The Word of the Lord…

The Word Created This!

Ok, so call me slow…I mean it takes me a LONG time to put a few things together and I often find that it was much easier than I think it will be.  Seriously, God Himself tells us that He uses the “..foolish things of the world to shame the wise..” 1 Cor 1:27  I am not sure that I am wise, but often things that seem so easy are suddenly thrust upon me when I am reading God’s word or a Christian book or hearing a sermon.  It ends up as a Spiritual AHA, where I am opened to a new insight of God’s character or grace or His desire to have a relationship with man.  So here is my new AHA moment:

God is calling me to write and speak.  That has become quite clear to me.  His word is burning in my heart often and when I have a new AHA moment with my Saviour my bones practically ache to tell everyone what I have learned.  That is one reason I started this blog.  Anyway, I am going to a Christian Women’s Writers/Speakers Conference  in late July and as part of that journey they asked I read a book called For the Write Reason by Marybeth Whalen.  I was reading today about God’s word.  How He used it to create the world, how His word is Jesus according to John chapter one.  The assignment at the end of this devotion was to use a concordance to look up the word word and find scriptures that were meaningful to you and write them down.  So I grabbed my computer and used biblegateway.com to find where word was used in the Bible.  Just as an aside in the NIV it is used more than 900 times!  That is amazing, but here is the AHA I got from reading.  Every time the Bible says “the word of the Lord came to ____ ” or “the word of the Lord came to me.”  It is talking about Jesus.  Jesus is the word made flesh!  Jesus all over the Old Testament meeting with sinful people.  Creating that relationship between God and man.  It gets better, because once Jesus came to earth the phrase, “The word of the Lord” is used differently.  Instead of it coming, the thing is the Word of the Lord already CAME.  Now the “Word of the Lord” is preached and heard and spread and taught and honored (Act 8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 1Peter 1).  It seems so simple, but it took me about 27 years in my Christian walk to discover.  We have to remember that  in Old Testament times, they didn’t have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  They didn’t have the Word in them, they had to wait for the Word to come.  Brothers and sisters aren’t we blessed that the Word has come?  That the Word has taken our sin and that the Father has sent His Spirit so the Word can abide in us (John 14)?  He didn’t leave us as “orphans” John 14:18, He gave us the Counselor.  The Holy Spirit indwells all who have accepted Jesus as his or her savior.

Thank You Jesus that you came.  That You came to Abraham, to Jeremiah, to David, to all the prophets of the past.  Thank You that also came in the flesh and dwelt among sinners.  Oh Jesus thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to indwell Your children.  You are amazing and Holy and Righteous.  Please make me more like You.  In Your Holy and Powerful Name, the name of Jesus.  Amen.

His Story!

So the Bible Study I have been attending and enjoying and growing in is taking a break for the summer.  Today we listened/watched to Iva May on a DVD tell God’s story in about 45 minutes.  Her blog is ivamaystories.blogspot.com

I was in awe of God’s design of the world, His constant pointing to and drawing people lost and sinful to Him.  I love that through all that is included in His word, the Bible, we can see His mighty hand weaving the desire to redeem and draw us into relationship with Him.  However what struck me most is that God uses ordinary people.  Yes, like you reading this blog and like me writing it.  He uses US to accomplish His will, His plan, His purpose.  So the choices you make today matter for eternity.  I am sure you are thinking how does choosing to brush my teeth or not matter for eternity?  Ok, please I am not trying to spiritualize everything, but even brushing your teeth can be done for the Lord.  He gave you the body you have and created it especially for you.  When you take care of your body, if you are doing it with the thought that God made me and He loves me and even though there are parts I would like smaller or bigger, it is still amazing and wonderful.  Then you are brushing your teeth for the Lord.  Oh, that I would drive for the Lord, brush my teeth for the Lord, shower for the Lord.  That I would be intentional in everything I say and do so that it would be an act of worship to the Lord.  Isn’t that what He has called us to do?  To be stewards of ALL He has given us.  That means the money from the job, the house, the body, the time He has given us.  Oh, to be so filled with His Spirit that I would wash the dishes to His honor, that I would do the laundry for Him.  That all that I do would be to honor and glorify Him in His story.  Not in making my own story, my own way.  But resting in His story and taking His yoke on me that I can let my burdens stay at His feet and do only what He has for me to do.

That is my prayer to be part of His story!