Knowing God’s Truth is A Process

 

The sin I wrote about yesterday was fear. It took me a long time to understand that my fear had died long ago on the cross with Jesus.

 

Throughout my life, feelings of fear would arise, and I would either address them through action or push them down deep inside. I had taught God’s Word for years, written devotionals, and helped others in their faith. But when I was suddenly faced with an illness spiraling out of control, that spirit of fear rose to devour me. I knew God was the only one who could help me. I understood the Word, but when all those years of knowledge brought no relief, I realized HIS knowledge had not become mine. I was desperate, and I knew His Word was my only answer. As the fear and sickness escalated over the next few months, I intentionally continued to put my faith in the Word. His Word was truth and life. What I didn’t know in my heart was my problem. Not knowing the Word was killing me. 

                                          

Some people may not consider fear a sin. However, fear comes against faith, and what is not of faith in my life is sin (Romans 14:23). Fear was my sin, consuming and convincing me that I had no power to overcome it. In 1 John 5:18, the Word said I was dead to sin, so I should be dead to fear. But how was I to get there? Like a drowning person, I tenaciously clung to the Word and mediated on it and studied it—again and again and again. I consumed the Word, praying over each word, and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal its truth for me. I would not let His Word go until it was quickened in my heart.

 

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:17-18).

 

I was starving for peace and healing. I meditated on these verses and many others—listening for the Holy Spirit, writing down each perspective and thought. I wrote. I prayed and cried out to God for understanding. I received. I rejoiced. I followed His guidance through the Scriptures. Each day took me on a journey toward freedom. 

 

I did not need to fear because I had received His perfect love that casts out fear when I was saved by grace through faith. It took nine months for me to KNOW that, at the cross, my fear had been conquered and removed as far as the east is from the west in Jesus’ perfect love. And in the KNOWING, His perfect love came alive in my heart, defeating the fear instilled by medical professionals that I would have this illness for the rest of my life. 

 

I grew to understand that as Jesus is, so am I in this world. His righteousness lives in me. Any form of unrighteousness is dead. I have the cleansing of His perfect love, which overcame sin, hell, death, and all of evil’s unrighteous fruit. Sin cannot exist in Christ’s righteousness, nor can its evil fruit, sickness. The truths I sowed in my heart were finally conceived in my heart. The spirit of fear was being overcome. The more I knew Jesus to be alive in me, the less control fear and sickness had over me. One day, I stepped out in faith against the diagnosis I had been given for the rest of my life. The healing Jesus died to give me became mine when every ounce of my being touched Him. 

 

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

 

I discovered that “that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness” is the finished work of His perfect love. When this truth was finally conceived in my heart, it came to life within me. Healing was all Him; it was not a result of anything I did, but rather the outcome of all He did within me when He bore my sins in His own body on the cross.

 

“Knowing” His truth in your heart is a process. It is your journey. It will not look like anyone else’s journey of faith. There is no formula—no list of things to do for God to manifest His promises in your life. You receive His promises through faith. The journey to reach the point where you receive through faith can be instant, short, long, or very long. But you must never give up. Jesus is with you throughout the entire process until you know that you know that you know. You can reach the place where you, like Abraham, do not waver at God's promises through unbelief but are strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what God has promised you, He can do (Romans 4:20).

 

Jesus illustrated how the kingdom of God operates according to the natural and spiritual laws of sowing and reaping (Mark 4:1-20). He compared natural seeds to the Word of God, elaborating on the different types of soils and hearts and their potential yields. 

 

Whether fear, sickness, or anything else that torments you, sowing God’s Word in your heart and receiving its promise takes time. Healing is a harvest, whether immediate, like a miraculous gift of healing, or progressive, like recovering over time. In each instance, a word from God must be conceived in someone's heart.

 

What you are “conceiving” or “knowing” in your heart today will be what you reap tomorrow. Many don’t see the importance of conception; they quickly complain or become discouraged when they see no results. You are accountable for what you nurture in your heart. Each of us can embrace the blessings and promises of God if we choose. While you may not control the timing of the harvest, your faith will either flourish or diminish depending on whether you have taken a word from God to heart.

 

A woman who has conceived a child does not doubt that she will one day give birth. A farmer who has sown a seed does not doubt that one day he will see the fruit of that seed. A believer who has conceived a promise of healing or restoration should be just as convinced. Faith depends on “hearing” and the “conception” of your promise in your heart (Romans 10:17).

 

Understanding God’s truth is a process of hearing and sowing His Word, nurturing it, and conceiving it in your heart. You have a seed to sow. Faith without action is dead. The Holy Spirit continually reveals the answer to your need, but you must hear Him and act by faith upon what you have heard and conceived in your heart. Stretching out with all within you, you reach out and touch the hem of His garment. And all that is within Jesus flows out of Him into you. And you are whole.

 

“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23).

 

 

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Knowing His Truth

 

There are beliefs that do not represent God’s truth. They stem from personal experiences rather than the Word. They may originate from tradition and religion instead of the Word. You may not realize they are false because you are unfamiliar with the Word. A lack of understanding of the revelation of the Word of God can lead to your downfall (Hosea 4:6). 

  

Your heart is where you truly know that something is true. We should meditate on God’s Word until our perspective aligns with God’s understanding and becomes “knowing” with everything within us. Until the information the Word provides in our heads becomes God’s revelation in our hearts, we will not fully believe it. The Holy Spirit’s revelation cannot transform us until it is applied by faith in our lives. When we live by the revelation of God’s Word, we acknowledge its truth. We become a living sacrifice, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to conform to His truth (Romans 12:1-2). We have a relationship with Jesus in which God’s truth dominates our lives. His truth becomes our identity—the authority by which we exist. Information becomes revelation, so it can lead to our application, allowing us to wield the authority with which we reign in life over the flesh and the lies of the wicked one (Romans 5:17).

 

Without knowing the Holy Spirit’s perspective of God’s truth, we will succumb to the flesh and the devil’s tricks. Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil. Satan is a defeated foe with only the power we grant him. But if we don’t know this truth in our minds, wills, emotions, and hearts, we are just waiting to be led to the enemy’s slaughter. 

 

God wants you to know that you have a life that the devil cannot touch. 1 John 5:18 states: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18). 

 

The power to resist the enemy is found in submitting to God’s truth (James 4:7). To submit to God’s truth, you must “know”—you must be absolutely convinced that His Word is absolutely true, no matter what you see or experience, and has the power to change you. The key to preventing sin and the enemy from destroying your life is the knowledge that comes from the revelation and application of God’s truth that sets you free (John 8:32).

 

Look at 1 John 5:18. What keeps the enemy from touching us? 

 

“We KNOW,” John writes, “that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” “KNOWING” comes from the revelation of truth and its application by faith in your life. Am I absolutely convinced of what 1 John 5:18 says—when I am born of God, I do not sin? When I “know” it is true, the enemy has no power to influence my thoughts or stir the desires of my flesh. I can walk in the Spirit, denying the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) because I know I am dead to sin with every ounce of my being.

 

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).

  

If I am dead to sin, how can I who died to sin remain in it?  

 

“Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

 

If I believe deep within my heart that I, as a new creation in Christ, am undoubtedly dead to sin and alive in Christ, I am convinced that if I repent (turn away from whatever claims my flesh), I have God’s power to overcome. The Holy Spirit assures me that if I fight sin with my flesh, sin will only defeat me. Only Jesus conquers sin in me. When I live my life from that place of “knowing” that the righteousness of God is alive in me through my relationship with Jesus, I live in submission to God. I resist the devil. He cannot touch me. He must flee. He cannot pull me from who I am in Jesus.

 

Years ago, when I first chose to believe 1 John 5:18, telling me that I, as a born-again believer, was dead to sin, it made me uncomfortable and challenged my religion. How could I even think of myself as being dead to sin? That would mean I had no sin. But I knew better than that. I did have sin. As a believer, I still fought sin all the time. This verse went against my religion, which told me to pull myself together and just quit sinning. Do this and you won’t sin. Just work to get over this, and it will go away. None of that worked. I remained frustrated, defeated, and unable to let go completely of what was destroying my life.

 

The Holy Spirit never gave up on me. He kept reminding me that I was dead to sin. So why was I still struggling so hard to overcome? One day, I realized I still viewed myself without the righteousness Jesus had died to give me. Even though Jesus had saved me from my sin, I still considered myself an unworthy sinner in my mind and believed it in my heart. However, Jesus regarded me as worthy of His love. I had been made righteous by the shedding of His precious blood. I should indeed be dead to sin and alive to God. The Holy Spirit finally convinced my heart that I was not allowing Christ to live in me. I had felt too unworthy and remained in debt to a sin no longer held against me. But now I suddenly “knew!” I reckoned myself indeed dead to sin and alive in Jesus! And in the “knowing,” I became free. The knowledge of the truth set me free.

 

For years, I had been trapped on the sin-bearing, debt-laden side of the cross, never allowing myself to be crucified with Christ and then to enter into new resurrection life in Him. Now, I suddenly knew in every part of my being that my old, dead, sinful nature held no power in my life. It was crucified with Christ. I understood that my life in this flesh could only be lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

 

Jesus did not die on the cross so that I would continue in sin. He died to free me from sin’s power. Instead of struggling to overcome my sin, when I “knew” in my heart that I was, indeed, dead to sin, Christ’s righteousness became my identity; I overcame sin because Jesus overcame it for me. 

 

When we allow our thoughts to be captured by the “obedience” of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), we resist the temptations of the flesh and the tricks of the enemy because we are submitted to Christ’s “obedience” on the cross for our sins. Yes, we are called to be obedient to the faith. However, it is not our obedience that changes us. Everything we do in trying to change ourselves only frustrates and defeats us. Our obedience cannot change anything. Our obedience should stem from the change that Jesus has made in us. It is His obedience in taking our sins to the cross that transforms us. I will always reckon, agree, and acknowledge that I am indeed dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus, my Lord. Each day, “knowing” this truth transforms my life, overcoming my flesh and setting me free from the wicked one. 

 

Whatever plagues and curses your life—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, or physically, you long to be free. Jesus crucified those curses (Galatians 3:13). It is the knowledge of God’s truth that restores you and sets you free (John 8:32). And if Jesus makes you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36)! Don’t give up! Get into the Word and be informed. Seek the Holy Spirit’s perspective, and hear what He says about what you have read. Then take what He has shown you by faith as absolute truth in your life. God’s Word will challenge any unbelief and change you until you “know” you are free. You will be transformed by the supernatural power of God from the inside out. If you remain in Him, never moving away from knowing your gift of righteousness in Him, the weight will be forever gone. All sin and all of its fruit will be dead, and you will reign in life through the new life you have received in Jesus Christ.

 

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God’s Perspective

 

Truly, God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.

—Psalms 73:1

 

Asaph began Psalm 73 with the same truth expressed in the last few verses of the psalm—that God is good to those who are pure in heart. In this psalm, Asaph describes the process he underwent to reach such a conclusion.  

 

In Psalm 73:2-12, Asaph described the apparent superiority of the ungodly over the godly. In Psalm 73:13-16, he wrote of his internal conflict regarding this injustice. Finally, in Psalm 73:17-28, he provided the perspective he gained when he sought God.

 

Nearly everyone who seeks to deny themselves and please the Lord has experienced the same thoughts as Asaph. There are times when the ungodly seem happier and more blessed than the righteous. But that is an illusion. Their happiness isn’t true joy, and it is short-lived. A judgment is coming when the righteous will shine as the sun (Matthew 13:43).

 

The only way to properly view this difference is through the eyes of the Lord. That is what Asaph experienced in Psalm 73:17 when he entered the sanctuary of God and gained understanding: “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.”

 

Prosperity for the ungodly is as dangerous as walking on a slippery slope (Psalm 73:18). The apparent prosperity of the wicked is fragile; in an instant, it can all change. God said there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22, 57:21). In the deepest part of their hearts, those who don’t know the Lord are not at peace. They can only have true peace when they obtain God’s grace through faith in what Jesus Christ did (Romans 5:1-2). 

 

Unless the ungodly repent and put their faith in the Lord, they will be despised, along with all their wealth and accomplishments (Psalm 73:20). “And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God’” (Luke 16:15). The grandeur that means so much to carnal people means nothing to God (Psalm 62:9). 

 

By looking at the ungodly with spiritual sight, Asaph recognized how foolish his envious thoughts were (Psalm 73:21). Those who envy the prosperity of the wicked, as Asaph described in Psalm 73:1-13, resemble animals that see and think only with their heads, lacking the understanding that their hearts provide (Psalm 73:22). God remained with Asaph despite his foolish envy (Psalm 73:23). “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).

 

We, too, often think with our heads and lack the understanding and perspective God provides in our hearts when we seek Him. God is always faithful to show us the truth (John 15:26, 16:13). All we need to do is listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His counsel; the revelation of His truth will guide us to Him (Psalm 73:24). 

 

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You” (Psalm 73:25).

 

Asaph’s attitude in this verse puts the apparent success of the wicked into proper perspective. He expressed that he now understood God was everything he desired in heaven or on earth; nothing else could satisfy him. When we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the things God has for us to prosper in life will be added (Matthew 6:33).

 

Your personal strength has limits, but God’s strength is limitless (Psalm 73:26). When you continually abide in Him and trust Him, you can do everything in His power (Philippians 4:13). Regardless of how things may appear, a day of reckoning is coming. Only those who place their trust in the Lord will endure it (Psalm 73:27).

 

There was a time when Asaph thought it was useless to seek the Lord (Psalm 73:13-14). However, he finally understood that only those who seek God are truly living. Only those who view things from God’s perspective can declare the true works of God (Psalm 73:28).

 

Psalm 73 teaches us to seek God’s perspective and not to judge anything based on our human understanding. Sometimes, we think we see clearly regarding certain matters. Often, we believe that we have the right perspective. However, in reality, that issue may only appear to be something it really isn’t. We always need the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s perspective in everything.

 

Asaph found God’s perspective in the sanctuary. Sanctuary means “a place of refuge.” The Holy Spirit is your inner retreat to seek God’s perspective. Whatever the issue that creates internal conflict, the third person of the Godhead is where you find God’s revelation. The Holy Spirit imparts understanding of the Word so you can spiritually see God’s perspective. The Word only becomes truth with the power to transform your life when the Holy Spirit quickens it to your heart. 

 

As with Asaph, God remains with us despite our misguided perspectives when we lack His understanding. However, He wants us to seek His knowledge because He desires His insight to transform us. Do you actively seek the revelation of the Holy Spirit? Have you trusted the Lord and sought His understanding of what you believe and whether it is true regarding issues that trouble you? God’s truth will challenge any belief you hold that does not align with it. Like Asaph, you may experience internal conflict, but you can also choose to pursue more than what you have encountered. You can seek God’s understanding and perspective through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. 

 

The truth you don’t know will leave you to perish (Hosea 4:6). Without knowing God’s truth and His perspective, you will endure the evil of the wicked and the wicked one. Like the apparent superiority of the wicked to Asaph, the enemy will seem greater than the promises of God. Often, he will seem to have won. But he hasn’t. Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil. Satan is a defeated foe with only the power you grant him. The wicked one, just like the wicked, does not prosper. 

 

Without the Holy Spirit’s revelation of God’s Word, you cannot be transformed from the inside out. You will not understand God’s truth regarding the issues you face, nor will you experience God’s peace or the power of His truth to transform you. Asaph ultimately realized that those who seek God are the ones who truly possess life. God wants you to know you have a life the enemy cannot touch (1 John 5:18). He desires you to reach those who don’t know Him with the life-changing truth of the Gospel that begins from within. However, only believers who understand God’s perspective can experience Christ alive in them, transforming their hearts to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of those who don’t know Him (Psalm 73:28).

 

God is so good to those who have a pure heart. The Holy Spirit provides perspective on what it means to have Christ alive within you. Do you know Him and the power of His resurrection? Seek the Holy Spirit’s insight into God’s Word; it will transform your life.

 

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Delight in the Lord

 

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

—Psalm 37:3-4 (NKJV)

 

 

Psalm 37:3-4 speaks of the blessings of the righteous. When we trust in the Lord and do what is right, we have His promise to dwell in the land and receive His provision. In Psalm 37:1, the land referred to is the Jews’ Promised Land. We, who are reborn into the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, will dwell in the fulfillment of God’s promises and receive His provision. We will not only inhabit the life He has for us but will receive it abundantly (John 10:10). 

 

Psalm 37:4 does not promise that when we trust in the Lord, He will give us whatever we desire. However, it does indicate that when we trust in the Lord, He will place His desires in our hearts. When we delight in the Lord, we trust Him. Trusting in the Lord is one of the most humble and profound ways to receive guidance and direction from Him.

 

The word “delight” was translated from the Hebrew word “anag.” Strong’s Concordance states that it means, “to be soft or pliable.” To delight in the Lord is to be teachable and accept direction from Him. Our hearts must be open to the Holy Spirit’s revelation of His spiritual truth and honor it more than our human understanding. 

 

What we “dwell” on—or think about—is what we become sensitive to. Whether good or bad, hopeful or despairing, what we think about will become who we are (Proverbs 23:7). If we want to “dwell” in God’s promises, our hearts must be trusting, flexible, receptive, and listening to Him. If we don’t “dwell” on the truth of His Word, our hearts become hardened to His guidance and direction. Focusing on the things of God keeps our hearts soft and supple, enabling us to hear His voice. When our hearts are humble and sensitive toward the Lord, we feed upon His faithful truth, and His desires become our own. What we do shall be what He desires. 

 

In Psalm 1:2, David stated that those who delight in the Word of God and meditate on it day and night will be blessed. This reflects what David also wrote in Psalm 37:4. When you “delight” yourself in the Word and are soft and pliable to its truth, you meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8). 

 

Delighting yourself in the Lord and His Word does not happen automatically. When you are hungry enough so that nothing else satisfies your hunger, you meditate on His Word until your heart is quickened to its truth.

 

Be intentionally teachable and open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Trust in the Lord wholeheartedly. Commit to not being distracted by what you see with your eyes, hear with your ears, or understand with your mind. Focus solely on God's truth, and meditate on it continually. Place your faith in the abundant and life-affirming promises revealed through Jesus Christ.

 

Psalm 37:5 is God’s response to your active faith: “Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

 

God delights in you; otherwise, He would not have sent His Son to die for you. The blessings of the righteous are yours in Christ. Delight in the Lord! Be open to Him. Trust in Him. Dwell and abide in Him. Feed on His Word, for God will bring His promises to fruition in your life.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/04/delight-in-the-lord.html

 

 

 

 

Casting Your Cares

 

 

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

 

 

Are your worries leading you to despair? When circumstances overwhelm you, is fear taking control of your life? Where is the peace that Jesus says belongs to you?   

 

Peace is the result of casting your cares—your fears—your stress—your uncertainties—your worry and anxiety all upon God through prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7). 

 

Instead of casting their cares on the Lord, many Christians ask God to take their fears and anxieties and give them peace. However, that does not work. The Word says we are to give our anxieties to Him. We must hand Him our fears, stemming from our worries and uncertainty about the future. He wants us to trust in Him because He cares for us. Casting our cares on Him occurs when we place our faith in Him and His promises. Christians who lack God's peace have not taken their cares to the Lord and truly left them with Him. 

 

As a Christian, you have received Christ’s peace. It is a fruit of the Spirit that resides in your born-again spirit. However, your cares and anxieties can blind you to His peace. When you release the cares of this world to Him, peace will flow in your life. 

 

When your worries and fears consume you, you are carnally minded. You are obsessed with your needs instead of trusting the Lord. Paul says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

 

When you are carnally minded, you are not just “prone” to death; the Word says it “is” death. Similarly, being spiritually minded does not merely dispose you to life and peace; it is life and peace. When someone claims to be spiritually minded yet is consumed by fear, he has deceived himself. He is carnally minded and experiences death instead of life. If we continually renew our minds with the spiritual truths of God’s Word and allow them to guide our lives, we will receive life and peace.

 

Your righteousness with God in Christ is your peace. No one who seeks to gain peace with God through their own efforts will ever attain God's peace. His peace is granted by grace through faith and is experienced regardless of your circumstances or what you lack or possess. Human peace is only felt in the absence of problems. Those familiar only with human peace do not experience it frequently, and it certainly does not last. God's peace is independent of our circumstances and has an endless supply for any problem we face. 

 

God has given us the gift of His supernatural peace to experience. Cast away those fears and surrender them to Him! Don’t cling to the oppression of fear. Offer Him your worries with thanksgiving. Eliminate the blockages that hinder the freedom of His blessing, and peace will flow like rivers of living water.

 

You experience God’s perfect peace when you trust in Him. You rest in the truth of His love and the promise of His Word. You find peace when your mind is focused on Him, not your problems. You are casting your cares on Him—never forgetting that when you do, your cares belong to Him, not you. Casting your cares on Him is a spiritual truth with the supernatural power to change your life.

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/04/casting-your-cares.html

 

 

Walk in the Spirit

 

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

—Galatians 5:16

 

How can we avoid sin?  By walking in the Spirit. So, how do we walk in the Spirit? 

 

We walk in the Spirit by living according to the Word of God, controlling ourselves based on its principles, and following the Word’s guidance as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God agree perfectly because the Word is of the Spirit. 

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

 

Only the Holy Spirit gives us life. Our flesh gains us nothing. Our efforts—the things we do—achieve no lasting results without the Spirit breathing life into them. We do not walk in the Spirit because we have overcome the flesh; rather, overcoming the flesh is the consequence of walking in the Spirit.

 

Some Christians believe that as we overcome our flesh, the power of God in our lives increases. This idea was essentially taught by the Pharisees of Jesus' day and the legalistic Jews of Paul's time. In contrast, the opposite is true: as we experience more of the presence and power of the Spirit of God, the influence of the flesh diminishes. Victory comes through experiencing more of God and less of ourselves. 

 

How do you fill a dark room with light? You don’t eliminate the darkness for the light to appear; instead, you turn on the light, and then the darkness disperses. Similarly, the Holy Spirit shines His light into your life, causing the darkness to disperse. We cannot overcome the power of the flesh on our own, just as we cannot rid ourselves of the power of darkness without light. When we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, our relationship with Him overcomes the lust of the flesh. 

 

Through faith, we experience the power of the Holy Spirit overcoming the flesh's influence. We urgently need the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself when the flesh causes problems. Those who wait for the Spirit to reveal Himself after being tempted by the flesh will wait as long as someone trying to dispel darkness waits for the light to appear.

 

 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-6)

 

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 

 

Jesus is the light of the world (John 1:14). His light shines into the world’s darkness, but those in darkness cannot perceive Him. The things of God cannot be received until they are understood spiritually. Jesus’ light shines into the darkness of our lives, and when it is perceived, it disperses the darkness of sin and unbelief. If you do not surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit, you cannot discern the truths of the new life you have received in Christ. Your flesh has no power to understand. Your flesh can never overcome. Your efforts will always fail. 

 

But praise God!  The power of darkness has no hold over us!  

 

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). 

 

Christ has delivered us from the power of darkness! His light shone into the world over two thousand years ago when He overcame sin, hell, and the grave. His work was finished, and His light shone forth, never to diminish. The Christian life is a walk of faith according to God’s grace, which is freely given. However, the gift that is freely given must be spiritually discerned to genuinely make a difference in us. 

 

Romans 6:11 states, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We don’t consider ourselves as becoming dead to sin; instead, we acknowledge that we are already dead, because we are dead to sin through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not heading toward victory; we are coming from His victory—the victory of Christ over sin, hell, and the grave, which has already happened. Since we have already been delivered “from the power of darkness,” Satan does not have any real power over us. His only weapons are deception and intimidation. Those who understand the truth this verse presents have nothing to fear.

 

“Watch and pray,” Jesus told his disciples in the Garden, “lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).

 

Be watchful and pray. Make good choices in your life. Don’t place yourself in situations that tempt you. Even though you do not want to sin, always understand that your flesh is weak. Your efforts to overcome the flesh without the Holy Spirit will fail. Only Jesus living within you—your righteousness in Christ—overcomes. 

 

John 1:9 says that Jesus “was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”

 

Before you were ever born into this world, Jesus defeated your sin. His righteousness overcame your flesh. Holiness is the fruit of your righteousness in Christ, which you received when you were born again. However, if you don’t spiritually discern the truths of your salvation, Christ’s sacrifice will make little difference in your physical life, and you will struggle to overcome your flesh and live a holy life. 

 

Quit fighting temptation with your flesh! That is self-defeating! Jesus Christ overcomes the flesh! Submit to the work of the Holy Spirit! Follow the guidance of the Word as revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, and, through faith, He will empower your efforts to live a holy life. You are under grace. If the Spirit leads you, the law is no longer your master. (Galatians 5:18, Romans 6:14). Walk in the Spirit, and your flesh will not master you; Jesus will. 

 

 

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Is His Word Manifesting in You?

 

My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.

—Proverbs 4:20-23

 

 

It is tough when it seems you are hanging on by a thread. It is a relief to let go and trust in God’s Word. God sent His Word to heal and deliver you from destruction (Psalm 107:20). His Word is His truth for your life. It is His will and His best for you. Don’t weaken its power to work in your life because there is no physical evidence to believe it. Faith is the substance of what you hope for. It is the evidence of what you can’t see (Hebrews 11:1). Nothing is impossible when you believe (Mark 9:23).

 

God’s Word is true. It is supernaturally powerful to produce life and heal you from the inside out—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. However, His Word is not true in you until it becomes your Word. You must give His Word full attention and keep it continually before you. Don’t allow doubts about God’s truth to hinder what the Word says is true for you. Doubt prevents you from receiving God’s promises (James 1:7-8). Faith pleases God. Needing to see God’s Word in action to believe does not constitute faith or please Him (Hebrews 11:6). His Word is His life yearning to manifest itself in you. And faith is the way you receive it.

 

Faith comes alive when you spiritually hear God’s Word (Romans 10:17). If you want the promise God has given you to be true, listen to His Word, pay attention to it, and keep sowing it in the midst of your heart. Your heart is where you conceive what you believe, and it comes to life. You are always sowing something in your heart—either what is true or what is not true. God’s truth will either come to life or the fruit of your unbelief. It is your choice to believe in God. Quiet the other voices. Quiet your doubt. Continually trust that God, the Word, is faithful to accomplish who He is in your life. Hold fast to the confession of your hope without wavering, for God who promised you is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Out of the abundance of your heart, keep speaking the good treasure He has promised (Luke 6:45). Don’t give in to doubt or give up. God is faithful to you. He seeks your faithfulness. Are you fully convinced that God will perform what He has promised you (Romans 4:21)?

 

God’s Word is for you, not against you (Romans 8:31). Give God’s Word your full attention. Continually renew your mind with its truth. Exercise the measure of faith God has given you and believe His Word. Don’t allow thoughts that contradict its truth. Keep His Word at the center of your heart. Guard it with all diligence, for out of your heart comes what you have allowed to be conceived. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). 

 

The mind is where doubt arises. It is when doubt is conceived in the heart that it becomes unbelief. And when there is unbelief in the heart, the issues of life that spring forth are not of God. When the Holy Spirit reveals the truth of God’s Word, sow it in your heart, hold on to it, and protect it from doubt and unbelief. Continue to deny your flesh or anyone else who comes to tell you it is not true or impossible, simply because you don’t already see it in your life. Reject doubt and believe. His Word is spirit, life, and health to all who find it. 

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; your flesh profits nothing,” Jesus said. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe” (John 6:63-64).

 

Do you believe the words He speaks to you? Is His Word manifesting in you?

 

 

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Receiving the Word of God

 

 

We also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

—1 Thessalonians 2:13

 

 

Receiving God’s Word into our hearts is the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible uses the expression “the Word of God” forty-six times. This expression not only refers to God’s written and spoken words but also to Jesus Christ, who was the Word of God personified (John 1:14).

 

The Word is God’s living, breathing, miraculous power that works effectively in those who believe (Hebrews 4:12). God reveals Himself and unleashes His power through His Word. Through the revelation of God’s Word, we understand who He is in our lives (1 Samuel 3:21, John 8:31-32).

 

God’s Word is unchanging and settled forever (Psalms 119:89). It remains always relevant. The Word of God is the standard by which all will be judged (John 12:48). It consistently fulfills God's purpose (Isaiah 55:11). 

 

Cleansing of sin comes through God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26) and all that relates to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We become partakers of God’s divine nature through His Word. We also escape the corruption of this world through His Word (2 Peter 1:4). When we try to live the Christian life without being strongly grounded in God’s Word, we will fail (Mark 4:14-20).

 

A vast difference exists between the words of man and the Word of God. God’s Word is above all our human knowledge and effort. It is excellent and perfect in every way. His Word is Truth (John 17:17). His Word is Spirit and life. The words and opinions of men profit us nothing (John 6:63). Any attempt to make man’s words as important as God’s Word always results in diminishing the value of God’s Word. Jesus told the religious leaders of His time that they were making the Word of God of no effect through their tradition (Mark 7:13). The traditions and teachings of man are not worth comparison to the Word of God.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul expressed gratitude that the Thessalonians embraced the message of the Gospel and lived holy lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul continually thanked God because the Thessalonians accepted his message not as a human word he preached but as the truth it truly was—the spoken word of God. 

 

When we receive God’s life-changing Word in our hearts, His Word produces righteousness as a fruit of our relationship with Jesus Christ (Romans 10:10). “You will know the truth,” John wrote, “and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). God’s Word is truth. It liberates us from our own efforts to live holy lives and, instead, releases the power of God’s righteousness within us that we received by faith in Jesus.

 

Paul preached God’s Word. He delivered the same Gospel message wherever he went, but that message didn’t always yield the same results among his listeners. His message remained consistent. The difference lay in how the people received the Gospel message. 

 

The Thessalonians received Paul’s message as the true Word of God. Because they received the message, it produced life in them. Even though a preacher is responsible for how he preaches God’s Word, we are also responsible for how we hear it. Jesus was the perfect preacher. However, most who heard Him rejected Him and His message. They didn’t have ears to hear or hearts to receive. We must maintain sensitive hearts towards God so that when we hear the Word, we will accept it as God’s true and faithful Word. 

 

"For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it" (Hebrews 4:2).

 

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). The Word bears fruit in you and profits you when you mix it with faith. His Word releases life-giving power when you take it as your truth and believe in what it says.

 

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

 

When you believe the Word with faith in your heart, you receive the unchanging and complete truth of God’s Word—that never-diminishing mighty sword of the Spirit that divides between soul and spirit, discerning your heart. When you allow His Word to work in you, you exercise and obey the faith He has given you. You receive His life-giving power that manifests His truth and brings forth His life in you.

 

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

 

Are you receiving God’s Word?

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/04/receiving-word-of-god.html