The Word To Live By: 8/6/2026
Phil Waggoner
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:15-16
The Word To Live By: What a wonderful portion of scripture this is! It opens doors to knowing God (“The Living God!”) and the superabundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. First of all, understand that you know nothing about God or even who He is that He didn’t reveal to you through revelation knowledge. Jesus told Peter that flesh and blood didn’t reveal who He was to him but God himself (through His spirit communicating with yours). And it’s not a shot in the dark by God. Someone, some place, sometime, prayed for you; it can be generations back. And it’s revelation knowledge of the Word of God that the body of Christ (His church) is built on (verse 18). Also, in verse 18, we see that HELL can’t and will not overpower it. So, why, as a Christian, are so many of us defeated in life? Most of the Christians I know are living anything but the superabundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. Notice verse 19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven (future tense); and whatever you bind (present tense) on earth shall have been bound in heaven (past tense), and whatever you loose (present tense) on earth shall have been loosed in heaven (past tense).” Where are these keys and how do we get them? The keys are in the Word of God. They are His magnificent promises that lead to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3, “Seeing that His divine power [revelation knowledge of Him] has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”) They are made available to us when we make Jesus the Lord of our life. They open superabundant life to us when we apply our faith to them. I have a four-wheeler sitting in my barn that will take me places on the farm where my car and truck won’t go. The key to that four-wheeler is on a hook in my kitchen. I can sit on that machine all day and hope it will take me where I want to go, I can confess it will take me where I want to go, and I can even make noises like it’s running, but until I put the key in the ignition and engage the transmission, I won’t enjoy the benefits of that four-wheeler, even though it’s mine and I have the ability to use it. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, the keys to a superabundant life became available. The keys are hanging on the hook in your soul (mind, will, and emotions), waiting for you to take them down and insert them into your life. Everything that makes it go and everything that tries to stop it has been taken care of. All that’s left for you is to get into the Word and use your faith to receive revelation knowledge and apply that knowledge to your life.
Read through the Bible in a year: 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:16; 2 Kings 19; Nahum 1;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 6, Matthew 19:1-15, Romans 9
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160