"In The Beginning Was The Word..."

God is SO good…I cannot count all the many, many, MANY blessings that Father has poured out upon me over and over again!!! They are countless, numberless and full of endless joy and peace in Christ Jesus my Savior and King! I am readily reminded of the beautiful verse we find in James 1:17-18,

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.  ¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

One of the greatest things that the Lord has taught me this semester is continuing to give me strength, joy and peace in a Way that I have not had for quite some time, because more times than not I have walked away from pursuing this Way of Life that I should have been consuming my whole being with! It is so simple, that I have many times carelessly tossed it “under the rug” to pursue things of “greater importance” and of “more value” in the “Christian” life. I have looked in all the wrong places to find the root of this priceless treasure and therefore have failed to discover its true source, because my pursuit was ALL in the flesh (sarx).

You might be wandering what I am talking about or maybe you have a guess or two…but never the less it has become and is continuing to grow as the soul joy and delight of my everyday life, even when circumstances and emotions tell me otherwise. A strong hint to what I am referring to can be found in a passage that the Lord has been prompting me to memorize and meditate on, John 1. Verses 1-4 state,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ² The same was in the beginning with God.  ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

God has shown me that it is simply delighting in and being consumed with one thing: A Relationship with my Father through continually abiding in the Word and prayer. John 8:31-32 says it this way,

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;  ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 Before you “write me off” or make the statement, “Oh, I’ve been there and done that”, let me explain what I mean. This simple truth the Lord has brought to me before, but God is continuing to show me a greater dimension and depth of it the deeper I pursue Him in this Way.

I have made the fatal mistake of underestimating its immense significance and have discounted it as something that might be secondary or even of less importance. If I should state it plainly, what I am trying to say is that I have way to many times turned to pursuing the Lord by the deceptive means of what is called “RELIGION”. Religion, as defined by its fruit in the world today, has NOTHING to do with a relationship with God but everything to do with the fleshly efforts of man trying to master an intellectual and self-gratifying knowledge of an infinite God, which can NEVER be grasped when He has already said that He will NOT share His glory with another! 1 Corinthians 2:14 says,

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

and Galatians 3:3 says,

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

Jesus put it well while speaking to the Pharisees when He said,

“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”

It is all this simple: I have heard all the “right things”, the “right teachings”, I have worn the “clerical collar” and “religious badge of Chrisianity” and I have even attended some of the best seminars containing the greatest biblical truths, but have seldom ever invested the time of forsaking ALL and burying myself in the Word and in prayer. When you do this, just be ready to see God work and move in ways you could have NEVER dreamed of, why? Because God honors His Word!!!

God reveals Himself to those who seek His face, but few will ever take the time to do just that. I am finding no greater investment and no fuller joy in my life than to “waist” my time at the Father’s feet listening and reading His Word to me. So then prove God and see if He is a liar or if He is telling the truth, because if He is telling the truth than 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 stands firm which states,

“Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  ¹⁴ If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  ¹⁵ If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

I guess what I am trying to say is, TRUST YOUR FATHER… YOU EXIST BECAUSE HE EXISTS!!! He is faithful and keeps His covenant with all who will keep His Word!!! Remember the words to the hymn Like A River Glorious, “They who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true”.

Trust, Rest and Abide In Him!

~ John 15 ~

Ps. Lord willing, pictures will come later… ;)