Day 2  - Consecrating Ourselves to God’s Word

Wednesday July 25
by Rick VanDewark
 
(to listen to this message, click here)
 
As we enter into this season of alignment to the Kingdom, I feel a deep desperation in me that there is something fresh God wants to bring to birth in us regarding the power of the Word of God. I feel God is longing for us to be consecrated back to the Word, to the Bible, in a completely new way.
 
In an age when we are bombarded with information, there is a very real danger that the Bible can be reduced to just to another source of information. We must remember that the Word of God is not just information; it is a person, who at one point in time stepped into history as Jesus Christ. And the Bible is not just a book of principles but a revelation of this person. So when we are talking about being consecrated back to the Word, we’re really speaking of being consecrated to a revelation of Jesus Christ.
 
When I came into relationship with Jesus Christ, I had a profound experience with the Bible. I just wanted to saturate myself with it, to know the inner workings of it, to know this God of the Bible. So I kept putting myself on shorter and shorter reading tracks. First I discovered you could read the Bible in one year. Then I realized if you amped up your daily reading a few chapters, you could read it twice in one year. And then when I was halfway through this, I realized that if you amped up a little more, to say 10 or 12 chapters a day, you could read the whole Bible in 3 months. I was sold!
 
But I was galloping through. Now I know that no one else ever reads and forgets what they’ve read. But I was doing that – and badly. I was in Ezekiel and I didn’t understand what he was talking about - vines and trees and eagles claws and cedars – and I just wanted to get through it to get into something I could understand. So one night I sped through 12 chapters and as I put my bible down and my head on the pillow, the Holy Spirit said to me, “Rick, what did you just read?”
 
And I thought “Uh oh, busted! And I hummed and hawed and finally admitted I didn’t have the foggiest idea. And the Holy Spirit said, “You’re right”. And for the next 90 days He wouldn’t let me read anything other than Psalm 119. One verse per day. So what do you do when you can only get one verse?  You roll it around, you think about it, you spin it backwards, you spin it upside down, you try to take 4 or 5 different perspectives. But in doing this, what I believe God was trying to birth in me was a deep appreciation and honour for His Word.
 
Honour is a word that has “fallen out of time”, a word that has gone out of vogue in our culture, We struggle to give honour to one other, we struggle to give honour to God. But I believe God wants to bring us back to a deep honour of His word.   
 
When we honour the Word it brings a greater weight in our life.   Because we use words so randomly in our society, we have made them “weightless”. Rhetoric and sloganeering devalue words so they don’t have a deep impact on our lives. Did you know that you need to encounter the same advertisement about 100 times before it actually registers with you?
 
And I feel that God wants us, the church of Jesus Christ, to once again give the Word a place of honour in our lives because when we do so it brings a greater weight to it. And as we give the Word a place of honour in our time, in our priorities, the Word will impact our lives. And as we live this Word out, as we incarnate it, in turn it will impact the lives of others.
 
Martin Luther was impacted by one simple scripture in a fresh new way. Suddenly his eyes were open and he saw something of God. And he said “oh, it’s not by works. It has nothing to do with that.  The just will live by faith.” And the honour of that one scripture turned the world and the church upside down.
 
If we really want to walk as Kingdom people, we need to be people of the book. So today, let’s make a statement of declaration affirming afresh the foundation of God’s word in our lives and consecrating ourselves to it. Let’s commit ourselves to prioritizing our time in the Word of God knowing that it is life to those that find it and health to all our flesh (Proverbs 4:22)
 
Heavenly father, I thank you for your word. It is a word of truth, it is a word of light, it is a word of life. In it I find out about You. In it, You reveal something about me. Together we relate through Your Word. Today in a fresh way, I ask you, Spirit of Christ, You who authored this word to allow me to be consecrated to it in a fresh new way.
 
Tear down every barrier, every siege work, everything that would bring hindrance.  I want a fresh experience with Your word, the Bible. I want to be able say with David of old that I tasted Your word and in my mouth it was sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. I have searched out Your word like one searching out treasure. Your word is to be valued above silver and gold. Father I ask that you would allow your word to become in my hand, a fresh sharp two-edged sword. Like David’s mighty men, your word would cleave to my hand. As Deuteronomy says, I will not allow the law, the words of God, to depart out of my mouth but I will meditate on it day and night. Amen!

For further meditation: Psalm 119:105, Proverbs 4:20-22, Psalm 19:7-11, Psalm 119:102-104, Hebrews 4:12, Deuteronomy 6:1-9

 
Rick VanDewark is a passionate lover of God’s word and His Bride. Rick is the senior pastor of Christian City Church Edmonton (C3E) and is a leader in the city unity and prayer movements.
Rick and his wife, Nell, are the proud parents of 6 wonderful children.
 
You can connect with Rick at rick@c3edmonton.ca

Comments

Harold - St. John’s, Newfoundland
Really enjoyed your article; I too have been reminded of late that God’s Word must be of paramount importance in our lives. What He has said, we must know and declare!

Tim
Thank you for your word regarding honoring the Word. It touched and encouraged me. One passage that touches me is Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found and I ate them and they became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord God of Hosts.

Patti - Moncton, NB

I was really excited to read this Word. The Lord has so impressed this last month, on my heart that His Word must be the foundation of everything we say and do. Without the Word, the Holy Spirit has nothing to work with. During creation, the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the earth, but nothing happened until, "God Said". Throughout scripture, there is a Principle that the church has lost - it is called "Speak to that mountain". Ezekiel was told to SPEAK to the dry bones. Signs and wonders will follow His Word that we speak in obedience to His will. I believe that what we need is what the apostles had, and it is not a new thing. If we start speaking what they spoke, we will have the results they had - blind eyes opened, deaf hearing, hearts repentant and souls transformed and dedicated to Jesus. They preached His Word - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so simple, that is why we have missed it. We have been seeking for some big powerful revelation, when all along, what we needed is right there in His Word - Jesus.

Maryellen - Ontario
I appreciated so much reading what you wrote for the July 25th entry on the watchmen.org site. It made me hungry for the Word of God in a way that I think I’ve been avoiding even acknowledging. Reading it so blatantly in my face meant that I had to find out what to do with it. And I know what that is. God is using you and your ability to explain.

Elizabeth - Toronto, Ontario
I was highly blessed by you word on Watchmen about honouring the Word of God. This was the best devotional I have read in years. Thank you for fresh inspiration.

Patty - Collingswood, Ontario
I was really excited to read this Word. The Lord has so impressed this last month, that His Word must be the foundation of everything we say and do. Without the Word, the Holy Spirit has nothing to work with. During creation, the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the earth, but nothing happened until, "God Said". Throughout scripture, there is a Principle that the church has lost - it is called "Speak to that mountain". Ezekiel was told to SPEAK to the dry bones. Signs and wonders will follow His Word that we speak in obedience to His will. I believe that what we need is what the apostles had, and it is not a new thing. If we start speaking what they spoke, we will have the results they had - blind eyes opened, deaf hearing, hearts repentant and souls transformed and dedicated to Jesus. They preached His Word - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so simple, that is why we have missed it. We have been seeking for some big powerful revelation, when all along, what we needed is right there in His Word - Jesus.