God's Word: Its Power and Importance in My Life

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Wednesday night, as I  was listening to the pastor teach a lesson on contending for our faith, he referred the scripture 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?", to encourage us to build ourselves up spiritually in order to protect ourselves from being led astray; to keep our faith strong. When I thought deeper into this matter, I was reminded of how easy it is to be unaware of certain things that are important in the quest of living a life of holiness and maintaining your faith without the word of God in your life. While it is simple to most Christians to identify problem areas that are more obvious to the eye; it can take years to recognize problems deeper within the heart.

Examining yourself is not only good advice, it is a necessity. But, to be able to effectively examine yourself, you must read and hear the word of God regularly; meditate and pray upon His words. Beginning at the moment we are first saved, God's grace is poured out upon our lives as He is working on us, changing our hearts. Not us, but Him. However, you must feed upon His Word daily with an open heart and in prayer in order to fully understand His desires for and expectations of you.

When I was first saved, I was at one of the lowest points of my life, completely lost and broken. Only 7 months before, my father and stepmother had given me an excellent study Bible as a gift...which I had yet to open. Now, here I was, broken and alone. Out of desperation for help...for comfort, peace, hope...well, everything I needed to be free from the deep darkness I was in and had finally realized my own efforts were only causing more destruction. I buried myself in that Bible. The more I studied it, the more I wanted to. Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled". My eyes were finally opened and God revealed to me so much about myself, down into the depths of my innermost being. I began my path to healing, true healing, God's healing. I knew then that all my problems had been caused by my own transgressions and God was the only solution to my suffering. Through God's grace, there was a lot to be changed in my life...in my heart. I believe that because of my state of complete emptiness and being desperate for God's deliverance and restoration, my heart was changed nearly instantaneously in many ways. Once angry and bitter, I became humble and compassionate. God's word gave me comfort and peace that I had never experienced, even in the midst of a raging storm which would have been unbearable without God. Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and my through Jesus Christ". My amazing strength and peace during that time not only proved to me the power of God and his everlasting mercy and love, it was also a testimony to those close to me. Sure, I had moments of weakness and plenty of failures, but God is always faithful to forgive. Had I continued on without turning my life and my heart over to God, I would never have found peace and I cannot imagine where I would have ended up.

A couple of years after I was first saved, I experienced several major changes in my life that were unexpected and difficult to bear. I found myself in a place where I was literally alone. With all of the people in my life that had been my comforters and encouragers gone, I had to bear this burden alone. Instead of turning to God as I had for 2 years, I turned to my old methods of coping with pain on my own. However, even in those times, God's word was so implanted in my mind that I carried the guilt of being away from Him, as He was always on my mind and constantly sent reminders to me of my life in His arms, in His closeness. That is how powerful His word was in my life. It was truly written on my heart and never erased from my mind. After several years of being stubborn, that very truth that was written on my heart is what led me back to Him. I thank Him for never leaving me, for He was always with me even when I was unfaithful to Him.

Today, I study His word daily. Learning from my past mistakes, I fully understand that I need Him in every area of my life and His word is how He speaks to us to give us all the wisdom we need to survive in this world and to experience His glory. The pastor was right on target when he advised us to read the word of God in the spirit and to examine ourselves. Without knowledge of the truth we cannot effectively examine ourselves AND we cannot be protected from the deceitfulness of Satan, who is very cunning and always seeking to destroy Christians through their weaknesses, which he is watchful for and attentive to. In the Bible you can find many scriptures where God tells you the importance of His word in our lives. A few that are dear to me and always serve as a reminder to me how important it is to wake up at 4:30a.m. to spend time in His word even when life is busy and I may be exhausted are as follows:

Hebrews 4:12 (showing the overall power of His word)

"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."

2 Timothy 2:9 (showing His word is eternal and cannot be destroyed or contained)

"for which I have suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains, but the word of God is not chained"

Revelation 20:4 (showing He is His word)

" He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and His name is called the Word of God"

Roman 10:17 (use for our building of faith)

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"

Ephesians 6:17 (use for our protection)

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"


Thank you Lord for giving us your word. Without it, where would we find direction, hope, comfort, or see Your power and awesomeness? Help me to stay faithful in studying Your word daily and to hear You speak to me through it. I long to grow closer to You and I know that I have to spend time with You in Your word in order to strengthen our relationship. I pray also that Your name is glorified in all that I do and even that my words in this journal will touch and encourage someone. Thank you Lord! Amen!

*Have a blessed day everyone :)

***I have attached a music video that is a beautiful and inspirational song. Also, this video is awesome and has more powerful scriptures that speak the power and importance of God's word.

Having a Servant's Heart......

Phillipians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others as better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Recently, God has laid it upon my heart and revealed to me much needed wisdom on the subject of having a servant's heart. I know that I am not the only Christian out there that has been confused or did not fully understand the concept of truly being a servant of God. God has a specific calling on the lives of every Christian. This doesn't mean that everyone is called to be a preacher, missionary, or teacher. There are many different things that God may have for us to do. But, everyone is called to be compassionate, to have the heart of a servant. Jesus himself is our example of this. He made Himself lower than all. He gave all that He had, His very life, for very undeserving people (including me). Now, in Philippians, Paul says we are to have that same mindset that Jesus had. I  have been discouraged in the past, and sometimes still am, because I have met so many Christians that were not willing to sacrifice themselves, mostly their time, which is probably the one thing that most are not willing to sacrifice, in order to further the ministry of God. Also, some have the misunderstanding that being God's servant means working at the church or at church functions. Quite the opposite! I had to learn this on my own. When I was first saved I wanted to do something, anything, for God. I thought that meant I needed to do something at church. I was so discouraged for a long time because I felt I had no place, no purpose, in the church. One of my weaknesses is that I do get discouraged easily sometimes. Back then, even more than today. It took me years to truly understand that being a servant means having that selfless, compassionate heart at all times, in everything you do, and doing everything as if you are doing it for the Lord and not people. This has been a great relief to me. I always had that selfless, compassionate heart, I just didn't realize that the kindness and compassion that I was showing others in the little things I did was actually "working for God". Now, my whole outlook on life is different....in the most wonderful way. When anyone questions me about something I have done or tells me I shouldn't do something anymore because people are taking advantage of me or it is too stressful and I don't need to deal with it, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to tell them that I am doing it because that is what God wants me to do and I am doing it for Him. For whatever reason, God has given me this opportunity a lot lately. Nearly every day I am witnessing to people by simply telling them why I do certain things. My life is obviously very hectic with raising 4 children right now and keeping up with a busy household, but even in doing my duties as a mother and wife, I give it all that I have because I know that I am doing it for God. Yes, I oftentimes add to my busy life by doing for others and some people in my life tend to think that it is only adding more stress that I don't need, but, again, I give and I help others because I am doing it for God. I carry the mindset that Jesus never said that being His servant would always be easy and any day could be my last so I'm not waiting until my kids are grown and life is more simple before I take on the more difficult tasks that God sends my way. I personally don't want to say "God, I know this is important to You, but I'm kind of stretched for time right now". The small things that I do will do great things in the kingdom of God. Sometimes, the little things we do or say make a huge difference in a person's life even if we don't realize it. Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. When a Christian reaches out to people in need, whether that person is a Christian in a weak place at the time or a nonbeliever, the light that is in them, Jesus Christ, shines...even if that person doesn't say so right then. That act of reaching out to them may be the first time they have seen Jesus through someone...or it may encourage a Christian who had grown weary to keep running the race. This is why we all need to be mindful of the way we act and the things we say...you never know when God will place you in that moment where it is critical to do and say the right thing. Now, before I close, I would like to say that it is completely my fault that it took me so long to figure out these things. I suppose that I was so focused on finding something to do for God (which isn't a bad thing), that I didn't just take the time to read Scripture AND pray about it. Of course I prayed and prayed for God to show me what He wanted me to do and for Him to open the doors for me. But, I didn't just clear my mind, read my Bible, and pray about the Scriptures, asking for wisdom. Fortunately, I spend a lot more time alone with God now and even throughout the day, while I'm washing dishes or doing laundry or even taking a shower, I am constantly talking to God. Time alone with God does bring you to a greater understanding of Him and His Word. It has made a huge difference in my life. Of course, I haven't lost that desire to do more for God. I will never lose that desire. In fact, I am writing this because I wanted to do more to reach out to people for God. This happens to be what I can do right now since I do have small children at home and can't really get out of the house to participate in volunteer work or other types of ministry work outside the home. God knows each of us and He is not going to put on us more than we can bear and He will give us the means to bear what He does give us. I experience a lot more peace and happiness now that I learned that by being humble, selfless, and compassionate I am doing just what our Lord called me to do first and foremost....He does the rest in His time.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine so before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.

Thank you, Lord, for showing me that your first calling for me is to truly understand and strive to have the same mindset and compassionate heart towards everyone, to have a servant's heart in all that I do. I pray that everyone will have this same desire and You will give us all the ability to always be as You want and expect us to be in order to let the world see Your light in us and thus Your name be glorified.

In Jesus name I pray,
Amen

I hope that you have been touched or enlightened in some way by this entry. Bear with me, as this was my first post. Thank you for taking the time to read this....have a blessed day!