LEARNING DAILY

 

Hebrews 4:14, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

In the last page of the blog, the Believer’s rest – both here on earth and that to come in heaven – was dealt with.  The believer can have peace now only through their faith in Christ and by their obedience to Him.  Another way of saying that is to enter the narrow gate and by walking on the narrow way.  Jesus Himself stated few would do that.  The way to stay on the narrow way and to be obedient to Him is to submit to the Word of God.  When one enters the narrow gate and God’s rest, He uses His Word to begin to cut and chisel away anything and everything that causes us to stray from the narrow way.

 

A person enters the narrow gate as one who has their sins – past, present and future – forgiven.  That does not mean they are no longer human.  The David Jeremiah Study Bible states this in the notes, “The inner life of a Christian is often a mixture of genuinely spiritual and completely human motivations.  Only a supernatural discerning agent such as the Word of God can sort out what is of the flesh and what is of the spirit.  The Bible is God’s spoken word to us; He used men to write exactly what He spoke to them.  This Word He spoke represents the very character of God Himself.  It is living, active, piercing and discerning.  The writer of Hebrews states that His Word is “sharp” and “two-edged”.  It brings healing and life to those who submit to it and on the other hand it pronounces judgment on those who disregard it.

 

Think of when you step off the narrow way and speak or act in a sinful way.  Do you get that awful feeling that you sinned?  That’s God’s Word, His Holy Spirit (the author of the Word) telling you to ask for forgiveness in order to get back on the narrow way.  The Word of God penetrates so precisely and thoroughly our inner being that it discerns (judges) and defines the obscure dividing-line between “spirit” and “soul” (The Life in the Spirit Study Bible).  Here “spirit” is from the Greek word pneuma meaning human spirit or the spiritual relationship to God and “soul” is from the Greek word psyche which refers to our emotions, thoughts, and desires, and choices.  God’s Word helps us to know God’s desire for us and strengthens His life in our spirit.  It exposes our selfishness and self-centeredness where it comes into conflict with the life of God within us.  It is our willingness to submit to the piercing of God’s Word in us that changes us to enter into God’s rest.  The alternative is to harden our hearts against God’s Word and be condemned by it; the result is to perish.

 

Hebrews 4:12 along with verse 13 remind us the seriousness of our choices when we respond to God’s Word.  This is why I write over and over in this blog to be in the Word of God daily.  I know how difficult that is.  Satan does not want you to do so because he hates God, hates God’s Word and hates you.  He does not want you to read, meditate, and study it. 

 

Find the time each day to read, meditate, and study the Bible.  God will bless you for doing so!

 

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