DAY FIFTEEN
As you journey into abiding, you will begin to experience freedom and understand how abundantly God wants to bless you. There is no end to the life God pours into us, into our marriages, into our families, and into our friendships when we learn to abide. It is a never-ending stream of blessing and healing available to everyone who believes in Jesus and follows after Him. It does not matter if you decided to follow Jesus yesterday or twenty years ago, God wants to speak to you, bring life to His word, and let His word come to life in you.
Yesterday, we looked at how to let the word of Christ dwell richly in us, overflowing into all kinds of wisdom and praise. We also saw what it means to receive the word implanted, which is able to bring healing to the deepest part of our souls.
Today, let’s take a look at the blessing we receive when we look intently into God’s word and remain in it until it does its work. We will also unpack what it means that God’s word is living and powerful.
Look Intently into God’s Word James 1:22-25 says…
22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
The key to understanding this passage is found in the phrase, “effectual doer.” The one who abides or remains in God’s rhema word until it does its work is described as an effectual doer of God’s word.
To begin, an effectual doer is the opposite of the person who is a “forgetful hearer.” A forgetful hearer is someone who hears the word of God, sees it for what it is, understands what it means for him, then walks away. In order to do this, he goes through the process of self-deception. Forgetful hearers “delude themselves,” or deceive themselves into thinking that God’s word is not really true, or that it doesn’t really matter, or that it isn’t as important as other things in their lives.
James uses a powerful illustration to help the readers understand how ironic it is to be a forgetful hearer. The one who simply hears is like someone who looks in the mirror, sees the truth about what needs to change, walks away, and immediately forgets what he saw in the mirror. There is clear understanding, but no action. The one looking in the mirror sees clearly, but he does nothing in response to what he sees. This is the process of self-deception.
The word James uses for “delude” literally means “to deceive by false reasoning.” In other words, when someone hears God’s word clearly, that person must ignore what is obvious and tell themselves lies in order to disregard what God is saying and reject the work that God wants to do.
In contrast, the doer of the word responds based on truth. The word of God acts as a mirror. When the “doer” sees himself in the mirror, he carefully considers what God reveals, and he takes action. He does something about what he sees in the mirror. Most of what James says, describes how the doer of the word approaches the rhema words of God.
First, James says that the doer approaches the word of God with intentionality. The word “look intently” means literally to stoop down, to bend over and inspect something on the ground. It carries the idea of getting a close look and carefully inspecting what you see, looking long enough and carefully enough to learn everything you can about it. The doer of the word, approaches God’s word expecting that it will point out truth that will set him free. He expects God to reveal something personal, so he is always looking for what God might say. He approaches his rhema with intentionality.
Second, the doer approaches God’s word with certainty. He recognizes that God’s word is perfect, complete, and lacking nothing. It is the “perfect law.” Nothing is lacking from it and nothing needs to be added. The word of God has everything we could possibly need for life and following God. 2 Peter 1:3 says this in another way. It says that God, by His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. So, the doer approaches God’s word humbly, knowing that he lacks wisdom and power to change, and certain that the word of God possesses both attributes.
The certainty of the doer extends beyond the full counsel of the Bible to include his assessments of the specific rhema words he receives from God. The doer understands that the Father is the spiritual director and knows exactly what he needs for his spiritual journey. Not only is God’s word perfect, the rhema words of God given as a gift to the hearer, are perfect for the hearer, perfect for this moment in time, and perfect for the work God has ordained. They are the best and none better. The hearer knows this to be true.
Third, the doer approaches God’s word with anticipation. James describes God’s word as “the law of liberty.” When God speak, His word brings liberty or freedom. This is the nature of both God’s writing word and the specific verses in the Bible where God’s shines His light for us individually, His rhema. When God reveals rhema to us it is always meant to lead us to freedom. It may be difficult when it points out our faults or sin but exposes difficult things because He wants to set us free from whatever holds us captive. But the end result, when we process His rhema words through to the end, is always freedom.
This is why Jesus said in John 8:32…
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
James also describes the purpose and the perseverance necessary for God’s rhema words to do their perfect work in us. First, James says that the doer of the word “abides by it.” He literally remains alongside it. He sticks with it until the word enters his heart and becomes a part of his life. This is the perseverance of abiding. Second, James states that when we stick with God’s rhema words, we become “effectual doers” of His words. The idea of “effectual doer” is literally a “doer of works.” To help us understand what he means, James adds that this person will be blessed in the works they do. In other words, along with freedom, there is blessing for us at the end of the process. God has built blessing into the process of receiving and processing rhema through to the end.
When God gives us rhema, it is a gift from Him. He knows exactly what we need. He gives it to us so we can experience greater freedom, freedom from something and freedom to experience the fullness of the kingdom of God. Knowing this great outcome, we stay with it until it has done its great work in us. In the end, God blesses us in ways we had no idea could be ours.
Experience the Living, Effective Word of God
Hebrews 4:12 says…
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
To better understand what it means to process rhema through to the end, we must understand that the Bible is far more than words on a page. Every word of the Bible was inspired by God. The Holy Spirit guided every writer of the books of the Bible to each exact word. The idea of inspiration is that the Bible is God’s breath. The words are living. They are alive. They are full of God’s breath. Even though we see words on a page, we come to the Bible with the expectation that God will breathe life into certain promises and passages specifically for us. This is rhema.
The word of God is also “active”. It is powerful. There is energy it and it energizes us when we let it do its work. And what specific action does it take? It brings about transformation in our lives. It brings healing to our hearts. It replaces lies in our heart with truth. And ultimately, as we have learned it sets us free to experience the fullness of the kingdom. When can approach God’s word with the expectation that every word God brings to us is imbued with the power of God to accomplish what God intends in us.
In addition, the word of God is “sharper than a two edged-sword.” A one-edged sword is for slashing, a two-edged sword is for piercing. When God gives us rhema it is pinpointed at something very specific in our life. That is what makes rhema so powerful. It is beyond relevant; it is specific, personal, and individual.
Because God’s word is sharper than a two-edged sword, it pierces deep into the soul and spirit. The word “piercing” indicates that rhema cuts through all of our external protection, all of the lies of the enemy, all of our self-medication, to “penetrate” all the way down into the deepest part of our soul and spirit. When rhema comes to life in us, it uncovers the hidden things. It cuts through all the protective layers to expose the truth about our hearts. And what happens when we know the truth? If we continue with it and process it through to the end, it sets us free!
By piercing deep into our soul and spirit, the word of God also judges the thoughts and intentions of our heart. This is not something that happens in a moment when we hear a sermon or read a page in a book. This is not something that happens in our mind when we understand what something in the Bible means. This is something that happens in our hearts when we have camped out in a passage and let God work through it to transform your heart.
God’s word is “able to judge” or “to discern” both the thoughts and intentions of our heart. In other words, rhema has the power to identify the truth about how we think and what motivates us. Our “intentions” are the things that motivate us. The things that motivate us are hidden deep in our hearts, often formed by years of wounds and self-protection. Motivations are often founded on fear and triggered by events we do not really understand. How amazing that the transforming work of the word of God goes deep inside of us and reorients our motivations to align with the kingdom of God.
God’s word also acts as the judge for our thoughts, or more specifically for out thought patterns, or thought processes. Many of our thoughts are laced with lies that have been playing like tapes in our minds for years. Something happens to us and it triggers a series of thoughts within us. In our minds, we make up a story about what is happening, and we believe it, because we have been telling ourselves that story for years, over and over again. Most of the time we do not fully understand what triggers these thoughts and we don’t know how to stop them.
This is where the work of the rhema of God steps in. It becomes shines a light on our deepest motivations and thought processes, so we can see the truth about them. Again, this is not the work of a moment, this is the work of processing rhema with God through to the end and letting His Spirit use His word to do a much deeper work.
For example, think about how deeply some lies are engrained in our hearts. Consider the following tapes that play repeatedly in some hearts, speaking lie after lie, condemnation after condemnation.
Self-worthlessness says, “I’m ugly. I am not good enough. I will never measure up. I am weak. I am worthless. I am full of shame. I cannot be forgiven. People always hurt me.”
Self-adoration says, “I’m better than everyone else. I am strong enough on my own. I do not need other people. I am the greatest. I am the best. No one compares to me. No one knows as much as I do.”
Self-medication says, “I’m hurting right now or frustrated, and if I do this, I will feel better. If I just avoid these situations, I will be ok.”
Self-protection says, “I’ll leave them before they leave me. I’ll hurt them before they hurt me. I’ll attack them before they hurt me even worse.”
These are just a few of the deep-seated lies that plague us. But what do the words of God do? God gives us His rhema words to replace these old lies with truth, truth that sets us free from our old patterns of thinking. His rhema words replace wrong, broken motivations with the motives of the kingdom of God. They guide us a place where we can act out of our identity as children of the king and heirs of the kingdom. This is the living, powerful rhema of God. It transforms when we give it time to do its work and process it through to the end.
WORSHIP: God loves to speak to His children, and He is waiting to speak to you today. What He speaks is life-giving and powerful. His words do what He intends them to do, even in the deepest, darkest places of our hearts. Worship God in all His goodness and recognize that He wants to bless you today through what He speaks to you and He always has something to say.
PRACTICE: Do not worry about where you start the process of looking for rhema from God. Just commit yourself to spend at least 20 minutes a day in God’s word. Start by asking Him to speak to you, or by asking Him what He has to say. God will guide you. Be on the alert. God will confirm it to you.
MEDITATION: Take a few minutes to mediate on the two verses from today. But instead of focusing on the meaning, focus on the application of these truths. Ask the Spirit of God to teach you about the two verses. Then imagine what it would be like to have God’s words come to life in you, to overflow in you, to be implanted in you, or bring healing to the deepest part of your soul.
ABIDING: Go back and read through this teaching one more time. Ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if He has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.