Tuesday, 10th September, 2024
Bible Reading: Luke 4:4, 2 Peter 2:2
Memory Verse: Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved. 2 Peter 2:2 (CEV)
…Continued from yesterday. Other characteristics of the scriptures include:
5. It is like a fire and a hammer: “Is not my Word like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29). If only we would have a teachable spirit by listening and obeying the Word of the Lord, we will find that it can soften the hardest heart and break down every wall of resistance. However, many people reject what they hear and in so doing harden their hearts to the Word. The Holy Spirit says to them: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3: 7-8). Humans are not robots who are programmed and manipulated by God, but intelligent beings with a free will. We have the capacity and choice to accept or reject the Word of God. If we have a teachable spirit and receive the Word into our minds and hearts it will be like a fire which consumes all human theories and false ideas about life. Instead of our distorted views of the past we will receive divine wisdom and insight, which is described as enlightened eyes of the mind (Eph. 1:18). The spiritual hardness, licentiousness and wilfulness caused by sin will be replaced by gentleness, self-control and a hunger and thirst for the Word of God.
6. It saves sinners: “…receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls” (Jas. 1:21). “[you have] been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides for ever” (1 Pet. 1:23). People who have grasped this great truth are anxious to learn the words of eternal life from the Lord Jesus.
7. It is spirit and life: The Lord Jesus said: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63). After being born again we should nourish ourselves daily with the Word to become mature Christians, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: “…as new-born babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2; Eph. 4:13-14). This spiritual food is essential as “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Lk. 4:4). Is the Word actively working in your life? Increased knowledge of the Word should coincide with increased grace. That will only happen if the gaining of knowledge is not only a mental exercise but also leads to the spiritual enriching of the heart: “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Sadly, some people only grow in knowledge and not in grace. To grow in grace one must also grow in knowledge to ensure doctrinal purity in one’s beliefs. Systematic Bible study should be both instructional and devotional. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit as He alone can guide you into all truth (Jn. 14:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10). He makes the Word alive in your heart by ensuring that Bible study is not merely a mental exercise but part of your spiritual growth and humbling before the living God.
Quote: The letter of the Word kills, but the Spirit of the Word gives life.
Prophetic Decree: Henceforth, the Rhema in the logos shall transform your life drastically, in Jesus name.
Prayer Focus
1. Thank you Father for the power in your Word.
2. Let the hammer and the fire in the Word of God break my stony heart, in Jesus name.
3. O Lord, as your Word comes out from my mouth and every pulpit, let it save sinners, in Jesus name.
4. I receive grace to receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save my souls in Jesus name (Jas. 1:21).
5. I receive grace and the needed discipline to eat and drink from the Word daily for physical and spiritual nourishment, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 43-45
