The Word That Dwells In Us

You're not going to believe this, but I've been attending a Beth Moore Bible study for four weeks and haven't posted anything about it! Actually, it's a collaboration between Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Arthur called Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed, and it's a study on the life of David. It's been amazing so far, but for some reason I didn't feel the incredible urge to blog about it until yesterday. Now I'm wondering how on earth I'll be able to explain what the Holy Spirit revealed to me. It seems hopeless, but I have to try.

In yesterday's homework, Beth Moore led us to 2 Samuel 7, in which God reveals through the prophet Nathan that He is going to build an everlasting family line through David:

" 'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: ¹² When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son....¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me ; your throne will be established forever.' " 

Here is David's response: 

 ¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
       "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD?...

25 "And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, ²⁶ so that your name will be great forever....

 ²⁷ "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. ²⁸ O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁹ Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."

Notice the way David's prayer repeated back God's promises, and how David was bold to claim the promises for himself and for his family--not just his children, but his family line. Now we know that the family line God referred to would include Jesus, and that through faith in Him, we are a part of David's line.  According to Romans 11:17, as believers we have been grafted as branches into David's family line. That means we are entitled to all the blessings God promised him!

Beth encourages us to pray the same kind of prayers for our own family, claiming all the promises the Bible holds for our children, our grandchildren, and all our offspring down the line until Jesus returns.

But wait, it gets better.... John 1:14-16 tells us, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.... From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." 

Now I've read and heard those verses many times, but yesterday morning around 8:00 A.M., I actually grasped the enormity of this truth, and the Holy Spirit inside me rose up with overwhelming joy and awe. I'm going to try to put it in words....  God promised to bless David's family line--us--through His son Jesus. Jesus was the very Word made flesh, the same creative Word that created the universe: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)

Here's the revelation: Jesus and the Word are the same. There are no words to describe how powerful God's Word is; it created the entire universe! That same power dwells in us through the Spirit of Jesus. The way to access that power is by using the Word, by repeating back to God the promises He has given us in the Bible. In John 15:7-8, Jesus promises, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." 

Do you see it? God is just WAITING to pour out blessings on us! Why? Because blessing us brings Him glory. For a long time, I've been wondering why my faith isn't strong enough to believe for miracles. Sure, I know that God has answered many of my prayers, but why haven't I had the courage to ask for something big, to claim all God's promises for myself and for my family? When I read all these verses, and the Holy Spirit helped me understand how it all fit together, I literally broke out into rejoicing in my kitchen. 

I got out my stack of scripture memory cards and began quoting them in a new way, as praises and prayers to my Father. I had to keep stopping every two or three verses to worship Him for his goodness and power. My heart thrilled with each promise--all sins forgiven, all diseases healed (Psalm 103), blessings poured out on my offspring (Isaiah 43), peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4), a crown of beauty instead of ashes (Isaiah 61), all my family's needs supplied (Matthew 6), etc. When I hit Philippians 2:11, I literally fell to my knees with a thud: "... that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." And my mouth trembled as I quoted the next verse: "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

There it was again, the glory of God through the grace of Jesus. That glory stayed with me through most of the day, and it came back to me when we discussed the homework at Bible study. I grew more and more animated as I tried to explain these revelations to my dear friends. I might have even pounded the table at one point. (I hope I didn't scare them!) 

I don't ever remember feeling this excited about the Word of God. I know I've told you this so many times, but I have to say it again. The Word is powerful. It's alive! Meditate on it. Memorize it. Pray it over yourself and your family. It is the power of Jesus himself, and God wants to use it to transform you. Taste and see that the Lord is good!