Living Seed

On August 21, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 1: 23

For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is through the living and abiding word of God.

Isn’t it good to know that you have been redeemed by imperishable seed rather than perishable? Your salvation is secure. You have been born again and this time you are born into the everlasting nature of your Father’s family. You are safe and secure for all time.

But did you know that when you were born again you were born of seed? Well, that is always how the Kingdom of God works. It always works by someone planting a seed. Then that seed grows and produces a harvest. You are God’s reward for having planted seed.

The verse above tells us that the seed that God planted in order to reap a relationship with you is the “living and abiding word of God.” Now isn’t that exciting? It might also be a bit perplexing so let me expound just a bit more.

Jesus told us in Mark 4: 14 that “the sower sows the word”. Now what does a farmer traditionally sow in order to reap a crop? Seed right? Therefore, the word is the seed that was sown. If you read the whole 4th chapter you will recognize the parable of the Sower and the Soils. God sowed His word into the world and from it came crops. We heard that word, we received that seed and we grew into fresh, choice crops that were gathered into the kingdom of heaven where we now reside spiritually.

But if you are able to go a step further consider this. John 1: 1, 14 say this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” That is speaking of Jesus. In fact, Jesus is the Word. He was with God in the beginning and then he came and dwelt among men. God gave us Jesus in order to redeem us from the curse of the world. He gave us Jesus so that we might be saved and become children of God. God sowed Jesus into our lives. He sowed a child and reaped many children. So, you see, Jesus is the imperishable, living seed that you are born of, the abiding word of God. You are very special to God, you are the result of his everlasting, living seed and you will abide with Him forever.

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Statutory Lamp

On September 28, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 119: 105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

This is a long psalm and all of it has to do with the ordinances, the statutes of the Lord. The psalmist knows that peace, strength, and blessing are in the precepts of the Lord. He finds his strong tower and his shield in the law of God. The statutes of God are not laws to be despised to this psalmist. He understands that God has given the law as a means to aid and protect His loved ones. They are life and healing to those who find them. Today’s verse shows that God’s word is a guiding light.

I am reminded of John 8: 31 where Jesus is recorded telling believers that true disciples are those who hold to his teaching. To what teaching does he refer? You could say this means everything which is in red ink in the New Testament but when I read it in light of John 1: 1 & 14 where Jesus is revealed as the Word, and alongside today’s psalm, I know that Jesus meant that we should find him in the Old Testament as well as the new. Today’s passage certainly leads us to that conclusion because safety and light are in those old passages.

Delight in the Lord and in His Word and you are sure to find peace and comfort.

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Healed

On November 13, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 20

He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

There is so much nuance and richness in this verse that it is a bit like eating a very rich food. Let’s begin with “word”. To get the richness from this verse, you need to connect this verse to John 1: 1 & 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” God sent Jesus to us as the great healer. He is the divine physician and heals all who come to him, but how does he heal?

This may be where we trip up at times because, though we accept Jesus as the healer, we don’t understand how he heals. We, therefore, cannot come to him in the fullness of his office of healer. Some of us believe in divine healing. This is when a prayer of faith is offered and renders one completely healed. One prayer, perhaps with the laying on of hands and even anointing with oil as seen in James 5: 14, will “restore the one who is sick,” (James 5: 15). We see this many times in the Bible, especially in Jesus’ ministry. This type of healing still works today, and people are getting healed by the prayer offered in faith all over the world. That is not God’s only method of healing, though, and not the only method Jesus brought with him. However, this first avenue of healing ministry should not be ignored. Read James 5, verses 14 through 16 and do what it says. Seek out someone to pray for you, “for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!” (V. 6 TPT).

When the scripture says God sent His word and healed them, it has a double meaning. Jesus is the Word and Jesus’ healing ministry is what I discussed in the paragraph above. There is, however, Jesus as the living Word. Soaking in the Word of God has healing virtue. Not only is our faith fed by ingesting the verses on healing, but the whole of the Word has healing power in it. Living in the Word; reading it, meditating on in and thinking about it brings creative, healing power to every cell of your body. Because God is the creator and Jesus the healer, every moment spent consuming the Word brings creation and healing energy to your body. The Word has power to heal every situation, every hurt, every sickness. So, meditate on the Word and let its restorative quality saturate your body.

Tomorrow, I will share some other ways God heals.

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Milk

On April 26, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 2: 2 – 3

Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Yesterday, we looked at the foundational scriptures John 1: 1 & 14. They are bedrock, that upon which we build. Today’s passage is one of the bricks which is laid upon the foundation. Now that we know that Jesus is the Word and that the Word is living and powerful, we are instructed to desire it like babies crave milk. It is our sustenance. It is that which gives us life and causes us to grow. I also like the Passion Translation version of this passage. It reads, “In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.”

Has the Passion Translation hit upon a goal of yours? Do you desire to “grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life?” I hope your response is “Yes,” and I believe it is, otherwise you would not read a devotional daily. One thing I personally like about this devotional is that it is based on the Word. To me that means the even if you don’t read the part I write, you get a bit of Word every day. You have a verse that comes right to your inbox each morning and you can spend the rest of the day pondering it and finding what it means to you. That is really the key piece. Every day I seek God on what verse He would have me send and what He would have me write but then we get the bonus track. That is the part He conveys to you directly. The Word of the Day may be your jumping off point to a whole day of communing with Him. I love that, and I am always interested in hearing what the Lord has said to you.

When God gave me this to do back in 2006, He had His reasons for beginning it with His Word. I like to think of it as receiving two words from the Lord each day; the first one is His written Word and the second is what He gives me to write. I hope, pray and expect the part that I write to be a rhema word every day. Often it is an idea or nuance which is new to me and that is always exciting. I have journaled verses before just between me and Father and received revelation on it but then when I used that same verse for the Word of the Day it came out completely differently. That tells me that He is on the job writing and supervising.

You can take the verse I send you and journal it with Dad. He will tell you things He did not tell me or sometimes He will expound on what I sent. He has more to show you and more to say and every Word we receive from Him helps us grow and mature. That should be a goal each of us desires. The only way to gain that maturity is the sup on the milk of the Word. So, get as much milk as you can. Crave it like newborns crave milk.

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He Has Healed

On April 18, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107:20

He sent His word and healed them.

I recall once when I was sick and running a high fever. I kept putting cold towels and ice packs on me to try to bring the fever down. As I lay on my bed with ice packs on my head and chest I began repeating, “I am the healed of Israel, I am the healed of Israel.” I said it over and over again. Where did that phrase come from? I have to believe that God gave it to me. Interestingly enough He didn’t tell me that I was going to be healed or that healing power was coming to me. He gave me words which confirmed that He had already sent healing to me. After three or four days the fever finally broke. The doctors never did discover the cause but the phrase that God gave me stuck with me.

For those of us who are not Jewish by birth our adoption in Christ has placed us firmly in the sphere of all blessings so that we can boldly claim the blessings of Israel. Today’s verse tells us unequivocally that God has already healed “them”, which means us and it shows us the means by which He effectuated the healing. God gave His spoken Word and His written Word and the power in His Word provides for every need we have including healing. But let us overlay this Abrahamic blessing with a little New Testament glory.

The great apostle, John, reveals to us that Jesus is the Word (John 1: 1, 14). I do not believe that the church has yet to grasp the enormity and the power of that simple truth but it makes great sense when you combine that reality with today’s verse. Most of us believe that Jesus is the great healer so it is a fairly easy leap to imagine that when God sent His word it had healing power in it.  

Jesus is the fulfillment of all promises and he has come to us, to live in us and to fill us to overflowing with the miraculous anointing and power of the Father of Grace. When Jesus lives in your heart then, truly, you have everything you need in order to manifest the abundant life that he said he came to give each of us (John 10: 10). Regardless of your need today, Jesus is the answer. He is the way, the truth, the life (John 14: 6). Reach into the depths of your heart and touch the love, the love that heals all wounds, all sicknesses, all disease, all brokenness. He is your healer, your Lord and abundant grace.

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