“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  Psa. 119:105

A young girl came once to a servant of God, who happened to be a good friend of mine.  She was not happy and said, “I don´t know what´s wrong with me, but my life is so dull and dry.”  He asked her if there be some sin not dealt with in her life?  “No”, she said, “I´ve gone to the Lord about everything as far as I know…” but still her life seemed to be in drab colors.

He said to her, “Go home, read your Bible on your knees for one week, and let´s talk again.”  And so she did.  She quietly in her closet groaned before the Lord with an open Bible, asking Him to speak to her through His word.”  After a while my preacher friend met her again.  Oh, he could immediately see that something had happened.  Her face was radiating from joy.  She had been before the Lord with His word, and soon the drought was replaced by “a watered garden” (please see Isa. 58:11).

What is Bible reading about?  Reading through it so and so many times a year?   Well, we should certainly be diligent Bible readers, but that in itself is of little value without the experimental ministry of the Holy Spirit when applying ourselves to the word of God, for Bible reading is more than a mental process.  Quoting 2 Pet. 1:20-21 a dear friend of mine said, “The Holy Spirit is our only true “professor” of theology!”  He had a point.

There are many good Bible schools, I´m sure.  And we have many good Bible teachers.  They convey much good knowledge to us, but none of them can teach our young people the personal, Spirit anointed experience with the word of God.  It´s always so refreshing to meet a brother or a sister who has that relationship with His word and may testify, “I like to share with you a word God gave me just as I most needed it.”

“How are you?”  (or as the Americans say, “How are you doing?”) a godly woman was asked.  She said, “Just a moment!”  She happened to have her Bible with her and she looked it up at some place and then smiled, “Praise God, it´s still there!”  This is the language of a soul saturated with God´s word and promises.  Our feelings may go up and down, but His promises are still there to be trusted and walked upon, the principle being, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and went his way…”  (Joh. 4:50) – no matter what he felt.

I once knew an old, frail woman who called her two legs, “Thanks and Praise”, so as she was limping her way, she kept saying as her old, tender legs were moving, “Thanks and praise, - thanks and praise!”  This praise was an outflow of God´s word vitalized in her life by the Holy Spirit.  This is our privilege too.

August 15, 2011

-jn-