LIVING WORD

By Rick Mathes

Hebrews 4:12 (NASB77) ¹²  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

You have a love letter from your special Daddy in your hands when you are holding the Holy Word. Jesus as the Son of Man is His form but the Word of god is His essence that you need to read through and have it come alive in your hands. I always suggest you start with the Gospel of John to understand that Jesus is your God. Then move to First John to learn some main attributes of a true Christian and then on to James and His practical application suggestions. When you’ve got them down fairly well, go to the “Magna Charta” of the Bible, the Epistle to the Romans.

My next suggestion is a fun one we often do at our home each month with friends: pray the names of Jesus. It all started when an Elder of my church challenged me to pray for 15 minutes without asking for anything. I couldn’t. In time I could then he couldn’t stop me. Then we wrote down all the passages that described or named Jesus and prayed them. My favorite that neither I nor anyone I know has ever done is a Psalm each night for 30 nights. I can only get so far and then I get so pumped in the Word that I become a walking Thompson Chain Reference Bible maniac!

Another thought I had was, “Why did God create us sinful creatures and go through all this aggravation and trouble for in the first place? Why not just bask in His own glory? What could possibly be His motivation to have Jesus die for our sins and leave the Word of God for the Holy Spirit to guide us through?” My answer is, “To see Himself in us.” Remember, He created us in His image and likeness and sin tarnished that view. So to multiply His glory He multiplies Himself and increased His narcissism by looking on us and seeing Himself. The Holy Spirit reflects our Lord’s image back to the Father when He sees us justified and sanctified.

Lastly, the Word is the Sword of the Spirit that we must pas on so that we can multiply the stand against Satan’s kingdom until the Lord returns in glory and we live forever in heaven with allthe gifts and blessings He promised us.

All of that barely scratches the surface. I have two earned doctorates degrees and I tell you the truty all I have learned in the Word of God is how little I know.