Living in God

The Word of God is our environment. It is where we must live to gain proper nourishment and rest for the work we do in the spiritual realm.

Where God guides, He provides. As natural beings, we think of our natural needs -- it's only natural. Food, water, clothing, shelter, transportation, healthcare, entertainment,...sometimes the line between necessities and strong desires can blur.

He provides our material needs, and He goes on and provides our spiritual needs. Food: the bread of heaven, every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Water: fountains of living water springing up within us to flow out and form a river of life that heals the land wherever it goes. Clothing: robes of righteousness that cover us and provide protection from the climatic extremes of condemnation that chill us to the bone and pride that puffs us up, making us unable to do the work of God. Also the armor of God that shields us from powers we cannot see but whom we defeat by the word of God.

He is our Rock, cleft for us as a shelter from the storm when the raging winds mix the dirt and air, leaving us nowhere to stand and unable to breathe. By His Spirit, He transports us to His throne room to receive encouragement, discipline, love, direction, power, anointing, even in the midst of battle and struggle. These things are ours as we study the Word of God, reading it daily, asking God for understanding, letting God speak His heart to your heart, and His thoughts to your thoughts.

Habakkuk 3:2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Like a fishing net, made of woven cords, having large spaces between the strands, we are made to do our work in the water of the Word. If a fishing net is taken out of the water, allowed to dry out for a time, the strands become weak and brittle, breaking easily. It is only as the net is used daily, kept in the water, remains saturated, that it can last and continue doing work.

Like a net, we are not designed to hold all the verses we read, never forgetting anything. Rather, we let the water slip through us and past us, soaking in, saturating, and flowing out because there is always more of the Word to come. Let the Word of God be your environment; throw yourself in daily and stay saturated with His promises and love that strengthen and guide you. Feast on His promises, drink in His love and joy, let His caring grace and mercy enfold you like warm silk, be transported out of your worries and cares into the joy and abundance and exuberance of the Lord Who knows you best and loves you most.

Habakkuk 3
v.17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
v.18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Lord Jesus, the Word of the Father made flesh, we immerse ourselves in You. Give us eyes to see as well as ears to hear, Lord, and let us see You in the written pages of the Bible as well as in the eyes and lives of our brothers and sisters of the Body of Christ. We will not be happy and we cannot well live outside of You, Jesus. Thank You for shedding the Father's love abroad; help us to do likewise as we walk in Your footsteps following You in obedience.

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