“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Ps 119:130; KJV). “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105) We all need specific direction and guidance in our lives and according to these verses one of the ways in which God can lead and direct us is through his word. As Christians, prayerfully reading and studying the word will allow the Holy Spirit to bring illumination and reveal things to our spirits that would not be possible to the natural mind (John 14:26).

Keep reading the word, even in the dry times. God promised that: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa 55:11).

In addition to studying the word we can pray for guidance. God can speak directly to our spirits in a: “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11); an idea, a scripture or words that well up silently in our spirits with a sense of peace and assurance (James 3:17). If we are unsure as to what God is saying we need to seek counsel from our Pastor or someone who is a mature and seasoned Christian (Pr 24:6).  

If we are praying for guidance and are still unsure which path to take, then we need to keep doing what God told us last until we have an assurance that it's time to change direction.

Always remember that God does have a plan for our lives and it's a good one; we just need to discover it (Ps 139:16).

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Paul said, that when he preached, he didn’t not do it in his own wisdom but by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4). In other words, the Holy Spirit gave him the words to say and when he spoke God’s word, the power of the Holy Spirit was released to change people’s lives and to heal them.

In John 6:63, Jesus is recorded as saying that it is the Spirit that brings life and that his words were spirit and life. The Bible is God’s word, inspired by him through the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:15-17). The Holy Spirit reveals God’s word (the Bible) to us (John 14:26). The word in our mouths is God’s: “sword of the Spirit” with which we can defeat all the attacks of satan on our lives (Eph 6: 17).

For us to have the power of God’s word to affect change and cause satan to flee from us (James 4:7) we must have the word living and abiding in us (1 Peter 1:23). This means we need to spend time to get the word down into our spirits so that it comes out of our mouths automatically when we need it. Now here is the rub. We need to make God’s word our priority, there are no short cuts.

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 “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1; KJV). The word, become, suggests our conversation be fit or proper for Christ men and women.
 

The apostle Paul goes on in the second chapter in his letter to Titus to describe some traits of godly living, listing them as: sobriety, temperance, holiness, love, patience, faith, discretion, chastity, loyalty, sound speech, honesty and obedience. Do you get the picture?   

We are supposed to be easily identified as Christians by what we speak and how we live.

Paul tells Titus our lives should adorn or be ornaments to the things of God (v10). In verse 12 Paul teaches us that God’s grace has trained us to have nothing to do with ungodliness and worldly desires and to be self-controlled and upright. This does not allow us to cheat, be dishonest, tell white lies, gossip etc.

In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul further preaches that we should grow up as far as sin is concerned; in fact, he says to flee sin and pursue being like God in our thoughts and actions. We should aggressively seek to walk in faith, love and peace with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is kingdom living, this is aiming for perfection or maturity (Matt 5:48). I know it seems almost unattainable, but notice above that Paul said to Timothy to pursue godliness.  It’s good to have something to aim at; we’ll miss the mark from time to time but that’s better than aiming at nothing. Paul also said of himself that he was not perfect but he pressed on toward the goal (Phil 3:12).

Remember that God is always with you and that his word and power will always enable you to do what he expects of you (Phil 1:6).

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The Bible tells us in so many places to give thanks to God. “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Ps 95:2). The word for thanksgiving there in the Hebrew is "todah", it means adoration, praise, and giving thanks. This word occurs over 30 times in the Old Testament. 

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul taught us to voice our thankfulness to God (Eph. 5:4). In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul exhorted us to thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances are. It is also interesting to note that in teaching about prayer he very much emphasized the importance of accompanying all of those prayer requests with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6).  

We don't need to thank God for the challenges we face in life but for the way out of those challenges. "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom.8:37). If you have a thankful heart you won’t have a complaining heart; so, let's have thankful hearts for all of God's love and blessings, and look forward expectantly to what he will accomplish through us. 

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I love the story of the Samaritan woman in her encounter with Jesus at the well of Sychar (John 4:1-42). Jesus cut across racial prejudices (v9), in love, to reach this woman. Jesus operated in the spiritual gift of the word of knowledge to get her attention (v17-18; 1 Cor 12:8) and showed her the route to salvation (John 4:26; Rom 10:9).

There is also a great contrast in these verses as well. The contrast of the carnal mind of the non-Christian versus Jesus and the born-again Christian (v10-18). Jesus talked of “living water” (v10 and 13-14). He was referring to the water of the word; the word of God (Eph 5:26). The woman only saw natural water but Jesus spoke of the spiritual power of the word of God (Heb 4:12) to satisfy our spiritual thirst and transform us as children of God to eternal life (v10 and 13-14). “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” (KJV; 1 Cor 2:14). The Holy Spirit reveals God’s word to us, to our spirit (our spiritual heart or conscience; John 14:26). The bible tells us we are: “spirit, soul and body” (1Thess 5:23).

We are told that God’s word “is truth” and that “the truth shall make you free” (John 17:17; 8:32). Free from what? Well, anything that holds you back from having and being all that God wants you to have and be. It’s not just head knowledge but spiritual discernment, understanding, revelation, which sets us free and brings the God kind of life (John 10:10).

We must get into the word and build up our faith (Rom 10:17). We need to get the word into our spirit so it can become powerful in our lives to transform us, change us and release all of God’s promises in our lives. There are no short cuts, it takes time in the word to get that spiritual discernment or revelation and faith that we so need.

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.