God's Living Word: Sharp Enough to Heal

That's because scripture is alive, scripture is moving, and the author wants to know us and to be in relationship with us. The bible is interesting because it is unique in such a way that you could say it's the only book that when you read it, the author is actually reading you, paying attention to what's happening in your life as you read the words on its pages. But what is certainly true is that as we read or we hear God's love story poured out to us, God wants us to know the depths of the love he has for us. [00:44:02] (43 seconds)  #ScriptureSpeaks

It cuts to the deepest places, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and these are metaphors for the deepest, most hidden parts of who we are, the deepest places that are unseen, places that even our friends don't know about, places that we don't even fully understand ourselves, places that therapy can't reach, but God's word reaches there. It exposes motives, it exposes desires, it exposes attitudes, not to shame us, but to transform us. [00:49:58] (44 seconds)  #SoulSurgery

So friends, God's word is alive, and I can imagine that you've experienced this before, perhaps even with some of these scriptures that I just read, but others too, where even though you've read it before, this time, when you're reading it, something feels new. Or a passage that you've read before many, many times suddenly carries a different weight with it, and there is a force with it speaking right into the circumstances in your life. [00:43:30] (33 seconds)  #ScriptureFeelsNew

You know, there are some people that avoid scripture because they don't want to be confronted, and they are comfortable just where they are. But what does avoiding get us? It just simply prolongs the inevitable. It stretches things out longer than they need to be. Being confronted by God is actually a gift because he confronts to heal, to restore, and to transform. No matter what it is, there is nothing too big for God. Whatever it is, it's not going to surprise him. He's going to love you and meet you where you are and help lead you to the place where you need to be. [00:50:42] (51 seconds)  #ConfrontToHeal

Hebrews four twelve tells us that God's word is sharper than any double edged sword. It cuts in every direction. No matter how it turns, it pierces. And this example, in the context to those readers of Hebrews, would have understood well because they would have seen double edged swords every single day, and so therefore, they would be thinking, okay, so the word of god is sharper than that is? And god is saying, it's sharper than even that. So it cuts in every direction. No matter how it turns, it pierces. [00:44:46] (37 seconds)  #SharperThanSword

Jesus demonstrates this through the conversations that he has and the stories that he tells. He's walking along, and someone comes up to him and asks, who is my neighbor? Now, they're asking the question because they want to know how much do I really have to help. Can I just help the people that are next door and across the street, or does it keep going down the road? And in that, Jesus shares the parable of the good Samaritan and asks, who was a neighbor to this man? [00:48:12] (31 seconds)  #WhoIsMyNeighbor

I'd be like, woah, woah, woah, I'm not I'm not done with that yet. I know I haven't worn that in three years, but next week, I was planning on wearing it. Please don't throw it away. Nope. We like to do our we like to do our own spring cleaning and clean things out, and there's times where there may be things in our lives that God is helping us to get rid of, and we're like, but I really can control and manage this. It's gonna be okay. And God's like, really? Because it's still just sitting there and weighing you down. [00:58:58] (33 seconds)  #LetGoToLive

Another comes to Jesus and asks him, how many times must I forgive? And they're expecting an answer of seven times, and instead, Jesus says to them, 70 times seven times, meaning an infinity number of times. Forgive them again and again and again. [00:48:43] (23 seconds)  #ForgiveWithoutLimit