Sureness of God's Word

Numbers 11:23 “The LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD'S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."

God will back up His word. God said to Moses that He would see if His word is true. Remaining in God's word is to continue to believe in it. When we believe we will see. It is like a seed. If you watch over the word, water it, weed it, and protect it, the seed will grow to maturity.

Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”

God will fulfill His promise, but will we believe? If we believe, we will stand on the promise until harvest time and then receive what is promised.

Joshua 21:45 “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”

There is a sureness to what God promises. The problem lies in our actions before the time of fulfillment. Will we give up on what was promised to us, or will we act in faith according to what the promise is? The children of Israel were promised the land of Israel. They feared the giants and their own lack of fighting ability to take the land. Because of this fear they were not permitted to enter. Fear will keep us from receiving what God has promised. Let us not shrink back but press on to what God is promising.

 2 Kings 13:21 “As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.”
Elisha was promised so many miracles. He was supposed to get a double portion of what his mentor Elijah had. When he died, he was lacking one miracle. Many would say that God failed His promise to Elisha, but that was not the case. God had one more for Elisha which was not apparent. Do we look at God and say He failed us? No it is our misunderstanding of God that is the problem. God does not fail.

Joshua 6:26 “Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”

After Israel had defeated Jericho and took all they wanted for the Lord's treasury, they made this oath and curse. It came to pass when people rebuilt the city. This curse remained for 500 years. God will watch over His word to preform it. Jeremiah 1:12 He will not miss one promise.

1 Kings 16:34 “In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

1 Kings 8:56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” NASB

This is one of my favorite verses. God is looking for people of faith. He will support those who have faith. When we turn only to others for help, we will have trouble in life. Don't give up on God.

Psalm 19:7-10 The Law of the Lord is:
Perfect restoring the soul.
Sure,, making wise the simple.
Right, rejoicing the heart.
Pure, enlightening the eyes.
Clean, enduring forever.
True, they are righteous altogether.
More desirable than fine gold, sweeter than honey.

When we understand the Word of God with our spiritual eyes, we have the answer to life.


Psalm 111:7-8 “The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
8 They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.”

Psalm 118:89 NASB “Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven.”

God's word is settled in heaven and the promise is there for us to use it on earth for the benefit of others to come to Christ and serve Him.

Psalm 119:160 “The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.“

Don't just take one Scripture without being open to other Scriptures clarifying it. As we come to know more and more of the Scripture, we come to a fuller and fuller understanding of God's direction. On the other hand. Don't live hog tied because you don't know everything. When you get revelation, live according to that revelation. When you receive more adjust your life to that added revelation. Isaiah 30:15

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

People mock the Bible. In the end they will receive the results of their foolishness.

Isaiah42:9 "Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

Isaiah 48:3 "I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Isaiah 55:11 God's word will accomplish what it was sent for.

Jeremiah 1:12 “Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it."

Ezekiel 12:45 "For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it," declares the Lord GOD.'"

2 Tim 3:16 all Scripture is profitable for reproof, for correction for instruction in righteousness.

Paul's writings are Scripture according to Peter. “as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16

John 8:32 the truth will set you free.

The problem is not God's failure to act. It is our unbelief. We can live by God's word.

Use God's Word

The Word of God does the work of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

I use the Word as vitamins or medicine in working in my body to strengthen me. I also use the Word to sooth my soul. I read over it and meditate on it and let the ideas work their way into my mind. After thinking on them new understandings come to me, many times from the Holy Spirit. I say many times because we always need to judge our thoughts and test them against God's word.

I believe God's Word is full of power and is effective in guiding and helping me. God's Words are life. John 6:63

God's Word can become a consuming fire.
Jeremiah 5:14 “Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.”

The Word of God are effective. Don't use God's Word without God's love. Faith works through love. Galatians 5:6 Speak for grace to help the people. Ephesians 4:29

The power of God's Word will shatter rocks and burn away what is between us and God.
Jeremiah 23:29 "Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

I see rocks as like a part of a mountain (a type of obstacle to God's provision), and the Word of God shatters the rocks or  obstacles before us. Isaiah 41:15

Speaking God's words brings life.
Ezekiel 37:7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.”

Here is a great prophecy of Israel's army regaining life. We also can speak God's words by the Holy Spirit to bring life to ourselves and others. John 6:63; Job 22:28; Matthew 9:21

There is power in God's word for salvation.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Sometimes speaking Scriptures by the Holy Spirit will bring Salvation. My mom was brought to salvation by a nurse quoting Ephesians 2:8,9 to her. I was saved by John 3:16.

The Word is used as a sword to attack in battles of the spirit.
Ephesians 6:17 “And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I tell the enemy the authority given to me by using Scriptures. Ephesians 3:10 I speak to the problems I face with Scriptures. I speak to myself with encouragement from the Scriptures.

The Word shows what is of the spirit and what is of the soul.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

With honesty we can see by our attitude if we are right with God from the Scriptures.

Be Word Centered

Stay in the Word.
Believe the Word.
The Word brings forth life,
live that life or starve.

When you eat from the Word, rest.
Look to the spirit of the Word, not the law.
Be revived in the Word, not worldly pursuits.

Your goal from the Word is to hear,
not to check off chapters.

Act in trust of God's word.

- Actions or reaction
- Make change or be changed.
- Plan for renewal or wear down.
- Tend your garden or reap weeds.
- Sow for your future or starve.
- Failure is one more step to success,
if you let it teach you.
- Self-contentedness is not being humble.

Whose Report Will You Believe

Isaiah 53:1 KJV ​Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

Whose report
Will you believe
We shall believe
The report of the Lord

His report says
I am healed
His report says
I am filled
His report says
I am free
His report says victory


Are we going to believe the Bible and look for and wait expectantly and work for what God has promised, or are we just going to go with the flow? Will we stand in faith on God's word for us, or will we knuckle under to the world and peer pressure? Let us stand for God and believe for His arm of victory in our life and what we are working for.

John 12:38  NASB “This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?"

John 12:36 while you have the light believe in the light so that you may become sons of light. We are sons by the gift of salvation. So I consider this to be speaking of living in the kingdom by reigning in life by Jesus. Romans 5:17. We live as sons when we walk and believe the light of God's word!! If we don't walk and believe the light of God's word darkness will overtake us. Passive life, a life lived not aggressively to follow God's word, will result in being overcome by darkness.

Romans 10:16 “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

Preachers need to be sent out for the spread of the gospel. Romans 10:8-17 So that faith can spring up in the soil of peoples hearts.

The report is true. God is not dead but is alive. So we can trust God.

Isa 61:11 NASB “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.”

Righteousness comes from our belief in God and the work on the cross. Phil 3:9
Praise will spring up with faith. For praise is the expression of belief.

Psalm 85:11 “Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven.”

For further reading:
Isa 32:16,17 with James 3:18
Isaiah 45:8
Isaiah 58:8
Mark 4:27

Word of His Grace

Acts 20:32
Now I commend you to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Word of His grace.
Acts 14:3 …. Therefore they spent a long time there, speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.

Paul and Barnabas were speaking boldly. Who was testifying of the word of His grace? Was it Paul or the Lord? It was the Lord by the signs and wonders done by the hands of Paul and Barnabas.

What did they do? They spent a long time there. They testified. They testified boldly. They testified boldly with reliance upon the Lord. And the Lord was working with them. The Lord was working with Paul and Barnabas as they laid hands on the people. There were signs and wonders being done by the hands of Paul and Barnabas by the power of God.

Is there power in God? Does the word have power? Yes, yes. Do we have this ability to minister to others with this power?

Mark 16:17-20 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”

So who can lay hands on the sick for recovery? It is those who believe. V16 These signs will accompany those who have believed!!! It is not the special minister. It is anyone who believes. And what are we to believe? The word of His grace. God's word brings grace for us to minister.

What are the examples of this. Paul and Barnabas were ministering to the Lord in ch 13 of Acts. They were led to go and obeyed and went. And God was with them in power.


Acts 20:24 – testify of the gospel of the grace of God.
The gospel is the good news of God to man. It is explaining the good news of God to man. This word of explaining is God's grace. There is power in the gospel. Rom 1:16 … gospel of Christ which is the power of God unto salvation.

The Scriptures on salvation have the power to bring salvation to the hearers.

I   am reminded that as we go from grace to grace we also go from faith to faith. God's grace comes from the Scriptures. And God's faith comes from the Scriptures.

John  1:16 "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."
Romans 1:17 "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

So let us not neglect the word of God. For it is the word of God's grace which will build us up to receive the inheritance.

Judge Ehud

Judges 3:9-30 After the first judge of Israel, Othniel, died,

Israel again turned away from the Lord and followed after other

gods.

We don't have idols in this day, but we do have things that we

put in front of God. How do we know if we put something in

front of God? It is when we are living for our time with God to

be over so we can do the things we want to do. It is when we

are praying but can't keep our mind on prayer because of our

desire to do other things. It is when we look at disdain at
spending time with the Lord.

v12 So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab.

When we neglect the Lord, the things of this world will control

us and take over, and we will live in subject to them.

It is when the Israelites cried out to the Lord that a deliverer

was raised up. Don't neglect the Lord and when we find ourselves

under bondage we should cry to the Lord and He will raise up a

deliverance for us.

Isaiah 62:6,7 "On your walls O Jerusalem I have appointed

watchmen. All day and all night they will never keep silent.

You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves and give

Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in

the earth."

We live in the New covenant now. We don't have to beg God to

answer. But we do need to stand against Satan. And this is what

we should do. Eglon gathered other armies and defeated Israel
and possessed the city of the Palm trees.

The city of the Palm trees could have been Jericho. But that

city was torn down by Joshua at the beginning of the invasion

of the promised land. Deut 34:3 refers to Jericho as having

palm trees. It could be south of the city; there was a

settlement there.

Ehud was the deliverer for Israel. He made for himself a sword.

He did not go buy a sword. He made it himself. Now this might
have been the norm. But when you make something you understand
it better. When you make something you appreciate it more.
When you make something it means more to you. When you make
something it is special.

Now, he was not making something that would sit up on the shelf.

He was making something that was going to be used. So he made

it specifically for the job at hand. 

The two-edged sword is a type of the word of God. Heb 4:12 For

the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. Isa 41:15

God has made for us a new sharp threshing sledge. With it we

will pulverize the mountains and make the hills like chaff.

God's word will destroy our enemies. The hills and mountains are

types of the trials that come our way. And the word of God will

make riddance of them. Jesus has a two-edged sword coming out of

His mouth in the book of Revelation.

The word of God is a weapon when we believe it and confess it

and use it to our advantage.

When we are in the word of God we are in the Spirit. For John

6:63 says the Words Jesus speaks to us are spirit and the are

life.

Ehud bound the sword on his right leg so he could reach it

easily with his left hand being left handed. In the same way we

can prepare the Word of God in our hearts to access it when we

need it. Study to show yourself approved unto God 2 Tim 2:15

There are areas in our life that need the attention of the

Scriptures. With this attention we can walk in faith and slay

the enemy by the use of the sword of God.

It is not just having the word of God, but we need to practice

using it. It is by this practice that we discern the will of God

and renew our minds to use the Word of God when life

throws trials at us. Rom 12:2

Eglon was a very fat man. Our enemy is not so strong that we

can't defeat Him as we walk in the authority God has given us.

We have the victory in Christ. Greater is He that is in us than

he that is in the world 1 Jn. 4:4 This fat man could not

defend himself against the word of God. When you look at

Scripture there is nothing that can withstand the word of God.

Rom 1:16 the word of God is the power of salvation. Even when

people reject it they can't stop its work. Some of the most

unlikely people get saved. Why? Because of the working of the

Word of God.

v28 After God has given us the victory in prayer we need to

walk it out. Walk it out with faith that as God has answered

your prayer He will support you as you accomplish the work He

has for you to do. Live in expectation. Live in joy of the

victory. Expect God to work with you with signs.

Go with God and His Word

Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. Kenneth Copeland

 Counter fear with the Word. 2 Cor. 10:3-5

 The dominating power of the Word of God. Isa 10:27 John 1:1,14 John 14:10

 Have faith in the dominating power of the Word of God John 14:12

 We are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

 Decide to go with God and His Word.

Let God's Word Richly Dwell Within

Colossians 3:16

companion Scripture Eph 5:18-20

Richly dwell. Let the Word of Christ richly dwell. Let what Christ has said live in your heart richly. To be rich is to have way more than enough.

Have the Word of Christ be so abundant that you have way more than enough Scripture for your need and your life.

To richly have the Scriptures is to learn wisdom from what it says. To learn wisdom is not only know what it says. It is also to do what it says. And not only to do what it says but to have what you do become effective in the purpose that you set out to accomplish.

With this acquired wisdom, comes teaching others. To tell them how you got it done by the direction of the Holy Spirit working with you. And teaching them how to get it done directing them how to hear the Holy Spirit and how you got it done.

Admonish is to challenge them to go beyond the comfort area they are currently in and branch out to further outreach.

Also if there is sluggishness or sin to get them to see the advantage of a life lived in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Now the singing and thankfulness should come as a means of fellowship. To jam together and enjoy life together.

This is not intellectual ideas. This comes from the heart of believers as they have learned it from the Heart of God. This heart life comes from devotion to God and others.

v17 Do all in the name of Jesus. Wow what a statement. We are representatives of Christ. Ambassadors so to speak 2 Cor 5:20 As ambassadors we represent our King to others. So we are doing service to God and others in the glorious name of Jesus.

Now if we do things in the name of Jesus we have prayed for God to bless our work before hand in the name of Jesus. If we pray in the name of Jesus we have the requests we have asked. John 14:14; 1 John 5:14,15

Acting in prayer in Jesus name is to then do it with success. The key is for Scripture to richly dwell within. It is the starting point and the life giving point. And from the life of Jesus teaching, wisdom, singing to God, thanksgiving from our hearts springs forth and this will result in our speaking and acting in accordance to the life God is giving us. And give that out to others.

Jesus Lives - Live the Word

Jesus Lives. We celebrate the resurrection each year and go to church to worship Jesus and live for Him. That is half of the equation. The other half is to do what we say. That is to live for Jesus.

How do we live for Him? He wrote us a letter explaining life and purpose to live for God. In this letter this Bible we have many directions and promises that God said He would do. To live for Him is to start by folowing the directions of the Bible. As we grow in Him we will pray and get more spacific direction. This direction will not go against the Bible but will show us more spacificly the things we are to do.

Live for Jesus. This is not so easy in a world that is full of material temtations. Yet it is easy as we draw close to Him in prayer for strength and direction.

John 6:21 one of the basic verses in the bible for me. When Jesus gets in our boat of life we are at the destination God has for us. The point is not so much prep but is relationship. Relationship with God and relationship with others. The prep will come. Our life with Jesus in our boat of life will cause us to read and study the Bible to learn more about and from Jesus.

Verses of the Bible are much deeper than appear on the surface. Pick a verse or a few to meditate on. Don't be afraid of this word meditate. Use the word ponder instead. Ponder the meaning of a passage of Scripture. As we learn from Jesus the ideas of the verse will become real in our life and we will teach, share and live this idea.

The power of the resurrection will change us as we take the words of Jesus as meaningful and not just religious and nice.

To believe is to live. Let us apply our heart to believe and live. Within ourselves we are nothing. With Jesus we are spiritual and the Spirit of God will give life to us.

Praise God for His resurrection. Praise You Jesus. You are Lord and You are Powerful. You come to the lowly of heart and meet us here on this dirty Earth. Give us Your life. Give us Your direction. Thank you Jesus.