The Word Coming to Life

David W Palmer

Jesus said that God’s word is Truth!” Applying God’s word rightly—as led by the Holy Spirit—to any situation, is speaking the truth about that situation. Even if all apparent and visible evidence is contrary to what God says, what he says is still the truth. For example, in Luke 13:11–13 Jesus spoke to a woman who was completely bent over and unable to straighten herself. He said, “Woman you are released from your affliction” (Luke 13:12 APE). Note that Jesus said, “you are released”—present tense—while she still appeared bent over. Was he lying? No, because once he spoke it, the naturally appearing physical realm soon lined up with the “truth” he spoke. The human concept of truth is that it is merely descriptive; God’s truth, however, is creative and powerful:

(Luke 13:13 APE) And he laid his hand upon her and at once she was straightened, and she glorified God.

How did Jesus do that? How did he bring God’s word to life? Let’s look at what he said about the way he operated with God:

(John 5:19–20 DKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily, verily, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself unless he sees the Father doing something; for whatever he does, this also the Son does in like manner (imitates). For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he does; and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel.”

Jesus explains that he can do nothing of eternal positive significance from himself; he can only do it if he “sees” the Father doing it first. Then he, like any adoring son, imitates what he sees. This is as simple and straightforward as it is profound. Jesus is God’s son; he imitates his father. In truth, Jesus not only did exclusively what he saw his Father do, he also said only what he heard his Father say:

(John 8:26 EMTV) “… He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these things I say to the world.”

Can we operate the way Jesus did? Yes, he expects us to:

(John 20:21 EMTV) Therefore Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! Just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

The Day God Explained Himself

So how do we do it? How do we operate like Jesus? How do we imitate Father as he did? Thankfully, on the Day God Explained Himself, Jesus fully illuminated how we can operate in God’s kingdom the way he did. Ultimately, his teaching comes down to these two verses:

(Mark 4:3, 24 NKJV) “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow” (God’s word seed) ... (24) Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.” (Parenthesis mine)

Jesus began the Parable of the Sower with the instruction to both “listen” and “behold”; hear and look at what he was saying. His words are more than audible communication; they create a picture—an unfolding scene. In the safety-net of his eternal, absolute word, we can safely look in the spirit realm in our imagination, and see what he is showing us. This is exactly how Jesus “saw” things with his Father.

Jesus then concluded the parable and its explanation with the instruction: “take heed what you hear.” “Heed,” in this passage means to focus your attention on it, to meditate on it, and watch until you see it. It is the same Greek word Jesus used when he said I only do what I “see” with my Father. Yes, the key to operating in God’s kingdom as Jesus did is to both hear his word, and to focus on it until you see something with your inner eyes; that is, until you receive spiritual revelation.

In between giving the parable and explaining it, Jesus again referred to “seeing” and “hearing”—but this time in reference to those who would not sit at his feet, ponder his word, and ask him about it; they received no revelation of what he said in the public meeting:

(Mark 4:10–12 NKJV) But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. (11) And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, (12) so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’”

This spiritual revelation from God is what Jesus spoke of when he declared that Peter was blessed because Father had “revealed” something to him:

(Matthew 16:16–17 DKJV) And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (17) And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed [happy and well-off now are] are you, Simon son of Jonah; for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

We find this same idea in the Old Testament. For example, in Psalm 1, we discover how the “blessed” man became blessed:

(Psalm 1:1–3 NKJV) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. (3) He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

The blessing came to this man because he delighted in God’s word and meditated “in” it “day and night.” A quick study of the original Hebrew words shows that his “delight” meant he valued God’s word and considered it of upmost importance to have in his mind. The word, “meditates,” means that he focuses on it, ponders it, and revolves it in his mind. This has a similar meaning to the Greek word that Jesus used above that is translated, “take heed,” and, “see.”

The same idea comes up in the book of Joshua. God worked with Moses for eighty years to prepare him to be a deliverer for Israel, then another forty in the wilderness and on the mountain to get the written word to him and through him. After Moses’s death, God had Joshua build on all those wonderful achievements. Consequently, he accomplished what Moses could not; he led Israel into their Promised Land. However, Joshua didn’t have to go through all that Moses went through. How did he do it? Because Moses had already received and written the first five books of the Bible, God gave Joshua a simple but very effective instruction:

(Joshua 1:8 NKJV) “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

There it is; the key to achieving what even the mighty Moses could not was simply to “meditate” on God’s written word. This is what God told Joshua to do; because if he did, he could “observe” to do what was written there. You could say, God told Joshua to “listen, look.” All he had to do was to meditate on God’s word—mutter it, focus on it, revolve it in his mind—until he could hear what God was saying and see what God was doing, then simply imitate it. No wonder Jesus said that what Mary chose in Luke 10 was the “one thing” that was “needful” (Luke 10:42 KJV). It was the very thing that enabled Joshua to lead God’s people into the land he had promised them. And it can bring us into the promises God has given us.

Today, I encourage you to take on the easy yoke and light burden that Joshua did. Moses had done the hard yards, so to speak, of character moulding, trials by fire, long years of preparation, 40 days of fasting, receiving God’s word in the scary, mountaintop, shaking, encounter and then finally getting it written down. Be like Joshua, he took what was handed to him—the written word of God—and simply followed God’s instruction to meditate in it until he could “observe,” or see, what to do. When he obeyed by God’s grace, the Living Word manifested as the captain of the Lord’s army to fight for him (See: Josh. 5:13–15). As a result, Joshua was able to lead God’s people into the promised land. You can—with the same easy yoke and light burden—enter your promised land, and lead many others there too. Begin today!