“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
The other day we began to look at the importance of spending time with God and in His Word. Today I’d like to continue that journey.
We need to study and know God’s Word because it is our weapon against the enemy (Ephesians 6). In Matthew 4 Jesus uses the Word of God to defeat Satan when the enemy was trying to tempt him. In Ezekiel 37 a valley of dry bones came to life because Ezekiel spoke the Word of God over them. When we speak God’s Word we speak Truth and life into people’s lives and into hopeless situations. Learn your weapon well so you can wield it powerfully!
Next, we read God’s Word because we need to have sound doctrine to live by. Without sound doctrine we cannot disciple others well, nor will we be able to tell when someone is teaching us a bunch of biblical baloney. In Acts 17 Paul commended the Bereans for examining the scriptures after receiving his message to ascertain whether Paul spoke the truth or not. We will not be able to reject false messages taught to us about the Bible if we do not know what the Bible says.
Finally, we spend time with God and in His Word because the Spirit of God living within us desires for us to grow more deeply in love with God and abide by His precepts. In Deuteronomy 6 the Israelites were commanded to write the law of God upon their hearts and speak about them with their children and the community. The church has become God’s people with His Word written upon our hearts and further revealed in His Word. I encourage you to dig deep into the treasures of His Truth!
God bless!
Noree Wegmeyer
Photo Credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photo/bible-and-cross-1417509
Little white lies—they’re harmless, right? They weren’t for the couple in today’s Dose verses. “But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.” (Acts 5: 1-2) They were together in this deceit! Peter confronted Ananias first. Ananias fell down dead! Not long afterward, Peter spoke with Sapphira and when she told the same lie as her husband, he confronted her too. Then, she fell dead!
When prayer request time comes around in my small group, I usually ask for prayers for other people close to me and not myself.