The Power of the Word - The Crosswalk Devotional - March 10

The Power of the Word
By Meg Bucher

“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.” Hebrews 4:12 ESV

The search. Over and under and around every thought, every circumstance. Yet, clarity remained elusive. Re-playing the situation as it was, or with alternate endings, only kept me tossing and turning in the middle of the night. I didn’t want to be rehashing situations in my mind at that hour …I wanted to be sleeping peacefully. My mind held me captive …because I was letting it.

Slowly and obediently, I began to see the scenarios coming and re-route them to the dead end of God’s Truth. One by one, until every trail led to the power of God’s Word, and sleep peacefully took over my mind once again.

Taking our thoughts captive is impossible on our own accord. We’re simply not strong enough to fight the battle of our mind by ourselves. God’s Word has the power to fight the rogue thought-trails which keep us up at night. His Word is living and active, meaning it meets us in our current circumstances with exactly what we need to win. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it cuts through to the heart of the matter and dissects what is true and what is a lie. Piercing the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. There is no place in our minds or this world God’s Word cannot reach and sort out. The power of the Holy Spirit in every Christ follower allows us to the perspective to apply God’s Word and remember it when we need it.

Jesus is the Living Word of God. He’s already defeated death. There is no battle of the mind He cannot win. God’s Word is powerful.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Hebrews 4:12 NLT

There’s no need to hide what we’re feeling from God. It may not be appropriate to air out every grievance into the ears around us, but we can always bring the minute details to God. He already sees and knows what’s happening, plus He knows our hearts and everyone else’s completely. His perspective on our situation is perfect, and through His Word, He gives us the wise advice we need. The correct counsel for every situation is at our fingertips. But sadly, most of us choose to go it alone.

Each day, we have a choice. We can go to God and seek His perfect advice in every situation, or we can grab hold of it and handle it the way our sinful flesh and our enemies and his surrounding army want us to handle it. There’s no way to have it both ways. We are either sold out to God or being used as a pawn in the enemy’s schemes. God can see all of that, too, and desires to keep us from trouble and pain. But …will we allow Him to?

Free will gives us the freedom to choose. To live in the power of the Word of God, all we have to do is prayerfully study it. When we’re sick, we go to the doctor, and we listen to advice. When our bodies are hurt, we undergo therapy and surgery to heal. We follow advice all of the time. Daily, we can find time to read the Bible. God is the Author of time, and when we come close to Him, He is able to stretch our minutes to meet with Him. The Creator of the Universe wants to talk to us …with us. Even though He can see all and knows all …He wants to hear it from us …share it with us.

Our innermost thoughts and desires are not sentiments we share with everyone. God already knows. He meets us where we are with compassion and understanding and powerful wisdom through His Word. Each day, let’s seek to meet Him for what we need. One day at a time, we will find ourselves closer and closer to Him.

Further Reading:

Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ at megbucher.com. She is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,” “Home, Finding Our Identity in Christ,” and "Sent, Faith in Motion." Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters …which led her to pursue her writing passion. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team at Salem Web Network. Meg loves being involved in her community and local church, leads Bible study, and serves as a youth leader for teen girls.