Strength Will Rise Up

UV 791/10,000 Strength Will Rise Up “I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” I John 2 v 14 John was writing to encourage both the older generation as well as the younger generation of believers. The older had a personal relationship with the Father in heaven through Christ while the younger were spiritually strong as the Word of God abided in them and that had enabled them to overcome the evil one. The purpose of the uni-verse is to deepen our intimacy and knowledge of JeHoVah, the Triune God. It is a call to both maturity and intimacy. When we learn and understand the Word of God we get to know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit intimately for the Word is from the beginning and is the same as God. When we learn, understand and apply the Word of God in all the challenges and situations in life, we become spiritually strong to overcome the evil one. The Word produces the seed of our growth and fruitfulness and it also provides the seed of our need in this life and the life to come. The Word needs not just to be read and forgotten but to be integrated with all of our lives. It needs to mix with our thoughts, emotions and decisions just as cement when it mixes with gravel and steel and stone becomes concrete that can withstand a lot of pressure. The Word is alive and active. It needs to abide in us the same way a person abides in a room or a home. It needs to stay in our consciousness all the time. When the Word abides in us and we abide by the Word, the evil one cannot overpower us by temptations or by infiltrating our thoughts, emotions and decisions. It is the Word that abides in us that renews our youth and strength, renews our minds or strengthens our thoughts, emotions and will to resist the temptations and to draw the inner power and grace to overcome all challenges to our faith. The evil one brings feelings of guilt about our past, depressing thoughts about our present and anxiety about our future. The Word neutralises these feelings and thoughts and uproots it by their very roots. The Word fills us and affirms us with assurance of the love and all sufficient grace of the Father towards us. It inspires hope, instils in us the power to endure and energises us to boldly face the events of our days. When the Word is in us and we are living in accordance with the Word, we have a constant communication channel opened with the Lord. When we are young, it is primarily by the instruction of the Word that we know God. When we are older and have experienced the victory that comes by believing the Word, the evidence of the Word at work in our lives, we have an even more direct and intimate relationship with the Father. Prateep V Philip