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God used a vision to bring a paradigm shift

There are times in life when we are so set in our ways that we are not open to change. We have no intention to have a renewed mind or a change of heart on a certain topic. We can even use scriptures or personal experiences to back up our stance. In those times, a paradigm shift is required. God uses dreams and visions to bring the shift in our thinking and in our perspective. Praise God for dreams that can open our eyes to Truth when other vehicles or tools may not be sufficient to bring about the transformation.

But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common. Acts 11:4-9

After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, God was bringing a paradigm shift in the mind of Jewish people. For centuries, they were considered the special and chosen ones by God. They were the ones who had a covenant relationship with God. Surely, Christ was only for them and the descendants of Abraham. But God rich in His mercy was opening the door to the Gentiles to be saved and become grafted in the family of God.

The Lord had to communicate the message in a way that could bypass human understanding, tradition, & prejudice. He had to stress the importance of the change to His apostles before they were sent out to all parts of the world. God chose to communicate to Peter by basically saying:

From now on, the Gentiles were not going to be considered unclean based on their family of origin. They along with Jewish people needed to have the opportunity to hear the gospel and receive salvation.

Paul confirmed this later on in various passages including Romans 2:28-29

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Peter had the vision, but he had to step out in obedience and walk this vision out. He could no longer consider the Gentiles unclean or try to avoid being in their house or eat their food. He had to have a desire to not only associate with them but to share Christ with them.

Dreams and visions carry on the responsibility of obedience. If the dream is giving us warning, we must heed it. If the dream is giving us instruction and wisdom, we should follow it. If the dream asks us not to be afraid, then we must walk out in faith and trust God. If the dream is about God’s heart and His desire to see a change in us, then we need to be willing to change.

Praise God for Peter’s obedience to the vision. This vision was monumental in opening the door for all of us to have the opportunity to hear the gospel and accept Jesus as our personal Lord and savior! 

We need to pray that God would give dreams to our unsaved family and friends. We especially need to pray for  those who come from religious backgrounds or other religions  because they are more set in their ways.

Many Muslims come to salvation because of the dreams they have about Jesus. Islam describes Jesus as a good teacher but tells people that He is not the Son of God. They are also told that Jesus was not crucified but that God provided a replacement for him. These create huge stumbling blocks in believing Jesus as their Lord and savior. Dreams provide a reality that can overrule tradition and culture.

Lord we ask that you pour out dreams and visions over our cities. Help them to see your glory, power, and love for them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What is exciting about dreams is that people of various cultures and religions believe in dreams. They know there is a message in there for them that has a prophetic or futuristic nature.

Here are a couple of more ways that God used dreams in people’s lives:

Dreams give wisdom and strategy

As we continue with the life of Joseph from the last devotional, we see God using him in a powerful way by interpreting Pharoah’s dreams. These dreams were about preparation and wisdom for the forthcoming famine that was going to hit Egypt and the surrounding nations. Through the dreams, God gave Pharaoh a strategy on storing food in the days of plenty and utilizing the stored food in the days of famine. The interpretation of the dreams was critical for Egypt, other nations, and Joseph’s own family.

Through the interpretation of the dreams, Joseph was elevated to the most powerful person after Pharaoh. While for a long time Joseph’s dreams didn’t have any resemblance of reality, they were finally fulfilled. God fulfilled Joseph’s dreams, as Joseph fulfilled Pharaoh’s dreams and became an answer for accomplishing God’s purpose on the earth.

God used a dream to confirm His plan 

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 1:20

In the New Testament, we have another Joseph who had a very important dream. God was doing a miracle on the earth by bringing His only son to the world through a virgin who hadn’t been touched by a man. He needed this man, Joseph to cooperate with the plan and to take care of Mary and protect her while she was pregnant. He was reassured that Mary didn’t do anything wrong, and he should still marry her. Joseph was also to take care of the baby  as his own son and raise Him for God’s purposes.

This is what is beautiful about God’s dreams and plans. We don’t have to convince others of what God has spoken. When the right time comes, God will confirm the dream to others who are supposed to come alongside of us. The Lord will direct them to see the vision and help support the dream ordained by God. Praise God for His provision.

The Lord continues to shape us and keep us on the potter’s wheel through dreams. Dreams encourage us in God’s plan and purpose. They remind us that we didn’t conjure things up, but God has a purpose that He is working it out in our lives.

Let’s continue to pray for God-ordained dreams and accurate interpretation of them.

Dreams & visions are powerful ways of communication that God uses to speak to people. Dreams take us beyond human understanding and transcend us to a different realm. This is a place where we are more open to hearing or seeing things that our natural mind may ignore or override.

Dreams & visions also have prophetic nature about them that God uses to prepare us for the future and what is coming next. God invades people’s lives through dreams when at times they may not be open to the message. We see throughout the Bible that God used dreams in the believers and unbelievers’ lives.

Not all dreams are from the Lord. Since we live in a world that is full of noise, darkness, and chaos, we have to be careful what we are subjecting ourselves to. Dark or horror movies can have an affect on our dream life. If we have been going through some tough situations in life, some of those can get reenacted in our dreams. We want to stay sensitive to what the Spirit is speaking.

In the next couple of devotionals, I’ll share some of the ways that God used dreams in the life of the people:

Dreams can be used as warning

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” Genesis 20:3

God used a dream to warn an unbelieving king that the woman he married was somebody else’s wife. The king had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know that Abraham out of fear was willing to sacrifice his covenant with his wife, so he won’t get killed. Who knows, maybe Abraham was praying that the king wouldn’t touch his wife and that God would alert him somehow. The scripture makes no mention of that, but we do know that God wasn’t happy about this arrangement. He gave a stern warning to the king that if he were to touch Sara, he will die.

Sometimes, God gives us warning about certain individuals or situations in a dream to move us in the right direction and protect us from harm. It’s important to heed those warnings and not make excuses for it.

King Abimelech could have dismissed the dream or discounted it by sleeping with Sara a couple of times before he sent her back. However,  the message of the dream was strong enough that he did not delay in responding quickly and removing any form of evil from his house. The Lord calls us to do the same. If you know the interpretation of your dream, take it seriously. If you’re not sure what the dream means, ask your Pastor or elder to direct you to the right person to interpret your dream.

Dreams can encourage one in a difficult process

God gave Joseph two dreams about his future that in the immediate time got him into trouble with his brothers (Genesis 37). He had dreams of ruling over his brothers and even his own parents. His brothers got jealous of him and tried to get rid of him by selling him into slavery.

For a long time Joseph’s life was the opposite of what his dreams meant. Joseph had to go through a process that took over a decade before God positioned him for what he had dreamed. In the long years of slavery, & being falsely accused, Joseph must have kept those dreams in his heart and from time to time thought about them and pondered on them. While his brothers pushed him into slavery, Joseph’s aura wasn’t that of a slave. He lived and worked with excellence stewarding everything that God had given him because he knew who he was. Praise God for dreams that withstood the test of time!

The very thing that had gotten Joseph into trouble years ago, now it became the impetus for him to get out of prison and come into his position. Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. The chief butler who had been blessed by the interpretation of the dream by Joseph recommended him to pharaoh (Genesis 41:9-13). Finally, Joseph’s dreams were on their way to being fulfilled. Praise God!

Think about the dreams God has given you. Do you take them seriously? How has He used them in your life? Write down your dream when you have one and pray for God’s interpretation.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

Jesus is interceding for us

–-by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant…… Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:22 & 25

There are times that we don’t even know how to pray. It is important in those times to remind ourselves that Jesus is interceding for us. He knows what we need, He is in tune with our condition, He has suffered just as we have, and He is standing in the gap for us.

In John chapter 17, Jesus is making intercession for all the believers. His desire is for us to know the father and to be one with Him.  When we have a revelation of our oneness with Christ, no longer will we feel alone in life. It is like a marriage covenant that no matter what happens the couple will walk right alongside of each other. How much more the lover of our soul and the one who died for us is willing to walk with us!?

Jesus’ blood gave us the life-long and eternal covenant to walk intimately with our bridegroom. He died for us, to give us life and more abundant life. He is on our side, and certainly He desires for us to have the fullness of the salvation that He came to give us and to enjoy all of its benefits.

The ultimate encouragement

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He gave them the Lord’s Prayer. One of the significant part of this prayer is:

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

Jesus was focused on the Father’s will above and beyond man’s opinion of Him or his own emotions. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed more intensely:

“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39

Through this prayer, Jesus took us to the highest level of our calling. When we have done everything we can, we have prayed, fasted, and cried out before the Lord, then the best thing to pray is what Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not as I will, but as You will”.

There is great freedom in surrendering everything to the Father’s hands and being willing to go through it. The anguish goes away, the internal fighting disappears, anxiety and fear dissolve, and defending melts away. It all has been laid to rest because our will has been conquered by the will of the Father.

Surrender brings great rest and encouragement to the soul. Now, we are strengthened in the inner man to do whatever is needed to move forward in the purposes of God.

Take one area of your life that you are discouraged about. Present it to the Lord and encourage yourself in Him. How does the Lord see you in this situation? Do you know He is with you in it? Have you surrendered the process and the outcome to the Lord? Speak to your soul. Praise Him for who He is  and allow the  breath of God to flow in that area. In Jesus’ mighty name! Amen.

There are times in life that we have to take an active role in encouraging ourselves.  This could come in a time when no one is around to help us. It could be a season of pruning when one feels bare and lonely. It could be a time when there is a lot of persecution all around. On rare occasions, it could be a moment that one feels betrayed and isolated from others. Encouragement is an important part of our walk with God.  It helps sustain us in times of doubt, difficulty, or pressure.

Speak to your own soul

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him? For the help of His countenance. Psalm 42:5 & 11

The poet is in tune with his soul and knows at this moment, his soul is depressed and is in anguish. It is interesting that even a psychologist would tell you that depression is anger turned inward. People who have been in hurtful situations that they couldn’t change them or talk about them, keep the tumult in their heart. This, eventually raises its ugly head in the form of depression.

Depression is a place of losing hope and feeling like things will not change. The Psalmist speaks to his soul and says to it, put your hope in God. He is the one worthy of praise. He is the one who has never failed me nor forsaken me. He is the one who can even change my countenance and renew hope in my heart.

We need to say to ourselves: People or circumstances around me may continue to vex me, but my expectation is in God. I know He is good, and He seeks good for me. I will always hope in Him and look to Him for the help I need.

Call yourself what God calls you

In Song of Solomon, the Shulamite woman encourages herself differently.

I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, Like the curtains of Solomon. Song of Solomon 1:5

The Shulamite woman is not in denial of who she is since she calls herself “dark” but she quickly says, “but lovely”.  That loveliness is something we cannot forget. There are times that we may think we are in a dark place. We feel no one loves us or cares about us, but we have to quickly remember that we are still lovely. Jesus died for me because He loves me, so I am lovely.

It is interesting even in the description of her darkness, the Shulamite woman didn’t compare herself to dirt, or a black sheep, but she compared herself to the tents of Kedar and curtains of Solomon. Kedar was a nomadic tribe that historians think came form Neo-Assyrian Empire. Of course, Solomon was a mighty king at the time of this writing. While she was trying to describe her darkness, she was still using royalty analogies. It would be as if trying to describe being dark to a black Rolls Royce or a black Corvette. The Shulamite identity had changed while she may still have had traces of her past hurts or her past failures.

God wants us to see ourselves as the Shulamite woman describes herself in this verse. We are lovely even though we weren’t loved before. We are lovely even though we were mistreated in the hands of others like the Shulamite woman was (see Song of Solomon1:6).  Our identity makes us different now. We are in the chambers of the king, and the more we recognize it and believe it, it gives us a confident humility about who we are. It encourages us to stay the course because we see ourselves like God sees us. There is hope that things will get better, and that we are changing more into our true identity.

If you need encouragement, take time today through His word and His Spirit to actively encourage yourself.

Breakthrough cultural barriers

In Ephesians 2, the scripture tells us that Jesus came to breakdown the middle wall of separation between the Jews and Gentiles. For the Jews, the Gentiles were considered unclean which caused separation between the two groups. We don’t want to be like the Jews of the past and avoid associating with the Gentiles of our time (unbelievers) because of their sin or sinful lifestyle. Part of our success as believers will hinge upon us being willing to breakdown the middle of wall of separation between us and the unbelievers.

We can get so caught up in our Christian relationships, that we either isolate ourselves from unbelievers or don’t have a desire to spend that much time with them. When we have regular relationships with unbelievers, it will allow us to know the issues that they are dealing with. They become a person who has needs rather than just a fish to get caught for Christ! As the saying goes, “People want to know how much you care about them, before they care how much you know.” We want to have a heart to love them and at the right time share Christ with them.

Several months ago, I was at the gym working out on a stationary bike. A gentleman sat on the bike next to me, so I struck up a conversation with him. He was from one of the Eastern European countries. He happened to immigrate to the United States the same year as I did. So we discussed politics, then talked a little bit on the subject of religion. I shared with him that I was a Christian, and gave a synopsis of my testimony. At one point in the conversation I asked him if he was married. He responded by saying, “You wouldn’t approve of my lifestyle!”

I asked him if he was living with someone and he said, “Yes.”

Then the Lord opened my eyes, and I asked him, “Do you live with a man?” He said, “Yes.” I had no idea up to this point.

That led us to a spiritual conversation. He knew the scriptures about homosexuality very well. His problem was that he had developed a family with another man, and they had children together. As a result, he didn’t want to lose his family. That gave me a great burden for this man and his family.

While we continue to preach, teach, and discuss the sin of homosexuality, there are homosexuals who are getting married and are having children. As the government continues to support civil unions and homosexual marriages, we will see more families developed over time. As a church, we need God’s divine wisdom on how to minister to individuals and families who are coming out of that lifestyle. Lord, help us. We desperately need to be in tune with God and in step with what is happening in people’s lives. Simple and quick answers aren’t going to be the solution, and it is just going to alienate people from church.

The voice of majority isn’t necessarily the voice of truth

Just because the voice of majority is louder, it doesn’t mean it’s true. That’s why it’s important for our ears to be more in tune to hearing the Lord than the voices around us regardless of the environment.

Sometimes, it’s not even the issue of whether something is moral or immoral but the amount of time and energy we put into it that should be evaluated. For example, success is an important American value which culturally translates into higher position and making more money. As a result some have careers ambitions, and they desire to move up the career ladder. There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with it, but with a couple of caveats. First, we don’t want to compromise our standards or be man pleasing in order to get promoted. Secondly, we  should be careful in not sacrificing time with God, our spouse, and children, so we can impress the boss by working too many hours.

The scripture tells us:

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22

If we strain/damage our relationships with people closest to us in the name of work, then we are out of God’s ordained priority in our lives. The same holds true in ministry. God established the church after he established marriage, work, and children. The Bible tells us that our relationship to our spouse is reflective of the relationship of Christ to the church (See Ephesians 5:22-32). By making a good and successful marriage we model that reality.

Jesus never asked us to live at church. He called us to be the church. We are the living stones, each of us doing our part in building and establishing the Kingdom.  He wants us to minister as we go through life touching people’s lives.

Lord, we need your help to create a worldview that goes above and beyond any culture that we are part of. We want to establish our lives around your standard and what is important to you. Help us to see things clearly and be willing to make the necessary adjustments to our cultural values that we’ve held near and dear for so long. We want to be in line with your will!!

The world’s culture can taint Christian culture

Let’s pray that we don’t wake up one day and find ourselves in a position where we have been selling our goods for the exchange of the world value system.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8 (KJV)

The above scripture tells us that don’t let these things spoil you.

The word “spoil” in Greek means: to carry off  booty, to carry one off as a captive (and slave),

to lead away from the truth and subject to one’s sway

Our lives have to be examined in light of truth and how Jesus lived. Those things that the Lord hates, we should hate. The things that matter to Him, we should care about. We don’t want to give away our goods as spoil to the culture and the worldview we are surrounded with.

As believers in Christ, we are dealing with the world’s culture and the Christian culture. If we are not careful, worldly values creep into the church, and after a while scripture is used to support carnal and worldly view, and even call it a Christian value. For example, we may talk about God promoting those who are faithful in the Kingdom and honoring them. God does do that. However, there are a couple of things we have to be cautious of. First of all, we don’t want to produce performance oriented mentality in the life of the believer/church. That’s the way of the world. Performance can drive a person to do more to get attention, reward, and promotion. They may continually feel that they haven’t done enough. It can also cause competition, envy and strife with brothers and sisters in Christ. Secondly, those that God promoted in the Bible, weren’t looking to get promoted. They were just being faithful to God, and God chose to promote them not because they were striving to get it. We can’t look at the end result of a Biblical character’s life  and produce a worldly formula on how to reproduce it in our lives.

We are also a society that is very much entertainment, sports, and Hollywood driven. The messages our children and young adults get via TV, magazines, and various online sources gives them skewed outlook on success, beauty, wisdom, & relationships. The challenge with those values is that they become so prevalent that they look like normal life to most people even Christians. Sex outside of marriage, broken homes, abortion, and divorce are so common that even as believers we can get calloused towards them. When was the last time you cried over a broken marriage or an aborted baby?

The church is called to be relevant

While we need to watch out for  the world value system not to creep into our lives/churches, but the same time we need to be around unbelievers. Our challenge is that we don’t want to be influenced by the culture but be an influencer. To have an influence we need to be in closer proximity. This will challenge our Christianize vocabulary, so we can speak simpler and more relevant to those who have never opened the Bible. “Simpler” and “relevant” does not mean the truth needs to be distorted.

Jesus called us the light and salt of the world. He didn’t call us to be a special spice that only certain groups of people or ethnicities use such as saffron, cumin, or chili powder.  Salt is something that people of various cultures use as a seasoning and preserver. In order to be light and salt we need to come into closer contact with people, so our lives could actually have an affect in their lives.

Lord, we pray that you would expose any area where the worldly culture has creeped into our thinking. Give us the courage to look to you to define the right values in our lives. Amen.

People of every nation or creed live with certain established rules, expectations, and values. We would call it their “culture”. We are influenced by our culture more deeply than most of us realize it. Every organization has a culture, some of which is spoken and other parts are unspoken. Those who are part of the culture understand the spoken and unspoken expectations of that group. A company, nation, ethnic group, church, or families each have their own culture.

There are some great benefits to being part of a culture. It defines, to some degree, who we are. It establishes a set of guidelines that we can live with, so people don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If the cultural norms are good, it allows the next generation to build on what has already been established and continue a strong heritage. On the other hand, a culture can be a bubble that we live in. It may isolate us from others who are not part of our culture. It may give us blind spots as to impair us from seeing the weakness of our own culture. 

The bubble of culture

When I first came to the U.S., I was 15 years old.  Two days after my arrival I started as a junior in high school. My schooling back in Iran was intense, demanding, and focused. We didn’t have much free time for anything. Additionally, most schools were by gender, so we were not in contact with the opposite sex on a regular basis. This coupled with the fact that dating was not allowed kept life very simple. Every morning we would wear the same old school uniforms, carry lots of textbooks and notebooks and go about our lives.  Working hard at school and making good friends (of the same sex) was all we had.

When I immigrated to the U.S. and started going to high school it was a culture shock! The kids had lockers in school, one for books and the other at the gym. When they told me that I had a locker, I was wondering what I would use a locker for. I needed all my books and all of them had to go home with me every day. Then I noticed that the other girls would lock up most of their books in the locker before they went home. Many of them had make up in their lockers that they used in between classes to ensure they refreshed their face in between periods. There was dating, hand holding, and kissing going on right before my eyes. In my culture, even married couples didn’t kiss each other in public. I had no idea that you went to school to do all that. Conversely, those girls would have probably been just as shocked if they had entered my world and had observed how we did life in high school back in Iran!! Each of us had lived in our own bubble and each group considered their way of doing things the norm and the right approach.

Our culture can keep one in infancy spiritually

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.  I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;  for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?  For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? 1Corinthians 3:1-4

While the Corinthian church was gifted spiritually, they were still operating in carnality. Their carnality and the tradition of man had a look of spirituality though. They were proud of the fact that they were taught and impacted by Paul or Apollos, but in the process those blessings were causing division among them because of their carnal worldview. If Christ is the head then regardless of who has touched our lives in earthly form, should not cause a feeling of supremacy or lead to separation between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Whenever we bring a cultural value into our spiritual world,  that will cause stifled spiritual development. Any value that exalts itself above Jesus, will hinder us from progress and can keep us in infancy and carnality.

What are the cultural values that you hold near and dear that are not necessarily of Christ? Are there values that you live by which are producing envy, strife, and division? Ask the Lord to show you.

The word of God is the bread of life, and we are dependent on it on daily basis. There are so many benefits to the word of God. Here are a few more:

A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Luke 8:5-8

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:11

The word of God is a seed that penetrates the hearts of people and in due season can produce fruit. We usually discuss this scripture in the context of an unbeliever coming to salvation, but the seeds are continually sown in believers’ hearts as well.

The Lord has recently been dealing with me about a word that someone spoke as an advice almost two years ago. At the moment that I heard it, I thought I understood it, but it wasn’t until the conditions ripened in my life that now it’s becoming very relevant. Now, I am accountable to applying it in my life.

As the scripture tells us, the word of the Lord does not return void to Him, but it will fulfill His purpose in due time. Be encouraged that the word you share with others will not get lost or perish. You have given an incorruptible seed to others. God will use it in His time and His way to produce fruit in people’s lives.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17

The word of God is our offensive tool to fight the devil and his destructive devices in our lives. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He used the word of the Lord to combat the enemy’s deceptions and temptations. If Jesus the son of God and the perfect one was tempted, we can be rest assured that we will get tempted as well. Our temptation will come in our vulnerable times when we want something so badly that we are famished to get it.

It’s important to learn to memorize and meditate on the word of God that when those temptations come, we’re ready. We don’t want to lose our inheritance to a bowl of stew as Esau did. We can withstand the enemy and push back the powers of darkness by using the word of God as our sword.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4: 11-13

Praise God for His word because it is the best X-ray and CAT Scan system available to the condition of our soul and spirit. We can act, impress, and convince ourselves and others of something that is not true, but when we allow the word of God to penetrate us, it separates truth from deception. It exposes and identifies wrong thinking, selfish emotions, and bitter will. God’s desire is for us to be spiritually healthy.

When a patient goes to the doctor, there are times that the doctor despite all his/her expertise doesn’t know what’s wrong with the patient; they have to order an X-Ray or  a CAT Scan to determine what’s going on inside the body. Spiritually speaking, the same is true with the condition of our soul and spirit. The most discerning or spiritually mature person still cannot determine what’s going on inside of us unless we allow the word of God along with the Spirit of God to expose to us our true condition and what requires attention.

The beauty of the word of God is that He doesn’t expose things to shame us, but to free us and heal us. Through the blood of Jesus we can be delivered from cancer of pride, tumors of jealousy, and infections of self-will and inferiority. We’re always in better shape to run to God and His word rather than run from it. God is on our side, and it is his desire for us not to be a pawn in the hand of the enemy neither does he want to see us live a defeated life!

Praise God for His daily provision of nourishment, sustenance, and strength through His word.

The word of God is powerful and effective to produce the life of God in us. God is a loving father who uses His word in different ways to shape us and mold us into His image. The scriptures state the many benefits of the word of God. Here are some of them:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” James 1:1-5

The Lord brought everything into being by speaking it into existence. Jesus became the incarnate word of God who came to this world. He brought life and light into a dark and dead world. The immensity of darkness and the sin of this world could not overcome the Word of God in the form of Jesus. Jesus overcame all powers, principalities, and forms of darkness.

When God speaks a word, He brings something out of nothing. It requires faith to believe what God says until we see its manifestation in the natural. The Genesis account tells us that God spoke the heavens and the earth and every living thing into being. Praise God that He can produce great things out of nothing!

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. “ Romans 10:17

Faith grows by nurturing it over time. In order for us to develop and grow in the faith, we need to expose ourselves to His word. God has given each of us a measure of faith, so we can have the opportunity to believe in Him. However, we don’t want to stay in an infantile stage for a long time.

To live a successful life of faith, we need to allow God to develop our faith. We want to be in a place spiritually that when God speaks of seemingly impossible things, we have the faith to accept and receive the word of the Lord just as Mary did when she was visited by the angel. She believed that even though she was a virgin, God was able to make her be with a child.

Faith gives us the opportunity to become the incubator for God’s purpose and plan. We nurture it in our hearts so it can grow until such a time that He brings it forth, and it becomes visible to us and others.

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29

God’s word is powerful and has the ability to convict us deeply, burn things out of our lives, and purify us from sin and unrighteousness. He also has the ability to break down the hardness of hearts, the pride of life and bring forth tenderness and gentleness, so we can look more like Jesus.

Are you enjoying the benefits of the word of God in your life?  Are you allowing the pure word of God to accomplish His purpose in your life?

Praise God that we live in a free nation where we have access to variety of Bible translations. We have the freedom to read the Bible, study it, and share it with others. That’s not something to be taken for granted.

I will continue with the benefits of the word of God in the next devotional.