PRAYER:  HIS WORD AND VICTORY
John 14:21-24

“BECAUSE YOU SAY SO, LORD”

She was beautiful!  There she was, about 10 years younger than Sam and applying for the job of his administrative assistant.  During the interview, everything seemed to go well and she appeared to be quite business-like.  But as the months passed and they were continually working together, his respect for her gradually changed into something more intimate.  Though he hadn't yet pursued her, he was sensing a gentle nudge from her.  His fantasies soared.  As a married Christian man, his conscience was tormented.  How could he have let this happen?  He was completely under her spell.  So much so that, while his wife and children were preparing dinner, he was in the bedroom contemplating the divorce.
Then God spoke.  It wasn't audible; rather, it was that small voice that comes within our hearts.  He fell to his knees.  Then he lay prostrate before God and pleaded with him to set him free of this lust that would destroy every­thing.  He laid there for a long time, and God's Word kept breaking through the storm of his emotions sternly warning him to let it go and become a man of God.  The struggle continued.  But, when he heard his wife's voice calling him to dinner, the siege was lifted.  He knew he'd won—because of God's Word.

REFLECTION

The Word of God comes to the fore when it has been hidden in your heart, when you have spent enough time with God to know what his Word is about, what he judges, accepts, condones, and celebrates.  When you are faced with a huge trial, will the Word of God set your course?
What does this story tell you about the Word of God?
How does this victory encourage you in your present circumstances?

ACCOUNTABILITY AND APPLICATION

Bible scholarship, is not the sole key to greater revelation of God.  It is the combination of the Word and a heart prepared by prayer.  When the Word falls on a heart that has been in prayerful humility, it brings about obedience.  Therefore, anyone, big or small, rich or poor, whose heart is in the right place can obey God.


JOHN 14:21-24 (NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION)

[21]Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 
[22]Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" 
[23]Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  [24]He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.


PRAYER:   Lord, thank you for the victory we have over sin because of Christ Jesus.  Thank you for your Word that we can rely on to bring us into closer relationship with you as we seek to obey.  Thank you for your willingness to reveal yourself to those whose hearts belong to you.