The Power and Ministry of the Word

Once we have read, or studied, the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit can then use them to speak to us of the mind of God.  If we have heard, sung, or read a portion of God's Word to us, those little bits are stored inside us, much as the alphabet that we can use at will---or rather, it comes to us as it is needed without our having to "go find it," so to speak.

Hebrews 4:12 says this:  The word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

When I first began reading the Bible, before I knew what it contained, or where to find things, I was amazed at how God could show me things that immediately spoke to the moment or the situation.  It was kind of scary at first.  For example, one day, I criticized my pastor to someone else; that very afternoon, I read this in Psalm 34:                Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

I was immediately convicted with that two-edged sword of God's living Word, so much so that I dated and annotated the Scripture in the margin of my bible, a practice that I continue to this day.  When the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to correct you, it is not something you easily forget-- especially if the Scripture is one that you have never before seen and did not know even existed!  As you go through the pages of my Bible today, you see dates going back to 1977, when the Spirit first began to open the Scriptures to me in a "living and active" way.

As the days went on, I found that the Scriptures continued to heal, to correct, to soothe, to comfort, and to strengthen me, no matter what was happening in my life.  I began to hold onto God's Word as an anchor for my soul in the midst of storms---and His Word brought me peace and confidence.  Two years ago, as I faced surgery, I repeated again and again: My help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.  Like a mantra, those words got me through those first nights of pain and struggling to breathe.  Whenever I repeated them, I felt calm and sure.

The power, strength, wisdom, and healing of God's Word continues as strongly in my life today as at the beginning---only now, after almost 40 years of interacting with the Word, I no longer need to have the Bible in my hands.  The words, as He promised, are in my mouth, in my heart, and on my tongue---they come to me in the night and in the morning, still "living and active," more powerful than any two-edged sword.

Yesterday morning, at Mass, I kept hearing these words in my spirit:  Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were not dimmed.....(Deut. 34:7).  I had no idea why I might be "stuck" on those words, yet they kept coming to me.  All day, they went through my head like a song that repeats itself in your mind.  My husband called me around 1:00 pm to remind me that I had a 3:00 appointment with the eye doctor---an appointment I had written on my calendar 6 weeks ago and then had forgotten.  I had not been to the eye doctor in 3-4 years, but anticipated only that I would need a new prescription for glasses.  I was not prepared to hear him say "erosion of the cornea."  But immediately, the words of Scripture came back to reassure me:  "Don't worry;" they seemed to say.  "Moses was 120 years old, and his eye was not dimmed ---and neither shall yours be!"  Wow!  God sent His Word and healed them  (Ps. 107:20) --  even before they knew they needed healing!

No wonder my confidence is in God's Word:  it is living and active and more powerful than any two-edged sword.  I desperately wish that I could pour the Word of the Lord into everyone I meet -- it is as though I have found a miracle, but cannot pass it on.  No one wants the Word of God, even though it heals, it comforts, it reassures, it strengthens, it guides and counsels, it gives peace and joy, it makes us unafraid of the future........There is nothing else in all the world like God's Word!  No kind or wise words of man have the ministry and power of the Word of God:  if they do not speak according to this word, what kind of wisdom will they have?