God's Word

Man it's been a long while since I've written anything on this blog. Life is so busy that I forget most of the time that I even have it. Anyway, here it goes for today.

The other day I was in the 24/7 prayer room that Pathways, my church plant has opened up. I was doing a Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) excercise which is an excercise where you listen to God through the reading of His word. Man, did God ever give me a kick in the pants. I was reading Psalm 23... The Lord is my Shepard...etc. As I was reading it, I was stopping to reflect on each promise that God was giving us. In the midst of reading it, I decided to sing it in praise to God. After I was done reading the passage a few times, I just sat and listened for the still, silent voice. All of a sudden, into my head popped three chapters of the Bible. The first was Hebrews 4, then 2 Timothy 2, finally Romans 10. So I cracked open my Bible to these chapters and read them. In each of the chapters, God spoke to me about His Word being alive and active. Hebrews 4:12-13 says: "For the Word of God is alive and active; sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." This really spoke to me about how reading His Word really will bring you closer to Him. I've been doing terribly lately at reading the Bible, but after God spoke to me through this, I've been doing better. Why wouldn't we want to read His Word. If that is one of His primary communication tools to us, we should utilize it and listen to Him from the words that we read. In 2 Timothy 2:9b says "But God's Word is not chained". Paul was explaining that he is writing his gospel even when he is chained. Romans 10:17 says: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ". This just tied up what God was saying to me: Faith comes through reading His Word.

Anyway, time is running out for me to finish, but I just wanted to encourage people to really sit and focus on a small passage from the Bible. Read it over and over again and really focus on what God is saying to you through it. Listen for that still, silent voice. He still speaks to us, just like He spoke to Elijah on the mountain.

Cheers.