Get It Through The Word

Luke 4 : 1 - 4, Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" NKJV

Jesus came to earth so that the hearts of all mankind could be changed from being carnally minded into ones that are being led by the Spirit. He became our example so that we could learn how to live by faith and not by sight. The scripture today gives us an excellent example; it shows us how to put God’s will before our personal desires so that we’re not bound by unbelief. You will notice that Jesus didn’t place His confidence in His own ability to turn the stones into bread. His faith was in God’s Word.

Jesus knew His heavenly Father would provide for all of His needs; however, He also knew how to access the provision for these essentials... through the Word of God. It is important that you and I understand what it means to stand on God’s Word when we take our needs before the Lord. We must approach the throne the right way in order to receive our petitions. Jesus didn’t focus His attention on His need, but rather on the Word of God. Consequently, when He focused on the Word of God, the Word gave Him power over the temptations of the Devil. In other words, Jesus didn’t fall prey to the “voice of unbelief.” He guarded His heart through God’s Word and the assurance of God’s faithfulness while seeking His provision. The Word of God is the only power on earth that we can utilize that will silence the voice of unbelief.

Unbelief will cause us to focus only on our needs when we come before the Lord. For example, “God, please take care of my needs today. Amen.” However, faith will cause us to place our confidence in God’s Word to supply all our needs. This trust will produce the correct results to our request. “God, your Word says that you will supply all of my need according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Thank you for hearing my prayer. Amen.”

In the first example, there is no faith offered to God that will release His power to work in our lives or on our behalf. However, in the second example, we see that faith in activated through the Word that will release the Father to supply all of our needs according to the Word that we are standing on. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, the writer tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Therefore, the focus of our hearts must not be on our need; it must be centered on the Seed of God’s Word. God’s Word is alive, and it can produce anything that we might need, as long as we activate it through our faith.

Standing on God’s Word,
Pastor Asa Dockery