Eating the Word
The minute she finished I knew God had given me my next verse that would be written on my heart. I turned and read the verse again and then told my mom and sister..."i have not read this verse since college".......It washed over me in such a fresh way that I could not wait to look it up in other versions!...................this is the same verse below but from the CEV....
I don't do New Years stuff....like decide that January is the time to start something new. If I was not already doing something or have not received a Word from the Lord to do it....then I probably won't keep to whatever I list as things to change. Just me...not everyone would agree with me. I am a "if things need to change then change then NOW....start this minute..." kind of person....not when we think we are given a new beginning......because HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EACH MORNING....that right there tells you that you can start fresh on any day of the year, not just the days we think we can.
But, what I am ALWAYS UP FOR is God giving me new goals or new desires that bring Him lots of Glory. I knew when I read the scripture above that, for this season of my life, it is going to mean a great deal to me. "When your WORD came...I ATE IT", the other version says "When You SPOKE TO ME, I was GLAD to OBEY". I don't care who you are or what relationship you have with Father.
.....IF YOU ARE NOT IN
THE WORD OF GOD
YOU ARE MISSING
EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The "word" coming to us is Scripture. Above all it is the most consistent place that we encounter God. His word is alive and active and He opens and closes our eyes to scripture to speak directly to us in moments of comfort, strength, correction, guidance, encouragement, pursuing..............it is in His word that we are invited to really Know God.
"When your word came, I ate it".....I can't get this verse out of my mind because #1. I want to be aware when the word comes....alert...#2 I want to eat it and know it and obey it and not just chew on the word and spit it out!!
This verse is already meaning a great deal to me. I am in the midst of complete temptation attacks in one area of my life. The temptation once consumed me and my thoughts but God set me free of this strong hold about 3 years ago. In those three years He has sheltered me, protected me fully from this temptation and I know with all my heart that it was because He was strengthening me so that this time....this very week....I can speak out words, scripture to Him that says..."When YOUR WORDS CAME, I ate them, for they are my JOY AND HEART'S DELIGHT, for I BEAR YOUR NAME, O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY." Amazing how He gave me this scripture to study days before I would come under attack. The difference between me now and me then is that I KNOW HE IS THE BEST CHOICE! I know, that I know, that I know, that my faith will prove genuine when this season is done. How can it not? Has He not already saved me from this sin? Has He not already given me months to teach me a new mind frame away from this temptation? Has He not so graciously proven to me time and time again that if I hide in Him then I can endure through the attacks and stay whole...not losing anything that He has grown in me?....Y-E-S!!!!! yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. "It is for FREEDOM that CHRIST HAS SET ME FREE!!!!! STAND FIRM then and DO NOT let YOURSELVES be BURDENED AGAIN by a YOKE OF SLAVERY"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will not pick up that yoke and place it around my neck. I WILL NOT! I HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM IT! If it takes over me again it is because I LET IT....and I know and TRUST that GOD is able bring be through this and resist giving it an invitation!
That verse about freedom that I just wrote out brings back so many memories of desperate moments that I wanted to just walk away from what God was doing to gratify/satisfy that hunger. Time and time again the Holy Spirit would almost force me to speak that verse out loud and declare it in a very firm and serious voice. I tell you all this because the verse above " When your words came, I ate them"....................is really starting to sink in with me. Because I had memorized certain scripture for certain strongholds or certain behaviors, they were written on my heart. They have been "there and back" with me and I praise God that He brings them to mind the very second I want to go left and just leave His path. This is what the verse is talking about. Eating the Word of God......letting it transform me and renew me to the point that GOD'S WORD BECOMES MY JOY AND HEART'S DELIGHT.......it gets even better.....BECAUSE It says I BEAR HIS NAME!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT joy that is to me. Our God's name is written on us and His Word is what brings us joy and FREEDOM in moments that are beyond our grasp to just walk away.
I don't think everyone...well, i know a lot of believers don't get the importance of reading their Bible. The importance of knowing what it says and the power that we have with speaking the Word of God when satan is after us. It is our only defense........so when he is after me to...for example... to eat whatever I want.....I have the authority and the power to say to satan/or even to my earthly body...."It is for freedom that Christ has set me FREE. I WILL STAND FIRM AND NOT LET MYSELF BE BURDENED AGAIN BY A YOKE OF SLAVERY. NOW FLEE FROM ME IN JESUS NAME!"
Oh the freedom. Oh the freedom. This temptation is everywhere around me but as I sit here and write to you all, I don't feel the burden. Does that make sense? Oh satan wants me to feel the burden...he wants me to be so weighed down with it that I become self-consumed and completely take my eyes off of my FATHER. But I won't. Because I am in a battle that God has already won for me and that is where I will place my HOPE! My strength this time is from HIM. My focus this time is on HIM.......and when this is all over and satan has not destroyed me or made me take 400 steps back in my spiritual walk.........I WILL WALK WAY WITH MY HANDS HELD TO THE SKY PRAISING MY GOD THAT HE NOT ONLY BROUGHT ME THROUGH THE ATTACKS BUT HE ALSO TAUGHT ME SO MANY PRECIOUS THINGS ABOUT HIM.....ABOUT HOW HE FEELS ABOUT ME in the midst of it!
Oh you are my best friend. I cry out and Father you answer. You listen to me and what joy I have knowing that you are the only one that knows the deep parts of me. I rest in knowing that. I don't have to come to you and explain my history...you wrote it and you know it by heart and I just love you for making me feel set apart when I need it.....or loved passionately when I need it......or making me laugh when I need it. What an honor it is to know that the God of the universe knows me completely. I just love you so much. I thank you that when I think I can't fight this again, you say that I can. You say to me, "I am YOUR LIGHT AND SALVATION CAROLINE, WHOM SHALL YOU FEAR?" I will not fear. I will put my Hope in you. I will study and eat your Word. Just lead me where you want me to go....I will follow!