Living Word

It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.   Isaiah 55:11 NLT

A well-known biblical teacher claims that the Bible is not just to be read, but it is to be lived.  How is that possible?  We have mentioned before that there are those verses in the Bible that, when we read them, appear highlighted.  They jump off the page.  That is because the Word of God is alive, written through the power of the Holy Spirit to touch us and mold us.  These are the verses that reach out to us because they have something important to teach us.

And then, there are those words so alive with meaning, that they seemingly have been created specifically for us. They cut through all resistance, to speak directly to our hearts at exactly the right time in our lives.  Some call them rhema words.  The highlighted verses will move us forward in our knowledge. The LIVING words supernaturally beam themselves directly into our spirits and produce a tangible change in us.

Living, rhema, words may be accompanied by a warm rush of God’s love that dissolves doubt, reassures or comforts us.  Living words may come with a deep, but gentle, conviction of a change that needs to be made in our lives.  Usually our emotional response causes us to stop, let it take hold of us, and allow the Holy Spirit to do his work in us.  We may be lifted up, or shaken to the core.  We usually have to write it down, record it, so we can come back to ponder its full impact.

As you think of the living Word, you might pause, read, and ponder the beginning of the Gospel of John as he describes Jesus as the Word.  For example, “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.” (John 1:4)

So, the question remains. How do we live the Word of God, the Bible? First, it seems we cooperate with the Holy Spirit when reading the Bible. We allow the Holy Spirit to use the important, as well as the rehma, words to penetrate our hearts, purify our minds and motivate our actions. Jesus lived the Word. That is why he was called the Living Word.  By the grace and power of his Spirit within us, we can learn to follow after and imitate Christ. May we believe that is possible, because we are called and created to do so.

Dear friends, be blessed as you read the Word of God expecting to be changed as you encounter the Living Word.  Claim God’s promise given in Isaiah 55:11, that God’s Word in you will accomplish all that God sent it out to do.  You can live the Bible, not just read it.  Be blessed with joy as you do. Amen.

Mary Sumner ~ August 30, 2022