A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day April 8, 2019
Therefore lay apart all uncleanness, and all lingering evil and vice, and receive with meekness the word (the Word of God) that is grafted (engrafted like a skin graft) in you, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21, NMB)
As a Christian walking in faith, your heart is good soil and able to receive the promises of God to their fullest, but you must decide in the realm of your soul (your thinking and will) to do this. It’s your decision whether or not you plant and your decision on how much you plant into your heart. Salvation converts your heart to a heart that is rich soil so that the seed (the Word of God) will flourish into an abundant harvest. It is the Word that grows faith.
For a Christian, the key is to sow the Word of God in your fertile heart. How do you do this? You do this by bringing the Word of God into your soul through meditating on the Word. As you meditate on the Word, you will be fertilizing the soil of your heart, which will produce a greater harvest. And what is the harvest? It is the hope you desire.
Meditating on God’s Word simply requires time and repetition. Let me share this example. In the early years of my life I played the guitar, the bass, the keyboard, and sang in several musical groups. I even had the honor of playing and recording with some nationally known artists. I always enjoyed the rehearsals. In fact, I enjoyed them as much as performing on stage. The rehearsals were where I learned the melodies and chords of the new songs. It was always exciting to learn something new.
Yet, there was one distinct difference between the rehearsals and the performances. At the rehearsals we had music stands with sheet music. Actually, the sheet music was everywhere-on top of the keyboard, on the floor, and even taped to the walls! We needed our sheet music. Why? Because we were still learning the songs. But after what seemed like a few hundred times of practicing, the song was no longer just on the paper, but it was embedded in our hearts. When we stood on stage performing in front of the cheering teenagers, we could close our eyes and really get into the music because it was coming from the heart.
Interestingly, this is a God-given principle that not only works in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm. We must practice and rehearse the Word of God what seems like hundreds of times. However, if we continually read and speak His Word, eventually it will be so deeply embedded in our hearts that it will instinctively come out of our mouths. And that’s when things begin to change. Faith is the key.
So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17).
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 unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:20-23).
The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus was the Word of God made flesh. You and I are flesh to be made the Word. We do that by reading, studying, listening to, meditating on, and doing the Word. When we do those things the Word becomes part of us just like a skin graft.
