Six years ago, the Lord allowed me to study Jeremiah four times in a row. Four different Bible studies with four different groups of men. One of the major lessons, was that the leadership of Judah had abandoned the Word of God and began to proclaim to the people their own dreams and ideas. Since most of the people did not have YouVersion on their phones, they were not exposed to the Word of God and had no access to it.
One of the applications from that study is I began asking men who were in leadership, “What is the Lord teaching you from the Word these days?” It has gotten to the point that many now anticipate the question and tell me before I ask.
A few weeks back I was praying through the Church’s (note that is big C the entire body of Christ not a specific congregation) engagement with the Word of God. I was reflecting on Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Hebrews 4:12 (here @ Bible Gateway). I was asking God why if His Word does not return void and if it is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, why then, have so many of His people abandoned it? Why have entire Christian organizations chosen to ignore it? Why have Bible publishers worked with secular publishers to make it more “attractive” to this generation? Why does the Lord not draw people to Himself through His Word.
As I considered these, I will admit that I was struggling with some level of despair. I am deeply troubled by the seeming lack of hunger for God’s Word in many professing Christians and equally disturbed by what is considered “good” Christian literature. Thinking through this another question, really a subset of the first began to form. I’m still working on the precise language, but it goes something like, “How has the Word challenged what you believe or how you live out your walk with God recently?”
If it is the case that Isaiah 55:8 – 9 (here @ Bible Gateway) is true (it is), then if I am in the Word, abiding in the Word as Christ said that His disciples would do (John 8:31 – 32 (here @ Bible Gateway)), then it would be a continual experience that my thinking and knowledge of Him would be challenged and corrected. My world view would be continually being shaped, transformed, as Paul describes it in Romans 12:2 (here @ Bible Gateway), by my exposure to God’s nature and character as revealed in His inspired Word.
So, “How has the Word challenged what you believe or how you live out your walk with God recently?” How has it caused you to change? How has it transformed you?
Was led into a little study of angels today. They are messengers of God's word, come in His name to guard and to guide His people. God says to "Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him." A stern warning of his fearsome presence, and of the hazard of disregarding him. Embedded within that fearsome message, though, is a nugget of liberating, powerful truth: God loves you. The power of the angels, God's Holy Spirit, has now found a place among men, who, filled with the Spirit, fully armed with the weapons of spiritual not carnal warfare, carry His name, and proclaim the message of the God's love.
ReplyDeleteKent, great observation on the implications of the role of angels in our lives.
DeleteThe fury, the intensity, the ferocity that drives angels forward in their task is their passion for God's word: to carry it forward, to see it rule in our lives. Like a nuclear reactor, God's word hidden in our hearts is what impels us forward into holiness, love, and good works.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great observation. Out of curiosity, what are some passages in which you saw that about angels?
DeleteAngels as messengers bearing God's word:
ReplyDeleteExodus 23:20-21, Malachi 3:1, Revelation 5-11, specifically Revelation 10:8-11, Luke 1:26-38, 2:8-10, Matthew 1:20-25, in Revelation 2-3 the Spirit of Christ delivers God word to churches through the church's messengers (aggeloi), Matthew 11:7-15 Jesus describes John the Baptist as God's aggelos, identifying him as the first of forceful men forcefully advancing the Kingdom of God, endued with power like the angels of God themselves.
Ok, I would like to talk through this with you when you have some time.
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