Month: January 2022

Agree with His Word

Posted on by Megean

A continuation of thought from the last post…

I once had a respected leader tell me that God is always speaking, but are we always listening? I have tucked that away over the years and ponder it often. I spoke last time about the living power of the Word of God but today I want to personalize it a bit.

What Word, what Truth is the Lord speaking personally to you currently? What revelation is He working in you? Jeremiah 1:12 teaches us that the Lord is watching over His word to perform it. And as we read last time in Isaiah 55:11, the Word of the Lord will accomplish what He has purposed it to. This includes the word He speaks personally to you.

What has God told you about you? What has He called you to do? To be? To say? To go? What instruction has He given you? Are you aligning your own words and actions with the Word of the Lord? Are you being careful to speak life and truth about the word the Lord has spoken to you? Have you not been so careful? Have you spoken doubt or negativity about God’s word in you? God’s word through you? God’s word for you?

Let us take heed to these powerful reminders in the Book:

Revelation 12:10-11 “And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of the brethren has been cast down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”

Let’s not join in the enemy with accusations. Let’s be conquerors and over-comers by the word of our testimony, by the blood of the Lamb!

James 1:22 reminds us to “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.” Whatever the Lord has spoken to us personally, we are obligated to act on it. Self-deception is powerful. Let’s not fall prey to it.

Always remember “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things” (James 3:5). Let’s always keep our tongue under submission to the Holy Spirit and speak Truth.

Last reminder: “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45b & Matthew 12:34b).

Let us be sure that what we are speaking about ourselves aligns with what God is speaking about us.

Your Word is Living – Hebrews 4:12

Posted on by Megean

When you read the scriptures, do you feel the life flowing power course through your body?

Jesus said the words that He spoke were both spirit and life. (John 6:63)

Isaiah 55:10-11 & Luke 8 compare the Word of God to a seed.

Peter explains that the born-again experience is made possible through the life-giving power of the Word of God.  (I Peter 1:23)

James also makes a similar statement that the will of the Father brought us forth by the Word of Truth. (James 1:18).

In John 1 we read that in the beginning was the Word of God and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us and in John 14:6 Jesus said that He is the Truth.

In Psalm 119:160 we read that God’s Word is true from the beginning.

As followers of Jesus, true believers, the Word of God will always be at work in us. I Thessalonians 2:13 states, “and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

God made it quite clear that His Word will always be at work and not be void, empty, or dead. Every word the Lord speaks has purpose. Isaiah 55:11 states, “so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish (to do or to make) that which I purpose (incline, desire, to bend, to be pleased), and shall succeed (to push forward, to break out, be good, be profitable) in the thing for which I sent it (to send away).” Words in parentheses are Hebrew word definitions. From the very beginning, God’s Words brought forth life.

Is it still happening in your life today? As a believer, as a follower of Jesus, do you feel the life-flowing power of the Word coursing through your very being? And I don’t mean are you having an emotional response. Hebrews 4:12 explains the depth the Word penetrates in people.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (ESV)

God’s word is alive and working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined. God’s word cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (ERV)

For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than nay two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (AMP)

For the word (logos) of God is quick (alive), and powerful (active, operative, effectual, powerful), and sharper (to cut by single stroke) than any two-edged sword, piercing (to reach through, penetrate) even to the dividing asunder (separation) of soul (heart, life, mind, soul) and spirit (breath, vitality), and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner (decisive, discriminative) of the thoughts (deliberation) and intents (thoughtfulness, moral understanding, intent) of the heart (thoughts, feelings, mind). (KJV with Greek word definitions.)

There is a difference between our spirit and soul. They are not the same thing. Though we humans in our limited understanding often find it difficult to express or define the difference. According to online dictionaries discriminative means making distinctions and distinctions means a distinguishing factor, attribute, or characteristic. God’s Word penetrates that deep into the core of our being. Truly nothing is hidden from Him.

This thought came to me the other day as I was reading scripture, something I’ve read many times before, maybe even a genealogy passage. I could feel the Word’s life-flowing power course through me. His Word truly is alive, it is powerful, it is still working. Allow it to work in you, for you.

I’ll close with this verse that played on repeat in my spirit as I drifted to sleep last night:

Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

The Lure of Religion

Posted on by Megean

The lure of religion is a sense of control wrapped in a “holy” cloak, “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof” 2 Timothy 3:5.

The lure of religion is a deceitful lure. “So, you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:28

Ever wonder why so many people around the world adhere to some form of religion or another? What is it that religion offers or provides? I believe this answer has both negative and positive elements. In its simplest form, religion offers the follower some sense of security and control. My guess is we each have our own idea of religion that immediately comes to mind when we hear the word. For the sake of this discussion, let’s define the term accurately. In the KJV Bible the word religion is used 5 times and only once with a positive connotation. First, let’s define religion by KJV concordance: G2356 threskeia means ceremonial observance. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, religion is: 1. The belief in a god or in a group of gods. 2. An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods. 3. An interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or a group. Combining the online definition with the concordance definition, we are going to focus in on ceremonial observance: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god.

There is so much history that could be placed here, so I’m going to try to summarize. When God first made man and woman, He wanted a free-flowing relationship between them with no hinderances. However, after sin entered the world, there also entered a divide between God and mankind. After that, for hundreds of years, God spoke with men and women most often through their God-given conscience and on occasion personally as we see with the story of Noah and Abraham. By the time Moses entered the scene, it was clear humans needed a type of law code to abide by. Left to their own devices, humans often chose poorly (and still do). It is also during this time of Moses that we see God’s chosen people reject Him (again) and ask for a mediator and an established law code. Exodus 20:18-19 “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and stood afar off and said to Moses, “you speak to us, and we will listen; but do let God speak to us, lest we die.” This directly contradicts God’s desire for relationship with humans as we see in Exodus 25:8 where God says, “and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” Herein enters religion – the meld between human desire and God’s desire: “God wants to know me and I want to know Him, well just a bit, give me the laws and the rules, and let a man (or woman) speak for Him, but let’s keep him at bay, not too close, lest we die!”

The one scripture reference that shows religion in a positive light is James 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James draws this contrast to a worthless religion referenced in the verse before, “if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless” James 1:26. Both times ‘religion’ is used in these verses it means ceremonial observance. So, that shows us it is possible to have ceremonial observances – such as caring for widows and orphans and separating ourselves from worldly influences. But, James is trying to differentiate between a religious walk and a walk of faith.

A religious walk gives the adherer a sense of control in their life. That person can follow a set of rules and try to be “good”. This gives them a false sense of security and control. A religious walk offers the follower control. They can be in control of their own life.

Colossians 2:20 – 23 “if with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive to the world, do you submit to regulations- ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch’ (referring to the things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” A false sense of control, but truly no control.

A walk of faith is vastly different. A walk of faith requires a constant tuning into the Spirit. A walk of faith is not the individual’s own (Colossians 3:3). A walk of faith is at all times being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18). Again, Paul draws the contrast between a walk of faith and a religious walk. It is one or the other.

Following ceremonial observances, aka the law: religion gives the person a sense of control over their own life. So long as they are “checking all the boxes” daily, they’re good. See the story of the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-22). He had checked all the boxes. However, he was not in tune with the Voice of God, the Spirit.

Abraham might be the best of example of a true walk of faith. There was no established written law yet. He did not have other “followers of God” in his life to base his walk on. All he had was his own sense of knowing the voice of God for himself. God called Abram out of the land of his family, out of a culture of everything he knew, out of not only his comfort zone but also out of his safety zone. Abraham had no idea where God would lead him. He had no idea what the terrain would be like, what strangers or hostility he might encounter. He had no idea about his future, only that he knew his God. Abraham had that level of confidence, that faith, in God to pack up his family, leave everything he knew and loved, and venture out into the unknown. That confidence came from knowing God.

As we are taught in Hebrews 11, faith is not based on what we know or see in the natural, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is absolute confidence in God. The only way someone gains and can access that confidence in God is by knowing Him. Romans 10:17 says it this way, “faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.” There’s no religious (ceremonial observance) substitute for faith. Faith requires us to be in tune with God. The only way to be in tune with God is to know Him. The only way to know Him is to walk and talk with Him and allow Him to talk with us. This is how we learn Him, how we know Him, how we gain confidence in Him. That is the walk of faith.

2 Corinthians 3:3 “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

That is the lure of religion. It is safe. It is known. It is boxes easily checked. It is being in control of one’s life, but not really being in control. Religion offers a false sense of security, a false sense of control.

Faith, at first, seems scary, it is unknown. The ‘to do list’ changes as the wind wills; John 3:8 “the wind blows where it wills and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Faith does not allow the follower to be in control of his/her own life. Faith yields its life and direction thereof to the Master. Faith offers true security. Faith is confidence. Faith becomes freeing and known. Faith is knowing God and being known by Him.