Wednesday, April 9, 2014

April 10, 2014

I read an interesting story about an old miner who had lived the life of a hermit deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, some of his distant relatives came to collect his valuables.
They arrived to find a miner's shack with an outhouse behind it. Inside the shack, there was an old cooking pot, some mining equipment, and a cracked table with a three-legged chair that stood next to a tiny window. A well-used kerosene lamp stood as the centerpiece on the table.
As the relatives gathered up the miner's possessions, loaded them in a truck, and got ready to drive away, the miner's old friend came walking up. He called out to them, "Do y'all mind if I take what is left in that old shack?"

"Oh, no," they said. "Take it. We have all the valuable stuff. You can have whatever is there." The man thanked them, and off they went.
He walked over to his friend's shack, went in, and looked around for a little bit. Then he reached under the table and lifted up one of the floorboards. Little by little, he lifted out all of the gold his friend had discovered over the previous decades - millions of dollars' worth of gold.
Apparently, the old miner had died with only his true friend knowing his actual worth.
In the same way, our friend, Jesus Christ, wants to make Himself known to us, but we can be like a distant relative sometimes. Yet, if we would get to know Him better, we would discover the riches that He has for us.

And where are these riches? They are in His Word!
"For the word of God is quick, 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 discern-er of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Hebrews 4:12
The power of the Word is the power of the Trinity, it is the power of the truth AND it is the power of transformation!
What is the transforming power of the Word of God?
God's Word is the scalpel of the Holy Spirit that He uses to do soul surgery on you.
Only God's Word has the power to change your heart, soul, and spirit to become more like His.
As the Word takes up residence in your heart and mind it adds His value to you at the same time is removing your impurities!
His Word can make you good as gold but only if you dig deeply into it on a daily basis.



April 9, 2014

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:16-17

God's Word is powerful because all the omnipotence of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are active through the Word! The Trinity gives power to the Word!

A second source of power from God's Word is His Truth!

What is the power of God's Truth?

Obviously, God's Truth is powerful because it is the expression of His character. It shows you Who He is.

Life is without meaning or substance until you fully know Who He is and surrender to Him in faith.

It is also powerful because it shows you who you are!

The truth of God's Word convicts you of your sin and points you to your Savior. There is no other reliable source of exposing your sinful nature apart from the Holy Word of God.

God's Word reveals the truth of what you can become in Christ!

In Christ, through obedience to His Word, you can be sanctified or "set apart" unto God and made holy. 

Studying and obeying the Word of God can keep you from being "of the world" while you are "in the world".

The Word is powerful because truth is powerful!