“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (AMP)
One of the things I love about watching a cooking show is seeing how skillfully the chef handles the knife. They make it look so easy the way they can chop up an onion or a piece of meat in no time flat. When I’m in the kitchen, despite my best effort, it seem I can never do it quite the way they do.
Have you ever felt a conviction about something in your life based on the testimony of another? Maybe in a conversation you heard someone say, “I don’t do ______ or _____ because God convicted me of that one day.” You could fill in the blanks with just about anything. That may be all well and good for your friend, but if you’re not careful you can leave a conversation like that feeling condemned. Maybe even a great sermon brought you to a place conviction, but yet there was no real power present to for transformational change.
I’ve certainly been in this place at times myself. But, I’ve come to learn something and that is that it’s OK if someone else’s conviction isn’t necessarily mine, because it may not even be meant to be mine. When God desires to bring change and transformation in our lives, in any area, He does it through the Anointing of the Holy Spirit and the Word. In John 16:13 Jesus says, “The Spirit will guide us into all Truth” and in John 14:6 He also says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John also refers to Jesus as the “Word” made flesh and Paul says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God 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.” The thing necessary to bring real change in anyone’s life is the Word and the Spirit. Trying to get people to follow our agenda without this Holy Combination is just manipulation, and at best will only lead to a “form of Godliness.”
It’s in that “yonder” place of worship with our wood, the fire, and the knife that true transformational change takes place. The Word of God can be used as a battering ram, or a delicate surgical tool. And, it’s in that place of worship, when the Anointing of God is present, that He will softly and gently show us an area of our heart that must be cut away in order for us to move to the next level of Glory in Him.
Just as it would be almost impossible to handle any kind of major or minor surgery without the proper anesthesia, so the Holy Spirit’s anointing provides the anesthesia necessary for the Word of God to cut out the unnecessary places in our heart and life.
So in that “yonder” place of worship, we must remember to bring the knife, represented as the Word, and allow God full access to our heart.
Today’s Thought: We don’t have to feel convicted by someone else’s conviction, because God led change always comes with His grace.