RTW December 17

The Word

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Hebrews 4:12

 

 

My Takeaways

Something Old

God meets us in His Word; His Spirit works powerfully through the Word.

The Word of God is

  • Alive (Thayer; living, not dead)
  • Active (energized, effective, at work)
  • Acute (sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword)

The Word of God does

  • Penetrates (“to the inmost recesses of our spiritual being as a sword cuts through the joints and marrow of the body.” ~ Vincent)
  • Perceives (discern and exposes our innermost thoughts and desires)

Something New

God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. Hebrews 4:1

Puritan commentator, John Owen, described five features of this rest for the believer:

Rest means

  • peace with God.
  • freedom from a servile, bondage-like spirit in the worship and service of God.
  • deliverance from the burden of Mosaic observance.
  • the freedom of worship according to the gospel.
  • the rest that God Himself enjoys.

Something to Do

Let the Word and the Spirit do its work in me.

 

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6 Comments

  2. This verse means a lot to me too. It is through RTW and getting in Gods Word every day that things started to change in my life. Things I never even thought of before as being in need of a change. I am over one year sober now and it is through going through Gods Words about idols and hearing about following hard after Him that I knew I had to do something about my alchohol consume. I never considered that I was having a problem and I never thought I was in the dark in this area. It took me a whole year (in which God was preparing my heart) and then the second year when going through the same scriptures again it clicked. And I knew without a doubt: this is what God wants from me. This is what is standing in my way to feel this real closeness to God. I mean, He was there all the time for me, no matter what I was doing and how I was living my life, because He is just that loving God that doesn’t let any of His children down, but to really feel it, His presence close to me, something had to change. I am so grateful even though the first months were awfully hard and I felt completely overwhelmed. Gods Word brought me over the fence and provided an anchor. And I am still in the process. Actually excited to learn what else is there that might need to undergo change. Once the first hurdle is taken and I survived by the grace of God I know I can take the next one as well. I learned that God never lets me down. When He asks me to change something He will provide me the strength for it. I am so happy to have learned that!! God is good and He knows us better than we do know ourselves….knowing that the hard changes I have to make are mend to draw me closer to Him makes it all worth while….

  3. God’s word truly is alive and active and powerful! RTW has helped me see this afresh. So many familiar passages have come alive to me and convicted me as I’ve taken the time to read and study them with an open heart. Everyday I glean something new or a better understanding of old. God is working on molding my heart to become more like His and His Word is what he’s using most. So grateful for the gift of his word and his Holy Spirit.

  4. My Takeaways: No Room For a Harden Heart

    Something Old: I began reading the book of Hebrews today. One theme that stood out to me was the fact that Jesus is superior. Jesus is God. He is not an angel, but is God’s only Son who formed the earth and everything in it. He is perfect. He is the complete sacrifice. He completed the work necessary for my salvation. Jesus Christ is the real deal. I must NEVER forget this.

    Something New: Hebrews 3:15 is repeated twice in today’s readings, so it probably is something important for me to remember – “But never forget the warning: “Today you must listen to his voice. Don’t harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled.” This is not what I want my fate to be. I can’t allow my heart to become harden. I must be on my game daily. A harden heart doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the choices I make daily to consciously make an effort to do God’s will. Sin causes my heart to grow hard, especially continual and unrepentant sin. Pride can cause my heart to harden. When I am inclined to do it my way, thinking I can do it on my own. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” -Proverbs My Heart can also become hardened when I suffer setbacks and disappointments in life. If I am to live life to the fullest as God intended, I must study and obey God’s written Word. By doing this daily I will be able to keep a soft and pure heart, allowing me to be blessed in whatever I do. It obviously takes work and many have failed- remember Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar? Keeping God in the center of my life takes effort. But it’s this continual effort that allows me to becoming more and more like Jesus daily.

    Something To Do: Keep God’s Word active and alive in my life! Allow it to penetrate my soul and spirit. Permit His Word to judge the thoughts and attitudes of my heart each and every moment of my life.

  5. Maybe because of the busy time of year….But today I was drawn to the verses about God’s promise of rest.

    Hebrews 4:1 says God’s promise of entering his rest still stands…
    And Hebrews 4:9 says there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.

    But in order to enter God’s rest, we must obey God and do the work that Wendy talked about today.

    It reminds me of Matthew, not sure of the verse, where it says Come to me all who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.

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