the residents of these homes. He one day visited this old lady who lived there, she had brought all of her worldly possessions that meant something to her. These things consisted of a faded photograph, some nicknacks and a broken clock. On this visit he went about examining the contents of her room. He then stopped to look at this framed piece of paper on her wall. Inquiring of her as to what this was, she explained that “Sir, it reminds me of a man that I nursed years ago. He was a patient old man, and when he was dying he said, ‘What can I give to you to show my appreciation of all that you’ve done for me?’ And, Sir, he wrote his name on that piece of paper that’s why I put it in a frame; it reminds me of the old man.” Spurgeon then asked her if he could borrow this piece of paper. She was hesitant, telling him how meaningful it was to her. He had to convince her that he would take good care of it and not lose it. After finally convincing her to allow him to borrow this, he proceeded to take this to the bank. By now you may have guessed that this was nothing less than a check. And you are right, this old woman framed a check.

Spurgeon asked the bank manager if he knew anything about the check. Upon looking into it, the manager said that the money in this account has been sitting there for a very long time because no one has ever claimed it.

He went back to the old woman and asked her, “Why are you living in poverty here?” To which she responded, “I have no money.” Spurgeon told her that she was ignorant of what she possessed. He told her that this was a check for money that has been sitting there all along. That she was worth hundreds of pounds and was wealthy. He later helped her to set up a suitable home for her with her own money.

Just like this old woman, we have access to the greatest wealth ever, and we too are ignorant of what we possess. We can and will be destroyed without using the Word, and no one will give us everything we need for success. Only God will and has willingly equipped us. It is simple to find, but we must be willing to do the work. We have a world of resources for the taking, but must diligently seek it out. We have a part to play.

1- We must begin by reading the Bible

Take the time – Make this a habit, a discipline. Your human nature will be to resist it, but we must resist the urge and pick it up.

You may say that you don’t have the time to read.

We are each given 168 hours in a week, if we work 40, we have 128 left. If we sleep an additional 49 (7 hours a day), we have 79 hours left, if you use the bathroom for an 1 hour a day, you have 72 hours left. The point is, what do we do with our time? We must choose to make the time.

Ask for understanding – You may say that you don’t understand, that you get nothing out of it, it doesn’t make sense. Pray a quick prayer before you read. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. Ask Him to give you understanding and revelation knowledge of the Word.

Take notes – Read with a pen and paper in hand. You may think you will remember it. But chances are you won’t, so don’t depend on your memory.

Categorize your reading – Meaning if you find things that you become excited about, create categories. Like noting passages about love, anger, healing, faith. Begin to develop a system where you write down your thoughts about what you read. Cite your scriptures, and let it build up. As time goes by, pull it out and re-read what you wrote. It will feed you, build your faith and encourage you!

2- Obedience to what you read

Partial obedience is full disobedience. Scriptures give us countless examples. Like Saul and Moses.

The word “OBEY” in Hebrew is spelt with 3 Hebrew letters.

The first letter is Sheen – it gives us the picture of pressed together teeth. It means to press against, to consume or to destroy, sharp, to press, to crush. It’s the one letter that God used to identify Himself. Like His signature.

The second letter is Mem. It represents the idea of a choice being made that leads to life or a choice that leads to wickedness, chaos and confusion.

The third letter Ayin is pictured as an eye and means to see and understand. Ayin means to understand and experience something.

In a nutshell, the picture formed by the word obey is this: each of us is in a battle, a war for our souls. When we make the choice to obey what God says, we will crush confusion, and we will have and receive understanding. We will crush all double mindedness so that true revelation will come to our lives.

All disobedience is rooted in self-love and idolatry. It is loving ourselves, our pleasures, and or someone else or something more than we love God.

Adam’s choice to disobey and listen to a source other than God resulted in the fall of humanity. His disobedience was only symptomatic of a bigger issue. He loved someone more than loved the Father.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 AMPC , The Shema, is what the Israelites were taught by God to listen to and to heed, to hear.

4 Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord]. 5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being

3- Spread the Word

The kingdom of God is built with the concept of multiplication in mind. It is God’s plan and purpose that the kingdom expands and that it grows. That it produces in like form. Jesus’s last words to the disciples was to “go and make disciples.” He also said that He wished that none would perish, but that all would come to eternal life.

We want others to be empowered to live out their best lives here on earth. It is what Christ died to give us all. We should all have vibrant spiritual lives. We should not be living lukewarm and unproductive lives. Can you imagine what life would be like if we spoke the Word, if we truly spoke in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to each other. We would indeed have heaven here on earth.

Moving Forward:

1- Keep it simple – don’t compare yourself to others. This is something done between you and God. Find a quiet place and dedicate a specific time of the day.

“By the mile it’s a trial; by the yard it is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch!” – Zig Ziglar

2- Get involved – get into community with other “Bible” believers. The more you discuss what you are learning with those who are just as excited about the Word, the more you will gravitate towards it. Get the Bible App – You version and start a Bible study/plan. Doing it with others will be helpful as you grow. This also provides accountability.

3- Go to the Word to spend time with the Father– reading is not to simply see how many scriptures you can quote. It is not done to impress others with what you know.

4- Choose to believe it and act on it – speak it out to others and over your life. Reject everything that does not line up with what the Bible says and speak what God speaks. Lift others up with what is written in it and watch how life changes.