Skip to main content

Power of the Word



The Word is near to you
on your lips and in your heart
Romans 10:8

Communication is a major issue when driving a special needs school bus. Some children don't comprehend what you are saying while others can't clearly articulate what they are trying to say. Some understand what you are saying but have difficult behaviors they can't control. Some are living through or have had traumatic experiences and express their anger or pain in socially unacceptable ways. 

Communication is a major issue with Paul. Paul expects that God’s Word actually gets inside of people. It is not just spoken, but is a power that changes hearts and lives. In Paul’s day the heart is where the physical, intellectual and spiritual life, including the will, emotions, and desires, while the mouth gives expression to what is in the heart. Thus, on your lips and in your heart.

Words like believing and faith suggest agreeing to something -- whether or not that can be belief is demonstrated as true. Paul’s claim is that the good news actually changes people. For one thing, it brings people together where long-time distinctions no longer apply.

For example, substitute the word “trust” everywhere you read the word “believe” in the Romans 10:8-13. Paul’s words give a slightly different meaning. What might it mean to actually trust that God raised Jesus from the dead, and not simply to believe it? Or to trust in God and not only to believe about God?

Belief in our hearts does not make us people who say the right words. It makes us people like Abraham and Sarah (Romans 4:13-25), who hope against hope and do not weaken or waver in facing today's great challenges. It makes us people who believe and trust God in the core of our being. It makes us people who believe and trust that God is a God of life, and no matter how rough things are God will hear when we cry out.

Do you believe that? Do you trust that?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, the owner would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (from Luke 12:32-40 ) I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England. The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town. Two aspects of Grantchester impress me. First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone. Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest. This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”. Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community. Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walking with God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (from Ps.103:1-8 ) Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer and theologian, once asked himself a question he immediately answered:   How does an apple ripen? The apple, by simply being in the sun, fulfills its purpose of ripening, The apple doesn't try to ripen faster, it simply allows the sun to do its work.   There is nothing it can do to ripen itself. It can’t do workouts, tighten its muscles and then suddenly be a red, ripened, juicy apple in the morning. The apple just hangs on the branch in the sun, naturally ripening, where it receives its daily nourishment. This is the basic plan for how Christians ripen in their relationship to God. The difference is that Christians don’t naturally ripen in their relationship to God, we have to place themselves where we can be nourished. The beginning place of nourishment I find most helpful is the Guide to Prayer For All Who Walk With God. The daily walk in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus, Deliverance, and Demons

"Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." (from Luke 8:26-39 ) Astrid is a streaming program I often watch. The plot is a basic cops and robbers action until the criminal is caught. The uniqueness of the program is Astrid, who is on the Autism spectrum, is brilliant at solving puzzles including connecting clues to solve the crime. Watching this program has given me a more profound insight to people living with this condition and their acceptance in society. My first-hand experience with children on the Spectrum was driving a Special Needs school bus for 6 years. With this experience, I can imagine the life the possessed man was experiencing, especially living among the tombs, bound with chains and shackles, having to live in the wilds. It was no wonder he cried for mercy. Jesus, with his power and mercy, cast the demons out and even...
Post a Comment
Read more