Here we see that “little children”, those who only know of their forgiveness in Jesus, mature into “young men” who are “strong in the Lord,” and who “overcome the evil one.” How does this happen? Through immersing themselves in the Word, “the Word of God abides in you” (vs. 14).
Do you want to mature in Christ? Do you want to grow strong in the Lord? Do you want to overcome the evil one? Do you want to have victory over darkness and despair? Then we’ve just seen the answer: the Word of God living in you. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Colossians 3:16). The Word of Christ is the gospel, and it should live in us!
Question 3. As you contemplate this truth, are you seeing any changes that need to be made in your life? If so please share them here:
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David writes, "The word of God needs to dwell in me. The word of God is Christ. I need to have such a close relationship with Christ that only by His strength I can live in this world of sin and hardships. That's reading the bible but even more having a 24/7/365 relationship with Christ. Like a best friend but even closer."
Let us see another benefit of staying in the Word.
2. Immersion leads us to Victory
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (11) “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. (12) So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. (13) Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! (14) I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. (15) Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. (16) But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. Psalms 81:10-16 ESV
Psalm 81:10 tells us to “open wide our mouths” and God will fill them. I mentioned in a previous lesson that this is like baby birds in a nest who all have their mouths gaping open when their mother flies into the nest with a worm. They are eager to receive what she has for them. This should be our posture before the Lord. Mouths wide open, hungry for His Word.
And it’s not only being hungry for His Word, it’s also being eager to “walk in His ways” (verse 13). Our learning should be for obedient living. Hearing God’s Word and walking in God’s ways.
And this leads, just as we saw in 1 John 2, to victory! “I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes” (Psalm 81:14 ESV). This is the transformation where we go from people weighed down by darkness to people victorious over the evil one.
But this does not happen by our strength, or by our applying all kinds of battle strategies. No, it is the Lord Who subdues our enemies. He fights for us. When the Israelites were hemmed in by the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army behind, God said, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. The Lord will fight for you, you only need to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14). The New Testament tells us “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4) and this Greater One is able to quickly subdue our enemies of despair.
Question 4. I’m assuming that you are after this kind of victory, as I am, where God Himself subdues our enemies and turns His hand against our foes. Please share, according to Psalm 81 above, what it takes for this to happen:
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Tori writes, "It takes nothing of us and everything of God, it is God who fights for us, it is God who lives in us and it’s submitting to God that enables us to do all of this."