He sent his word (Himself), and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psalm 107:20
If we’re not doing the Word, at best, we’re doubled-minded. At times, we believe and act on the Word, and not at others. At least, that was Ann’s and my experience.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.” Do we really mean this? Or, do we love the darkness of this world more than the light of Heaven? What is it costing us to love the darkness more than the light? Do we desire to lean on our own understanding? (The flesh fights to keep its own understanding. It does not want to relinquish its own understanding. It relies on pride.) Do we even know the difference between leaning on our own understanding and trusting in the Lord?
Do we see our lives and the things of earth the way Heaven does? Heaven sees things through the Word. Do we? Do we really know, like Heaven does, that all things are working together for good to those who love God? Do we really believe God to the point that we can trust Him instead of always leaning on our own understanding? Do we really?
I really needed God. I really needed His Kingdom to come in my life. I needed my life to reflect Heaven. I needed to see this earth the way God sees it. I needed Him to overtake me so I could try to live free indeed.
In the early 1980s, when we got to Oregon, I went through some really tough, confusing and disappointing times. I truly felt I had lost my way and honestly could not “find” God. I felt like His Presence could not be found. I had no idea what He was up to in my life. We were attending church and even working at church, but I didn’t have any idea how to apply the Word to my life the way God wanted me to. As a result, I really didn’t know God and all that He had in store for me, my marriage and family.
I have to admit, without applying (practicing) Romans 8:28 to our everyday lives and circumstances, life can be pretty challenging. Things can make little sense and cause us great angst. Our thinking can become all tangled up and be hard to straighten out. But, with Romans 8:28, with Jesus, life begins to come into focus and have meaning. Life takes on a new contentment, joy, peace and excitement.
In the 1980s, God began to show us how to use His Word in our daily lives and it made all the difference. It was how He was going to show us how to be delivered from so many strongholds, wrong relationships, wrong thinking and heartache.
Even though they’d left the desert wilderness many years previous, from time to time in their history, the nation of Israel would lose the Word, God’s Laws, and, as a result, lose their way in life. They would lose the ability to know how to live life blessed. When God’s laws were found again (like beneath the temple in Jerusalem), the current King would have them read aloud to the entire nation and the people ended up crying they were so happy to know how to live this life again.
We can be the same way. If we’re not in the Word, if we don’t know what it says about how to live this life the way God intends and knows will bless us, we can be so lost and live miserably with no resolve. We end up with our own understanding (leaning). This is why the world is in such a mess. Without God, without His Word, mankind is lost. They’re left to their own human, limited resources. They’re left with a frail “lean to” instead of the strong, unshakable, peaceful fortress that is the dwelling place of the Most High whenever the storms of life occur.
It’s obvious when someone does not know, and is not “doing” the Word. They’re often just like people in the world. There’s little difference between them and people of the world. They neither know or apply Romans 8:28 and other pertinent verses to their lives so they can’t possibly get to, let alone dwell in, the secret place of the Most High in the shadow of the Almighty. If we don’t have His Word living in us, we don’t have Jesus alive in us. Ann and I know this firsthand. We were miserable leaning on our own understanding.
And he (Jesus) was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Revelation 19:13
Because he hath set his love upon me (because he/she is “doing” My Word), therefore will I (the Word) deliver him: I (The Word) will set him on high, because he hath known (doing, believing, trusting in His Word) my name (His Name is The Word). He shall call upon me (upon the Word that is in Him/Her), and I (The Word) will answer him: I (The Word) will be with him in trouble; I (The Word) will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I (The Word) satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Psalm 91:14-16
Know the Word and “do” it. Know God and His marvelous, delivering power. You’ll find His way, His dwelling place, and you’ll never be the same. We promise….He promises!
Out of His love for us, God strongly desires for us to be able to say –
I will say of the Lord, He (The Word) is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him (The Word) will I trust.
Psalm 91:2
God bless,
Mark