God’s Word actively moves in our lives so that we can either accept, believe and receive It…or choose to refuse It.
“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.” Heb 4:12 NIV
A double-edged sword. Not only is God’s Word our protection against the onslaught of the enemy, killing his lies and taking away any further false power over our hearts, but it also cuts away at our own lasting sinfulness. Many times this continuing wrong behavior stems from past lies we have come to believe about ourselves. These must be surgically removed from our hearts so we can act more and more like WHO we now are in Christ. This is one of the many things God’s Word does for us.
There are so many times that we react to a situation, but we are not even sure why we did that. God’s Word cuts deep into our soul and spirit, revealing the root within us that causes us to continue to react that way. Sadly, every human has experienced deep hurts from life, some more than others, that we push down into our unconsciousness so that we are able to function and move on with life. But again, those things which we are no longer even aware of, make us act out in ways that may not be good or healthy for us.
Here is a personal example, so that I can try to explain what I mean. This is not to offend my parents who did the best they could, given their own brokenness. But just because we are all broken, it also does not give anyone an excuse to continue to be hurtful towards others either. Anyway, like way too many people, I grew up with the mentality that I was not good enough. It didn’t matter what I achieved in my academics, how many trophies I won in my extracurricular activities, nor how much I helped out at home etc, what I did was always met with negative criticism and heart wrenching lack of recognition or appreciation. Humans are programmed to survive and so, I pushed down those discouraging, wounding, shameful words and deeds down into my spirit…and sadly they became a part of my identity. I believed that I was no good. I believed that I was not worthy of love. I believed that I deserved only punishment and heartache…then unaware of these false identity markers, I acted on them…ahhh but God’s Word! The Truth really does set us free!
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
September: 35- Mt 16:24; 36- Isa 53:6; 37- Ps 23:1-6
38- Heb 4:12
<>< Peace, Diane
