Read by The Word

The Bible: when we read it, "it" reads us! Here are a few of the ways through which God's Word reads us.

1. It reveals the hidden things, issues shrouded in shame and doubt, blind-spots seen by other's, but only seen by us as Jesus reveals them and brings them to the light. The Bible is The Word made flesh, in and through us! 'The whole person is is thoroughly exposed to his scrutinizing gaze. Every creature's original form is on record in the Word.' (Heb. 4:13, The Mirror)

2. It reveals the presence of Jesus in our 'Kardia' (the sanctuary of our new covenant heart). It thrills our spirit man and soul with the awesome gift that 'Christ in us' by the gift of Holy Spirit really is! "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:25-27) And: John 7:37-39 "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."

3. It interprets where we are in our journey. 'I have said all this to help you realize the tremendous importance of the message you have heard. Become totally engaged in its meaning and thus you will never drift away (the Word: an anchor for our very soul) from its influence and appeal...no one can afford to underestimate and be blase about this final message; a salvation of such magnificent proportions!'

4. It is a wellspring of hope and faith. 'This message that God spoke to us in Christ is the most life giving and dynamic influence in us, cutting like a surgeon's scalpel, sharper than a soldier's sword, piercing to the deepest core of human conscience to the dividing of soul and spirit; ending the dominance of the sense realm (the sark-eating from the tree of the knowledge and/or leaning on our own understanding: see Genesis 1 and Proverbs 3:5-6) and its neutralizing effect upon the human spirit. In this way man's spirit is freed to become the ruling influence again in thoughts and intentions of the (new Covenant heart-see Ezekiel 36) of the heart. The scrutiny of this word detects every possible disease, discerning the body's deepest secrets where join and marrow meet.

5. It leads us into a life of humility and childlike faith. The moment we cease from our own efforts to justify ourselves, by yielding to the integrity of the message that announces the success of the Cross, God's Word is triggered into action. What God spoke to us in son-ship (the incarnation), radiates His Image and Likeness in our redeemed innocence. (Heb. 1:1-3) This Word powerfully penetrates and impacts our whole being; body, soul and spirit.

6. It is the essence of Christ-like relationships. Ephesians 2:11-19, The Message. "But don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways 12 had no idea of any of this, didn't know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. 13 Now because of Christ - dying that death, shedding that blood - you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything. 14 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. 15 He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. 16 Christ brought us together through his death on the Cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. 17 Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. 18 He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. 19 That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what he is building."

"In every religion and philosophy, word remains word-religion remains a theory and philosophy remains a guess. But in Jesus Christ, the Word is made flesh, reality is revealed-God's thought is concluded in human life." Andre Rabe

In the grip of the Word made flesh! Ron