The Active Word

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

In the last few weeks, we at Davar Partners have considered and reflected on the value of God’s word – we have spent time meditating on the LIVING, TEACHING, SPEAKING, FAITHFUL, and ETERNAL Word of God. These characteristics embedded within His Word bring great hope to the Christian who needs comfort and truth. And this week’s focus – the ACTIVE Word – emphasizes yet again the power and priceless value of God’s Word.

He rewards those who diligently seek Him

Our roads are often marked with suffering, and it can be difficult to see God at work when we are confronted with dark circumstances, but through faith, we trust that He is and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We also trust that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to bring it to completion. What He starts, He will finish. He has made that promise to us in His Word, and He will fulfill it.

This same active Word works within us – it illuminates our sin, shows us our need for a Savior, calls us to obedience, and calls us to walk in His precepts. When we spend time engaging with God’s Word and listening to His Voice, we are sanctified, transformed, and renewed. In the deep valleys and dry deserts of life, we confidently cling to the promises found in His Word – we are never alone and He is not finished with us. And even more, we discover in His Word that the trial-filled days produce fruit in our lives – we become more like Christ, we find His fellowship in suffering, we gain an eternal perspective, we receive patience that produces a perfect work, we receive sweet comfort from the Holy Spirit, and we learn Paul’s secret to living in plenty and want. We can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens us. The Word reveals these truths to us, and as we live them out experientially, we see the Word in action in our lives.

The Word is not only active in places of suffering.

It also contains wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that should be actively applied to all seasons of life. The Word calls us to obedience that brings forth blessing.  In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” This wise and obedient man, who builds according to God’s standard doesn’t escape the rains and wind that inevitably come, but he does not face the destruction that those who stray from God’s Word foolishly face. When the trials and storms of life come, in knowing and obeying God’s Word, we have a solid foundation and we will not be shaken. Let’s press on through life as DOERS of the Word, and not hearers only.

While personal circumstances in life may be unique according to God’s beautiful design for our lives, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are universally called to make disciples of all nations. God has saved us from sin, promised us an eternal place in His family, and He has made us ambassadors of reconciliation. The Great Commission – to preach the Gospel – is for all of us. We all have the opportunity to be a part of His Kingdom work, and we should be faithful to do what God has called us to.

James encourages us,

“Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.’ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25.

Faith without obedience is not effective faith at all – when we have true faith, we will obey His word. Our active obedience is evidence to a watching world of the true and living God working within us. Now is the time to obey and serve Him.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

The Word is living and active. It transforms us. And when we allow it to be preeminent in our lives, the Lord works within us just as He promised, His truth takes deep roots, and we grow into the image of Christ through His mercy and power. He is doing a good work in us and in the world.

Only a small majority of the world has access to this active Word in their language and in a format they can understand. And we praise God that we do have access. But what about those who do not know His Word, do not know the wisdom and guidance it provides, and do not know how to obey it? Are we who have already received His Word willing to act in faith and obedience to make it accessible to the nations? Are we willing to take action in the Kingdom of God and the Great Commission?

We can all join in!

Many of us will not travel to a faraway land or live among a different people group, but we all are called to be involved in the work of the Gospel. We all can join in the prayer movement that empowers the ministry of Davar, and we can give to make God’s living and active Word available to those waiting to hear it.

Will you join our monthly team today to provide God’s Word for the nations? When you consider how active God’s Word has been in your life, will you join us in bringing that same active Word to the nations? Please join our team today. The work is great, the laborers are few, and every gift matters.