“So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he wrote: “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (1:6) We see here the determined design and purpose of God, and that He will perform it. Another passage, this time Paul writing to the believers is Thessalonica, reveals to us the same truth of being set apart and anointed, with regard to one’s body, soul, and spirit. Paul writes in this regard: “Faithful is He who calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:23) The question then becomes, “How does He do this, and how can I be certain that it is the Lord who is doing it?”
We find it a solid principle of faith, that God’s way in dealing with men, is to speak to them. There is in His words, as they apply specifically to the life, a power and authority that is operative to change the life. The Spirit of God always works according to the eternal truth of God, and never contrary to that truth. The Scriptures are filled with the great, and eternal, truths which God will bless, and work, according to them. However, there are specific truths, which are manifestly applicable to present circumstances, or in accordance with the realization of the purposes of God, that He speaks to bring about His will on this earth. The question then becomes, “What is God saying, or speaking to me about?” Or, “What is His will,” in a particular situation? The fact that God speaks to our hearts is undeniable. Certainly, we do not grasp or understand how much He speaks, or desires to speak to our hearts. We either fail to be diligent students of HIs word, meditating on it day and night to obey it, or we neglect prayer, the very act of coming to Him in faith to hear what He will say, and teach us. That which is certain is that God changes lives always according to the revealed truth of His word, and Person, and this by the power of the Spirit of God.
The second means by which God changes the life of an individual, is by the specific and purposeful work of the Holy Spirit. We might call it the moving of the Spirit, His outpouring, His filling. In all of these descriptions the essential point is that God the Holy Spirit “works” to reveal Christ to the heart, and out of that revelation of the Lord Jesus, give the faith to believe and obey Him. When Israel returned from Babylon, after the deportation which lasted seventy years, the Lord had ordered her to rebuild his house, the temple. The work was engaged in with great purpose and resolve. However, the enemies of the Lord, and of the Jews, hindered, and eventually, stopped the work. It would remain in that staggered state for around fifteen years, there being no progress in the continuation of the building. It was then that two things occurred, the first of which, the Lord raised up two prophets which proclaimed the word of the Lord. In other words, God spoke. The second thing that occurred was the revelation of God’s essential WAY of accomplishing His work on this earth, according to the truth of God speaking. Zechariah, in addressing Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem, made it very clear where one’s faith had to be, and it was not to be in men. He wrote: “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord.” (Zech. 4:6) Here is the second key that God uses in order to change a life, lives, and circumstances. By the objective word of God, and the revelation of the power of God by HIs Spirit, God certainly works to accomplish His purposes.
Dear Father, Speak Thy word, enabling us to trust in Christ’s power alone. Jesus’ name, Amen.