Psa. 119:130 The opening of Your words gives light, imparting understanding to the simple. Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
[Part 2 of 2] When the word of God enters into you it gives light; you will become inwardly clear, and you will have assurance. The word of God is not just the written Scripture which you read. It is also necessary for the Spirit of God to make this word living in you. Only the living word is useful, and this word will divide your spirit from your soul. This is not a question of reading a book and finding what way is spiritual and what way is soulish. Even if you follow the way given in the book, the result will still be soulish. But when the word of God enters into you and shines in you, it will separate the soul from the spirit; it will even expose the joints and marrow. You will know what is wrong and what is right. This is an inward knowledge. Such a person will no longer need to ask questions because there is light within him, and he sees from within. Some people ask themselves all the time: "Am I living for God or for myself? Is this the will of God or my own?" Indeed, it is extremely difficult for us to distinguish which ideas and opinions are our own because we are very often deceived by our own thoughts and intentions. Nevertheless, as soon as the word of the Lord enters, it sifts through the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and immediately shows us which thoughts are perverse, which thoughts are impractical, which thoughts are selfish, which thoughts come from fear, and which thoughts protect ourselves. Inwardly we will see and become very clear. Self-analysis will not give us light; it will only lead us into self-deception. The more we analyze ourselves, the more we will be deceived and the more the word of God will be hindered from entering into us. When the word of God enters into us, our eyes will be opened, and we will no longer need to ask any questions because we will be able to discern the thoughts and intentions of our heart. Brothers and sisters, whenever we have a problem within, we ought to look to the enlightening of God's word. In this way, we will not be deceived.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 80-81 Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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