The Word To Live By: 5-26-26
Phil Waggoner
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
The Word To Live By: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use this scripture to lead with or 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” I was meditating on Hebrews 4:12 the other day and realized that the two scriptures were closely tied together. We know from Luke 8:11 that the Word of God is a seed that when sown into our heart will bring the fruit of it into our lives. (The amount and quality of that fruit is dependent on the conditions of the soil. (our heart) We see in Hebrews 4:12 that it divides our soul and the spirit. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions. Your spirit is the engine of your life that directs your path. (Proverbs 4:23, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life.”) Yesterday we talked about walking by the Spirit of God. (Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”) In other words, do what you hear the Spirit of God tell you to do. God speaks to us through our spirit, which converts it into a thought. So how do we know the difference between the voice of our spirit and the voice of our soul? Whether it lines up with the Word of God or not. The word of God divides our soul and spirit and judges the thoughts and intentions of our heart. So when you know what the word says and you have a thought or emotional or willful thought that sounds good to you ask yourself does it line up with the Word of God? If it does, then we should act on it. If it doesn’t then we should destroy it with the two-edged sword that God has placed in our mouth for just such a purpose. I had a 70 hour work week last week. When I was asked why I work that much (For some reason people think I’m retired. I’m not. I just quit working two jobs that I did for over thirty years and have three more that I can name my own hours on.) Anyway, I answered the question by saying because my two school bus driving jobs are dried up for the summer and I will be gone for half of June for graduations and visiting grandchildren so I’m trying to get ahead of my income. (Wisdom from God.) When I said that I had the thought, “You better watch your spending and giving in case you don’t have much in July and August.” That thought brought temporary worry. Ok, worry is not from God so that’s a thought/speculation that needs to be destroyed. Actually, when I heard “watch your giving,” I knew where the thought was coming from but it didn’t stop the worry. (Stupid devil!) So, I said out loud, “My God supplies all of my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, (Philippians 4:19) not some business or any man. BOOM! Thought destroyed and brought into the obedience of Christ. Why? Because the Word of God divides my soul and spirit and judges my thoughts and intentions.
Read through the Bible in a year: Romans 1:16-32; 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16; Psalms 55;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 26, John 5:1-24, 1 John 5
Those who love a pure heart— their speech is gracious, and the king is their friend. Proverbs 22:11
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160