A new world
order of
peace, - prosperity -- and
safety can only be accomplished
by a God having authority and
power.
The unknown author but reads
like Paul's writings -- said in Heb 11:3,
"By faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word of God, so that
the things which are seen were not made of things
which are visible." Obviously, he was thinking back to
Gen 1, when nine times it says, ---- "God said."
Every time God spoke, it came to pass. This is the
enormousness of the power of God's word.
With God's word having so much power, what
does it have power to do? One - God's word has the
power to transform. Example, when our family was
called into God's church 45 years ago, the church
sermons were giving advise on God's dietary laws,
found in Lev 11 and Deut 14; (Clean and Unclean
foods). White sugar was out, pasteurized milk was
questioned, eating cold cereal like Wheates, Cheerios
was a no-no. White flour was not to be used, white
bread was unhealthy and not be eaten. We were
encouraged to use real butter.
I remember our Sabbath morning breakfast was
putting a hand full of wheat grain in a thermos bottle
Friday night - then filling the thermos up with hot
water and closing the top. And after sitting all-night the
grain would swell up and be ready to eat for our
Sabbath breakfast.
With all that health food advice and living a
farmers life in the city. We decided to move out of the
city-kinda, and move to an area where we could have
chickens and our own home grown eggs, along with
raising a variety of animals. We found a small fixer
upper house on a half acre-zoned for having animals.
So we had chickens, a few milk goats, a Shetland
pony--we also boarded a couple horse and a Jersey
cow - named Tinker Bell. We were living-righteously
healthy. We were now hooked on healthy foods and
loving to have our own fresh eggs and God's created
animals to raise! Our three children were not all that
sold on this adventure we were on.
After a year or so-living on this half acre, we
found it was just not big enough for the few beef cattle,
chickens, turkeys and goats we were
now raising. So we sold the half
acre and found a un-developed 3
acres out of town that had been a
olive tree grove.
When buying the land we
thought the olive trees would provide
the animals with shade, because it can
get very hot in Southern California. For
convenience, we kept the goats close to the
house for milking not realizing at the time
the goats loved eating the leaves and branches off the
olive trees, which flavored their milk and meat. You are
what you eat! This also applies to spiritual food -
God's word!
Notice what Peter a bond-servant and Apostle of
Jesus Christ said, "By which have been given to us
exceedingly great and precious promises, that through
these you may be partakers of the divine nature" (2
Pet 1:4). It's partaking of the promises of God's word
that makes us like our Lord of Lords. It changes us
from the inside out, it transforms us.
If the Bible was the main literature in schools
today, the result would be no need for jails, because
there would be no violence. No drunkenness, or drug-ees, no divorces, or homosexuals and there would be a
high level of health and happiness.
The word of God transforms! The Apostle
Peter puts it this way, "As newborn babes, desire the
pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1
Pet 2:2). Peter is saying young and old should thirst for
the pure words of God, just as infants cry for milk. By
taking in the pure milk of God's word a called believer
will grow up spiritually minded and be moving in
conformity to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What other instructions does God's word have
for us? In the book of Romans we will find God's word
has the power to bring faith. "So then faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God: (Rom 10:17).
There are two things here. First, there is God's word. If
God's word produces faith, then a person has to be
regularly exposed to the word, if they want to be strong
in faith. Anybody who is serious about spiritual growth
has to be a person of the word.
The second factor is hearing. Did you know that
it is actually possible to hear God's word and not hear
God's word, both at the same time? We can hear with
our physical ears and yet not hear with our spiritual ears.
Jesus highlighted this - when He said, "He who has
ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mat 11: 15). To have ears
to hear means that we must have hearts that are soft,
pliable, and teachable, willing to hear what God wants
to say to us, not just what we want to hear. It's that kind
of hearing heart that becomes rich in faith.
Does God's word have the power to heal?
When searching to prove all things, we find an example
written in Psalms 107. "Then they [Israel] 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" (Psalms 107:
19-20). Jesus did exactly that during His ministry here
on earth. There is a illustration of that in Matt 8: 5-13.
This is where Jesus Christ heals a centurion's servant.
The centurion said, in verse 8, "only speak a word, and
my servant will be healed." He understood that it only
took a word from the Creator to heal his servant, so,
Jesus spoke the word and "the servant was healed"
V13. This same God framed the worlds by His word,
and holds all things together by that same powerful
word. He can heal a person's body and create worlds in
His universe, all done by the authority and power of His
word.
God's word also gives us power to fight our
enemy. Our enemy is the wicked one--the evil one,
Satan the devil, who is the leader of the assaulting
armies. What advice are we given from God in answer
for our protection? The Apostle Paul conveys to us,
"Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Eph 6:17). What is
the helmet of salvation? Proverbs 23:23 declares,
"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and
instruction, and understanding." This helmet of
salvation safeguards God's called mental powers from
ungodly influences.
The
sword of the
spirit-- God's
word is also
indispensable
to our calling.
It wards off
false teachings
and the
traditions of men, replacing those things with God's
truth. There is way to many that call themselves
Christians who go out to war, and are confronted by the
enemy, and reach for their sword, but find there's
nothing there. "Where's my sword - the conscience asks
?" That's when the enemy just smirks at them.
It's been said, "If God's people don't have the
word of God in their hearts, that is -- be ready to give
a defense to everyone who ask you a reason for the hope
that is in you, then they are leaving the Holy Spirit in
them-without a weapon. That is a true statement
because God's word is the sword of the spirit. Look
how Jesus defeated the enemy: "When the evening was
come, they brought unto Jesus many that were possessed
with demons: and He [Christ having God's Holy Spirit
] cast out the [evil] spirits with His Word, and healed all
that were sick" (Matt 8:16). When reading Matt 4:
4,you will find Christ defeated Satan's temptations by
quoting God's word from the Old Testament. It's God's
word that transforms us from defense-less ordinary
people into powerful warriors, armed and ready to face
Satan our enemy!
How can we access the power of God's word?
We have to do what it says! Obey what it says! Notice
2 Kings 5:1-14. I love this example God gives us of our
duty to follow His instructions. "Now Naaman, captain
of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his
master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had
given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man
in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone
out by companies, and had brought away captive out of
the land of Israel a little maid; And she waited on
Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, would
God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!
For he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went
in, and told his lord, saying, thus and thus said the maid
that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said,
go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king and he
brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now
when this letter is come unto you, behold, I have there
with sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may
recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass, when
the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his
clothes, and said, am I god, to kill and to make alive,
that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his
leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he
seeks a quarrel against me. And it was so, when Elisha
the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent
his clothes, that he sent to the King, saying, wherefore
have you rent your clothes? Let him come now to me,
and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So
Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and
stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha
sent a messenger unto him, saying, go and wash in the
Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to
you, and you shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth,
and went away, and said, behold, I thought, he will
surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name
of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place,
and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar,
rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and
went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and
spake unto him, and said, my father, if the prophet had
bid you do some great thing, would you not have done
it? How much rather then, when he saith to you, wash,
and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself
seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the
flesh of a little child, and he was clean."
There are a lot of principles in a story like this:
one - God doesn't always use the most important
people. Two-pride can rob you of God's blessings. And
three - obedience produces blessing! But the principle
that I want to focus on is that if we want to receive what
God has for us, we have to follow His instructions. It's
like God was saying to Naaman, Naaman, I've given
you My instructions, I told you what to do, told you
what will happen when you've done it, now it's on your
shoulder to do it.
Obedience is one of the crucial principles of
living as a called out disciple of God. The Apostle
James's analogy of obedience says, "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" (James 1:23-25).
Be honest in thought for a minute! If we had a
mirror with special powers, one where you could reach
into it, and if you touched any part of your face you
could change whatever you want, make your nose
shorter, remove the bump in your nose, flatten your
ears, straighten your teeth, smooth wrinkles, change the
shape of your face, remove pimples. Wouldn't you buy
one of those mirrors - if possible? A lot of people
would, but what would be the point of owning such a
mirror, if you never used it? James likens the word of
God to a mirror that reveals the problem areas and then
gives the power to change them. But the key to using
that minor is putting God's word into practice. That's the
only way it works.
We are reminded often in sermons to read God's
word. Why ? If we're going to obey God's word, we
must first know what it says. Example: It's a little like
a man who goes to the doctor. "Doctor", I'm coughing
my heart out. It feels like my lungs are burning up. Well,
let's have a look. So the doctor examines him. And said
- it's not looking good. But you're in luck. I've got a
bottle of medicine here. The instructions are on the
bottle. It'll clear this up in three days. Five days later the
man returns. Doctor, - you told me this stuff would cure
me in three days. I'm not getting better. I'm getting
worse. The Doctor said, "Did you read the
instructions?" Of course I read the instructions. It says
..." The doctor snatches it out of his hand. Gimme that
bottle. This bottle is unopened. You didn't say I had to
open it. Listen you turkey, you came to see me, I
examined you. I diagnosed your problem. I gave you the
medicine. Now the rest was up to you!!
How many people have we seen over the years,
who knows God's word has power to transform their
lives, to heal, - to deliver, - to give wisdom, to counsel,
But they just never seem to get around to reading God's
word on a regular basis?
It's seems we find time to eat daily meals but no
time for a spiritual meal by getting into God's word.
We have time to read the newspaper ad's - every day,
but no time to read the Bible. We find time enough to
glue ourselves to the TV set, but no time for the
scriptures.
What does all of this say about our values? The
more word you have in you, the more word-like, -the
more Christ-like, you become. The word must be
acquired in spirit. The less word, - the less word-like,
the less Christ-like, - you become. It's an elementary
formula, but it separates the men from the boys, so to
speak. We should have a great desire to see the Church
of God full of self-feeders.
Using another illustration: Imagine a couple
getting married; they're in love. Then their first child
comes along and they're so excited. They don't mind
feeding their beautiful baby. But what if that child had
to be fed right up until it's in its forties? What a
disappointment it would be if their child never learned
to feed himself.
Is that how God created life to develop? No!
We can learn lessons from God's created earth. Imagine
someone planting a seed, watering it - and then the
next day they go out and there are oranges (or
whatever) lying on the ground. Is that how it really
happens? What comes before the fruit? The seedling,
then the sapling, then the mature tree.
SEEDLING
SAPLING
MATURE TREE WITH DEEP ROOTS
Many people give up before the word produces
fruit in their lives. They try for a couple of days or
weeks, they don't see fruit, so they give up, telling
themselves - "it doesn't work." God's word says, "And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due
season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal 6:9
NKJ). In other words - don't be discouraged - be
patient.
Once God's word is planted, we must water,
tend, care for, protect it, and do everything in our power
to ensure that it grows. This also takes -- meditating on
God's word. In Joshua 1, we read the Israelites are
about to enter the promised land. "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" (Josh 1:8 ).
Meditating on God's word is the single most
important key to a successful and prosperous life as the
Bible defines success and prosperity. We are to let God's
word in the Bible speak to us. It is His instruction book
for our life today.
If we regularly read and meditate on God's word,
it will speak to us - you and me. "My son, keep your
father's command, and do not forsake the law of your
mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them
around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you;
when you sleep, they will keep you; and when you
awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment
is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are
the way of life" (Prov 6:20-23).
We should recognize most sermons come from
meditating on God's word. When we lie awake in the
middle of the night, and our spirit is quiet, and there's no
hustle and bustle, it's then that God's word can be
meditated on!
If we want God's word to speak to us, we
have to make it a high priority in our life. Just - as
newborn babes, desiring the sincere milk of God's
pure word, so must we desire the same so we may
grow up nourished and spiritually strong. "As
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted
that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:2-3).
James Russell