God's Word is Our Lifeline!

 

Dennis Edwards

Today we are going to look at the importance of the Word of God in developing and maintaining a healthy relationship with the Lord.

Men are known for their words. We used to say the man was as good as his word. Contracts were once made by word in the presence of various witnesses. In the Book of Ruth a whole chapter is given to a verbal contract being made between two relatives. In the Old Testament someone could be found guilty of a crime by the mouth of two witnesses. The Pharisees used two false witnesses to try to condemn Jesus. Jesus was ultimately condemned for his words, not his actions.

“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man makes thyself God.” [John 10:31-33] The Jews were accusing Jesus of speaking false doctrine, of speaking falsehood, of speaking contrary to the true God.

We see that our words are important. In fact, words are real things. They bless or they curse. They lift up or pull down. In the proverbs we read, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” [Proverbs 18:21] In other words, we will eat the fruit of our words for better or for worse, for life or for death. Jesus Himself said, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” We need to ask the question: Why are our words so important?

Jesus answers why words are so important with His exclamation, “The words I speak unto you are spirit and are life.”[John 6:63] Jesus is saying his words are spiritual forces and have the power to give us eternal life if we believe and follow them. But many of his disciples went back and walked no more with Jesus when they heard His word. Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life.”[John 6:68] We see therefore that words are spiritual forces, spiritual entities, that can either bring life or death. If we follow Jesus’ words we can obtain the gift of eternal life.

The Apostle James has written a whole chapter on the importance of our words. He writes, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be.”[James 3:8-10] You can read about learning to control your tongue in James chapter three.

Jesus said to his disciples, “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” [John 8:31-32] If we want to be set free from the problems that our unruly tongue causes us, then we need to continue in reading and following and abiding in Jesus’ words. Where do we find Jesus’ words? They are found in the New Testament. But, in the Gospel of John we find out that Jesus was the eternal word of God that was with the Father from the beginning.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”[John 1:1-3] In the Book of Hebrews we find the same imagery.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”[Hebrews 1:1-3]

Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory, the very image of God who made the world and upholds it through the word of his power. In fact, it is only through Jesus that all things consist and exist.

In Colossians, we again find that the world was made by Jesus. “Giving thanks unto the Father,…who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:…who is the image of the invisible God,…for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”[Colossians 1:12-17]

In the Book of Genesis we see the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit active together in the creation. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. [Genesis 1:1-3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God spoke the word and light appeared. Eight times in the first chapter of Genesis we see the phrase, “And God said,” as He creates.

In fact when God creates man he says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” [Genesis 1:26] Therefore, right in Genesis we see the concept of the Trinty in God the Father, the Spirit of God upon the waters, and God speaking the Word and creation taking place. God considers himself a plural being in one. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Going back to the Gospel of John, we see that Jesus was the Word that was with God and was God.[John 1:1]  John writes, “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth…No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”[John 1:14&18]

The Eternal Word that was with the Father from the beginning and in fact created all things and all things consist by the word of his power is Jesus. In other words, Jesus is keeping everything together. Our lives, the universe, everything is being sustained by his power. If we want his power to transform our lives, then we must abide in his word. He said, if we continue in his word, we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. His word has transforming power if we follow its commands.

Jesus gave the imagery of the vine and the branches. Just like the grape branches have to abide in the grape vine to bear fruit, so we must abide in Jesus and in his words if we want his transforming power of the Holy Spirit to affect the change we need in our lives. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:4-5]

We can do nothing and will amount to nothing unless we abide in Jesus’ words and follow his precepts. Jesus said, “He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him…If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”[John 14:21&23] If we want Jesus’ transforming power in our lives we need to follow and keep his words. We need to read his word and follow it. That’s the secret. We can have a direct intimate relationship with Jesus through loving & abiding in his word. Here are some verses from Psalm 119 on the importance of God’s word.

Psalm 119:9 “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Do you want to clean your way? Then you should take heed to his word. But how can you keep his word if you do not know it, if you do not read and study it?

Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Do you want to overcome some of your bad habits and sins? Then you should hide God’s word in your heart to strengthen you in times of temptation and trial.

Psalm 119:98-100 “Thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than my enemies: for thy commandments are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.”

Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Do you need a lamp or a light for the days of darkness that are upon the earth? If you do, you should read God’s word. It promises to enlighten your path.

Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of thy words give light; it gives understanding unto the simple.” We are all pretty simple people. We need God’s word to give us understanding.

Psalm 119:133 “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” If we don’t want our problems, our vices, our weaknesses to overcome us and dominate us, then we should order our steps by following God’s word.

In the Book of Joshua we see the key to success. The Lord spoke unto Joshua saying, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success.” [Joshua 1:8] Meditating and observing God’s word is the key to success in our present lives and the key that unlocks the door to life eternal.

Jesus said, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”[John 13:17] Apostle James said, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” [James 1:22] Jesus also gave us the parable of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rock he built his house upon was his obedience to the word of God.

“Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”[Matthew 7:24-27]

Build your house upon the rock Jesus. Read and obey his word. Make his word the most important spiritual food you eat. Like we read in the psalms, “Blessed is the man… whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”[Psalm 1:1-3] Do you want to succeed in the things important in life? Then you should meditate on God’s word day and night.

Apostle Paul concludes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”[Colossians 3:16] Even the music you listen to should be word based so that it ministers to your faith, because faith comes by hearing the word of God. [Romans 10:17]

Whatever you are listening to, or viewing, or reading is ministering to you spiritually for better or for worse. What we have seen today is that the word of God is the secret to victory, and power, and life, and light, and everything. But if we spend most of our time listening to, viewing, reading the words of man, words that are contrary to God’s word, we will end up getting sick spiritually and even may die. Just like if your diet was all junk food, you will eventually get sick. So if you have a spiritual diet of the words of man, contrary to God’s word, it will effect you spiritually and may even kill you. Forsake the foolish and live. Read God’s word today.

“Ho, everyone that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear and your soul shall live.” [Isaiah 55:1-3ª]

All those other ways we try to satisfy our soul just won’t work. They won’t satify our soul. We need to hear God’s voice to know He is with us and is caring for us. Let us come unto Jesus. Let his word speak to us and bring us the love and comfort that we seek. Read God’s word and listen to his still small voice and be ye comforted.