Hearing God's Voice

Say The Word.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

 

Blackout blinds don’t stand a chance against the brilliant Spanish sun, and, as I turn over, resurrecting from the deep comfort of vacation-sleep, the very first whisper in my head today?

“It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…”

Over and over that line repeats until my groggy head is able to hear it fully, and I feel lost in its mystery.

Trust me, I don’t normally wake up this profoundly (I’m a tired mom, after all), but this passage has captured me for weeks.  I cannot put it down.  The Father wants to open my eyes to something that feels too big to wrap my spirit around all at once.  But I’m trying.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE”.  I’ve assumed the reference here is scripture, but it’s not been until recently that I’ve come to understand how very “alive and active” it truly is.

Today, when I open my Bible, I find myself grabbing onto its every word – through convictions, revelations and seemingly brand new lines added to the familiar stories I’ve known since childhood – I’m captivated like never before.  As I dig (just a little bit more), it cracks something in my heart, and the deeper this crack forges, the more I crave.  Things inside of me begin to change, I can literally feel it happening to my mood, my courage, my direction, my calling… Alive and Active… in me.

I believe that when we stop approaching reading as though logging time is our penance to be a (good) Christian, we unlock something very powerful.  However, I’m also learning that “The Word” is about much more than “the Bible” and the reason it’s alive is not just because pages written thousands of years ago still hit us (hard) where we are today.

Rather, in fact, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1

And when The Word spoke  (Genesis 1):

  • And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
  • And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters…and it was so.”
  • And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear…and it was so”
  • And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants…and it was so.”
  • And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night…” And it was so.
  • And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens…and it was so.”
  • And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
  • Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” And it was so.

This universe, so vast – so beyond comprehension – came out of THE Word.

And then:

That very same “Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” John 1:14.  And as Christ lived and breathed, He SPOKE truths.  Not mere words, but THE WORD.  And when His beaten body finally breathed the words “it is finished”:

IT. WAS. FINISHED.

The POWER that spoke LIFE into being was The Word, our Father.  The power of the blood of Christ was The Word, made flesh.  This is the SAME power that we now have tangible, immediate access to in The Word of God through scripture, through forgiveness of sins and through the Holy Spirit that resides INSIDE OF US.

The Word” is a master key given directly to our hand, so powerful “it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow“.  Yet we rarely use it to unlock anything.

If the Bible is boring, archaic or lost to you, I dare you to try again.  Think about why those pages have stood the test of time so that YOU can access their truth right now.  My mother-in-law is reading Psalm 91 everyday.  I recommend trying that for one week.  Just one chapter.  It will change you.

And, if God has spoken “a Word” over your life, whether it’s a scripture to cling to, a prophecy to encourage you, or a promise to sustain you – CLAIM IT.  SPEAK IT.  WRAP YOURSELF AROUND IT.  There is POWER in it.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Quite honestly, it’s still too much – to eternal – for my limited comprehension.  This power RESIDES IN US, WITH US, FOR US.  Alive and Active.  Think about that.  I am.


I started writing this blog many weeks ago, and not knowing how to gather my thoughts, I put it down.  But when this song came out by Hillsong United it stopped me in my tracks.  THIS is the power of THE WORD…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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