THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD

In reading our Bibles, we as Christians have read much about the power of the word of God and also heard much about it in sermons and messages. So why don't we hear more people telling about the power of God working in our lives?

In order for the power of the word of God to really manifest in one's life, a person truly needs to believe the Bible in its entirety, that it truly is the word of God, given by the Holy Spirit, through the people God chose. Paul wrote to Timothy:

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And to the Thessalonians:

• 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

The Lord clearly stated that the word of God cannot be abolished:

• John 10:35 “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken)”

In addition to believing and trusting in the power of God's word, for a person to truly see the power of the word of God working in their life, they need to desire to read and study the Bible, not because we were told to, but because we want to understand the word, getting it deep into our hearts, as the Psalmist said (Psalms 119:11).

Only after we know what the Bible says, can we live pleasing to God.

• John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

 

• John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."

The third requirement, which applies to all the promises of scripture, is living in obedience to God and keeping a pure heart, full of love for God and for people. In a heart full of love, there is no place for hate, sin, malice, bitterness, selfishness or negativity. Every day we must live disciplined, faithful lives, pleasing to the Lord and not quenching the Holy Spirit.

Let us consider what the Bible says about the effects of the word of God in the life of God's people, the body of Christ.

God's word produces faith in our hearts when we receive.

• Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

When we need the faith that God can and wants to do something for us and we seek the Lord to show us which verses will work for our situation. Then we soak on and meditate on the specific verses daily, even saying them out loud. It is a fact, acknowledged by psychologists, that the human mind thinks easier and more quickly when a person hears something from their own voice.

The Holy Spirit came to lead us into all truth and and help us discover the hidden things of God, so He is the best Teacher to call on to help us understand scripture (John 14:26). To read more about the Holy Spirit, you can see the article, Who The Holy Spirit Really Is.

The word of God is the seed that produces the new life in us for salvation. The nature of the seed determines the nature of the results. When the seed of the word of God, comes alive in our spirit, and unites with the Holy Spirit inside of us, we become alive for eternity.

• Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

 

• 1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever

The word of God is life and brings health for the whole body for him that finds it.

• Proverbs 4:21-22 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.

 

• Psalms 107:17-21 Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

God's word makes us wise and gives us strength to live clean lives.

• Psalms 119:7-11 I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; oh, do not forsake me utterly! How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!

 

• Psalms 119: 98-101 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.

The word of God illuminates our mind as we study it.

• Psalms 19:8 God's decrees are righteous and rejoice the heart; the commandments of God are clear and light eyes.

 

• Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

 

• Psalms 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Scripture also serves as a spiritual mirror, through which we look at the state in which we find ourselves and find out what we need to change or improve.

• James 1:21-25 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

When we find pleasure in the teachings and fulfill scripture in our lives, we prosper and are blessed.

• Psalms 1:2-3 but finds pleasure in the law of God day and night and on his law he meditates! He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which gives its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither; and everything start to finish. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

 

• Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

The word becomes alive and working in us, when we believe the Lord and let him do His work in us.

• Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

By studying the Bible, we are able to distinguish between what is the carnal nature of soul or righteousness of the spirit. God created us to be led by the spirit, to be united with the Holy Spirit. When Adam and Eve chose to be led by the soul, the carnal nature, (“lust of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life " - 1 John 2:16), by ignoring the spirit, that was made to communicate with God, in the garden of Eden, then mankind became soul-led, carnal nature led, being interested in and led by one's feelings, thoughts and will, ignoring the voice of the spirit which is where we were once able to be led from. Jesus came to make it possible to be born-again in the spirit, by the Holy Spirit, for all those who want him as our Lord in our lives. Christians' lives are led by the spirit not the soul, the carnal nature. For more on this subject, you can read in the article, God Will Never Forsake His Children.

• 1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

 

• Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

The word of God brings us joy and delight in your heart, when we feed our souls upon it.

• Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

The words of the Bible are spirit and true life comes only for us when we believe them.

• John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

The word of God is clean, holy and life-giving truth.

• John 17:17-19 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

 

• John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

The word of God is food for the children of God, as natural food is to the natural body, so the word of God is to the spirit man.

• Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

By the word of God we come to know Jesus and to be truly free.

• John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'"

The word of God is forever.

• Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

The Lord made the same claim as addressed the disciples about the end times.

• Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

What a wonderful God we have! He gave us his word so we can learn to know Him, to know His will for us. He has given us His word to show what he approves and disapproves of and in so doing, we find true life.

The Word of God contains everything we need to know and is the perfect guide for living a clean and well-equipped life pleasing to God.

• Philippians 3:7-11 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

In the book of Hebrews we read about the importance of the truthful confession of the word, i.e. "homología" ("Common confession" in the original Greek). This term refers to the collective agreement of Christians about what the Lord loves and hates - and the courage to proclaim it out loud.

• Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

 

• Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

In other words, when we proclaim Bible verses, we agree with what God says, and as a result, the benefits of the word of God become real in our lives. God is faithful and gave us His promises. For who? To all those who love him and live in obedience to him.


C. Pușcaș

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