How do we make sure that the Word of God abides in us?

Welcome, dear readers, to our “Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! I thank God for every one of you and pray that the hunger for God’s Word and His wisdom and your passion for fellowship with God will not diminish ever, because God is the source of our life. Yesterday we discussed that we can be spiritually strong and overcome the wicked on if the Word of God abides in us. The more of the Word you have in you, the stronger you become. God desires for us to feed on the Word as much as possible. It is possible to know different teachings, but our reaction when problems arise in life is what truly reflects how much of the true Word abides in us. When I have God’s Word abiding in me, then during the attack of the wicked one it becomes the only hope and strength that helps me to overcome. If I do not have any Word abiding in me, I will not be able to overcome and my problems or circumstances remain unresolved. But if I have the Word engrafted in me, it helps me to deal with every situation. Why are there so much fear, panic, disappointment, weariness and tiredness in the lives of many believers? It is because the Word of God does not abide in them. God wants us to be filled with the Word. When we read the word of God with the understanding that we need the word daily as our source of light and direction, then we are motivated to do read it even more. Since I want to be spiritually strong and able to overcome the wicked one, I want to have the understanding of God’s purpose for my life, I want His direction as to how to carry out my assignment and I want to walk in purity in my life – and for this very reason I read God’s Word and study it on a regular basis. How do we make sure that the Word of God abides in us? In order to answer this question I would like to use an illustration. Imagine me holding my Bible tightly with my whole hand; I am holding it firmly, so it would be hard to knock or pull it out of my hands. But if I am barely touching it or holding it loosely, it can fall out of my hands easily. In order for me not to lose my Bible I have to hold it firmly using my whole hand and all the five fingers. This is what the five fingers symbolize: 
  1. I listen to the Word;
  2. I read the Word;
  3. I study the Word;
  4. I memorize the Word by heart;
  5. I meditate on the Word.
Meditation or contemplation is the final in this list, because it touches all the other areas. I listen and meditate; I read and meditate; I study and contemplate; I memorize and contemplate. Contemplation is linked to all the other activities. Why are all of the above steps so important? It is because only the totality of all five points will help the Word of God get engrafted in our hearts and abide there. Some believers only listen to the Word of God in church, on TV, on the radio. If you live only on this level, then God’s Word cannot abide in you as it should. Yes, we should listen to the word, because, as is says in the Bible, faith comes through hearing. When you listen to sermons, you are filled with faith and hope; that is why we like to listen to sermons. And when we do, we also should take notes; it is important. Yet we cannot stay on this level and only listen. We must also read the Word, because by reading the word we are able to fellowship with God. Listening is meant to strengthen my faith, since faith comes by hearing of the Word. In order for my faith to be strong, I have to listen to the Word on a regular basis. But then I also read the Word in order to fellowship with God, the Author of the Word. 
«Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…» (Colossians 3:16).
 May God abundantly bless every one of you! Till tomorrow! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • Faith is obedience to the Lord! II

    «Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.» (Hebrew 11:6). As we mentioned earlier, faith means acting in accordance to the word of God. Quite often God calls us to do impossible things, those only God Himself can accomplish. God is not inviting us to demonstrate our own capabilities, but what He is able to do through us. That´s why God often gives us the tasks we cannot accomplish without Him.
  • Presence of God III

    «Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up» (James, 4:8-10)From the verses above we see that sin and adultery distance a person from God and block His presence, His power and glory from manifesting. So, besides prayer, there are other things that bring us closer to God and bring His presence into our lives: those are repentance and commitment to live a holy life.
  • The blessedness or beauty of serving others!

    Ministry is a widespread concept among believers. In essence, ministry is giving of all things: giving of one’s talents and gifts, one’s knowledge and time, one’s heart and resources. The Kingdom of God is built through such giving. Your church is built by your giving and ministry. It says in the Bible that it is more blessed to give than to receive. God blesses those who serve, so if you want to get to the top of God’s blessedness learn to serve God and people.
  • The importance of our submission to God so that our authority given to us by Him could be effective

    Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient unto death. And for this very reason God exalted Him and gave Him the name above every other name. Jesus having taken a form of a man demonstrated us how we should behave. Jesus Christ came to the earth to help us see how we can exercise and display the authority of God in our lives in order to fulfil the calling and mission that God has given to every person.
  • Without certain changes in our lives we won’t be able to receive God’s vision

    The first thing God did to Abram was that He took him out of the tent, out of his comfort zone. While we stay within our comfort zone where we feel at ease, where we do not need to make an effort, where everything goes according to the habitual scenario, we are not able to see what God wants to show us. For this reason God often desires us to get out of our comfort zone, out of our routine lifestyle and for us to put forth some effort to expand our knowledge of the will of God for our life.
  • The power and importance of forgiveness

    We are going to have a look at the two sides of forgiveness.Forgiveness is something, life on Earth would turn into the sufferings of hell without. Every human faces the question of forgiveness time to time. We like the word “forgiveness” when we receive it, but what about when we have to forgive somebody, give something away from yourself? Quite often we are not willing to do so. Though, the true understanding of forgiveness obliges us to notice two sides of forgiveness. Let’s have a look at the verses from Scripture that help us to see them.