Heavenly Citzenship

 

1970-01-02

Virginia Brandt Berg

10:44

10:50

Downloads:  Heavenly Citizenship.mp3

I am a stranger here, within a foreign land;
My home is far away, upon a golden strand;
Ambassador-to-be of realms beyond the sea,
I’m here on business for my King.

—From "The King's Business," by E. Taylor Cassel, 1902

Greetings again in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord bless you and make you a blessing.

You know, our citizenship isn’t here. There is such a wonderful scripture about this that I want to read to you, it’s in the third chapter of Philippians. I wish we could just read the whole chapter, it’s such a wonderful chapter. God’s Word says, “But what things were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ.” Paul was saying that all things were just nothing, he counted them loss! They weren’t worth anything compared to what he received in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.—Philippians 3:8–11

Now we go on to the portion that I especially want to talk about this morning, skipping a few verses here, because we don’t have time. And he said:

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, and whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Now let’s mark that sentence, because we are going to say something about that:

“Who mind earthly things, for our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”—Philippians 3:17–21

Now in 2 Timothy 2:3 and 4 we find also these words: “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. For no man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” So you see, the Word tells us that no good Christian soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this life.

I think perhaps I mentioned one time on this program that I did not have my citizenship in this country, because I had married a Swede who had been born in Sweden, and who didn’t have his citizenship. If they only knew, he was such a wonderful man of God. It was during the days of the war, and if you married one who was an alien, you became an alien! Well, my people had been born in this country, my great-grandparents and all.

Yet that made an alien of me, and every month I had to send in where I was and account for myself because I was “an alien!” It was such a ridiculous situation, and I haven’t time to go into all the facets of it, but I can tell you it was most embarrassing. It took me some time to get that citizenship.

Then it was that this passage became such a comfort to my heart, that my citizenship was in heaven. “For our citizenship is in heaven,” Philippians 3:20. And I want to comment on this for just a wee bit.

Some time ago I found myself one night paying a real price and sacrifice to sit up and hear through a late program. It was regarding some one of our national crises; I think at that time that it was in Africa.

I wanted to be well informed, and more and more I found myself trying to keep up with as many phases of that situation in Africa, and I didn’t realize until this particular night that it was telling on me spiritually.

I was getting so entangled with the affairs of this world, though I wasn’t doing anything worldly, except just trying to keep up with the news, as I see it, and be well informed so that I could converse intelligently with other people.

But I found myself trying to keep up with so many phases of the mess this old world is in, and I couldn’t do it without worrying and feeling almost in bitterness sometimes, and some frustration because of the world condition, it was taking the keen edge off of my spiritual life. It was on this particular night, of this late program, that I just had it out with my soul.

I’m not saying anything against being well informed, but information that is needful and can be used for God’s glory—that’s different. I want to be a good citizen and do all I can to help my country, but first of all, let’s remember this passage, that our citizenship is in heaven.

“We’re here on business for the King,” and our real citizenship isn’t here. You cannot be true to that heavenly citizenship and have so much time absorbed with the affairs of this world, even with the present world crises.

If we really believe our citizenship is in heaven we’ll not become so attached to this world, or absorbed in every little news about its tragic condition. Because its fears drive us to tension, its troubles cause us loss of time and sleep, and time that we could spend in prayer.

Dearly beloved, there are so many of the world to tend to the world’s affairs. Our time and strength and money must be cast on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the side of things eternal.

Our attitude as a citizen of heaven is to be detached from this world, not attached to it! Not to be conformed to this world, though we be well informed in some ways, but we are to be transformed by our living in the things that are eternal, and in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and living upon His Word. (Romans 12:2)

We must have a deep realization that we are living for eternity and not for time, and our heavenly citizenship can never be put in a secondary place. There never was a day when spiritual matters could be so easily put in a second place, and then met with some silly little excuse, that things of time take our thoughts and our energies.

Men are not facing up to eternal facts with moral issues like I have. They have no sense of values; their comparison of values are forgotten today! I don’t know just how to express it the way I want to, but eternal things call, oh they call so earnestly today because the Lord is needing every soldier, and that soldier cannot entangle himself in the things of this world.

We can’t thoughtlessly give ourselves to the temporal because we are defeated spiritually by all this hubbub about us. If we could but see the events of life framed in the ultimate results that they lead to, what a change there would be in our lives and in our sense of values.

God help us that we might keep the divine perspective clear! Is there someone listening in that is content to lose a soul because they’re so occupied with the temporal that they have no sense, no time for things eternal?

Philippians 3:20, states that our citizenship is in heaven, “from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Are you looking for Him? Are you really looking for His coming as He has promised? Or are you looking at TV so much and looking at the news and all these other things so much that you don’t think much about His coming, and your affections are not set upon the things that are above, but they are set upon the things that are upon the earth?

God’s Word says in Colossians, “Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God,” and “Set not your affections upon the things on earth, but on the things that are above.” (Colossians 3:3, 2) And Hebrews 13:14 states, “We have here no continuing city, but we look for one to come.”

Maybe there are some Christians that have said like the disciples of old, “Yes, Lord, I believe these things. I will follow Thee and these things.” But beloved, it’s going to take something more than just a statement of that kind. It’s going to take some real action on your part.

You’re going to have to live in God’s Word and take a definite stand before others, and witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Won’t you accept the words of these scriptures and believe that in the Lord Jesus Christ you can have a supply of His strength and His power and His wisdom, to take an active part in His service, in the affairs of the heavenly kingdom where your real citizenship is?

God’s Word says, “He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24) That’s where your life is!

There is a little verse that says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) If you’d just taste, by giving Him a chance to work in your heart! You’d need only a taste to make you long to know Him better and live more in His Word. He wants to help you. He longs to solve your problems and lift your burden and comfort you.

God bless you and make you a blessing. Keep looking up. He answers prayer.

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TRANSFORMED

 1970-01-02   Virginia Brandt Berg  

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Greetings in the name of our wonderful Saviour! The Lord bless you and make you a blessing and give you a wonderful day. Welcome to Meditation Moments, and may this meditation be a blessing to your heart as it has been to my own.

Reading in Isaiah 40, that very familiar passage that has been such a blessing to so many, the 28th verse: “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.

“He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28–31)

Those wonderful words, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” That’s a very precious and wonderful verse to me, because I’ve had to ask God to renew my strength so many times, and as you grow older, you’ll find that’s true of yourself also.

It will be just a few months and I will be 79 years of age, and yet I have such a busy life: this program is a very small part of my life, counselling, speaking appointments, and writing, and then I have my homework also. So life is a busy thing for me, and so many times I have to look to the Lord to renew my strength, and I think about this verse.

I’m giving you that personal testimony because it has been such a large part of my life, and I feel like it may strengthen your faith to know that there are those that really depend upon the Lord for their strength: they just draw their strength from Him.

You’re drawing strength from the life of a young man, 33 years of age, when you take the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many times when I’ve been so weary I felt I couldn’t take it any longer, I’ve depended upon this very waiting on the Lord to renew strength.

When you read these words and words like it, and you get quiet in your spirit, then you begin to realize how much of the clang and jar and hurry of the, well I might say of the streets that’s gotten into your soul. But there’s a remedy for that. And there’s a place that you can find quiet and repose and strength. “They that wait upon the Lord.”

I know when the feverishness gets in my own spirit, and the restlessness in my mind and tension in my body, I’ve gone through that just like you have, many times. Then I get alone and read His Word, and search my heart, spend time in prayer.

If you’d only do that until there is restored that perfect peace that the Lord promises, and that sweet rest that He always gives—there’s a mighty repose in it, I can assure you of that—and you’ll mount up with wings as an eagle. (Isaiah 26:3, 40:31 ) You’ll just feel like your spirit is on a high flight indeed. Because you lift your soul to the bosom of God that way, and He brings that repose.

There are so many fine people today in this jet-propelled time that take some kind of tranquilizers to calm them down. Their tensions are so great, and the strain on their lives is just terrific, and the pressures of the day are so many, they have to have something, they say, to quiet them before they can get rest, something to cool the fever of this awful rush.

But it isn’t only with adults, this thing today! I just don’t understand all about it, but I have a schoolteacher friend, and she says she has five pupils in her room that have to be given tranquilizers under doctor’s orders throughout the day. And another friend of mine in North Carolina has a boy in her class room that she has to give tranquilizers to. What a pity that even children need such!

But I know the need is with many for a place for such repose. There’re so many places to go and so many things to do, and it’s so easy to get there, and so fast these days, and sometimes the very thought of staying home and not doing anything doesn’t appeal to many people.

Not going anywhere would be shocking for some folks! And to seek God’s presence and read His Word that they might refresh their soul and clarify their thoughts and take the fever out of their lives, well, they seem to think that would be a real waste of time. But unless they do that, they’ll never know this mounting up with wings as the eagle, this running and not being weary, this walking and not fainting. Yet millions down through the ages have found that only in the presence of God, as they wait upon Him, do they find rest and peace.

Every symptom of restlessness can be subdued in this way: all that restlessness can go out of your soul, if you just get quiet before Him and wait upon Him. You’ll find that prayer makes available the power of God that will just take all that strain out of your life. You’ll get so quiet and in such repose.

God’s Word says, “They who have believed have entered into rest.” (Hebrews 4:3) Now that resting place that He speaks of here comes through faith in God, and faith comes by reading God’s Word. How many times have we repeated that verse: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” And God’s Word says, “There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.” (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:9) You don’t have to wait to get to heaven to get that rest.

I don’t believe there was any hurry or straining in the life of Jesus Christ. Although He had such a busy life, His spirit was always calm and undisturbed. When the crowds grew too great and the demands were too pressing, He went aside to be alone with God, and then He would recapture the serenity of His Spirit: that’s why He went apart and alone so many times.

It says that every man went to his own house. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. (John 7:53, 8:1) Yes, we know He went there, because He had nowhere else to go, but He went also to be alone with God, and to wait upon the Lord.

He knew that in the difficult moments of His life, He could never meet the complexities of His calling unless He could lay His spirit on the bosom of God, until He was just encompassed with peace and confidence for all that awaited Him. But we poor humans, we’ve got so much to do, haven’t we? So active and such a hurry!

The fact is we just go ‘round and ‘round, and we don’t get anywhere, and so much time is wasted. And we could really do twice the work and accomplish so much greater things if we’d take time just to let our hearts go up and up to the throne of God, until His peace and rest would come down and equip us thoroughly for the work of the day.

Did you ever get up some day and just have everything go wrong? You broke dishes or you spilled something, or the phone wore you out, and all those things that happen.—Perhaps because you hadn’t waited for Him the first thing in the morning.

I had such a joy this morning. I have a couple of grandsons visiting me, one is 15 years of age and the other is 17, and when I came through the living room early this morning, here they were both sitting there reading their Bibles quietly! Both are Spirit-filled young men. Talk about your teenagers! There are some that walk with God. And you try it, my friend!

Just walk with God down the avenues of His Word and tarry a while with some of His promises. Read some of the passages like I read you just now, until faith will just flame and leap up in your soul. Don’t hurry! “They that wait upon the Lord.” You can’t ever get a blessing or comfort from the Word of God in a hurry.

Just pause a little over the words of Jesus Christ and give Him time to work in your heart. He wants you to leave with Him every care that you have. He wants you just to drop your burden right with Him and realize that His promises are unfailing.

I can assure you, the longer you tarry to read God’s blessed Word, the greater will grow your confidence that all the things in your life will work together for good to them that love the Lord. Oh, what rest and quiet that brings. What peace that brings to your heart to know that!

A restless, feverish spirit, a hurried life, is not so willing to give time to God to work. The Holy Spirit’s a wonderful teacher when you’re quiet and unhurried before Him.

For the help and the healing, the strength and comfort which makes life liveable and bearable amid all this that’s going on today, will never be found in any system of thought or philosophy. But it’s found in a Person, and that’s the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And you find Him there, closer and closer to your heart in the written Word, the living Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul found this secret, for he said, “My life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3) And I might say that I believe with all my heart that amidst the storm of life that is today beating so mercilessly, and the burdens and the pressures that weary so in this world that we’re in and the condition it’s in, God can empower and sustain you and can help you to live joyously and triumphantly and victoriously, if you’ll just wait on the Lord. Wait, I say! God’s Word says, “Wait on the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14) The dear Lord bless you. Give Him time; give Him a chance.

He’s still on the throne and prayer will change things. Amen.

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UTTERLY DESTROY

 1970-01-02 Virginia Brandt Berg

Greetings, and welcome again to Meditation Moments.

We are talking to you today about two little words in the Old Testament, in 1 Samuel the 15th chapter, and those words are “utterly destroy.” As you know, in just the few moments we have on the air we couldn’t possibly tell you the story of Saul and Samuel, and of the king of the Amalekites, Agag.

We couldn’t possibly tell you the whole story, but Saul was told to go out against the Amalekites and to destroy them utterly.[1] God’s Word says, “destroy utterly.” But Saul didn’t do that. If you remember, in the story he brought back King Agag, chained to his chariot. He also brought back the best of the cattle and the sheep because he was going to offer them, he said, in a sacrifice to the Lord. This is a sad story of the growth of evil in a life which was once given to God.

I want to talk about little sins that are left in the life that soon grow to be such great sins, and how what was once so harmless, seemingly, soon conquers the life. I had this brought to my mind recently by a girl that I knew of that had gone for a number of years to Bible school, right here in Los Angeles. Then she married, and she went to Korea. There she fell in with companions of her husband and business, and there was just a little touch of this and that socially.

Now she has come back home, and her mother tells me that she has gone utterly away from the Lord and into the world. Because she compromised in the beginning—and it just began with such little things, just little social temptations—now she’s utterly away from the Lord.

So Saul spared Agag, the wicked king, as he thought for a good purpose, and kept the best of the spoil to be sacrificed to the Lord. God had said “slay utterly.” That word slay “utterly” should be written upon our heart: not “halfway” but “utterly.” Anything less than that’s going to be disobedience, and it will bring disaster.

Why don’t we have the courage sometimes to bravely and definitely sever with the Enemy and stand out wholeheartedly for God? You cannot tolerate sin. I wish you’d write that little word down: “tolerate.” The only security against sin is to be shocked at it.

I confess that you don’t see much shock at sin these days. Even Christians have rubbed up against it all around them in the newspapers and everywhere, and tolerated just a little of this and that, until they have hardened their conscience.

Your only security against sin is to be shocked at it. Keep the fires of indignation kindled hotly against sin. So many things are to our advantage with only a slight wound of conscience, only a little sacrifice of principle. Some haven’t got the moral fiber to wholly separate themselves from forbidden companionship and some little social temptation.

I’ll confess that there are a lot of excuses made for just this slight wound of conscience, when the thing that is wanted to be done is much to the advantage of the person. The greatest sin and separation from God often starts with just an unholy friendship or ungodly association of some kind which seemed so advantageous for some reason, but ends up subverting the consecration for God that one time perhaps was wholehearted and so blessed.

Dr. Livingstone tells a story of a singular little creature he found in Africa called the “ant lion.” It attacked and destroyed the strongest victims by a masterpiece of strategy, just like the Devil does. It would excavate a little pit in the dry sand in the form of an inverted cone running to a point at the bottom. Then it would sit down at the base of its little pitfall and wait for some unsuspecting creature to tread too near the edge of the crumbling sand. The victim at last appeared, and perhaps just by curiosity looked over the edge of this strange excavation, but perhaps he lost his balance and rolled down the side of the little pit where the ant lion waited for his prey.

Not, however, directly and instantly does the destroyer attack his victim. It’s sort of an unequal contest for the little strategist, but he opens his sharp little mouth—like a pair of powerful scissors—and with one quick movement he cuts off a limb. Now this keeps up until he’s mutilated the little creature. And it tries to go up the slippery side of the pit, but just as it reaches the summit it loses its footing again and tumbles once more into the jaws of this waiting little monster. And so limb by limb it is wounded and its remaining strength is gone, and at last it falls right into the hands of its enemy, who devours at leisure the little animal, the little creature, whichever it was. He wouldn’t have dared to attack it directly; he couldn’t have had the strength to have done that.

That’s the story of many a defeated Christian! Some little fox, as God’s Word says: “It’s the little foxes that destroy the vine.”[2] You’ve heard that many times, but it’s that little adversary that you didn’t even dread that has brought the final destruction, separated you from God. It isn’t by some outstanding attack of the Enemy always, but by a thousand little wounds to the conscience, that at last you lose your power of resistance against the Enemy.

And King Saul’s career is, I think, one of the saddest examples in God’s Word. One who had such a noble beginning but ended in awful disaster, simply because he began with just this little disobedience—if you can call any disobedience little. He had not lost out all at once, but the steady growth of sin in his life was horrible. At first it was just seemingly a justified act, a slight disobedience, a slight wound to the conscience. Self-will was a sin in Saul’s heart, but soon grew into a great giant that brought him to disgrace and disaster. But not all at once, remember.

This was the picture of the growth of sin when it was tolerated. For nearly ten years he sat on Israel’s throne while step by step the giant of sin grew. And that is a story of letting a little sin come into your life and not being shocked at it, not seeking God at once for victory over it—until Satan’s power has stripped you of a desire to resist.

God help you. Remember, watch the little sins, the little things that separate you from God. God will help you if you ask Him. He’ll give you victory, for God’s still on the throne, and prayer changes things.

[1] 1 Samuel 15:3.

[2] Song of Solomon 2:15.

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YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

 Virginia Brandt Berg

1970-01-02

Downloads:

•  Your Spiritual Growth.mp3
•  Your Spiritual Growth.oga

Greetings and welcome to Meditation Moments. God bless you, and may the program bring some blessing to your heart. I’m bringing you tonight from God’s Word this verse of scripture: God’s Word says, “We are ever learning but never coming to a knowledge thereof,” and I’m just wondering how much you have grown in the Christian life? (2 Timothy 3:7)

I’ve been asking the Lord to search me. Ask the Lord to search you. Say, “Lord, how much have I grown in my Christian life?”

To be years older and not be years nearer God is like walking in a circle; it’s motion without progress. So you search your heart and ask God how much progress you’ve made. I wonder if you remember the vision that God once gave you of the life that He wanted you to live.

I think every Christian has had that great longing to reach certain heights of Christian victory.—The vision you once had that God gave you: great expectations of victory, and great stirrings in your soul, and great determinations to live close to Him.

I wonder if you can say with Paul, “I’ve not been disobedient to the heavenly vision.” (Acts 26:19) Or have you become satisfied with a low level of Christian living, a mediocre life, sort of common and defeated? I have some friends that are just radiant and triumphant in their victorious Christian life.

I know some that are professing Christians that are frustrated, and they’re not conquerors. They’re like the old lady said, “I’m just a poor worm!” Well, I’d hate to call myself just a poor worm in the Christian life. God says that we’re more than conquerors! (Romans 8:37)

There’s no such thing as standing still in the Christian life. You’re either going backwards or you’re going forward. Can you be satisfied with anything less than victory? That’s God’s provision for you. God has provided victory. It’s all through His Word, all through the Word of God that you can be a victorious Christian. (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54–57; 1 John 5:4)

But if you’d make confession at this time, would you have to say, “I’m living a dwarfed, defeated, disappointed Christian life”? You know, there was a man that used to, when he was just a little bit of a fellow, he would go to his mother and say, “Mother, how big I am!” The mother would sometimes say to him, “How big are you today, son?” And he would say, “Oh, so big, mother, so big.” The years went by, many years, and he came home a defeated man, a defeated Christian, and his mother said, “How big are you, son?” He said, “Not so big, mother.”

I wonder if you’d have to say that spiritually if you went on a tour of inspection of your heart, if God would put His X-ray on your soul? All these wonderful expressions in God’s Word about the abundant life, I wonder if you are reaching on victoriously towards that. In the searching diagnosis would you find out that you’re really growing?

You know, you are really three persons: what you think you are, what others think you are, and what God knows you to be. There’s one that we know: there are no dwarfs in heaven. We have to grow, don’t we? Now God’s Word says in Revelation 11:1, “Rise and measure the people.” “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein.’”

Our measuring rod is God’s Word, so let’s use it and see. In 2 Corinthians 10:12–14, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: for they measure themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.”

So we don’t measure our growth by how others are growing; we measure only by the Word of God. And God’s Word in Psalms, a number of times God’s Word says, “Search me, O God.” You know that verse of Scripture, “Search me, O God, and try my thoughts, and see if there be any evil way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24).

I’m just thankful for anything that will break through and make me take a deep look at myself. We’re living in such a pressured age, no time for meditating or thinking, and we need to stop to take a look at ourselves and not gloss things over, not be deceived, not have a light view of sin. God’s Word says, “Let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but let him think soberly.” (Romans 12:3)

You know how a baby grows? A baby grows by air and food and water and love, and that’s just about the way a Christian grows. Air is the prayer, and the food is God’s Word, and water is the thirst that’s in your soul and the everlasting love and power of God and His Words, and then love that’s in your heart.

You can tell if you’re growing, if you’re really growing in love. Are you more obedient than you used to be? Our time is so short and these things that we have to say to you, but let me just say this in closing, that you can’t make yourself grow in any way; it comes from just abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It comes just from living in Him and living in His Word and the sweet personal union with Him. It isn’t by any straining or self-effort. It’s no self-dependence. It’s just putting yourself utterly in His hands. The center of Christianity is Jesus Himself—a living, loving personality. It’s fellowship with Him that will bring you the victory and bring about the growth that you want in your Christian life.

God bless you, and we pray that you’ll feed on the Word of God until you grow into the fullness of stature of Christ Jesus. He’s still on the throne and prayer changes things.

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God's Word part 2

By Dennis Edwards: Transcription of audio. YouTube Link

Okay. Good morning. We are going to continue the reflection we started yesterday, the Meditation Moment. We were talking about the Word, the importance of the Word in our lives, how Jesus was the Word made flesh and that to know the mind of God, like Paul admonished us to, we need to know God's Word. And I'm going to go over a few more verses here. this next one is from 2 Peter 1:4. It says,

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.

So God's Word is not just pretty pictures. It's not just pretty sayings. There are actually promises there that can help us to take on the Divine Nature, to become more than the fleshly human being that we are, and become more like Christ, more like God. And so, there are lots of promises there and we can appropriate those promises. And we can become something that we are not. We can become more like Christ. And He can be manifested in us as we appropriate those promises, and as we accept His Word and live it and let it change us and make our minds and hearts like His.

The next verse is from Joshua 1:8. It's one of my favorites. It says,

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.

This is just like in Psalm 1,

His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

It's the same principle here, that this meditating on God's Word is going to make our lives prosperous, fruitful. (Bom dia) And so, God's Word has a beautiful effect on us, if we'll spend time meditating upon it.

We are told that the first commandment is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. So the mind comes into that, into loving God with our mind. Paul also tells us to,

Casting down imaginations, and high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. [1]

How can we bring our thoughts to the obedience of Christ if we don't even know what Christ's mind is like, if we don't even know His words. You see, His words give us discernment and this is what the next verse we're going to go over talks about. It says, Hebrews 4:12,

For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

God's Word gives us discernment. You see, Jesus said,

If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [2]

You see, God's Word is truth. In John 17:17 Jesus said,

Thy Word is truth.

God's Word is truth. So, He also said,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. [3]

So, we have the truth as Christians. We have the Word of God and the Word of God is the truth. We have an objective truth. We have a way to measure right and wrong, whether it is according to God's Word, and not the letter of the Word, but the Spirit of the Word, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. [4] We need to know, that's why Paul said to,

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. [5]

Not wrongly dividing it. Not self-righteously dividing it. But rightly dividing it. And that's what Christ went around and did. He rightly divided the Word of truth. He showed love was more important than the letter. More important than the law was love. So that's how we divide it, God's Word, the truth, is with the Spirit of love. But the truth is there.

Notes:

[1] 2Corinthians 10:5
[2] John 8:31-32
[3] John 14:6
[4] Isaiah 28:10
[5] 2Timothy 2:15

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God's Word part 2

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Importance of God's Word

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Meditation on the Importance of God's Word

By Dennis Edwards:YouTube Link

Good morning. Today's meditation moment is going to be on the Word of God. These are 14 different verses of the importance of God's Word. The first one is John 1:1 & 14.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

God became flesh in Jesus Christ and He dwelt among us. Jesus is the Word of God. You want to know Jesus? Then you need to study His words. See what He said. Read His words. We know one another through our words. Our words, Jesus said, 

the words I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life.[John 6:63]

You see our words reveal our real inner self and we know each other through our words. There used to be a saying

A man a is as good as his word.

Words are real things. They lift up or they knock down. They bless or they curse. Jesus said we'll give account for every idle word. So words identify us And God's Word identify's Him. And God's Word was manifested in Jesus. He's the Word of God. And Jesus said in Matthew 4:4,

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

You see a man isn't just a flesh being. You know it's not just eat, drink and be merry without spiritual fulfillment. Mankind is searching for spiritual input to satisfy his weary soul and it's found in God's Word. But what's happening is so many times the Pharisaical religious people have made the Word of God of none effect through their traditions.[1] 

In Psalm 119:11 it says,

Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The Word is the standard by which we judge what is true and what is false. Psalm 119:130 says,

The entrance of Thy Words gives light: it gives understanding unto the simple.

God's Word gives us light. It helps us to understand things. It helps us to get the big picture. Paul said to Timothy,

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.[2]

You've got to study to know God's will. You've got to study to know God's mind. Paul told us to put on the mind of Christ. [3] But how can we put on the mind of Christ unless we study, unless we read His words. Matthew 24:35, Jesus said,

Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.

God's Word is not going to pass away. Everything else you're living for is going to pass away. But it's the Word of God that is going to endure forever. Please pick up your Bible and read God's Word. It will give you strength, life, encouragement. It will give you comfort in time of need. It will give you spiritual strength. It will give you verses and stories to share with others, so you can comfort and strengthen others.

Peter says, 1Peter 2:2,

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.

As a little child is on his mother's breast, so should we be with God's Word. God's Word should be the most important thing in our life, more than our necessary food. As Job said,

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips, I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.[4]

And people go travelling all over the world, to India, all parts of the world, to try to find spiritual enlightenment. And it's right there in that little book they have in their parent's home. It's right there in that thing called the Holy Bible. If they would just pick it up and read it and get desperate and call out to God and say, "God peak to me, speak to me."

Psalm 119:105 says,

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God's Word is a lamp that will help us know where to walk. It will speak to us in those moments when we don't know what to do. And we read God's Word and all of a sudden something that's written there, even though it's talking about something entirely different, it just pops out and speaks to us. And it's just the key to showing us exactly what direction we should take. Are we to do this, or should we do that? Should we say "Yes," or should we say, "No." Should we have the operation or not? God's Word is that light, it's a lamp unto our feet.

And John 15:3, Jesus said,

Now are you clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.

God's Word cleanses us. It's like taking a shower. You spend time in God's Word and you just feel refreshed. You've had a big struggle, or made a 10 km run and you've gone into the shower and you're showering yourself and all the filth is running off. That's what it's like when you spend time in God's Word.

Notes:

[1] Mark 7:13

[2] 2Timothy 2:15
[3] 1Corinthians 2:16

[4] Job 23:12

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Meditation on Isaiah 58

By Dennis Edwards: YouTube Link

Today's meditation is on Isaiah 58. The chapter starts like this:

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.[1]

So here we see the people of God delight in making a show of seeking God. And this is what they say.

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?[2]

The Lord says,

Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen?[3]

You see this is the fast instead of fasting, you know the church says lets take a fast and not eat and have just juices, we're going to really seek the Lord. But the Lord says here this is the fast I want you to do. So what, at the end of the week you'll feel so righteous that you've done some fasting? No, this is what the Lord wants you to do. It says,

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?[4]

That you even help your own family that maybe need help and you don't want to help them, because you have hardened your heart against them, because they are your own family. If you do these things, in other words, if you loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, and deal your bread to the hungry, and bring the poor that are cast out and don't turn your back to your own family,

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.[5]

Are you sick and need healing? Start helping other people. Start opening up the window of your life upon others. Do you want healing? Do you want God to hear your prayers? Then the Lord Himself is going to be your reward, your face is going to shine, because the Lord is going to be with you.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.[6]

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.[7]

So there we have a beautiful chapter from the book of Isaiah where we learn how God will answer our prayers. It is not the fast of denying ourselves food or drink that the Lord wants where we feel righteous about what we've done, and we think God has to answer our prayer because of something that we've done. Yes, there is something we can do, and that's to open up our lives upon others and help others. And that's where God promises to hear our prayers, when we get busy helping the oppressed, and feeding the poor, and taking care of those in need, even those in our own family. That's what God's going to bless. So if you want healing, you want answers to prayer? Get busy helping others, and you're putting yourself in position for God to answer your prayers. God bless you as you help others.

Notes:

[1] Isaiah 58:1-2

[2] ibid 3a

[3] ibid 3b-6a

[4] ibid 6-7

[5] ibid 8

[6] ibid 9-11

[7] ibid 12-14

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Meditation on Psalm 91

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Meditating on Psalm 1

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Meditation on Psalm 23

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Meditation on first chapter of the Gospel of John

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Meditating on 1st Corinthians 13

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