Accessing Your Benefits...

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for any amount of time, then you’ve most likely come to realize that I tend to take the Word of God for what it says.  I’ve been around long enough and have gained a fair amount of Biblical education and experience to understand the basics of Bible interpretation, including the need to understand the context of what was written, knowing to whom the words were written to, the Biblical law of First Mention, and of course, accessing the abundance of tools that enable even the young Christian, the ability to find out the meaning of the original words translated into our English language.

But with or without all that going for me… If God in His Word says that He is able to do something for us… then I am not only going to believe it… but also pray and ask for it in the various situations of my life and then believe that I receive it and begin to thank God for it – WHEN I PRAY! (See: Mark 11:24)

I’ve also learned that Christianity is a process in which we grow in throughout our lives.  When we are a young Christian, we tend to see a lot of answered prayers, without putting much effort into it… but as we mature in the Lord, He begins to expect more from us.  Similar to the growth of a human baby, there eventually comes a time when the child needs to grow away from milk and begin to chew and digest foods with substance… like meat!  (See: I Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12)

When I sat down at my desk this morning and turned on my laptop, I glanced over to my left and my eyes were drawn to a bright yellow, highlighted section in my old New American Standard Ryrie Study Bible (circa 1978) that I keep handy for reference.  The verse cut straight through to my heart as I read Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:20 where he instructed us to “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

The Message Bible plows right through all the excess of big words and simply says, “Watch the way you talk… Say only what helps, each word a gift.”  King Solomon, who was known to be one of… if not THE… wisest man in the world, bluntly stated that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV)  The modern Passion Translation makes it even clearer to understand saying, “Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life, and the talkative person will reap the consequences.” 

As I read from Proverbs, I couldn’t help but to think about a section of scripture that I had been studying the day before and wondered what would happen to the average Christian, if we put those two scripture lessons together.  In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ parting words are recorded in chapter sixteen, verses seventeen to twenty.  In this section entitled “The Great Commission” Jesus said,

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” (KJV)

There are a lot of things that God says we are to do in those four verses… wouldn’t you agree?  And if you’re anything like me then you’re going to want to do them… RIGHT?

And HOW do we do that?  Well… its actually quite simple… or “Elementary my dear Watson” as the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes would say!  Just put our two sections of scripture together!  If we are to speak wholesome words that edify, words that are a gift to someone else… and if our words can give life or death… Then why not concentrate on speaking God’s healing words of life and then physically perform the actions that Jesus described for someone who BELIEVES in Him and His Word to do.

And be assured that we are not alone in this.  It takes cooperation from two fronts… Ours and God’s!  Our responsibility is to BELIEVE and to DO… while Jesus’ responsibility is to CONFIRM His Word with the miraculous signs and wonders that will follow!

I can personally attest to this verse as being true!  Piper and I had been in numerous church services and meetings (including youth and children’s services) where we saw people who couldn’t walk, step out of wheelchairs, broken arms healed (one at a Junior High Youth Camp after we prayed for the individual), diseases healed, vision problems corrected (happened to Piper while we were camping up in the Sierra’s before we had kids), legs grow, spirits cast out… and many, many more!

We spoke about the Biblical Benefits available to Christians in our last blog post (The Ultimate Sacrifice 5/31/21).  Well… sometimes… in order to access those benefits… it is up to us to BELIEVE God’s Word without question, STEP OUT in faith and then DO what He tells us to do... so that He is then able to do His part.

For me… It’s just a daily part of the Christian walk… How about for you?

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best for your life!