{"id":1559,"date":"2012-07-25T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/07\/the-word\/"},"modified":"2012-07-25T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-07-25T06:00:01","slug":"the-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/07\/the-word\/","title":{"rendered":"The Word"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don\u2019t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don\u2019t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don\u2019t have to question whether he loves us or cares about us. Through the Holy Spirit we have continual, free access to the heart of God. May your relationship with God go deeper and become freer as we learn how to have God\u2019s heart this week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cFor the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.&#8221;<\/em> Hebrews 4:12<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>Last Word by Elevation Worship<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p7DwLdO_HbQ?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>Scripture is one of the best indications we have of God\u2019s intense longing to be known by his people. Every time we open up the Bible we are looking at a miracle. God has revealed himself to us in a way that is beyond dispute and beyond anything we could ask or imagine. Within the pages of Scripture we see countless examples of God\u2019s grace, love, presence, power, and unfathomable desire to have a restored relationship with us.<\/p>\n<p>Oftentimes I take for granted how amazing it is to have the Bible. Because I grew up knowing Scripture to be God\u2019s word, it was always normal to me. Never before had I looked at it and realized what a powerful declaration it was of God\u2019s desire to be known by me. And our Father didn\u2019t just leave us with some words he spoke thousands of years ago, but gave us the Holy Spirit to help us understand and receive revelation from the word.<\/p>\n<p>In reading Scripture with the Holy Spirit we can come to a real, transformative understanding of God\u2019s heart. There is no refuting what God says in the Bible. There is no questioning whether the words we\u2019re reading are true, important, or applicable.<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 4:12 says, <em>\u201cFor the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.&#8221;<\/em> 2 Timothy 3:16 says, <em>\u201cAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.&#8221;<\/em> And Romans 15:4 says, <em>\u201cFor whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re longing to know the heart of God today, search his word. God has preserved the Bible you have today for the purpose of revealing himself. When you seek him out through the reading of Scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will find him. May your time of guided prayer be filled with revelation and transformation as God\u2019s heart is revealed.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on the power of Scripture in revealing God\u2019s heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.&#8221;<\/em> Hebrews 4:12<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.&#8221;<\/em> Proverbs 4:20-23<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the heart of God as you read his word.<\/strong> Have faith that God longs to reveal himself to you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Take time to read Scripture.<\/strong> Pick a passage of Scripture and write down aspects of God\u2019s heart you find. Place your hope and trust in the words of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYour words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.&#8221;<\/em> Jeremiah 15:16<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Reading Scripture with the Holy Spirit brings God\u2019s word to life. The Bible isn\u2019t just a book of rules. It\u2019s not just a list of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts. It\u2019s meant to be read with the understanding that its words were inspired by the One who dwells within you. May your heart be stirred to meditate on God\u2019s word that it might produce peace and joy in your life today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Joshua+1&#038;version=NIV\" rel=\"alternate\">Joshua 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don&#8217;t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don&#8217;t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don&#8217;t have to question whether he loves us or cares about&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":1562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Word<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don&#8217;t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don&#8217;t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don&#8217;t have to question whether he loves us or cares about&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/07\/the-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don&#8217;t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don&#8217;t have to wonder if he will guide us. 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