As a reminder the purpose of this series is to generate UNDERSTANDING about the POWER of the Word of God. The Bible says that Jesus IS the eternal WORD that became flesh (John 1:1-2, 14). The WORD is therefore a resurrected man and to Him has been given all authority (Matthew 28:18). There are actually two parts to the WORD and for each part there is a Greek word in the original biblical manuscripts:
* LOGOS = the written form of words inspired and previously spoken by God.
* RHEMA = the words spoken by God. The written LOGOS was RHEMA before it was recorded and
becomes RHEMA again when it speaks directly to you personally and becomes your personal
revelation.
When you see the English "WORD" in your Bibles, you need to know which Greek word is behind it. There's a difference and it's helpful as well as enlightening to study it out. When we use this word in English we're usually talking about the written WORD, but in the Bible the Greek makes an important distinction and is quite often describing God speaking to us through the written version of the WORD. That's why the WORD is described as being ALIVE and POWERFUL with the ability to speak to both your soul and spirit and JUDGE the thoughts and intentions of your MIND (heart) (Hebrews 4:12). In short, it POSSESSES the ability to change both you and the circumstances you're having to live through. It is the most POWERFUL living thing in the universe!
What Are You Considering?
But there are hindrances to our use of that POWER and the enemy will do whatever he can to separate us from full access to it. Remember from our previous discussions that folks will ALWAYS soften to the things they CONSIDER but grow HARDENED (or dull) to the things they neglect or fail to consider. In other words people always have clearer UNDERSTANDING of things once they've meditated on them and have persistently and decisively pursued additional illumination. That's what CONSIDERING means: to purposefully meditate on something until the UNDERSTANDING comes. On one occasion Jesus' disciples failed to CONSIDER His miracle of feeding the 5,000 and the Scripture equated that to HARDNESS OF HEART (Mark 6:52 KJV). On A couple of other occasions Jesus rebuked His disciples for their HARDNESS OF HEART (Mark 8: 17-21 and 16:14) because it revealed their lack of SPIRITUAL perception.
It's not good for Christians to go around all the time with HARDNESS OF HEART for the things of God. But frankly most of us DO have a lot of HARDNESS to overcome and it's our responsibility to get rid of it, to shed it and become SOFTENED to the spiritual side of life so we can achieve the fullness of the blessings and benefits Jesus went to the Cross to make available. Otherwise that HARDNESS blocks all the good things of God from getting through and we wallow around in insecurity and discouragement and defeat. God has given us the weapons and the tools to overcome it and He'll guide us through, but we have to take the initiative and we have to do the work. We have to take responsibility for our own condition.
As usual though, we have a choice to make. We can choose to be passive and continue in our apathy OR we can choose to RESIST something that frustrated Jesus and hinders our success. But one important thing to understand is that there are basically only two alternatives to choose from: if we're HARDENED to the things of God and the spiritual and the supernatural, then it means almost certainly that we're SOFTENED to the things of the enemy, the flesh and the natural. What have we CONSIDERED, the Kingdom of God or the World? If we want to change our lives, it's time to look for ways to become SOFTENED to the things of God so we can move away from and become HARDENED to the World.
How Are You handling Your Burdens?
They're a lot of ways to start making this change and it all starts with CONSIDERING the Word of God. The Word will lead us to do things in life that SOFTEN us to the things of God and HARDEN us to the World. And one of those key things is something you may not have thought of which is the main focus of this week's discussion: if you're trying to carry around your own burdens and cares, your own problems and trials, and your own anxieties and concerns, then you've become HARDENED to the things of God and you're not trusting in Him to bring you through to the success and victory you've been looking for. Let's CONSIDER for a moment why this is true.
The Bible says the disciples were ASTONISHED when they saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a raging storm (Mark 6: 51). Just a few hours earlier that same day they had seen Jesus feed 5,000 men and their associates, perhaps a total of 15,000 or more people, with 5 loaves of bread and two fishes. If He could pull that off, why should they be so surprised to see Him walking on the water? But there was a lot going on that night because as the disciples strained against the storm they had become AFRAID of it and were preoccupied with their cares of self-preservation (Mark 6:50). Their personal BURDEN was too great so their MINDS had been taken away from the recent miracle of the loaves which clearly demonstrates how the BURDENS of life can cause our hearts to be HARDENED to the things of God.
The Bible tells us to lay aside every burden and fix our eyes on Jesus as we "run the race" that's been set before us. We're to CONSIDER Him so we won't grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3). But the disciples had their eyes on the storm that night instead of on Jesus. They CONSIDERED their problems instead of CONSIDERING that Jesus was there with them walking on the nearby water with all the power and authority they would need to get through the storm. They could see Him in the natural but they couldn't PERCEIVE His spiritual ability. Fear had cancelled out their FAITH and the GRACE of God has to be received by FAITH. And, we have to have GRACE to deal with our BURDENS.
Questions: What are we supposed to do with our BURDENS? Where do we put them and how? Well, the Bible tells us exactly what to do. It says to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God by casting all our anxiety (our BURDENS) on Him (1 Peter 5:6-7). If we'll put our eyes on Him and give Him all our BURDENS, He'll gladly take them in exchange for the GRACE we need (1 Peter 5:5) to get the victory. We weren't created with the ability to carry BURDENS; Jesus is the One with that job description and He's also the One that will show us the way to victory. We have to trust Him because we'll never be able to achieve real victory in our own strength.
The bottom line is that one of the things we have to do in order to overcome HARDNESS OF HEART to the things of God is unload our BURDENS onto Jesus. He wouldn't have told us to do it if it weren't possible or if He didn't want them. We CAN give Him our BURDENS once we're convinced that it's for our own good to do it and that we can't overcome them on our own anyway. HARDNESS OF HEART tells us that we should NOT trust Him and that we have to face our BURDENS by ourselves in the Flesh depending on our own abilities and strength. But that's PRIDE talking and God only gives GRACE to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
The humble Believer then is the one who has given over his/her BURDENS to Jesus to resolve and is fixed only on Him. CONSIDER the Lord today and let Him take your BURDENS. He really wants them and you don't. So why not let Him have them? You're not equipped or empowered to carry them or do very much about them; so give them over. It's a great match, amen? You don't want them, He does. You can't do anything about them; He can. So, let Him take over and after a little while God will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you (1 Peter 5:10) exalting you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6).
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on May 24. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:
Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
Prayer Requests
If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.
http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx
Donations
If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.
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About Prosperous Life Newsletter
PLN is an outreach ministry of Make A Way Ministries and has been published continuously since January 1998. It's an e-publication about life in the Kingdom of God and is sent ONLY to our email list of MINISTRY MEMBERS. If you're reading this and aren't yet on our growing email list, please let us know and we'll be so very happy to add you to the list.
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