Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Revelation knowledge is imparted to us through the Word of God. Many try to bypass the Word seeking revelation through prayer but there are no shortcuts. We will not be able to “rightly” divide the Word if we not faithfully spending time in it. Many years ago, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to spend time meditating upon the Biblical promises of healing. The choice was mine to obey or to focus my time on other pursuits. I chose to obey and spent the next five years focusing my time in the Word on healing Scriptures. The Holy Spirit led me to several messages on healing that I would listen to over and over. A lump began to form over my right eye towards the end of this five-year period. The Holy Spirit had seen ahead and led me to spend time meditating on the truths that would become foundation for the battle ahead. Over time the lump grew larger and I started to suffer from severe headaches and blurred vision. I confessed the Word over it but the lump kept growing so I went to a doctor. Several weeks of tests and biopsies followed. Finally, a diagnosis was made. The lump was a malignant melanoma and the primary doctor called me into his office. I’ll never forget that moment. He sat on one side of his desk and I on the other as he delivered the news. I was told that an aggressive treatment regime could possibly give me six more months of life to get my things in order. Thoughts of despair began to flood my soul but then the Scriptures that I had sown over the previous five years began to rise out of my spirit. I turned to the Holy Spirit for guidance and He led me to a teaching series by Keith Moore titled, “Receiving and Ministering Healing”. I listened to each message in the series more than one hundred times and hand wrote them word for word at least five times. I’m not advocating for you to do what I did. The key is to be led. I never returned to the doctor. My obedience led to a strong revelation of healing that carried me through that battle and I was able to stand solely on the Word of God without the “aggressive” treatment. We are all at different places in our walk with God. The Holy Spirit knows what we are able to believe and will lead us according to our faith. This story could have had a different ending if I had not paid the price to build my faith up on healing Scriptures. God did not favor me over anyone else but many people experience a much different ending because they have not been paying the price to be in the Word of God.
We have been on a journey seeking to discover the plan of God. The first step in this journey is to present our bodies as living sacrifices on the altar of God’s holy presence. A sacrifice is placed on the altar to be consumed by flame. Living sacrifices choose to stay on the altar until they are consumed by the first of the Spirit’s presence. We discussed this in chapter three and have been discussing the next step in this chapter which is allowing our minds to be transformed by the Word of God. It is important that we keep the order presented by Paul in mind. Many have spent hour after hour studying the Word of God and ended up mired in tradition. We do not want this to happen to us! Jesus said that we would know the truth and then the truth would make us free (John 8:32). The word translated “know” could also be translated “experientially know”. It is not enough for us to memorize a bunch of verses if our goal is freedom. Jesus said that it is the truth we know and experience that will set us free. Memorization and experience are two different things. A lot of people will say that they believe the Bible but have never read it. They attend service and hear the messages but that is the extent of the time they invest in the Word. It will be impossible for us to build a solid foundation to launch into the plan of God based on knowledge of the Word we gain from other people.
And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Matthew 17:14-18
The disciples had been with Jesus. They had heard every message He preached but were unable to deliver the boy. Jesus did not ‘coddle’ them when He heard the results of their efforts. He called His disciples “faithless” and “perverse”. Most of us would probably pat them on the back for the effort that they had put into the situation. Not Jesus! Ministry seems to have become focused on making people feel good about themselves. Jesus had a different approach. He came preaching repentance and did not go lightly even on His own disciples. Very few of the people who attended His meetings had access to the written Scriptures. We have easy access to Bibles and can pull up thousands of messages on the Internet. Can any of us even imagine what Jesus would call us? Church services often resemble a positive thinking seminar and are designed to make people feel comfortable so that they will come back. Jesus did not seem to care if people were uncomfortable in His meetings. He cast our demons and cured the sick. The modern Church has been squeezed into the world’s mold. It is sad to think that most people would think an Awakening had begun if they witnessed the common cold being healed!
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Proverbs 27:7
Our life will follow the direction of our dominant thought. This is developed either through meditation on natural things or on the Word of God. We can choose to believe lies spoken over us by other people or the truth God speaks over our lives through His Word. If we are sick, our thinking is sick and not aligned with the Bible. I am not saying a person becomes sick because they want to be. If we are continuously thinking about our symptoms and pains then those thoughts will shape our physical reality.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20
God sent His Word with healing power. I was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma but chose to immerse myself in the Word. The Holy Spirit led me to certain healing Scriptures and also to Keith Moore’s series mentioned earlier. He sent the Word and the growth on my forehead was healed. We can go from meeting to meeting chasing after a healing touch which may or may not be present or we can turn to the Word which will always produce results. The key is being led by the Holy Spirit.
God has given each one of us a freewill. We can choose to focus on the natural or on the spiritual. He won’t force us to look in one direction of the other. If we choose to spend time searching Scripture, it will renew our minds. We will find ourselves walking on a higher level. We can also choose to spend our time watching our favorite television programs, movies, or keeping up with our favorite team and allow our minds to become renewed to the natural realm. There is no middle ground! Our dominant thought is formed through the things that we focus the most on. We do live in a fallen world. Storms and trials will come and go just as they do for an unsaved person. The difference is that we will rise above them all if we have a sure foundation in the Word.
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