his word like as a fire

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

(How good are we doing with that? i.e., living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?

Where are those words? There in this book, the Bible, the word of God.

How are we living by them?)

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

(We don’t need the tree of life to live, we have the words of life.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but if we’ve been born again, we’re alive now in Christ.)

I Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

(And his words are life, and the way we live the eternal life that he has given us, is by his word that he has also given us.

But what if we barely read his word anymore, or maybe even stop reading his word altogether?

Have not successive generations, like those in America, turned increasingly farther and farther away?)

Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

(That was prophesied to Israel, but it sure seems to be speaking about our time, as well.

All around, people stop reading the word of God, and then preachers stop preaching the word of God.

And if we want to find the word of God, we won’t find it faithfully preached in many churches.

Also, most Bibles, that we find, have changed so much, from what our grandparents read and believed.

Our grandparents believed they were reading the word of God, preserved like the LORD promised.

But, newer Bibles are considered to be, at best, only 98% accurate, and that by those teaching from it.

Yet, if we do get hold of the actual preserved word of God, we still haven’t really found it for ourselves:

We cannot seem to find out how to read it anymore. We also cannot seem to find the time to read it. We also cannot seem to find the desire to read it.

Yet, if we do manage to read some of it, or manage to find a preacher who will preach it, what’s it like for us?)

Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

(Then it sears and burns our heart, and it strikes furious blows against our conscience and against our pride.

And we can’t handle the burning of the fire of God’s word, and we can’t bear how it breaks us:)

Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

Exodus 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

(We are just like them. We cannot stand what his word does to us when we read it for ourselves.

So, just like them, we’ll tolerate hearing the word from someone else.

We begin to turn away from reading it for ourselves, maybe a little at a time, slowly, until just barely, and maybe not at all:)

John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

(Jesus is no doubt grieved that we no longer want to be like Mary, sitting at his feet, hearing every word that comes out of his mouth.

He has not pulled away from us, but we have pulled away from him:)

Jeremiah 20:9a Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.

(Now we've probably also stopped giving the gospel, and it's possibly been quite a while since we've led someone to Jesus.

But does he still try to call us, so that we will come to hear him?)

I Kings 19:12c and after the fire a still small voice.

(It is hard to ignore a shout, but a still small voice is far easier to ignore:)

Isaiah 66:4b because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear:

Zechariah 7:11b and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Jeremiah 7:13b and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

(But what if, when he asks us the next time, instead of plugging our ears, we stop, and finally answer Jesus, like Peter did:)

John 67b Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

(That's the moment where we ask the LORD to grant us repentance, to help us to turn back to him:)

Psalm 80:3a Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine;

19a Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine;

Psalm 85:4a Turn us, O God of our salvation,

8a I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:

(Then the Holy Ghost will stir up those scriptures that are in our hearts from before, when we did read his word:)

Jeremiah 20:9b But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

(The word of God that had been in our hearts, begins to burn again, and it moves us to action.

We go find our Bible, where we had last laid it down, maybe even at the church:)

II Kings 22:8b I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.

(Then we begin to taste those words again, by reading them, like the first bite of food after days of no eating:)

Jeremiah 15:16a Thy words were found, and I did eat them;

(Then his words begin to enter into us, like they used to, bringing light to all the dark places of our mind, conscience & memory:)

Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

(Suddenly that living book that we're reading, begins reading us, letting us know the true condition of our heart:)

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

(The awe and wonder to again hear the voice of the Almighty, like Israel did at mount Sinai.

The power and conviction of his holy voice causes us to even tremble at his greatness:)

Isaiah 66:5a Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word;

(At first there is godly sorrow, which leads to repentance, but then Jesus wants us to now rejoice with him:)

Nehemiah 8:9b This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

(We begin to read like a hungry person begins to eat, and we no longer forget to read, like we don't forget to eat:)

Job 23:12b I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

(With food, the more we eat, the less we want to eat more, but with his word, the more we read, the more we want to read.)

Psalms 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

(Honey is wonderfully sweet, but the word of God is even far sweeter than honey.

Actually, saying his words becomes even a sweeter experience than a first taste of honey.

Somebody recently said, "If you want to hear the voice of God, then try reading the Bible out loud!")

(Each time we open the book, again, to read, we could possibly start by praying the following:)

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

(Then when Jesus answers that prayer, and opens our eyes, it is a marvelous experience:)

Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

(Then before reading, while reading, and after reading, his word becomes our source of great joy and rejoicing:)

Jeremiah 15:16b and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

(Then we begin to understand just how pure his words really are:)

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

(Once we realize that we have the pure, perfect, and preserved word of God, we cannot help but have a loving relationship with it:)

Psalms 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

(Some may ask how can we have a loving relationship with a book?

But it is more than simply a book, but this book is the word of God, and Jesus himself is called the Word of God.

Anything, and everything, that we know about Jesus, we only get from this book, the word of God.

All other things about Jesus, not from this book, are man-made, and thus idolatry.

The only source of actual truth is this book, the word of God:)

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

(Jesus also said of himself, that he is the truth:)

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

(The Word of God {Jesus} is truth, and the word of God {the scriptures} is truth.

And how high does the LORD, himself, magnify his word, the word of God?)

Psalms 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

(Even above the names: JEHOVAH, Jehovahjireh, Jehovahnissi, Jehovahshalom? Apparently so.)

(We know that we are to live by faith, so where do we think that faith will come from?)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

(Then when we tell others the word of God, like when we quote verses, we can be encouraged by these scriptures:)

Luke 4:32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

(When we quote from, teach from, or preach from the word of God in our hands, it is with great power and authority.

The very power of God, and the very authority of his very words.)

(First at the tabernacle in Shiloh, then at the temple at Jerusalem, they knew that the LORD chose to place his name there.

He has magnified his word above all his name, yet his name is also the Word of God.

And similar to the tabernacle and the temple, we know that he has chosen to place his name in this book, opened before us:)

Deuteronomy 16:11c in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

(How many thousands of places in this book, the word of God, has the LORD chosen to record his name in?)

Exodus 20:24b in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

(As we read, he will bless us every place where we come across his name - that's a lot of blessing!)

(So, how are things, really, between us and our Bible?

Are we still reading it every day?

Do we ask it questions, and wait for it to answer, when we read it?

Do we love it?

Is it still the joy and rejoicing of our heart?

Or has it been slipping out of our fingers, and slipping out of our lives?

Is it not like it used to be?

Most of us have had that happen before, and with some of us it has happened multiple times.

Even still, that still small voice is calling.

All those wonderful things are simply one tear, one prayer away.

We need to heed the call of the still small voice, and ask Jesus to help us repent, and come back to his word.)