God's Creative Power

12/7/1995

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1Pet. 1:18-21).

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:2-3).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1).

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2Cor. 4:6).

Get God’s word into your life on a regular basis! Pretty please? Work it—intentionally! No CASUAL skimming of the Bible, or CompuServes, or other teaching. DIG IN! HARD! THINK! APPLY! One of the reasons it is so important is because it is a primary avenue through which our God can work His mighty Creative Power into our hearts and persons. If we have nothing there, He cannot create and form the characteristics of Jesus in our lives. But when His word is spoken and heard, God has the means to *create* something “new” in us. He wants to do something that hasn’t yet been placed or formed inside of us. He is not only the God who calls things that are not as though they are, but He also does the work of putting qualities and impressions and viewpoints and values inside of us that weren’t formerly there. How wonderful! If you have a stingy strand in you that selfishly clings to your time, your space, your ideas or your habits—guess what? God wants to not only see that black hole gone from your life (black hole because it sucks up anything in its vicinity that’s good and drains your Christ-life), but He actually wants to form in you just the opposite: a generous, brimming, giving, sacrificial swelling of your heart to be a giver and lover of people, just like Jesus is. And that takes God’s Creative Power. We just cannot, of ourselves, “make” that happen. But, thanks be to God, HE can create something inside of YOU that wasn’t previously there!

Remember that He is the God who made the universe (seen world) out of the invisible (Heb. 11:3). The birds, sky, mountains and all the spectacular array of the earth were formed with a Word, out of something that you could not see with your eye. It is not that God brought all of His creation from another planet or place. Rather, He formed out of the deep and unfathomable well of His Heart and Person, a seen world out of the unseen world by His Creative Power. How much more does He long to put Himself and His qualities into our hearts through that same Power! To form in us, the things that just plain, ain’t there! Catch a hold of that most precious truth—it’s a “by faith” attitude and expectation in our lives.

Can you imagine staying the way you are for the rest of your life? Is that your expectation? Do you expect that you will and you must change and be changed by God’s Creative Power? Do you expect that He will form in you the personality and desires and dreams of His Son? Well, if you expect and long for those specific changes, when will it happen? Think in terms of NOW. Now is the day. Now is the time. What am I waiting for? Do I have a “plan,” so to speak? Without knowing it, do I think in terms of “some day...” Or, “Yes, I’ll change,” but when you get honest with yourself, you’ve thought in those terms for a long time and not much has really changed. Well, it may be that you really do want change, but it’s been an “out there” sort of thing; not very practical and applicable to TODAY. Take a double-check and see if you’ve thought in terms of, “Yes, I believe God can change me,” but it’s a nebulous, “out there” kind of thought. Get it in your heart and head that God wants to do His specific work in you TODAY. Now. Get specific about your own individual areas and weaknesses that need to change. The enemy of our faith and Jesus’ Life would string us along from day to day, keeping us in our familiar bubble, not getting into any trouble; but also, having no effect on anyone or taking part in His work either! If the enemy keeps us in that place, we truly are to be pitied among men... Hey, let’s rise up to our great calling and inheritance that He has promised us! We’re not to be spectators and “good deed-doers.” We’re to be soldiers and servants in the mighty battle, standing at attention, ready to move at the summons of our Commander in Chief. Ready to carry out His plans and tactics to overthrow the enemy in specific areas of our own lives as well as those areas in other people’s lives. THAT is what Life is all about. Taking part with God, by the love and power and grace of Jesus to expose and push and drive the dark, godless enemies out of our lives, simultaneously expanding and enlarging the government and reign of our God. Taking territory that once was not His, and MAKING it His.

So, in order for this work to take place and God’s power to be unleashed and active in our lives, we most definitely and desperately need God’s Holy (Set Apart) Word in our specific lives day in and day out so that His Spirit will have a pool in our hearts and minds to draw from as we walk through our lives. That Word treasured and digested and worked over in our minds and hearts will be the place from which God’s Creative Power can do just that: CREATE. He can then form something in our hearts that wasn’t previously there. But we’ve got to have His Current Word on a continual basis sown into our hearts day by day be day. When God said, “Let there be Light,” God’s Creative Power manifested itself through His spoken word. His Word shines light into our hearts in a bold and enlivening way. Remember the truth that His Word is “...living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:12-13). When God speaks He shines light into our hearts and as we listen (be careful how you hear; listen up if you want to “get it”) we are also building an arsenal from which God can draw and create New aspects of His nature and personality into our hearts.

But remember, a prerequisite to God doing His thing in our hearts—putting a new thing there is that we input and digest and chew on and consider the Word He has spoken. We’ve got to find ways to have healthy, nourished spirits: books, tapes, the Scriptures and that Word that comes from “living letters” (PEOPLE!) God has placed in each of our lives. The encouragement to “spur one another on” comes through a spoken word many times. And as you treasure that word and carry it and believe it, God can demonstrate His Creative Power which will bring about significant change in your life. This is a together thing! Let’s go for it!