God's Word

There have been times in life when I’ve wanted an owner’s manual. On more than one occasion, I’ve wanted to look up the answer for how to do something, and wondered where to turn.

Silly, I know, because we have God’s Word here. But sometimes we forget the power it holds. We look at it as a book full of old stories rather than the manual God intended for us to use it as.  Just look at some of the things we can find in His Word:

~Direction: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

~Protection: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword…Hebrews 4:12, and it’s listed as the sword we take up when we put on the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-17. (for a great devotional on this, check out Jessica Patch's blog here)

~Regulation: I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

~Precision: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

~Inspiration: You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. Psalm 119:114

~Relation: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Read that last one again. The very Word of God you hold in your hands is God. The power. The beauty. The very breath of God (for all Scripture is God-breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16) in the palm of our hand. It’s how we get to know Him. I have actually slept with my Bible hugged to my chest, holding this one tangible piece of Him, trying to absorb all I could. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy like that, but it is such a precious, precious gift He left us . Don’t you think we should learn it?

See, God didn’t leave us His Word so it could collect dust on our bookshelves. He gave it to us to use it. And to use it, we must know it.  That very thought has been on my heart for months now. God keeps bringing it back and bringing it back until I finally submitted to Him.

Earlier this year God gave me my One Word. It was 'time'. Now, He and I have been doing a lot of learning with that one word, but this one I’m asking you to join me on. Committing something to memory takes time, and this is something we have to make time for—it’s our sword, our measuring stick, our look into the heart of our Father.  Each one of us may do it differently; some may use cards for reference, some learn the gist of the verse and where to find it, others may simply have stellar memories and memorize each verse word for word (um, stellar memory is not me, but I'm going for it!)…the point is to learn it.  Whichever it is, we need to have His word constantly at the ready.

So here’s what I’m asking. Every other Wednesday I’ll be posting a verse for us to memorize (don’t worry, I’ll still be doing praising too!). We’ll have two weeks to do so. Write it down. Keep it on your mirror, door, or bedside table (Deuteronomy 6:8-9), wherever you need it to be so you can see it and learn it. By month’s end we’ll have learned two verses, and by year’s end we’ll have twenty-six verses committed to memory.

And I’ll be checking. At the end of each month I’ll ask on one of my Wednesday posts for those of you who’ve learned your verses to comment—and one of you will win a little something. But I’ll tell you all about that at the end of the month.

This is not about numbers for my blog. You don’t have to join to win or participate. This is simply about us learning the Word of God. Growing our relationship with Him. Starting to wield that sword. Knowing our faith. Because everything else may fall away, but the word of God will forever remain. 

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

See you Wednesday:)