What if you could wake up every morning and have a personal encounter with Jesus? What would you think if He promised to meet with you and speak to you each day? I know that may sound far fetched to you, but God has promised to speak to you. God declares that the Bible is His word.
Throughout the Old Testament, the scriptures are referred to as the law of the Lord, the commands of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, etc. All of these phrases are just different ways of referring to scripture, but the phrase that is consistent is “of the Lord.” The Old Testament people of Israel believed that God had spoken to them, and continued speaking to them through His Word. The New Testament confirmed this teaching. The apostle Paul said, “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) This means that scripture was inspired of God, and not by man. I agree. There is certainly no way that man could have come up with the Bible on his own inspiration.
The apostle Peter described the inspiration of scripture as men who spoke from God, carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20,21). What we believe about scripture is incredibly important. Most everyone acknowledges the Bible is a unique piece of literature. The real question, however, is do we believe the scriptures are the inspired, infallible Word of God?
I love this quote from author and pastor John Piper: “We are a people of the Book. We know God through the Book. We meet Christ in the Book. We see the cross in the Book. Our faith and love are kindled by the glorious truths of the Book. We have tasted the divine majesty of the Word and are persuaded that the Book is God’s inspired and infallible written revelation.”
Many Christians have discovered that the Bible is a life-changing book. Spiritual growth and change of any real depth will not take place apart from God’s Word. We must hear from God through His Word if our lives are truly going to be transformed. The great evangelist D. L. Moody said that the scriptures were not given “for our information but for our transformation.”
In Psalm 19, King David declared that “the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” He was speaking of the power of God’s Word to bring life to our cold, dead hearts. God’s Word can revive our soul. It literally helps revive the heart, and bring it back to life.
As you read this column, your heart is in one of two places. First, your heart might be dead, absent of any true spiritual life with God. Secondly, your heart may be spiritually alive but it is in jeopardy of becoming dull and hard. Proverbs 4 cautions us to guard our hearts with all diligence. It would be one thing if every day with Jesus just naturally got better and better without any problems or struggles. Life is not like that though. Life is a battle. There are days when our hearts and disposition are as sour as a lemon. Some days we just have no strength. If every day got better, we would have no need to be revived. As humans though, we need revival. We need our hearts to be softened again, to be awakened and stirred to fresh passion for God again.
God’s Word has life giving power for the dead heart, and life sustaining power for the heart that God has awakened. Our life with God begins with His Word, and we must stay alive by His Word. You cannot and will not maintain a dynamic, spiritual apart from the Word of God.
Do you want to hear God speak? Do you need to hear God speak? Get into His Word consistently, and let your soul be revived. And that’s the Word.