The Word

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

In this blog edition, I reflect on a song by MercyMe, “Word of God Speak.” Click HERE to see the lyrics video.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I remember when I bought my first gas lawnmower. I took it home, unpacked it, put some gas in it, and went to cut my grass. The machine worked like a champ for a few months; then, it started to give me problems. When it was new, it started immediately; now, it takes several pulls on the starting cord to get it going. A friend of mine saw me struggling and decided to help me. After checking my machine, he rebuked me for not taking care of the machine as the manual had recommended. The manual stated that I needed to clean the air filter regularly, change the oil, replace spark plugs, etc. Unfortunately, I was so eager to enjoy my machine that I failed to read the manual and follow the instructions to ensure the machine operated according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Not reading the instructions led to frustrations, headaches, and a complete desire to not tend my yard. Aren’t we like that?

We turn 18 years old, and we think we know better. So we rush to college or a career, eager to enjoy life. Then the heartaches start. We start to depend on friends, relatives, lovers, books, and the internet for guidance and end up worse. Our society constantly bombards us with commercials on how to better ourselves, be more assertive, make more money, and fix our marriage. Yet, we wander through life from generation to generation, seeking the answers for a better life, and always falling short. When we attain much or lose much, apart from God, we feel we need more and only end up with an empty feeling and tears in our eyes. Is that all there is?

Just like man created the lawnmower and supplied a manual for its maintenance, God created us and ensured we had a manual. This manual, this set of instructions, provided the proper operation of our human bodies and a light to guide our path in a dark world fallen because of sin. What is the name of this famous manual?

The Holy Bible

This blog does not intend to explain the Bible or its origin. There are countless articles about the Bible; please research if you want to know more about its origins (I encourage you to). Instead, the purpose of this blog is to drive home this message: We need to read the Holy Bible daily! The Holy Bible is a collection of 66 individual books and letters written by 40 men who the Holy Spirit compelled to pen. The letter to Timothy states that God breathed these writings into being.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

As God breathed the Words to them, the writers wrote them down. So the words you read in the Bible are the Word of God. Let us look at a few verses in the Bible that are critical to understanding the importance of reading the Word of God.

What Does it Say?

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  
Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV  

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105  

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.
Hebrews 4:12  

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:17

What does it mean?

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it ..Isaiah 55:10-11

These verses are trying to let us know that God’s Word, when heard or read, will produce the desired effect that God meant to accomplish; it will cause us to heed His precepts or force us to dismiss them (it will cause us to make a choice), reaping the consequences. In either outcome, His Word will come to pass in our lives.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

Because of sin, we live in a dark world, and we walk through this life like blind people walking down the streets, waiting to fall. The Word of God, when allowed to penetrate our hearts, will become a lamp to our feet so we do not stumble and light for our path, so we will know where to go and who to trust.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword… Hebrews 4:12

Some consider the Bible literary works of wise and ancient people. People who believe this consider the Bible just another book in a library. The writer of Hebrews explained the Word of God is living; when we read it, it reads us. That is why the verse says: “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.” The devil does not want us to read the Bible because when we read it, it will transform our mind, discern good from evil, and leads us to salvation.

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. John 17:17

Pontious Pilate asked Jesus at His trial, “What is truth?” So did all the greek philosophers in force in his days. We asked the same today, and we call truth whatever is woke or popular on Facebook or other social media. Soon we will start calling day, night, and night day, and if you disagree, you will be canceled. In today’s society, we allow children in school to be any sex they feel like; if you feel like a girl, you are a girl, etc.

The Word of God is the absolute truth, and it will cause a division in our world that soon will come to a head. Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace but a sword when He came.

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:34-37

The word “sanctify” in John 17:17 means to set apart. So Jesus is asking the Father to set them apart from the world and its truth and bring them to Your Word, which is TRUTH. When the world says there are several genders, God’s Word, the Truth, says He made them male and female, nothing else. This will cause a division, between those that believe the truth, and those that are blinded by Satan and want to follow the popular worldly view.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4

What does it mean to me?

When God gave Moses the first five books of the Bible, He instructed them to continually meditate on His Word to make their lives blessed and prosperous. The Israelites were to teach their children the law and God’s precepts and not look to the right or left, for the enemy will attempt to make them forget the Word of God. When Moses died, Joshua took over as leader and re-inforced this directive from God.

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.
Joshua 1:8

Today, we no longer hold the Word of God in high esteem. Most people rely on what others say about the Bible rather than reading it themselves. Many feel the Word of God is too complicated and hard to understand and rely on religions to guide them. Many religions claim they are the only true way, which is the first indication you may be misled.

Christianity, at its core, is not a religion; it is a relationship between a sinful person and a holy God. What brings them together is the shed, sinless blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we come to trust in Jesus, we are born again and are gifted by the fellowship of the third person of God, The Holy Spirit. John 3

The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the Bible because it is not carnal but spiritual.

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14

What does it mean to me? I must make every effort to make it a habit to read the whole Bible from front to rear. Only then will I be able to approve or re-proof what others say about Christianity, God, and the Holy Bible. Until then, I may fall under the influence of the evil one and will walk according to his ways and be subject to being misled.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Ephesians 2:1-3  

Some are already misled while thinking they are right with God, heading to destruction. Proverbs 14:12

The Holy Bible will keep you from sin, or if you neglect it, sin will keep you from the Holy Bible.

There are many online Bible reading plans and library resources to help us start a Godly habit that will bless us and our household. For example, I use the free application Olive Tree for all my electronic devices. It gives me reading plans and side-by-side commentaries.

Once we start reading the Bible, it will begin to change us from the inside. Then, we will start making the right choices to bring peace, health, prosperity, and the right relationship with our neighbors (horizontal relationship) and a God that is slow to anger and full of tender mercies (vertical relationship).

Abba Father,

Thank you for being a God that is patient, not willing that any should be lost. Thank you for your Word, which lets us know you care about us and want a relationship with us. Thank you for Jesus; we would be lost forever without His sacrifice at the cross. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for making the Holy Bible come alive to us to teach us God’s Character and His Ways.

In the precious name of Jesus Christ, I pray,

Amen!

To God, be the glory!

Everything was created By Him, For Him!

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-25

Disclaimer

I write my blogs as I get inspired by God. Consider this writing as a Bible study. Like the Bereans In Acts 17:11, search the Scriptures to determine whether what I write is so. Always consult with your church ministers about biblical matters. I am also not a professional writer, so some grammar or spelling errors may be. I try my best to write as efficiently as possible. Your brother, In-Christ, Ricardo

 

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