He Has You

You can always tell a man or woman immersed in God’s Word, because their life will show it. “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11 NKJV).

The greatest defense against the lie is to know the truth. Satan’s first deception in history was when he asked Eve, “Has God really said…?” (Genesis 3:1 NASB). Satan will call the truth a lie, so you will think his lies are the truth.

The truth may hurt, but the lie will kill you. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’” (Genesis 3:4 NKJV).

When Satan tried to tempt the Lord Jesus in the wilderness, he tried quoting from the Word of God to cause Jesus to sin. Satan has not only read the Bible, but he has studied it well and knows all too well how to distort it to his liking.

Satan told Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say…” (Matthew 4:6 NLT). But our Lord knew the whole Word and replied, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” (Matthew 4:7 NLT).

When you twist the truth, it becomes a lie. “Even from your own group men will rise up, twisting the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30 EHV).

It’s not enough to know some of the Word but to know all the Word so that you will not be deceived because you only know half of the truth. The greatest error we make as Christians is being half-baked in our knowledge of God.

The only way the Word of God can change your life is if it’s in your life. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT).

When Jesus was preparing to return to heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to teach us and to help us remember all that He had said. But to remember the Word, you must first have read the Word.

You must first have the Word in you such that the Holy Spirit can bring it to your remembrance. Jesus promised, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26 NKJV).

If you’re not in the Word, then the Word is not in you. The Word of God is the foundation of our faith, for by His Word all things were created, and it is by His Word that all things will someday be judged.

If you don’t discern the lie, then you just might think it’s the truth. “Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 AMP).

There are some things that matter in our lives here on earth. But there are other things that will matter in our eternal life in heaven. Knowing the Word of God has eternal implications, as it is our guide and our source for all things that will last in eternity.

No matter how much things are falling apart, God’s Word will stand forever. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV).

So many churches in our day have mostly abandoned the Word of God in favor of the words of men that promise people what they want to hear. There is a greater emphasis on filling the church than on filling souls with the everlasting Word of God.

If you water down the truth of God to make it easier for people to swallow, then you’re mixing in the lies of hell, and you’re leading people in the wrong direction. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6 MEV).

But what about you? What are you standing on? Do you know the Word, or are you hoping your Pastor is teaching you rightly? Your Pastor will be judged for their teaching, but you will be judged on whether you seek the truth for yourself in the Word of God.

The flesh interprets scripture to satisfy its own desires. “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold” (2 Timothy 4:3 AMP).

If you’re not currently reading the Word of God every day, start doing that today. And do not read just to learn a new truth, but read to live a new truth. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you, and then ask Him to help you to live what you have learned.

If you don’t know the Word, then you don’t know the way. And if you don’t know the way, then you don’t know where you are going. Get into the Word, get the Word into you, then walk in the Word. Dark rooms have no light. “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105 NKJV). Let the Word illuminate your life.

The Bible teaches that the Bereans would compare the Word of God with what the Apostle Paul was teaching them, to see if his words were true. If the Bereans did that with an Apostle, how much more should we do that with our pastors in this day?

Stop complaining that your Pastor is not feeding you, and climb up to the table and eat for yourself. The Pastor may shepherd the flock, but the sheep still need to eat for themselves. “Now the Berean Jews…received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed…” (Acts 17:11-12 NIV).

You don’t have to be a scholar to learn the Word of God, but you do have to become immersed in it so that the learning can begin. Commit on this day, and set aside time on each day of your life going forward, to get into the Word, so the Word will be in you.

Though I read the Word of God a thousand times, yet I keep discovering something new each day. “Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.” (Psalm 119:18 AMP).

Blessings to you always,

Paul Balius

Several years ago, I preached a series on the Word of God to a small group of people who had been deceived by words not from God. The focus of this teaching was on chapter 119 in the Book of Psalms. That is the longest chapter in all the Word and sits at the center of the Word as its beacon of light for the truths of God contained within the pages.

Take some time and go meditate on Psalm 119, and let the richness and wondrous Word of God wrap around you and hold you firmly in the grip of God. It is broken up into twenty-two sections, with each section using one of the Hebrew letters, with the number twenty-two representing all the foundational pillars of the Word.

In each of the twenty-two sections, there are eight verses, and the number eight represents new beginnings, the eighth day, the day Jesus, who is the Word of God (see John 1:1-3,14), rose from the dead. Let this chapter be a new beginning for you to stand on the complete and perfect foundation of the Word of God.