Today we are engaged in the spiritual battle of all times. This article examines how to build ourselves up spiritually, to the end that we may stand, by way of a very interesting point from Romans 10:7 - how that ‘faith comes by hearing’.
In this post you’ll see why it is critical to regularly be around people who SPEAK the Word of God into your ears. And why the things you listen to on a regular basis (TV..hello?) can impact the way you think, live, and even look! It’s not just enough to go to church on Sunday and hear a weekly (or monthly) sermon. Making the Scriptures the chatter of your life is life transforming in more ways than one..
I HAD AN INTERESTING LESSON FROM THE LORD A FEW MINUTES AGO.....
Earlier today we had a Bible fellowship at the kitchen table, in which we reviewed the 2 ways the Bible says we may build ourselves up spiritually. One is by Speaking in Tongues (Jude 20, as well as I Corinthians 12 & 13) The other way to build ourselves up spiritually is what grabbed my attention - 'HEARING the Word'. (Romans 10:17)
Not by speaking the Word, not by reading it, not even by studying it.. but by HEARING it! Hmmm..
Long I’ve known that verse, and have wondered about it. I mean,.. Why specifically hearing the Word? Why not studying it on a daily basis? Or speaking it? After all, the spoken word (RHEMA) is the ‘Sword of the Spirit’.
Then the Lord gave me understanding...
I came into the kitchen just now, and found my son sitting at the table teaching himself Russian by reading a text book. (I can tell you from experience, it's a struggle to learn a language like that.)It's always easier to learn a language, if you hear it spoken. The spoken words make an indelible ‘impression’ upon you.
Well, while watching my son, the Lord reminded me how, at age 16, I learned a bit of Greek. I worked in the Baldwin Coach Diner, in my teens, and heard Greek spoken. The thing is, I remember it all to this day! ..‘το λάδι και ξύδι’, etc etc..
Then the Lord reminded me how I learned some 'FARSI' in college - and can recall that to this day as well! (I said this to an Iranian friend 35 years after hearing him say it - کجا بودی و چرا به من زنگ نزدی؟ - I heard his phone drop.)
I have studied Russian and Spanish at length, and know them well. But Greek and Farsi, I never studied. I only ever heard them spoken. Yet, every word I ever heard in Greek or Farsi somehow I can remember to this day. (I just shocked a Greek Airline attendant at the Airport in Texas a few weeks ago, and I've surprised a few Persians over the years. I’m German/Irish so I don’t look like - Μιλάω ελληνικά.)
Here it is...
SPOKEN WORDS make an indelible impression upon our mind, and as you will see - on our body, and our lives. But we must hear them for the impressions to take effect. It is in the hearing of the spoken words that -
STAMP us.
AFFECT our surroundings.
AFFECT circumstances.
SPOKEN WORDS ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. When they are spoken they act like the magnets do to metal filings. Everything LINES UP according to THAT which is SPOKEN.
GOD DESIGNED WORDS to have POWER.1 It is an invisible power, like that of a magnet. Yet. they are very powerful nonetheless.
When we HEAR THEM.. they not only 'IMPLANT' on our brains forever, (Think of Songs you've heard..) but they can IMPACT us forever. (Think of people who have suffered a lifetime, for the wrong things spoken to them as children.)
Probably many of you have seen the famous images of how words affect water. Beautiful words making beautiful shapes as the water freezes. Cutting words making ugly formless images in the frozen water. But, now just imagine the health and beauty imparted to the ‘water’ of flesh - by hearing the Words of God.
On the other hand, can you just imagine what 'listening to television' does to our mind and body and appearance. Or listening to the rhetoric of godless or angry people. (Make no friends with an angry man,.. remember?) If these experiments by Japanese Scientist Masaru Emoto are valid, hearing the Word of God spoken is also beautifying!
HEARING THE 'WORD OF GOD' IMPACTS the WATER (and every other cell) in YOUR BODY. Hearing the Word spoken is BUILDING you up, because what you are hearing is TRUTH - It is LIGHT - and it is LIFE. Even as the Way, the Truth, and the Light, is the Word incarnate - Jesus Christ.
The spoken Word of God is beautifying, strengthening, and also HEALING. As the verse says:
“My son, attend to my words, » incline thine EAR unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in the midst of thine heart;
For they are LIFE to those that find them, and HEALTH TO ALL THEIR FLESH’. Proverbs 4:20 - 22
JESUS is the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. He is also THE WORD OF GOD. To hear The WORD spoken is to have JESUS STAMPED into your heart, your flesh, and your spirit! He is beautifying. How hard is it to imagine that HEARING the Word of GOD, builds us up in like fashion - creating in us, the image of Him.
According to Paul, to HEAR the Word is what builds you up spiritually. What BETTER way then, to strengthen ourselves and prepare to STAND in this dark hour.
What are ways to ‘hear the Word’ on a regular basis?
Speak the Scriptures yourself out loud. Recite them. Read the promises that are written to you - out loud. The Psalms are wonderful for this, because they not only contain wonderful promises for our own well being (Psalm 23, Psalm 18 etc) they are full of Praise Psalms. There is probably no more powerful Scripture ‘heard in the ear’, than that of praise to the Lord God.
There is probably no more powerful Scripture ‘heard in the ear’, than that of praise to the Lord God.
POP in a TAPE. Do it NOW! Buy recordings of the Bible to play in your home. My favorite is the Bible spoken with the melodious voice of Alexander Scourby. Put tapes on in the background of your office, or kitchen. (The same way some households have the television running nonstop. OH the anecdotal evidence I have of households that run TV nonstop, and the sicknesses they routinely have.)
You won’t recognize yourself in a month or so.
Another way to HEAR the life giving Word is with ministry recordings. One of my favorites is the powerful tape ministry of Thurmond Scrivner. Brother Scrivner is asleep waiting for the sound of the Trumpets, but his tape library is still available and is offered for FREE! Here’s a link to the titles.
https://id21237.securedata.net/tlsmor/MediaOrders.cgi
Another way to hear the ‘faith building Word’, is to hang out with friends who love to speak it. Surround thyself with the righteous! Get into group meetings, prayer clubs, church events where the chatter is the Word of Life.
Do you want to ‘build yourself up spiritually?’ Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to be beautified? Get yourself an earful.
VJCBingham
Consider Genesis 1, the creation record, how that God SPOKE everything into being; And consider I Corinthians 1:24 - that Jesus Christ - Who is the WORD in the flesh, is the wisdom and the Power of God.