15 Aug Book it! (Because a Bible that is falling apart indicates a life that isn’t!) Part 4
In this new series I have a three-pronged goal. I want you to:
- Love the Word!
- Learn the Word!
- Live the Word!
Our key verses for this series are found in John 1:1-2, 14: Ïn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made 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.”
You can see from these verses that everything starts with the Word! Please allow me to share with you “Two Bible Beholdings”:
- If you want to know God you must know the Bible
- Prayer is talking to God. The Bible is God talking to us.
God’s Word is not just a normal book…it is alive (see Hebrews 4:12)!
Remember this: God’s Word is not just informational but transformational!
- Love the Word!
- Learn the Word!
- Live the Word!
Last week we started with “Four Awesome Assignments to Assist you with the Word”:
- Activate the Word
Then we began to share three ways to activate God’s Word:
- Faith activates the Word (Heb. 4:2)
Here the Bible tells us, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Both groups of people heard the same exact thing but it only profited one group. The other group of people it did absolutely nothing for! That is why two people can sit in Joy Church and hear the same exact thing, and yet one will succeed and one will fail. We activate the Word by faith.
Let’s continue this week with…
2. Revelation activates faith (Eph. 1:18)
Have you ever been reading the Bible and all of a sudden the words of your Bible seem to leap off the page and into your heart? You knew that God was talking directly to you that day. You had an Äha” moment. That my friends, is revelation!
You see, there are two Greek words for the word “word” in the Bible (that’s a lot of “words”). One is the Greek word “logos” which means the written Word. The other is the word “rhema” which means the spoken or revealed Word of God. Now what I am about to tell you will answer a lot of questions as to why it seems the Bible doesn’t always work for us like we think think it should!
The Bible tells us in Luke 1:34-38, “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
In context this is an angel coming to a 16-year old girl and tells her she is about to become pregnant. She is a virgin engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. In verse 34, Mary respond, “How shall this be?” This is key as that is our response to “logos”. We look at certain promises in the Bible and then we look at our circumstances and we say “how can this be!”
Now notice verse 37. In the NIV, verse 37 reads, “No word will ever fail.” In the Greek New Testament that is the actual translation. The Greek word for “word” here is rhema! This is huge because “logos” fails all the time but once it is “rhema”… “rhema” never fails!! The moment it becomes “rhema” was the moment Mary conceived in her natural womb. The moment some promises in the Bible become “rhema” to you is the moment it is conceived in your “spiritual womb”. You see, the Bible calls itself the incorruptible seed” (see I Peter 1:23)!
Notice verse 38 when Mary says, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” Once again this is the word rhema! In our 33 years of ministry I have watched people quote the Bible “By whose stripes I was healed” they quote in times of sickness. “He supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory” they will quote in times of financial need. I watch and nothing seems to change or get better for them. Why? Because they are simply quoting “logos” from their head. “Logos” will fail you every time. There is no power in “logos”. “Rhema” on the other hand will never fail you! “Rhema” will cause you to become “pregnant” with the Word of God and eventually you will give “birth” to your healing, your victory, your deliverance!
Remember this: When the Bible is just in your head…you could end up dead. But when the Bible is in your heart…you’ll get a new start!
Faith activates the Word.
Revelation activates faith.
Next week I’ll show you how to activate revelation!