Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

The WordYour word is a lamp to my feet And a light for my path.
Psalm 119:107 NIV



I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11 NIV

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:8 NAS

"Is not My word like fire?" declares the Lord, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?"
Jeremiah 23:29 NAS

THE WORD OF THE LORD:

At it's inception

The Word was read and revered.

It was powerful to convict.

It was the standard for that person who chose to align himself with God.

It revealed a Holy God to an unholy world.

But it was an "it"--a treasured but an inanimate "thing."

Then John Said

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
John 1: 1-2

What is this that you are saying, John?

In the beginning. . . .

At the very onset. When the earth was without form and void-empty-still-lonely, John is telling me; "This is how it all began."

...was the Word.

Was the Word? How did it come to be? Where did it come from? I don't know. But John says that the Word was there in the beginning.

...and the Word was with God . . .

This "Word" and God were together. God! The supreme Being! The Source of all life! The sovereign Ruler. This "inanimate thing" was in the presence of God. The Word and God. But wait...

...and the Word WAS God.

This Word I've been reading about-seeing as an object-was not an object at all! The Word was a Person. The Word was with God! No. The Word WAS God. This is all beyond my comprehension. I am confused.

He . . .

the Word has a gender. He! He was in the beginning with God. And the Word ceases to be an "outside influence." It ceases to be something I accept or reject as an object. It ceases to be a teaching. An inanimate object. It becomes alive-a "He"-breathing, touching, seeing, hearing! A person! He lived with God.

But then, Something even More Wonderful Happens.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1: 14

That "He" Word invaded the world of men. He became one of us. He followed our rules for entering earth and lived among us. Right here with us! What was difficult for me to comprehend in abstract vernacular was simplified to childlike simplicity. He isn't abstract any longer. Here is a man who walks and talks, touches and is loving, gentle, kind and strong.

And then He began doing supernatural "Godlike" things. He began saying radical things that caused people to revere Him or reject Him. But they were glorious acts of power. Of love. Of mercy. We beheld His glory and He was full of grace and truth. Full of grace and all that grace gives. Full of truth and all that truth stands for.

We looked at Him. We watched Him. We listened to Him. His compassion amazed us. His love was beyond our understanding. He gave and He gave and He gave. He gave freely, unselfishly of Himself. He gave Himself.

I'm no longer confused, reading history or observing a set of rules or standards. I'm having an interchange of thoughts. It's as if I had a "never-before-seen-pen-pal." He has shared His innermost thoughts, His philosophy of life, His hopes, and His dreams-what He longs to accomplish. I had heard about Him from other people, and from all reports He was a very unusual, wonderful, loving, charismatic person. And after years of corresponding, we actually meet!

That's it! I have "met" the Word.

No. The Word isn't a thing any longer. It is a Person who loves me. A Person who fills my life with purpose, with joy, with peace, with Himself. He loves me and I love Him. We talk to each other. Yes. I have met " the Word." His name is Jesus.

Thank You dear Holy Word, for coming to earth that I might know You.

Will I know You any better in Heaven? I don't think so. We're so very close to one another now ....