What are you doing with God’s Word?

What are you doing with God’s Word?

It’s an important question, one I’ve been asking myself a lot lately.

If we, those who call ourselves Believers, followers of Jesus, say we believe the Word of God, profess that the Bible is inspired by God, it’s important to ask ourselves:

What, on a daily basis, am I doing with the Word of God?

Do we read it? 

There’s no condemnation intended here, just a question from one follower of Jesus to another.  How important is God’s Word to your daily life?  Do you view it as God does – your daily bread, something you cannot live without? Remember what Jesus quoted from God’s Word:

“Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” 

(Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3).   

When you do read it, do you take it to heart? 

Do you let it penetrate into the recesses of your mind until it sinks into your heart?   Put in physical terms, do you chew on it — bit by bit — breaking it down until it liquifies, enabling the nutrients to digest and distribute to your “organs”?  In other words, do you allow the Word of God to change your mind (how you think), influence your emotions (how your feel) and determine your will (how you act)?

Do you treat the Word of God as your ultimate and most true reality?

Even if what it says contradicts everything you see or feel, do you acknowledge that your thoughts and feelings aren’t always correct?  Do you seek to make what you think and feel align with what God says is true?

These are the very questions I’m asking myself.  I’ve been distracted by so many things. I sit here even now wanting to do other things than sitting with God.  And if I allowed myself, I could start feeling powerless to reverse the trend.

But in spite of how I feel, I know this to be true:  

But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is Your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:21-23)

What an incredible promise!  As I read this text, I hear God speaking: “Just come to Me. My love is always available. My mercies to live today differently are here this morning.”

In whatever your struggle or place with God, take these words for yourself.  Never let guilt or condemnation drive you further from God. No good parent would want a child to do that, especially not God.

Ponder this powerful phrase: 

Consider the first phrase of the passage:

“But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.”

That is one powerful phrase! It speaks, among other things, to the power of God’s Word.

Know it.

Call it to mind regularly, continually.

Let God’s Word give you hope!

In the Lamentations passage, Jeremiah needed to recall God’s love for Him and for the people who were gravely disobeying God. He meditated on the fact that no matter how they  failed at following God, each new day brought the mercy and grace of God to live differently.

There are truths in God’s Word that He wants you to KNOW, truths He wants you to call to mind and believe to such a degree that it gives you hope.  Truths that will set you free from the discouragement and lack of direction that comes from living apart from God and His Word.

Today I’m meditating on a passage from Revelation. I turned to the passage while pondering God’s worthiness.  As I thought of all the things consuming my time, things I have (even inadvertently) deemed worthy of my time, I called to mind that there is One — One God in three Persons — who is SO VERY WORTHY of my time, attention and obedience:

“You are worthy…because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God…Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelations 4:9,12). 

Let’s do this!

So if you, like me, like Martha (see Luke 10:38-42) have been distracted from God by many things, I encourage you to call to mind how much God longs to spend time with you. Call to mind the Word/words He has spoken to you.  Then let His Word grow to a place of faith, so it gives you hope!

Whether your struggle is making time with God and His Word, or it’s believing Him when all in life points to an alternate truth, please know: mercy awaits your every need. You receive it as you come to Him, spend time with Him and give His Word the authority it deserves.

Another post I hope will encourage you to spend more time with God in His Word:

http://146.66.103.219/~judybmil/one-thing-satan-doesnt-want-you-to-know/