Let it soak in deep

Have you ever wondered what power there is in a word? I know there are times I don't have to say much to find I have lifted someone's spirits, while there are opposite times when a couple of words spoken at the wrong time or with the wrong intent create a whole lot of misery. Words are quite powerful, but none so powerful as those contained within the pages of our Bible, as these were put there to set us on fire. They have a creative power - bringing to life what had once been dead. They have a convicting power - revealing what we might not even have known was there so it can be completely dealt with and removed. Words, when used as they were intended, have power - especially in the hands of a graceful and loving God!

Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God’s Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. (1 Peter 1:24-25 MSG)

New for old - that has been God's movement down through the ages. Promise given - promise fulfilled. Hope birthed - hope realized. There is and always be great power in his Word, but we have to get it into us if it is to be of any benefit to us. Words simply spoken, but never heard, are not going to accomplish the mission they had when spoken, right? I have said things under my breath - not really wanting others to hear what I was saying right then - but God's words are not those type of words. There is nothing hidden in his Word - all is there to be revealed to us - if we just look and ask.

The life within each of us is conceived, first by natural means, then by the divine touch of God in our lives. The new birth experience - as some call it - is that transition of our lives whereby the words God speaks deep into our spirits ignite a passion, define a purpose, and create a passage from one way of living into another. There is power displayed on our behalf - all through those words. They may have been penned many years ago, but they remain equally as powerful today as they were when they were given to those men who took pen to paper to record them.

Truth changes us. There is nothing more damning than a lie. There is nothing more freeing than the truth. Our spiritual conception is accomplished with one word - "YES" - saying YES to Jesus. Our spiritual growth is accomplished through many words - those written for us to serve as examples of how to both act and not act. The promises he gives are ours for the taking - to stand upon with assurance. His process of creating us anew isn't just that momentary 'birthing' experience, but it is the putting off of the old and the putting on of the new - day after day, year after year. YES is the beginning - in between that beginning and eternity will come many words to restore, challenge, help us conquer.

Embrace his Word. Listen carefully to its challenges. Open wide to its hope. Come often to his feet to listen with intent. There is much to discover in the power of those words. Much to soak in until we are so saturated that we 'leak' his Word from within every fiber of our being. Discover it. You won't be disappointed in his Words, for they are life. Just sayin!