Saturday, July 18, 2009

Isaiah 55:11, the Prosperity of God's Word


"So shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

To my mind, the strongest evidence that the Bible is more than mere literature - in fact, greater than any other document that we know - because it is the very Word of God, is the impact it can have on lives, without any assistance from any person. People have been converted, merely from reading a Gideon Bible left in their hotel rooms. Prisoners have been converted, reformed, and turned into peaceful and productive citizens from reading it. Even Islamist terrorists have come to Christ, simply because its pages have come into their hands accidentally, or or have even been stolen for purposes of propaganda.

The writer of Hebrews writes of this effect (4:12): "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Jesus Himself uses the analogy of the sword, in Revelation 2:16, "Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon an war against them with the sword of My mouth." See also Rev. 19:15.

And, of course, the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, is devoted to love of , training in, and depending on, the Word of God. Of its 176 verses, only three do not contain a reference to it. Consider verse 9, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word." Or consider David's words in Psalm 51:13: "Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You."

I encourage you to be like the one described in the first Psalm (Ps. 1:2-3), "His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."

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