Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Do you receive a sense of peace when you read the Bible? Why not do it more then?

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

The Word of God and the God of the Word

You cannot separate the Word of God from the God of the Word, so it’s no wonder that Jesus said if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can pray with expectant results (John 15:7). Jesus is even called the Word (John 1:1, 14), so you cannot read the Bible without seeing Jesus. Even as far back as Genesis 3: 15, it referred to Christ. We rob ourselves of the joy of the Word and receiving the peace of God when we avoid reading the Bible. Not only that, we are actually cleansed by the Word of God (John 15:3), as a literal washing by the Word occurs (Eph. 5:26).

The Delight of the Word

There is true delight in the Word of God (Psalm 119:16) and in meditating on it (Psalm 1:2). There is a blessing on those who delight in it (Psalm 112:1). By reading the Word of God, we can have not only peace but joy (Psalm 40:8) and keep our footing on solid ground (Psalm 37:31). The Word of God, and specifically the Gospel, contains the very power of God (Rom. 1:16). So why wouldn’t we want this power to abide in us on a regular basis? If you are into the Word daily, the Word will stay in you daily. The effect of reading the Word causes or produces real peace, and there is so much scriptural evidence to support this.

The Peace of God

The peace of God is from the God of peace. For those who have been saved, they can be at peace with God (Rom. 5:1) because they have passed from condemnation to not being under condemnation anymore (Rom. 8:1), and that should give you a great deal of peace. This peace, which comes from the reading of the Word, will keep our minds steadfast (Isaiah 26:3). It’s not the kind of peace the world offers, which is only temporary and isn’t really peace at all, but the peace of God settles troubled hearts and calms our fears (John 14:27). Everything you learn from the Word of God should increase your peace (Phil. 4:19) and should rule, or literally be the umpire of, your hearts (Col. 3:15). God’s peace guards both our minds and our hearts (Phil. 4:7), and what God guards stays protected.

A Closing Prayer

Great God in heaven, great peace have all they who abide in Your Word, so please help me to stay in Your Word daily, to see the vital nature of it in my life, and to have daily peace. In Jesus’ name, I thank You and pray.

Amen

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