Part 1
Build Your Life on the Word
(John 1:1-3 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
- The Word of God is more than a book. He is a Person.
(John 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- The Word of God is alive.
(John 6:63b NKJV) …The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Spirit = (Greek – Pneuma) The literal translation means the breath of God for the fulfillment of what He just said. When God speaks, His power is present to cause that word to come to pass in whatever He spoke it to.
- The Word of God has a way of getting deep in you.
(Hebrews 4:12 AMPC) For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.
You are not just getting information; you are getting the power to do the information.
For the Bible to Come Alive in You:
- Faith activates the Word.
(Hebrews 4:2 NIrV) The good news was preached to our people long ago. It has also been preached to us. The message they heard didn’t have any value for them. They didn’t combine it with faith.
Faith in God’s Word is what turns it from the natural to the supernatural.
- Revelation activates faith.
(Romans 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Vine’s Dictionary – implies two kinds of hearing, more than just the physical hearing
Logos – written Word
Rhema – revealed Word
(Luke 1:34-38 NKJV) Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (35) And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (36) Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. (37) For with God nothing will be impossible.” (38) Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
v. 37 – For no (rhema) word of God will ever fail…
- Meditation activates revelation.
It takes time to slow down and ponder it, think about it.
(Joshua 1:8 NIV) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Prosperous – Hebrew meaning: break out, be victorious
Successful – Hebrew meaning: to be prosperous and deal wisely; to prosper and know why
Practical Steps:
- I must accept its authority.
This has to do with your attitude towards God’s Word.
There are some things we just have to accept it by faith!
(1 Thessalonians 2:13 NIV) And we also thank God continually because, when you received (welcomed like a stranger) the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
- I must assimilate its truths.
You must work it into every area of your life.
By reading God’s Word.
- Get a Bible you understand.
- Make an appointment to read your Bible.
- Have a reading plan.
- Don’t just read the Bible, let the Bible read you.
- I must apply its principles.
(James 1:22, 25 NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.