Tag: Word of God

Life Changer

IMG_0524Micah 1:1-3

We all know of many events that change people’s lives: learning to walk and to talk, going to school, graduating from high school and college, getting a job, losing that job, finding a new job, getting married, having children, and many more. Most of these happen to most people. Once we experience a life changer, our lives are forever altered. We might assume we’re the same person, but the life changer modifies us and our view of life in various ways. When people in our culture contemplate life changing events, it is usually from a very individualistic angle. They start from themselves and work outward, perhaps including other people of significance to them in their deliberations. It is rare to think of God at such times.

Perhaps, it is even rarer to think of God as the Life Changer, to see him in all the events of our lives, including the ones we think are common and the ones that disrupt our lives. What? Would God disrupt our lives? Would he disrupt them without asking our permission? Yes, my friends, he does step into the course of our lives to alter them. This is what happened to Micah one day. We do not know much about him. His message was more important than the man that delivered it. Why can I say that? Because the message he gave was the word of the Lord.

God used the message he communicated through Micah to change him and to be his instrument to change us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Micah tells us that the word of the Lord came to him over a number of years during the reigns of three kings of the kingdom of Judah. This would make him a contemporary of the prophets Hosea and Isaiah. This information tells us his place in the story of God’s glory in Jesus Christ. He proclaimed the Lord’s message around 750 years before the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Micah would be used to tell God’s people important information about the birth of Jesus the Messiah. But for now, think of his place in God’s story and that you and I who follow Jesus also have a place in the same story, since we are in Christ. Nearly two thousand years after the resurrection, God is using his word in and through us.

The message that came to Micah was in the form of a vision (cf. Hebrews 1:1). He saw God’s message displayed before him, so that he could tell it to all who read his words. He saw what God would do (1:3-7) and how he and others would respond to what the Lord would do (1:8-16). God’s word proclaims his actions. It tells people like us how he steps into our lives in judgment and salvation. It lets us know his explanation for his actions (for example, 1:5-7; 7:18). In his vision Micah saw what concerned Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah. The Lord God takes notice of what happens in the leading cities of the world, like Washington and London. Cities are gatherings of people and what they do is under God’s eyes.

God expects all people to listen to his message (1:2). God’s word speaks to us with his final authority. The word communicates the person, message, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Judge of all (John 5:21-30). Understand this clearly. God’s word is his living and active communication (Hebrews 4:12-13) that is final authority for what we believe and how we live (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In the Bible God gives a witness against people, which means that we have a problem! He tells us that he will act against anyone who does not listen to him, which means that you can complicate your problem dramatically. Yet the Lord tells us that there is a way of peace with him that is available for all who follow the Lord Jesus (5:4-5).

My friend, has the written word of God come to you with power, so that your way of life and your destiny is forever changed? Micah had his life altered by God’s word. How is the message concerning Jesus the Messiah changing you today?

Grace and peace, David

The Sword of the Spirit (Part Two)

20150523_101132Ephesians 6:17

Next, let us think about relationship between the Spirit and the word. What are some reasons the word of God is called the “sword of the Spirit”? The Holy Spirit is the author of the word. He spoke through the human writers (2 Samuel 23:2; Mark 12:36). He guided the human writers to accomplish his intended goal (2 Pt 1:20-21). The Spirit did this so that what they wrote would be the word of God. When we engage in spiritual battle, we are to take with us the word of the Almighty Holy Spirit of God. As we strike with it, he is very able to accomplish his purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

The Holy Spirit enables people to understand the word (1 Corinthians 2:10b-14). Every human heart by nature is unable to understand the truth of the Scriptures. Yes, people can comprehend what we say, but it does not convince them, it does not change their outlook. For example, someone might say, “I just don’t get it; how can the death of Jesus save anyone?” But the Spirit is given to Christ’s followers, so that we do understand (1 Corinthians 2:12). Then we accept the word and it effectively works in us. When we take the sword of the Spirit, we must rely on Christ’s power to work through the Spirit to achieve results. Don’t just post a Bible verse; pray for spiritual application. The Holy Spirit uses the word to produce spiritual results. For this reason, we must avoid overemphasizing one truth at the expense of another. Don’t rely on the Spirit without the word of God. Don’t rely on the word of God without the Spirit.

God’s word is very useful to us in our spiritual warfare. The word of God is essential in practical sanctification or Christian growth. The classic example of this is Christ’s use of the Scripture in resisting the temptations of the evil one (Matthew 4:1-11). In every situation Jesus rightly applied the word to his way of life. He lived out the word. Every Christian needs to have a large supply of ammunition from God’s word against every temptation to violate God’s commands, whether the temptations are to commit what God forbids or temptations to fail to do what God commands. A good section to put to heart is Ephesians 4:17-6:9, or in a more concise form Colossians 3:1-4:6. Read either passage many, many times and think through them until you know them well. However, the Lord intends that his entire word has a wider use in our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12). The Spirit says that the word can work comprehensive changes in us, down to our thoughts and attitudes. We must see change at this inner level to realize outward change. For example, if you want to speak godly counsel, his word needs to be operating in your heart or inner person (Matthew 12:34). You must be convinced in your heart before you will truly change. This is why we must read and study and think about God’s word. In this whole study, we have been urged to put on the full armor of God. That is the goal, but if we will begin to put on one part, it might cause tremendous changes in our lives and in the churches we attend!

The word of God is essential in evangelism. The word of God is the spiritual seed used by the Holy Spirit in producing regeneration (or the new birth from above). As the Spirit works in us with the word, a change of mind and faith are given, and we turn from our rebellion against God to rely on Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Has this happened to you?

Grace and peace, David

The Word and the branches

“You are already clean through the message that I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). Jesus continues to speak to the Eleven about the relationship between the Vine and the branches. The Father as Gardener prunes the branches. Jesus uses a noun form of the verb translated as “prunes” in verse two to describe the condition of the apostles. They are already “clean” (cf. 13:10) or “pruned”. Jesus reassures his core group after telling them about others who would be cut off because they were not fruitful (like Judas, 13:30). They were fruitful branches that were clean.

What caused the difference in their lives? It was the word or message of Christ that he had spoken to them. The message includes everything about his person, teachings, and redemptive mission that he had already told them. They had received the message, and it had produced an internal, cleansing effect in them (cf. Ephesians 2:20-21; cf. John 6:44-48). Jesus is the source and substance of life for his people.

Jesus wants us to know that we continue or remain in him in the same way that we began (cf. Colossians 2:6-7). We begin through faith in Christ. The Father by the Spirit causes us to be born again as he uses the word of Christ in us (1 Peter 1:23). We are his new people. We are ready to bear fruit. This continues to occur as Christ uses the word in us (Ephesians 5:26). For this reason, when we read the word, we ought to seek the Lord by his Spirit to use it in us. And a gathering of believers should want the word to operate in us powerfully (Colossians 3:16). This is a conscious, deliberate activity. It is something that we must want and have room for. Like anything in life, it requires an investment of time. How much time are you investing in listening to the word of God? May God bless you with grace and peace!