All Christians have read much about the power of the word of God in reading their Bibles and also heard much about it in sermons and messages. So why aren't there more people telling about the power of God working in their lives?
One requirement to see the power of the word of God manifesting in one's life, is that the person truly needs to believe the Bible in its entirety, that it truly is the word of God, given by the Holy Spirit, through the people that God has chosen. Paul wrote to Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Additionally, Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth...
The Lord clearly states that the word of God cannot be abolished:
John 10:35 “If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),...”
2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Another requirement, in addition to believing and trusting in the power of God's word, for a person to truly see the power of the word of God working in their life, is that we need to desire to read and study the Bible, not merely because we were told to, but because we want to understand the word, getting it deep into our hearts, as the Psalmist said in Psalms 119:11-12, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You! Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes!"
Only after we know what the Bible says, can we truly live the kind of life that is blessed and pleasing to God.
John 14:21,23-24 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."… “Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.”
The third requirement, which applies to all the promises of Scripture, is to live in obedience to God, keeping a right heart, full of love for God and for people. In a heart full of love, there is no place for hate, sin, malice, bitterness, selfishness or negativity. Every day we must live disciplined, faithful lives, pleasing to the Lord and not quenching the Holy Spirit.
Let's consider what the Bible says about the" effects of the word of God" in the lives of God's people, the body of Christ.
- The word of God produces faith in our hearts when we receive it.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God
When we need the faith that God can and wants to do something for us, we seek the Lord to show us which verses will work for our situation. Then we soak on and meditate on the specific verses daily, even saying them out loud. It is a fact, acknowledged by psychologists, that the human mind believes and applies more easily and quickly when a person hears something from their own voice.
The Holy Spirit came to lead us into all truth and help us discover the hidden things of God, so He is the best Teacher to call on to help us understand scripture (John 14:26).
- The word of God, is the seed that produces the new life in us for salvation.
The nature of the seed determines the nature of its results when planted. When the seed of the word of God, comes alive in our spirit, and unites with the Holy Spirit inside of us, we become alive for eternity.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
1 Peter 1:23 Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever
- The word of God is life and brings health for the whole body for him that finds it.
Proverbs 4:21-22 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.
Psalms 107:17-21 Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
- The word of God makes us wise and gives us the strength to live clean lives.
Psalms 119:7-11 I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly! How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!
Psalms 119:98-101 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.
- The word of God illuminates our minds as we study it.
Psalms 19:8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalms 119:130 The teaching of Your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.
- The word of God serves as a spiritual mirror, through which we look at the state in which we find ourselves and find out what we need to change or improve.
James 1:21-25 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
- In the word of God, we find pleasure in the teachings and as we are obedient, we prosper and are blessed.
Psalms 1:2-3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they do prospers.
Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
- The word of God becomes alive and working in us, when we believe the Lord and let Him do His work in us.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
By studying the Bible, we are able to distinguish between the "carnal nature of soul" or the "righteousness of the spirit." God created us to be led by the spirit and united with the Holy Spirit. However, Adam and Eve chose to be led by the soul, the carnal nature, (“lust of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life "-1 John 2:16). By ignoring the spirit that was made to communicate with God, in the Garden of Eden, mankind became soul-led, carnal nature-led, being interested in and led by one's feelings, thoughts and will, ignoring the voice of the spirit which is where we were once able to be led from by God. Jesus came to make it possible to be born-again in the spirit, by the Holy Spirit, for all those who want Him as our Lord in our lives. Christians' lives are led by the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
- The word of God brings joy and delight in our hearts, when we feed our souls upon it.
Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
- The words of God in Scripture, are spirit and true life for us when we believe and receive them.
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
- The word of God is clean, holy and life-giving truth.
John 17:17-19 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
- The word of God is food for the children of God, as food is to the natural body, the word of God is to the spirit man.
Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
- By the word of God we come to know Jesus and to be truly free.
John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'"
- The word of God is forever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
The Lord made the same claim as He addressed the disciples about the end times.
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
What a wonderful God we have! He has given us His word so we can learn to know Him and His will for mankind and for us, His people. He has given us His word to show what He approves and disapproves of and in so doing, we find true life!
- The Word of God contains everything we need to know. It is the perfect guide for living pure lives and equips us with everything we need to be blessed and pleasing to God.
Philippians 3:7-11 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
In the book of Hebrews, we read about the importance of the truthful confession of the word, i.e. homología ("common confession" in the original Greek). This term refers to the "collective agreement" of Christians about what the Lord loves and hates - and the courage to proclaim it out loud.
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
In other words, when we believe and proclaim Bible verses, we are agreeing with what God has said, and as a result, the benefits of the word of God become real in our lives. God is faithful and honors His promises. For who? To all those who love Him and live in obedience to Him.