BENEFITTING the MOST of HIS WORD

Blessed Saints of the Most High, As a continuation of the last message about the strength of having heart knowledge, I can't emphasize enough of the benefits of taking quality time and meditating on the powerful truth of His Word. When a person becomes strong in the Lord, it has nothing to do with any natural ability that we have inherited, so no one is at any disadvantage over anyone else because of any greater intellect or physical endurance. Individuals who benefit the most by becoming stronger in the Lord are the ones who spend quality time with God by meditating on the Truth of His amazing attributes, His love and care for them and knowing deep within that only His Word brings eternal LIFE. The strength of a Godly character of a person is more evident when he/she listens and takes heed (taking time to meditate) to His instructions more and more. It's always about getting the powerful truth of His Word into our heart which is why it takes time and effort on our part. A person cannot expect to be strong in the Lord if they will only listen to a message once or read a message once and think they get it. To get the most of His Word and benefit from it the most, we need to take time to meditate by first seeking His guidance and studying and meditating over and over in our minds until it gets into heart. It always comes down to the "heart issue". This is why God says He sees the heart of man and not the outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7). That's why to Him, the heart of a person is more important than anything else, and He knows what we spend our time on the most is whatever is within ones heart. Any individuals who are the most intellectually gifted people in the world will NEVER benefit from receiving any Truth of Gods Word within them as long as they have a hard and unbelieving heart. Just like the parable of the seed that falls on hard ground, which allows the enemy to steal from you what is meant to bring forth richness of life (Luke 8:12). The Word of life spoken will never benefit anyone whose heart is hard. For our heart to be conditioned right, we have to strip that ugly pride from our heart and see our desperate need of His instructions for us. I know I mentioned this many times, but I always like the response Peter gave to Jesus in John 6:68 after many of the Disciples left Jesus and He questioned the remaining twelve if they were going to leave Him also (John 6:67). Simon Peter replies: Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words to eternal life! I would like to add "Selah" to that so we will take time to meditate on that powerful truth. The problem today is that we want so much in an instant and we don't want to take time or effort to meditate or study to get the most of His Word. When we do try to grow too fast and not taking the time to study His Word, its like the parable of the seed that grew too quickly that had very little roots, and when trials came, it didn't last and the plant quickly died (Luke 8:13). Knowing His Word takes time and He knows when a person is young in Him, He doesn't expect a new Christian to be thoroughly knowledgeable in the word, but He does expect us to continue to grow. For those whom they have been saved many years, Paul tells us that some of them ought to be teaching others, but continued to be taught the same elementary principles of Gods Word (Heb 5:12). My guess is that these people failed to spend any quality time in prayer, failed to take time to seek greater revelation or failed to utilize any time to give any thought to what they have read or heard. When we do take the time to know the Word, we have the ability to rightly divide the word of truth from what is false in order to benefit the most that is meant to edify you and help you be strong in the Lord (2 Tim 2:15). When we do come to know the Word by meditating on it more and more, we know when to shut out and refute the lies of the enemy and benefit by allowing His Word to build us up that is able to help us stand under any pressures (Eph 6:13). I believe all would agree that we would rather benefit from Words that edify and build us up rather then simply listening to every false pretense that only brings doubt and fear. Therefore, I want to encourage each of us to take some scripture each day and take time to meditate on it so it gets into your heart. Jesus tells us that when we take time to seek, we will find (Matt 7:7,8). It doesn't have to take hours, but take some quality time to think His Truths over in your mind. Seeking treasures takes time, but when it is found, it is priceless. When the life of His Word gets into our hearts, it is priceless because no one can take the life from you when it is in your heart and this only comes by spending quality time with Him and allowing the power of His Word to reside within you. God promises in Joshua 1:8 that when we do meditate on His Word, this is what will help us be prosperous (by having that inner Peace and Joy within), be able to deal wisely and have good success by not living under the lies of the enemy. Let's benefit from the One who KNOWS BEST and LOVES US THE MOST.