2001-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
We know one of the elements of the full armor God gives us is His word. EPH 6: 17, "And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you." To help us understand just what a powerful weapon against evil God's word really is, He prompted the writer of Hebrews to say in HE 4: 12, "The word of God is alive, active, and sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of man's heart." Yesterday I was led to write about how God's power is imparted to us as we face spiritual warfare and gave the example of how God was David's Partner in his confrontation with the giant, Goliath. The mysterious connection between God (in the personality of Jesus Christ) and the word is clarified for us in JN 1: 1-4, "Before the world was created, the Word already existed; He was with God, and He was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the Source of life, and this life brought light to mankind." The issues of God's power, light, and His word are all brought together in their fullness in REV 19, which is about the Rider on the white horse. REV 19: 11-16, "Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that He judges and fights His battles. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and He wore many crowns on His head. He had a name written on Him, but no one except Himself know what it is. The robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is 'The Word of God.' The armies of heaven follow Him, riding on white horses and dressed in clean white linen. Out of His mouth came a sharp sword, with which He will defeat the nations. He will rule over them with a rod of iron, and He will trample out the wine in the wine-press of the furious wrath of the Almighty God. On His robe and on his thigh was written the name, 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords.'" These citations give me goose bumps of joy!
Let's turn our attention to God's word. To begin, it was revealed to mankind gradually, as God deemed we were ready for it. There is plenty of Scriptural proof of that. My longtime readers have heard this before, but it bears repeating. [Paraphrased due to space limitations] DT 29: 29, God has secrets, but reveals the Law. DN 2: 22, Some things are hidden in darkness, but God is in the light. LK 18: 31-34, Jesus prophesies His crucifixion, but His disciples don't understand. JN 13: 7, Peter doesn't understand what will happen to Christ, but he will later. JN 20: 9, The disciples don't understand the concept of the resurrection. AC 1: 6-7, The time for revelation is set by God and not for us to know; RO 16: 25, Give glory to God Who gave us the Gospel and reveals his secrets. 1 COR 15: 1-8, Concise statement of the Gospel and proof of witnesses; 1 COR 15: 51-54, rapture and resurrection prophesied; EPH 3: 3-6, Secret revealed that Gentiles will be given the Gospel with the Jews; COL 1: 26-27, A secret revealed-Christ lives within us, and we will share in God's glory; REV 10: 7, At the sounding of the 7th trumpet, God's secret plan re: little scroll is revealed. If one looks up these citations in order, the gradual revelation of God's word can be seen. Remember that our Lord sees a far broader perspective that we do. So, that means we may not understand why He reveals things gradually or why He does so at a particular time. Remember RO 8: 28, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose."
Dear Ones, please do not allow the number of citations in this message to deter you from taking the time to look them up. The time we spend in God's word is precious to us and a part of what furthers our sanctification. Nothing is more important that that. Having discussed the nature of the His word and how He reveals it to us gradually, I am led to wait until tomorrow's message to present some practical methods we can use to study it effectively. Oh how the devil hates this! A lot of books have been written on this subject, but I will attempt to present this all-important subject in a way which is useful to us and backed up with Scripture. Its really is God's will that we stay connected with Him, no matter what we are doing or where we are, by His word. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, or training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
PRAYER: O Lord, each day You do something to further prepare us for eternal life. Our responsibility is to recognize and acknowledge Your wonderful attributes and to appreciate the fullness of all that You do for us. Christ has told us how You feel about that in JN 14: 15 & 21, "If You love Me, you will obey My commandments... Whoever accepts My commandments and obeys them is the one who loves Me. My Father will love whoever loves Me; I too will love him and will reveal Myself to him." The armor that You give us to wage spiritual warfare is like You, so perfect, effective, and complete. Nothing You are or do is less than perfect. That is why we yearn to use Your Son as our Model for how to conduct our lives. We who are mature in our faith recognize the poverty of our souls and our crying need to have Your presence and leadership in our lives. Without You we are nothing, and we have nothing of value. With You, we have the hope of eternal life, that You will share Your glory with us, and that we will rule as joint-heirs with Christ in Your Kingdom. Satan and his followers are losers. We know that You will grant us victory over them in Christ's name, because every word in the Bible is true. Christ told us in JN 8: 32 that "we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free." That truth is found in Your word, and that freedom is from slavery to sin. We confess our sin, and offer utmost thanks for sacrificing Christ on the cross, opening the way to our salvation. We praise You for Who You are and for the compassion and love that prompted You to send Your Spirit to dwell within us. We respond to Your invitation for us to join You in Your work, grounded in Your word, with a resounding, "Yes!" To You belongs the glory! In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
As I promised above, tomorrow's message will be some practical "how-tos" on studying God's word. We need to bear in mind that He has given us the Bible so that we can use it as a "road-map" in finding the path of sanctification, which in turn leads us to our goal and His. That goal is a life of eternal joy and fellowship with Him. Along the way, our "road-map" gives us what to avoid, so we won't be lost and end up in the lake of fire. No gifts like the ones God gives us would have ever come from a source which is even tinged with evil. Our Abba adores us and roots us on to victory against evil in Christ Jesus. He deserves nothing less that our adoration and worship in return. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn