3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
James 3:3-5
The tongue is compared to a horse’s bridle by James. The tongue can turn our lives towards the plan of God or away from it.
Proverbs tells us that the power of life and death are released by our tongues (Proverbs 18:21). Most of the trials and struggles we experience are simply the harvest from words spoken in our pasts.
God has delegated the authority over our bodies to us. Paul encourages us to present them as living sacrifices. Doing so will require us to submit to God and His Word.
Submission to God is the first step to unlocking the plan of God because it is required for us to pray the prayer of salvation and to present our bodies as living sacrifices. There will be a cost associated with submission but James tells us that those who will pay it have the right to resist the devil and expect him to flee from Him.
The average Christian stumbles through life without ever being able to unlock the plan of God. Their lives are a result of them living without submitting to either God or His Word.
It is easy to say that Jesus is Lord. It seems that the majority do not live lives that reflect this. Our lack of submission to the Word is the result of our lack of submission to Jesus.
15 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
Paul encouraged Timothy to study the Word of God. This is the channel used by the Holy Spirit to impart revelation knowledge.
Many people have tried to bypass meditation on God’s Word. They have busy schedules and look for shortcuts to gain revelation knowledge. The result of this path is an inability to “rightly divide the word of truth”.
I was prompted to spend time studying passages on healing almost twenty years ago. It was very clear that I needed to set aside every other topic to put my focus on the healing message. The Holy Spirit did not force me in this direction. He prompted me but allowed me the opportunity to either respond or not to.
I recognized the prompting as an assignment and chose to obey. This assignment continued for almost five years. In that time I only studied healing scriptures until they got into my heart and became revelation knowledge.
A lump began to form over my right eye at the end of those five years. It grew until the size was comparable to a golf ball. I prayed for direction and was led to schedule an appointment with a doctor.
Multiple tests were run on the lump. The final one was a biopsy and then a follow-up appointment was scheduled to review results.
The doctor delivered the results with fear in his eyes. He sadly told me that the lump was malignant melanoma. They estimated that I could live for approximately six more months if it was treated aggressively.
I left the appointment and spent three days praying and fasting for direction. The Holy Spirit directed me not to return to the doctor. Instead, I was to take a series titled “Receiving and Ministering Healing” and immerse myself in each message.
It is important to note that the direction not to seek medical attention was given after a time of seeking God. This was not a decision I made without being one hundred percent clear that the Holy Spirit had directed me to do so. If there had been any hesitancy, I would have submitted to the treatment.
I spent the next year listening to each message in that series more than one hundred times. In addition to listening, I also hand-wrote each of the twenty-plus messages word for word at least five times.
This experience followed five years where I was immersed in the Word of God. The lump is gone and tests fail to show I’ve ever had cancer. This ending would have been much different had I not obeyed and studied to show myself approved as a workman not to be ashamed!
We are on a journey together seeking keys to unlock the plan of God. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices is the first step in this journey. Sacrifices are placed on an altar to be consumed by flame.
Living sacrifices freely choose to be placed on the altar and to stay on that altar until the flames of God’s presence have consumed them.
We first become living sacrifices and then submit ourselves to the Word of God until our minds are renewed (Romans 12:1-2). Many Christians have immersed themselves in Scripture without first becoming living sacrifices and ended up mired in traditions that robbed them of the power of God. This is a danger we must constantly be mindful of to ensure this does not happen to us!
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