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Then they cried to the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his
word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks
to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. -
Psalm 107:19-21
God's Word -
The Bible
The Bible is the inspired Word, the revelation
of God to the prophets and apostles within human history and human language.
A such, the Bible is the highest written authority for faith and practice
in the Christian church.
The Bible is our road map for living. It
is important to us because we love and beeline in God. He has given us
this book to help us better know, love, and serve Him - the One who created
each one of us, the One who has saved us from our sins. We must submit
our thoughts to Christ as we seek to know the wisdom of God.
The Word of God ~
Unlike man's words, God's
Word is life-giving because it is literally the Word of God. God's Word
did not originate with man. When you read the Word of God, you are not
looking at man's analysis of God. The Bible is God's book, given to us
through men who as they were "moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
God" (2 Peter 1:21).
The Word is God's tool to transform us.
Romans 12:2 tells us "And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.
Let's look at Psalm 107. This can be translated
as If life is the pits, the Word can get you
out! ~
"Then they cried out to the Lord in
their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses" (v.13). "Fools,
because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were
afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food; and they drew near to
the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble; He
saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction" (v. 17-20).
There it is! The Word of God can heal
you. You can be delivered from your pit of despair. I pray that you
will wrap yourself tightly in this security blanket of His truth. You
may think that this is too simplistic, or you may be tempted to reject
it, or you may think I'm just naive in the world we live in. And I understand.
However, I am proof that God heals. If you hear me out, I have no doubt
that God will use what I say to transform your life as He
has mine.
If we want to know what is right and what
is wrong, what is truth and what is a lie, then we need to know what the
Word of God has to say about it, either in specific words, or in principle.
Jesus prayed to the Father and asked that He sanctify us in truth, and
then He made this statement, "The word is
truth" (John 17:17).
How does this apply to our hurts?
Someone may tell you that if you are hurting then you should do this,
so that. They might tell you that if you were hurt by your parents and
are feeling anger, then hit a pillow and pretend it's them. If you're
feeling reject they may tell you that you need to go back to the womb,
and relive everything you remember. However, the Word of God is the truth,
so if the counsel you are receiving does not agree with the Word, then
their counsel is not accurate. Your counselors may be lovely people, well
liked and thought of. They may have helped others. But their counsel is
not from God if it's not in accordance with His Word.
According to 2 Timothy 3:16, the Word of
God is training in righteousness. To live righteously is simply to live
according to the Word of God. And this -- is where healing begins
-- in doing what God says to do, no matter how you fee or think. This
is "faith" and without it, it is impossible to please God, for
he who come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
for those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). You can trust God!
What is
the Word? It's Truth! Truth is a Person -
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and
the life -- John 14:6. Jesus didn't point to a religious system -
He pointed to Himself. He said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will
set you free… If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. - John
8:31-32,36
Why do
we need to read the Bible?
Besides it being God's road map for our lives, it is a book of simple
laws we need to follow in order to govern our lives. The law is simple:
when we obey God, we will experience His blessing. When we don't, we miss
out big time. The more familiar we get with God's Word, the more we will
understand obedience. God's laws are not designed to deprive of pleasure
or prosperity, but they are intended to protect us from hurting others,
and ourselves and to guide us to a bountiful life. That's what God enjoys.
The End
Result is What Counts ~ by Kay Arthur
- If you
will do what God says, it will work. You can be healed.
- You have
God as your Great Physician
- You have
the word of God, He who heals. It is because His Word is different than
man's, His is the truth
- All you
need is faith to obey. If you don't, pray "God, I believe. Help,
my unbelief" and He will
- God's
Word will heal you if you accept it in faith and walk accordingly
- God is
saying that the Word of God is all we need in order to be what we need
to be
Psalm
119 tells us some of the characteristics and functions of the Word of
God ~
- Keeps
our way pure (v. 9)
- Preserves
our life and gives us strength (v. 25,28)
- Provides
comfort in suffering (v.50,52)
- Is more
precious than a thousand pieces of silver or gold (v.72)
- Will make
us wiser than our enemies and provide more insight than all our teachers
(v.98-100)
- Gain understanding
from His precepts (laws) (v.104-105)
- Light
for our path and gives understanding to the simple (v. 104-104,130)
- Provides
great peace (v. 165)
Psalm
91:9-16 ~
If
you make the Most High your dwelling -- even the Lord, who is my refuge
--
then no harm
will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will
command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
they will
lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against
a stone.
You will tread
upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because
he loves me" says the Lord, "I will rescue him;
I will protect
him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call
upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver
him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my
salvation."
But beware!
The essence of Satan's' deception is that we can live our lives independently
of God. He wants to get us to run on our own steam, rather than depend
on the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, he may say, "live the Christian
life" but what he'll tell you is you don't need to cultivate an intimate
relationship with Jesus. He knows them we will be spiritually impotent
and defeated.
If he can
get us to operate on our own thoughts and ideas, rather than seeking the
wisdom that comes from God, he knows we will eventually get sucked into
the world's destructive way of thinking.
A woman names
Yvette wrote, "When I spend time in the
Word and prayer, my life seems to flow along smoothly - even with 3 kids
under 5. But then I get complacent and think about what a wonder woman
I am and stop making it a priority. Before I know it, my life is in chaos.
I am screaming at the kids and on the verge of child abuse, trying to
figure out how I ended up like this. And what can I do to fix it? Unfortunately,
it takes awhile to realize I can't - that I need God. The lies of Satan
creep in so subtly, and if I'm not in the Word, I start believing them."
Satan knows
if he succeeds in getting us to live independently of the Word of God,
we become more vulnerable to deception in every area of our lives. 6 times
in the Old Testament we are told that "David inquired of the Lord"
1 & 2 Samuel). He knew he was nothing apart from God - that he could
not make it without the Lord. The first thing he did every morning was
to his heart toward the Lord in prayer. Psalms 5:3 says, "In
the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests
before you and wait in expectation".
How many
of us find ourselves turning our attention to the details and tasks of
the day without taking adequate time to "inquire of the Lord"?
When we say this we are really saying we can our work, keep up our home,
handle all our relationships and deal with our daily circumstances WITHOUT
the Lord. And that is an independent, self-sufficient spirit that is an
expression of PRIDE. The scripture says, "God
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
And that means when we start our day by humbling ourselves, and acknowledging
that we can't make it on our own, that we need Him - then we can count
on Him enabling us to get through the day.
So get
into the Word everyday and your faith will build. The Bible tells
us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans
10:17). Read the Bible daily. I read it out loud a lot, because when you
hear your own voice speaking out God's promises, it builds your faith.
"I have treasured the words of his mouth
more than any daily bread" -- Job 23:12
All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
Guidelines
For Prayer ~ Who is God?
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