Word Power  

On December 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 4: 1 – 13

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.  And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry.  And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”  And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”  And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment.  And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore if you worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”  And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”  And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You to guard you.’ And ‘On their hands they will bear You up lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’”  And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

This is an important story because it shows how the devil tempts and how Jesus fought those temptations.  Ephesians 6: 17 says that the weapon we have is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Jesus, being our model, demonstrated how to defeat the enemy.  I want you to see and recognize the weapon of His warfare.  Jesus defeated Satan with the Word of God.  Notice that after Jesus fended off two of Satan’s attempts with the Word, Satan quoted from the 91st Psalm to try to deceive Jesus.  But Jesus knew the Word.  He knew it so well that he could see the perversion of the word that the devil attempted to sneak past Him.

There is no other weapon that would have defeated the devil then, nor is there any other weapon that will defeat him now.  The Word, is the sword that the Father has given us.  It is well able to defeat the enemy but you have to know how to wield it.  Each time the devil threw a temptation at Christ, Jesus countered that temptation with, “It is written.”  It is a good thing, then, that Jesus knew the Word.  He used the Word itself, not just his knowledge of the Word, to combat the devil.  Jesus did not rely on His own strength, His own knowledge or His own wit to defeat the devil.  No, He used the Word of God.  He did not argue with the devil.  He just quoted the scripture to him.

Today’s passage brings us a very important message.  If we are to defeat the devil and his minions we must first give attention to the Word.  If you don’t study the Word then you are unarmed and you really don’t want to fight the enemy unarmed.  Further, we need to understand that Jesus did not fight with or argue with the devil.  He did not rely on His position as the Son of God.  He was a man and in all ways tempted as are we and he had to resist the devil with the same tools that are available to us.  He simply quoted the Word to the devil.  He did not enter into a debate with him.  Jesus made the Word of God the final authority and the wielding of that Word defeated the devil.  We must all learn to do this too.  Read the Bible.  Arm yourself with the living sword of the Spirit.  Then when the devil gets in your face, just start quoting scripture.  You will see for yourself that the devil cannot stand up to the Word.  He will have to flee from you just like he did from Jesus.

 

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Revealer

On December 12, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 2: 12

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God.

One of the things I have done in my Bible is to underline in blue every place that teaches about the Holy Spirit. Why? Because I want to know and understand this third person of the trinity.

John 16: 13 teaches us that the Holy Spirit will lead us in all truth. He will reveal to us the things of God. Whatever he hears God speak, he will reveal to us. He is a revealer. His role is, in part, to show us all that God has already prepared for us. God, our Father, does not wish that we would be ignorant of all the good things He has already made available to us. God has freely given us good things to enjoy. The Holy Spirit shows us this abundant provision. He is tasked with leading us to all things which God had created just for us. Now, don’t you want to know, personally, the guy whose job is to point you towards provision?

We should be clear, however. This is not the spirit of the world. The Holy Spirit is, himself, a gift of God. He was promised to the children of God and poured out at the Pentecost. This pouring out was foretold and we are the blessed generation. Paul indicates in today’s verse that this Spirit from God is a gift we receive. Why is that important? The reason we need to recognize the word “receive” is that one can just as easily refuse a gift.

God has freely given us many things. We can easily be unaware of these gifts and never receive all that God has already done for us. This is not the will of God. Therefore, He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we will always have a guide and teacher. You can talk to the Holy Spirit just as you would Jesus or the Father. Get to know him. Allow him to lead you in truth and revelation. Expect him to show you the Father. There is a universe of truth he longs to share with you. You are going to enjoy the show.

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The Spirit

On December 9, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 2: 10

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

We are only beginning to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This powerful scripture shows us part of the function of the Holy Spirit. He reveals knowledge, wisdom and insight to us from God the Father. There is nothing hidden from the Holy Spirit. Since God knows all things, the Holy Spirit knows all things. He searches the deepest parts of God’s being so nothing is barred from Him. Then He discloses to us these deep things.

John 16: 13 tells us that the Spirit will disclose to us those things which He hears from the Father. The Spirit was sent here to guide us into all truth. He is the Spirit of Truth. So you have a very present helper who can bring you help from the very heart of God.

You can talk with the Holy Spirit just as you talk with the Father or the Son. Invite Him to be in your life. Ask Him to lead you and teach you. He will be a mentor and a friend to you.

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No Disappointment

On December 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 10: 11

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

You never have to be disappointed. Now wouldn’t that be great to live a life where you are never disappointed? Do you believe that possible? Probably not, and that is where we all lose it. It is a challenge believing we can live a life without disappointment. There is the rub; if we can’t believe it, we can’t achieve it. Anything we cannot believe for, we cannot attain. God works through our faith to bring those things to pass that we need. He performs the miracles but He needs us to do the believing.

We all need to work on our belief level. We need to trust God with some small matters so that we can prove to ourselves that He is true to His word. We need to hear about the miracles He has performed in other people’s lives, and, we need to become familiar with the promises He has made us. If we can really “believe” in Him, then we truly can live without disappointment.

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The Currency of Faith

On December 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 9: 28 – 30

And after he had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes saying, “Be it done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened.

We know what the faith of the two blind men. They must have had faith that Jesus could and would restore their sight. Jesus prayed that they would receive according to their faith. It was not his own faith Jesus used to heal the two men. It was their faith. Isn’t that interesting? This may account for the limitation in miracles we see these days.

When the two blind men approached Jesus about restoring their sight, He had a pretty surprising response to them. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Why did He question them about their belief? Why wasn’t his own knowledge enough for him? When Jesus was in his hometown the scripture says “He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13: 58).

Many people don’t understand why things happen or why God does not intervene in certain situations. What many of us fail to recognize is that God needs some faith to work with. Our faith is the material that He uses to fashion our miracles. Hebrews 11: 1 says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” KJV Faith is the substance of our answered prayers. We give God our faith and He creates with it. We are in partnership with God and faith is one of the main things we bring into the partnership.

How do you develop faith? By reading God’s word. Nothing is going to replace getting in the Word and letting Him talk to you. Romans 10: 17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” That’s the base, the foundation. Then the other thing we can do is get around faith people. When you are around other people who are building their faith, it helps you build your own. We become more faith minded and are pulled up into higher levels of faith. And you can go from zero to hero faith in a very short time, but begin with the word and pray for help in growing in faith.

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Here Comes the Judge – Not!

On December 6, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 12: 47

I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

In his unforgettable characterization, Flip Wilson said, “Here comes the judge!” Jesus might say, “Here comes the Savior.”

I was reading the story of the Samaritan woman when today’s verse came to my mind. The account of Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman is found in John 4, verses 1 – 42. Many people came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah because of this woman. She was an evangelist for Christ even though she had three strikes against her. First, she was a Samaritan, a race despised and disdained by the Jews. Second, she was a woman. As such she was at best a second class citizen; at worst, a non-entity. Then there is strike three. She was apparently living with a man who was not her husband. Strike three, you’re out!

But wait . . . Jesus evangelized a city through this misfit. How can that be? She was the disfavored of the disfavored. Why did Jesus show her acceptance? Why didn’t he try to correct her of everything she was doing wrong? Why did he even condescend to speak with her? One thing is clear to me, as I read this tale; one of us has the paradigm wrong, either Jesus or me.

Many of us, while good intentioned, operate under a wrong mindset. We mistakenly believe that we need to judge and correct in order to save. That is not, however, the model Jesus set for us. In his book, judgment is correlated with damnation. Love is connected to salvation. Let me ask you this question? Which model do you think is most effective? John 4: 39 reads, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” Jesus ended up staying in that Samaritan town for three days at the insistence of the residents all because one unlovely sinner spread the gospel. Because Jesus showed her kindness and acceptance, especially in the light of her living arrangement, she evangelized a town.

Love is the greatest force on earth. God is love (1 John 4: 8) and love is God. Mountains can be moved by applying this, the greatest power on earth. It was love that sent Jesus to earth and it was that same love that caused him to choose the cross. HE DIDN’T ENDURE THE CROSS TO JUDGE US BUT RATHER TO SAVE US. He went to the cross so that we could be free of the judgment that was due us. He removed the judgment from our shoulders, indeed from our lives, and took it on himself. He is called the savior. That must have meaning. In his own words, he describes himself as our savior, not our judge. He has the right to judge us because the Father gave all judgment to him (John 5: 22). He chose not to exercise that authority but rather to spend his life and death in removing judgment from us. That is one powerful testimony. Tell that to a sinner. Tell them that no one is judging them. Tell them God loves them and sent His son to save them rather than judge them. Tell them Jesus wants them to spend eternity with him in heaven. That is the good news of the Gospel.

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Singing Through the Rain

On December 5, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 69: 13

But as for me, my prayer is to Thee.

David was in great distress, but he knew to whom to turn. He sought people to sympathize with him. He looked for comforters among men. Ultimately, though, salvation and compassion are in the arms of the Lord.

There is something very interesting about this Psalm. It is equally a lament of Jesus as of David. Read the entire psalm with the thought that Jesus wrote it and you will be amazed. Jesus’ problems were those which are common to us all and are mirrored in the passionate songs of David.

In David’s passion, we can read so much of our own hearts, the trials and victory of Jesus, and the faithfulness of the Father. Walking through these Psalms is a journey of the heart. If you allow yourself, you feel the pain and struggles of the writers. You will also experience the victory in Jesus which is always the end of the story. David wrote of his woe, but then he lifted his head and saw the Father. “My prayer is to You,” he sang. Regardless of the trials, despite the hardships, he knew his daily salvation from every challenge and danger was in the Father.

Do you have challenges in your life right now? Fear not! The Father, Son and Spirit are standing by to assist and comfort you. I encourage you, also, to take a stroll through the psalms. Let your heart hear the anguish yet ultimate victory. Be encouraged. What God did for David, He will do for you.

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