There are so many struggles in the world. “Am I good enough?,” “Am I loved?,” “Am I beautiful?” It’s still amazing to me how many people walk through life without these answers and don’t understand the power of Christ to answer them. So, just to get us started, here’s an idea that has to be foundational for us to successfully traverse this obstacle course…
Jesus wants to talk to us through the Holy Spirit. All the time.
He died on the cross so that he could live life with every one of us every second of every day. Rain or shine, happy or sad, beautiful or barren, he wants to live life with us. He wants to connect with us and befriend us and then love us beyond measure.
Matthew 4:4 shows his desire to connect with us. Here, he quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 when he says, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Do you understand that we have literal life by the word of God? How amazing is that?
And, just to make it clear - the original greek for “word” here is rhema, the SPOKEN word. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every spoken word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Not only is he keeping us alive by his spoken word, but he is also constantly speaking to us with it.
And, just to add one more minor point, how beautiful is it that Jesus chose to restate this idea? He used foundational understanding from Torah as if to tie the old and new testaments together and make the point that it wasn’t just for then, but for us, now.
We’ll explore this more and more as we go, but for today, would you be willing to spend a minute working through how you communicate with God? How you believe he communicates (or doesn’t) with you? Words, pictures, bible, colors, nature, walks, children, friends, music, dance, etc… His creativity is endless.
My prayer for you today is that you "May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:18-19, KJV
-Shawn