God's Word for Tuesday, 3/20/18

In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.

1 Peter 2:2-3 (TPT)


If we are to grow, to mature, to become a useful part of the Lord's body of believers here on Earth, we must do so through His Word.

His Word is not just the written scriptures, but also Jesus Himself. Described by the Bible as the Living Word, He is the visible expression and completion of the law and the prophets, and of the Bible itself.

There's an old saying in the church: if you just have the Bible, you dry up. If you just have the Holy Spirit, you blow up. But with the Bible AND the Spirit, you grow up.

In John 12:32-33, Jesus says, 

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." This he said, signifying what death he should die.

What does that mean? If you look at the whole chapter, you'll see that He was talking about His impending crucifixion.

To put it in a modern frame of reference, if we preach Jesus, and Him crucified, the Holy Spirit will be there to do His work. Not only salvation, but also the maturation of the saints (that's all of us, folks).

When you talk about Jesus, the Spirit manifests to confirm the Word. (Mark 16:20) And a fully-mature, Spirit-led body of believers is something to see!