Living Within You!

I have gotten into the first-thing-in-the-morning habit of walking into the kitchen side of the living area of my apartment and flipping on the overhead lights and then reversing my steps to go to the opposite side of the room, where I open up the blinds on the living room window and adjacent balcony door. 

From there, I usually step outside to get a feel for the weather and enjoy the quiet that seems to encapsulate the apartment complex in the early hours of the morning.  Following that, I will open wide the window and then proceed to the coffee maker so as to prepare the morning brew.  (I used to leave the door open, but with the onset of spring came the proliferation of bugs flying in… like they are welcome guests!)

I have discovered over the last few months in particular, that I enjoy the solitude of the mornings and to hear the sporadic sounds of the apartment complex coming alive as residents leave for work, walk their dogs, pack up the kids for school or embark on other daily activities.  This has been a change for me in that for as long as I can remember… I have always turned on the radio… top 40 rock hits as a kid through high school and then Christian radio since then… as soon as I arose each morning.

This morning, as I had settled into my daily Bible Study time, I felt led to take a look at John 15:7 where the Apostle John recorded Jesus as saying,

“If you live in life-union with Me and if My WORDS live POWERFULLY within you—then you can ask whatever you DESIRE and it will be done for you.” (TPT / EMTV)

Jesus’ statement that “if My WORDS live POWERFULLY within you…” seemed to dramatically leap off the page of my Passion New Testament and smack me right in the heart… so I instantly looked deep inside and thought… “Does God’s Word live powerfully in me… in and through my life?”

Hummm… an interesting and heart probing statement wouldn’t you think?  How would you answer that question? 

Well, it seemed like the good Lord wanted to teach me… and actually all of us as you read this today… an immediate lesson with that question.  As I sat at my desk meditating on that conundrum, I suddenly became aware of a heavy sounding vehicle driving through the parking area below my open window on the third floor. 

I didn’t think much about it at first, as I figured it to be another of the many U-Haul trucks that have been around the complex this week.  But after a while, I felt a prompting to go out on my balcony and find out what was going on.  Once outside, I leaned on the railing and followed the sound to my right, where I discovered the flashing lights of a Mount Juliet Fire Department ambulance and fire engine.

As I assessed the situation, my pulse began to race when I observed the paramedics wheeling out a gurney, turn it around in order to lift into the ambulance… and realize that it was a little child strapped into the device.  YIKES!  I have to admit that my first reaction was a rush of anxiety and concern for the child and his parents…

BUT THEN…  I heard the unmistakable, “still small voice”* of the Holy Spirit inside of me saying… “Well… just don’t stand there like a helpless bystander… speak the life-giving, powerful Word of God over the child, the family and everyone involved down there!”

So… what did I do?  Well… my very first thought was that the child needed health and HEALING and I recalled to mind God’s promise of health and healing through the stripes of Jesus referred to in I Peter 2:24 where Peter wrote that,

“Who His own self (Jesus) bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were HEALED.” (KJV)

And knowing Acts chapter ten where we are told that Jesus is not a respecter of persons and that His healing from the devil’s attacks of sickness and disease is available to all,** I immediately began to verbally speak out those scriptures into the situation unfolding below me.

Then for some reason I suddenly pictured my wife praying in the midst of any emergency event and realized, like she always seemed to do*** that the people down there needed God’s WISDOM for the very young child’s needs as well as an anointing of PEACE to envelope all those involved… especially since people around the complex were starting to come out to see what was going on.

So… I quickly asked for WISDOM for all of them and in confirmation of the truths of God’s will for us in this regard, prayed aloud from James 1:5 where it simply states,

“If any of you needs WISDOM to know what you should do, you should ask God, and He will give it to you. (for) God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them.” (God’s Word ©)

And lastly, I also audibly confessed one of my all-time… most personally used promises found in the Word, where Paul (speaking from years of practical experience) encouraged us to:

“Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.  (and) Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 / God’s Word ©) 

And with that… all my surprise, anxiousness and undo concern that I had initially felt… evaporated from me… and I knew that I had done the BEST thing I could have done to assist in the 911 event and felt Godly peace entering my soul.  I then returned to my in-process Bible study that I had been enjoying inside… only to notice out my window, a few moments later, that the ambulance and fire truck were leaving the complex.

So once again… What did I do in the surprise of that unplanned morning disturbance?  Well… I took advantage of the Word of God that is POWERFULLY percolating inside of me… and spoke out its supernatural, wonder-working power… so as to be able to allow it to work in the physical, tangible event that was happening in real-time… right in the midst of my new neighborhood.

Pretty cool wouldn’t you say?  But just so you understand… I didn’t relate this story to get an “atta boy” from any of you… but to inform you - that you (as a carrier of the POWERFUL WORD of God) can (and most likely should) feel free to do the same thing… at any time… in any place, no matter the severity of the situation that might be developing around you! 

Remember that when the Apostle Paul listed the various pieces of the armor of God… that we are told to put on each day in Ephesians 6:11-17… that the WORD of God is described as the “Sword of the Spirit” and is the only offensive weapon of the lot!!  And that… Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s Word is “living and active!”

So… with that “inside information” why wouldn’t we Christians want to speak out the powerful WORD of God… that we regularly put inside of us… that is actively working inside of us… and give it the open door to do Its thing in the daily events of the world that we participate in every single day?

Like I said already… Pretty cool right?  That’s how it is done… The more of the WORD that you get to know on a personal level, the more POWEFUL the WORD becomes in you and the more you will find yourself wanting to unleash its influence into the practical situations in your life!

Have a great week and let me know how the POWERFUL WORD of God is working in, for and through you today!

 

*See: I Kings 19:12 – KJV

**Acts 10:34-38 In these verses Peter described Jesus as the One “who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” 

***(Piper was a very quick-thinking woman – especially when it came to speaking out the right Biblical truths at the right time!