When life seems devoid of hope – He is a well-spring of life – just as water is a source of life for the deer.
Hebrews 4:12
One of the ways I see God’s goodness is the way He uses His Word to guide us, teach us, and correct us. He equips us with the Word and fills us with peace, verse after verse encourages us and gives us hope. He uses His Word in so many ways in the lives of His children. He uses it as a light for those who have wandered away from His path – and as salvation for those who are lost.
Every word is living and filled with power. Every Word is trustworthy and true, providing strength for the weary and hurting and wisdom for the confused. It is food for our soul and healing for the broken. Without it we would be lost – both literally and figuratively.
Response to God’s Word
God thank You for Your living and Holy Word. May its light always be my guide and its power my strength! Help me to walk by them to talk of them morning, noon, and night – to use them faithfully to teach, to encourage, and to equip others til the whole world knows You and lives by every active Word You’ve spoken.
Ancient words ever true – changing me and changing you
“This is what the Lord has done for me at the time when he has been gracious to me, to take away my disgrace among people.”
Luke 1:25 NET
Do you ever pray and wonder if God is hearing you? Or perhaps you trust that He has heard you but find yourself questioning why He hasn’t answered or at the very least, why His answer was no. From the response of both Zechariah and Elizabeth in today’s story, I picture any or all three of these scenarios running through the minds of Zechariah and Elizabeth. I know they ran through mine every year for eight long years of praying and waiting for a child. I felt the disgrace among the people as more and more of my friends were pregnant while I grew more and more bewildered, hurt, and angry, and less and less hopeful. Then, like Elizabeth, I knew it was Him who had allowed the eventual pregnancy and I was overwhelmed with the graciousness of His gift, and all these years later (33 to be exact) I still see glimpses of what I am certain were and are purposes in His timing.
I was thankful that I read the larger passage, which admittedly I had skipped over since I had read it so many times before (why oh why do we do this? I mean, can we ever read His Words too much). In looking back to confirm who was speaking in verse 25 and what “this” they were referring to, I was blessed by the beautiful story yet again. I was thankful for the reminder that God hears our prayers (13), and of His perfect timing (v25), His grace towards His people (vv14-17) – both as a nation and personally (vv14, 25), and His purposes in every answer (vv13-17). Granted, Zechariah’s prayers that day would have surely been for the nation of Israel but God’s assurance is that His answer would include the child for which I am certain they had personally prayed for. I am equally certain by Zechariah’s initial response (v18), that any hope of this prayer being answered with a child was given up long ago because of their age.
Turning Knowledge into Wisdom
On the heals of the recent study of God’s attributes and the encouragement to turn knowledge (facts) into wisdom (application of facts), I found myself following up my reading today with the question, “How do I take these facts and make application?”
FACTS [KNOWLEDGE]
Zechariah and Elizabeth were godly people – faithful servants of God
They most likely had prayed for a child
They had remained childless into their ‘very old age’
They had given up hope of having a child
Elizabeth had dealt with disgrace because she was childless
Application of the facts [Wisdom]
Live as a faithful servant of God even when life doesn’t go as planned
Pray, and keep on praying and believing
Know that God doesn’t always say ‘yes’, but that His silence isn’t always a ‘no’
Keep hoping, don’t give up on God, He is able to do more than we ask or imagine
Recognize the answered prayers of God and acknowledge/praise Him for them
My Prayer Response to God
Father, “ancient words” are often easy to scan or to simply read and lay aside, as I was tempted to read only the SOAP verse You prodded me to look deeper, to see it with fresh eyes and a yielded heart to the Spirit’s teaching of these old but treasured words of truth and beauty. Words, that reminded and encouraged me that You hear the prayers of Your people, even when it would appear to our human understandings that You have not heard our cries. You always answer, your timing is always perfect, and Your actions are always purposeful- with the intention of carrying out Your will, which is good and pleasing and perfect – for the world and for Your people. For this I praise You – in and through the Name of Jesus, my Savior❣️ Amen!
God’s will is that you take your place among the community of believers as a truth bearer in a world full of lies. Honesty should characterize all of your dealings, great and small, so that when you are asked to give a reason for what you believe, your credibility is a foregone conclusion. And when you are asked, proclaim Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Invite them to what is real.
In His Image, Jen Wilkin – p 130
Reasons for the Truth
As believers we are meant to know the truth of God and to be alert to the ‘false’ messenger [the father of lies, John 8:44] and the false messages of the world. In my understanding there are two primary reasons for this:
If we do not know the truth of God we are in jeopardy of succumbing to the temptations of the flesh and to the lies of the world (John 8:31-32, 17:17-19, Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Peter:5-8)
[We] learn to discern what is fake by studying what is real.
Jen Wilkin, In His Image – p129
The Truth As a Weapon and a Tool
Paul’s description of the armor of God, in Ephesians chapter six, includes the “Belt of Truth” (or the Word of God) and “The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Paul begins his reasoning and warning about the need for the armor, saying, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God,” why? “So that [we might] be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” From this description we can see that the Word (or TRUTH) of God is used to hold us up against and to protect us from – the enemy’s schemes to steel, kill, and destroy the blessings of the life and liberty that God has granted us in Christ Jesus. Long before Jesus came in the flesh the power of God’s Truth was known as a weapon, as David wrote that he had “hidden God’s Word (TRUTH) in his heart so that he might not sin against [God].”
Not only can TRUTH be used as a weapon but it is also an important tool in our representation/presentation of God to the world. The words and actions we use should be filled to overflowing with the light and love of God so that others see and hear Him in us. David prayed that the words of his mouth and even the things he thought about would be pleasing to God, and – as we’ve mentioned before in this study, we are meant to be lights in this world SO THAT others will see God’s goodness in us and glorify Him in heaven. Our only hope of being this kind of “truth bearer” is to abide in Christ, the living Word of God. John 8:31-32 says that when we do this we will know the “truth” and be set free from the wickedness and captivity of this world and even from that of our “own deceitful hearts”, Psalm 119:9-11.
While the world, even the Christian sector of the world, focuses on or encourages individual truth, or “a fresh word”, Jen Wilkin writes,
Truth Passed Down
“We need our gathering times to remind us that the truth we are staking our lives on is a truth we share with every believer in our congregation. Moreover, it is a truth we share with every believer who has ever lived. it is an ancient truth that suffers no loss of integrity with the passage of time. In fact, the longer it endures, the more its witness is confirmed. – Every word of God is true and good, but not only that, none of them ever grow stale. The practice of asking God for a “fresh word,” a new truth personalized for us, has grown more and more popular – but it is not new truths we need; we need old truths recently forgotten. it is not personal truths we need, but rather shared truth preserved and passed down from one believing generation to the next, personalized to us in our current day. That shared truth is available within the pages of God’s Word to me and to all who believe.”
My Prayer Response
Father, lying can come so naturally. So often we craft our words to match the desired answer of our listener or to meet the results we desire. You know I used to struggle with this and I became very good at misrepresenting or shading the truth far too easily – or at the very least considered it far too naturally. As the author of the book said, we have an aptitude for speaking with the forked tongue of the Serpent. Oh how I praise You for Your transforming power and the Spirit’s continued and faithful conviction – and I pray that that You would continue to foster in me a hatred for dishonesty, a discernment for false teaching, and a love for the truth of Your Word. Thank You, Father for the freedom You have given me through Jesus Christ, The Way – The Truth – and The Life! In His Powerful and Merciful Name – Amen!
Questions for Reflection
Does honesty characterize all of your dealings, great and small, so that when you are asked to give a reason for what you believe, your credibility is a foregone conclusion? In other words, are you speaking the truth in all things? Do you embellish the truth in order to make something sound better? Or do you practice (and perhaps even defend) the art of lying in order to guard against trouble? Finally, are you abiding (staying) in the Word, the Truth of God? As we seek to be more like God these are important questions, even crucial questions, to determining how we are presenting or representing God to the world. May God give us grace and discernment and honesty in examining ourselves in the light of His Word. May our character align with His will and expressed truth.
But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.
Me From the Inside Out 