THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD!

Message on Wednesday Night by Ravi Bharat

Good evening everyone,

Before the 21 Day Fast started we were encouraged to use it as an opportunity to immerse ourselves in God and place whatever need in our lives before Him.  Everyone has their different goals.  My goal for the 21 Days was to draw closer to God than I had ever been in my life.  This was a stretch for me because it has been many years since I have had that closeness with God.  From my point of view, God and I were acquaintances.

           

During these 21 Days, Pastor Vic encouraged us to read Revelation since it says in Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.  You are blessed when you read Revelation!

The first two weeks of the fast I did not read a single word from the Bible.  I prayed and worshipped, but I did not read the Bible.  Every morning I awoke and immediately picked up my phone.  The moment my eyes opened and I became conscious of my surroundings I picked up my phone and looked at my e-mail, text messages, and the latest headlines.  I am an avid newsreader.  Technology has allowed us to truly become a global network and I find myself engrossed with current events not only in America, but also in all the major international countries of the world.  While I enjoy this very much, the issue still remained; I was filling myself with the world from the moment I woke up.  This could not continue and it was not I who decided that, but the Holy Spirit.

During the first two weeks the Holy Spirit poked and prodded me to read Revelation, but as usual I would brush it off or leave it until tomorrow.  When tomorrow came I would repeat the process.  Last week Friday, when I awoke and reached for my phone the Holy Spirit said that was enough.  This feeling I had within me, voiced to me, questioned me, How long would I continue to fill myself with the world?  How long will I continue wanting change and progression in my life yet not doing anything about it!  ENOUGH! 

For the first time in many months, I woke up and spent time with God.  I opened the Bible and started reading Revelation and my friends, words will fail to capture the satisfaction I felt when I started to read the word of God.  I had never known such tranquility.  In that moment it dawned on me that I had been starving my spirit and it broke my heart.

           

Imagine you are doing this 21 Day fast without eating or drinking.  The only drink you have is given to you one day a week, on Sunday.  From Monday to Saturday you eat and drink nothing.  By the time Tuesday hits you are very hungry, Thursday you’re in dire straits, Saturday and you feel as though you are on the verge of death. Then Sunday arrives, you drink, feel satisfied, but the process continues during the week.  It is torture. 

That is exactly what I have been doing to the spirit within me.  Every Sunday I drink for a couple of hours, feel satisfied, and then during the week I do not feed it at all.  That process many of us repeat for months, years even.  We starve our spirit, but continue to drink unceasingly from the world.  Our spirit needs the word of God on a daily basis, it needs to be fed, nourished and taken care of. 

When you are cooking for yourself, you put effort into constructing a good meal.  The dhal is not too watery, curry isn’t just spice water, and the potatoes are not cut up anyhow and then end up not being cooked evenly.  You take your time and make sure the dhal has consistency; it was not too watery or too thick, but just right.  You can taste the spices in the curry; one does not overpower the other.  The potatoes are cut up in even chunks so they are all cooked evenly.  So too when you read the word of God, do not open up the Bible and “Ask, seek and knock!” “Oh, thank you Lord!” “Hallelujah, Amen” time to move on with the day.  No my friends, when you open the word of God, digest every word.  It will take a while, but reading the word of God is about quality and not quantity. 

What struck me like thunder when reading Revelation is the power that Jesus gives the word of God.  In Revelation 1:16 - And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.  His mouth professes the word of God. Revelation 2:15-16 - So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Without going in too deep, the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes revolved around the occult and paganism, that it was also perfectly acceptable to not have a strict separation between the world and being a Christian.  Jesus hated those ideals.  Not just dislike, but serious hatred.  He then says if they do not repent, he will FIGHT them with the word of God.  Do any one of you want to fight Jesus, who is armed with the word of God?  Jesus uses the word of God as a weapon, more powerful than any two edged sword.

Would you like to know the power of the word of God?  I will share with you.

Jesus was tempted 3 times and responded in a specific way 3 times.

1st Temptation

Matthew 4:3-4 - And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

2nd Temptation

Matthew 4:5-7 - Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

3rd Temptation

Matthew 4:8-10 - Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Jesus responded with “it is written” 3 times!  He referred to the word of God to keep the enemy at bay.  He used the word as a weapon!  He did not depend on Himself, but depended on the word!  Look carefully at these verses because after Jesus used the word of God to fend off the enemy, the enemy HAD NO REBUTTAL!  No argument!  No comeback! Nothing!  He went onto the next temptation.  The word of God is FINAL!  There is no wiggle room, or room to maneuver!  The word of God is absolute!  It stopped the enemy in his tracks and sent him running!

The power of the word of God is tremendous.  The best news is that we also have that same power!  We abide in Him and He in us!  Jesus lives in us!  We read the word and allow that Holy Spirit power to be unlocked within us.  We will be able to do the impossible especially within our lives, to dream the impossible, because we have the word of God on our side.  Gain confidence and boldness from the word.  Endure, persevere, and overcome!  Spend time in the word, turn it into a weapon and fight against the enemy.  It is better to digest half a chapter and feed your spirit than it is to read 6 chapters just for the sake of reading.