“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is,
the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth,
‘Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans
10:8-9).
Preacher John Hagee recently said that there is a miracle in
your mouth. The Word of God is mighty and living and dynamic. “In
the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” (1
John 1:1). This word is Jesus Christ, the living word who was, and is and is to
come. John 1:14 says, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from
the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In proclamation there is authority. The word of God is
powerful and flawless (Psalm 12:6). The
wonderful Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible speaks just of God’s word
describing it metaphorically. “How sweet are your words to my taste…The
unfolding of your words gives light…All your words are true.” (Psalm
119:103,130,160).
The prophet Isaiah describes God’s word in poetry saying, “so is
my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose from which I sent it. Your
will go out with joy and be led forth in peace.” (Isaiah 55:11-12).
Earlier in chapter 40 Isaiah says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but
the word, but the word of our Lord stands forever.” Hallelujah,
Amen.
Believers are sheep of His pasture. We need a guide. The
Shepherd is the leader and guide. If we are His we will hear His voice and
follow Him. “The watchmen open His gate for Him and His sheep listen to His voice.
He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). This passage of Scripture talks about real
and false Shepherds as well as sheep and goats. Sheep can and do hear God’s
voice, goats do not. They go their own way. None of the Shepherd’s sheep will
be lost because they know Him and hear His voice.
The Psalmist tells us, “today if you hear His voice, do not harden
your hearts” (Psalm 95:8). A
Psalm for Sabbath day tells us, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music
to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the mourning and your
faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:1-2). This is a Psalm of celebration
for the righteous rule of our God. He is faithful to bring His love to you
always. So let’s proclaim His goodness all the time. Yet, in Revelation 3:20
God tells us, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door, I will come in and eat with him; and he with me.” You may not hear God’s voice audibly
as I once did to begin my journey of faith, but do not harden your heart. Do
not believe that because there is suffering or pain that God is not present or
loving. We live in a world that we humans have messed up and made different
than God designed it. Therefore, we need to not lean on our own understanding,
but in all ways acknowledge, lean and listen to His voice, through Scripture, circumstances
and other godly people. We need to proclaim the word of God, because through it
others come to faith and the devil can’t harm us. The Word of God is our best
defense against spiritual powers that are not from God. In Ephesians 6 Paul
tells us to put on the full armor of God to defend against the devil. He says
take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.