The Bible declares that the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action or do exploits, according to some versions (Dan. 11:32). However, I’ve noticed something yesterday. Jesus is twelve when His parents, Mary and Joseph, left Jerusalem without Him after a pilgrimage. They finally found him after three days and Mary said to him: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And Jesus replied: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is clear that He wasn’t referring to Joseph.
In other words, at 12 years of age, Jesus already knew His real Father (GOD) pretty well and their intimacy was such that GOD would later say, on the day of His water baptism, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Lk. 2:42-49, Mat. 3:17). And yet, in spite of this growing intimacy; in spite of his knowledge of GOD, Jesus was still unknown, anonymous and was not doing exploits… Still at 12 years of age, Jesus was already basically the incarnation of the Word. He knew the Scriptures so well that the then theologians were flabbergasted. And yet, apart from that, His impressive knowledge was not yielding many fruits. It wasn’t a demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1Cor 2:4). The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2Cor 3:6).
The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes were also versed in the Holy Scriptures, but still, Jesus described them as whitewashed tombs. They were so alien to miracles and the power of GOD that they even accused Jesus to performing signs by the power of Satan! They could not see the link between what they read and taught on one hand and what they saw Him do on the other hand. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Today, many priest, pastors, theologians and of course, Christians, are in the same situation. They are full of Bible verses and doctrines, but lifeless – as in the valley of dry bones. Indeed, Ezekiel said he looked and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them (Ez. 37:8). Everything seemed ok outwardly, but that “thing” could not move, because there was no breath/life in it.
For a very long time, Jesus was also like that; He was also like all those Pharisees. Even after His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on Him and He was full of the Holy Ghost (Luc 4.1); and yet, He still remained unknown. He was still not revealed to the world. His life was as if stuck somewhere and He could not fulfil His mission. Then one day, He went into the wilderness. He prayed and fasted for forty days. He resisted the devil and went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread around like wild fire (Lk. 4:1-14). From that day onwards, His words ceased to be like everybody’s words. They became ‘Spirit and life’ (Jn. 6:63). Those who listened to Him testified that He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. They said no one had ever spoken like Him. Miracles began to rain down from heaven. Life and death were now truly at the power of His tongue.
So what about you and I? What proportion of your words actually comes to pass? As you see, one can be full of words and even full of the Spirit and still be ignored, hidden and powerless. Elijah was a man like us and yet, whatever he said was accomplished, even things as extraordinary as stopping the rain from falling for three years (Ja. 5:17-18)! The Egyptian-born French singer, Dalida, used to sing, “Words, words, words…” Much ado about nothing. Have impact this year. Use the Word of God like a god, the god that you truly are. Decide on a matter, declare a thing and let it be established in the Name of Jesus.
Have a power-filled week and GOD bless you.
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