Please turn to Joshua 1:8 in your Bible.
We all know that a kitchen blender is far more successful when the electric cord is plugged into an outlet. We all know that a car is far more successful when it has gas in the engine…and we all know that an Olympic runner is far more successful when he or she does not have a five course Thanksgiving dinner 10 minutes before the race starts. Success is always connected to something or someone specific. We know these things. They seem like common sense. However, do we all know what God says is connected to success in life?
The connection to success in Joshua 1:8 is our choice to meditate on God’s Word.
In the Hebrew, the word “meditate” literally means “to ponder, imagine, speak, study, or utter.” You may think that takes time — and you would be right. If there was anyone who could have used the excuse “I don’t have the time” – it would have been Joshua! This man was suddenly in charge of masses of people! He now had an all-consuming job. And yet, to fulfill this job properly, he was called to do one thing – meditate on God’s Word.
No matter how busy our day can get; no matter what kind of job we are employed to do; no matter how many different errands we may have to run before we pick up the kids . . . we must make meditating on God’s Word a part of our day, all day long.
We began studying the key to success by first looking at the authority of the scriptures. Joshua 1:8 starts out by saying, “This book.” In the October 10, 2021 blog post, we saw “this book” (God’s Word) is true! Today, we will study another important element to “this book:” GOD’S WORD IS TESTED.
II Samuel 22:31, “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.”
Psalm 12:6, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
Take a moment and consider the many examples of those who tested God’s Word and found Him to be true. Adam & Eve tested God’s Word in Genesis 3 in the garden and found Him to be true. Pharaoh tested God at His word when refusing to release the Israelites and Pharaoh found God to be true. The leper in Matthew 8:2-3 tested God when he asked Jesus to “make him clean” and the leper found Him to be true. The centurion tested God’s Word in Matthew 8:13 to heal his servant and the centurion found God to be true. Matthew 12:9-14 tells us of a man with a withered hand that obeyed Jesus’ call for him to stretch out his withered hand on the sabbath. His hand was made whole like the other hand. This man tested God’s word and he found Him to be true.
GOD’S WORD IS TESTED.
It has the power to convict and to convert.
It is not our boldness or influence that challenges a man to live for God. It is not our persuasive speech or logical reasoning that will cause a man to surrender his will to God! It is the preaching and teaching of the God’s Word (the Bible) that has the Holy Spirit power to convict a man’s soul to repentance and to live for the one true God!
John 5:39 tells us to “Search the scriptures….” Church of God, study and memorize the scriptures instead of sport statistics, phone numbers, recipes, and our favorite part of a movie! There is nothing wrong with knowing some statistics of your favorite sport; however, when we can know off the top of our head the player with the most touch downs in the 2020 season, and we can’t quote one verse we’ve learned within the last three months, we can easily see what we have been meditating on!
Spiritual power in the body of Christ will not be evident apart from the Word of God! Embrace it. Run to it. Follow it.
Jeremiah 23:29; Hebrews 4:12. The Bible has the power to convict.
Romans 10:17; James 1:21 - The Bible has the power to convert.
GOD’S WORD IS TESTED.
It has the power to cleanse.
God’s Word literally has the power to make you clean, to count you as pure! That is exactly what is meant by the phrase “the power to cleanse.”
Before the modern invention of dishwashers became a common household item, the average household spent time every day washing dishes at the sink, hand drying each dish, and putting them away in a cabinet. My siblings and I spent about 20 minutes each night after dinner washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. We would sometimes argue during the process, sometimes we would talk about the day, and other times we would sing Bible songs. Occasionally the dishes had grease, or the remains of food stuck to the bottom of the dish. Some dish washing soap only moved the grease around and never quite got the dish clean. I remember when dish washing soap came out with smaller containers labeling them as concentrated power. It was “New & Improved!”
There is no improving on God’s Word! It hasn’t needed to be improved since God gave it to us; neither will it ever need improving. You and I already have the best when we have the Bible! Psalm 119:9, 11; John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26.
Fellow believers, we will live a more carnal lifestyle when we leave God’s Word on the bookshelf. Leaving God’s Word on the bookshelf always points us in a direction that walks away from a close relationship with Jesus. The two (the Bible and relationship with Jesus) go hand-in-hand.
What does a slow walk away from Jesus look like?
1. The believer compares himself to his peer group or other church members, instead of the Word of God.
2. The believer will begin ignoring commands in the Bible. For example:
o Do not lie – Ex. 20:16
o Contrary messages w/ the same tongue– Jas. 3:8-10
o Idolatry – Ex. 20:3-5 (putting hunting, football, friends, shopping, or even family before God)
o Rebellion (insisting on my way over God’s way) is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as the sin of idolatry – I Sam. 15:23
What is the answer then? To what solutions does Joshua 1:8 point us?
Make your daily time in the Word non-negotiable.
Memorize scripture so that you can review during times your mind wanders to wrong thoughts.
Choose not to meditate on wrong thoughts (gossip, slander, immorality, profanity)
In addition to Joshua 1:8, we should remember the necessity of getting back to a daily time of prayer. Matthew 7:7-8; John 15:5-7.
GOD’S WORD IS TESTED.
It has the power to construct.
Do you feel like you’ve been struggling? Do you feel like you are going backwards spiritually? Ask yourself this question: What kind of emphasis have you had with the Word of God in the last month?
We know we are to embrace the Word of God, but the choice is our own to make. It is the Word of God that has the power to build up a life in a way that reveals the true solution…and that true solution is Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:32 - “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
I Peter 2:2,3 - “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
GOD’S WORD IS TESTED.
It has the power to comfort.
This is probably one area we tend to overlook in times of sorrow. The greatest comfort we could ever find is found in God’s Word!
Years ago when my grandpa died, Gram found comfort in God’s Word. At one point she quoted from James 4, where it says, “He giveth grace to the humble.” She then said, “And I’m the humble!”
I chuckle as I recall that sweet memory. It certainly sounds contradictory to trumpet yourself as the humble, but I believe she was more accurately declaring her dependence on Jesus. She was calling out to Jesus for help and comfort. She had the right idea! No one on this earth could comfort a person losing their spouse after 62 years of marriage like God & His Word will comfort! Not money, not friends, not even the possessions left behind can bring comfort like God and His word. God and God’s Word have the real power to comfort! Psalm 119:50, 51, 111, 162; Romans 15:4.
It is a comfort to know that the real comfort comes from the one source that never changes & will never leave or forsake you!!
GOD IS ETERNAL
Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35
God’s Word is tested & eternal! It has the power to convict & convert, to construct, to cleanse, and to comfort! This power is manifested and magnified as we meditate on the scriptures!
Take God at His word. Meditate on His true, tested, and eternal word. Good success – the sustaining relationship with Jesus – will follow as promised.