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Main
Article
"Receiving the Word!"
You've heard a
lot of good teaching about the fact that the
Word of God is the answer to your problems and
contains the power to solve your problems. (Rom.
1:16) This is sound teaching, however, many
folks say, "Well, it doesn't seem to work for
me!" There are many reasons that people don't
receive the provisions that God has made
available, but the most basic one is a failure
to receive from God's Word properly.
"So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. " (Rom. 10:17) If the faith
that you need comes from the Word of God, then
you had better be receiving it properly or you
will have no basic foundation to begin with. For
instance, many folks believe that all they need
do is listen half-heartedly to tapes of the Word
of God and this will give them strong faith.
Now, there's nothing wrong with Bible tapes,
don't get me wrong! But that is not what Romans
10:17 is talking about. If you check it out in the Greek it says, "Faith
comes by continually hearing sound teaching from the Word of God
with more than the mere sense of hearing, but rather, hearing and
receiving the teaching. This is a paraphrase based on the
meaning of this verse. It is so important to properly receive
teaching. How does the Word say we should do this?
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James 1:21 tells us: "... receive with meekness the engrafted Word,
which is able to save your souls. " The word "soul" here is the
Greek word psuche, meaning "the animal sentient principle
only, the mind, will and emotions." Thayer describes it as "the seat
of feelings, desires, affections and aversions," in other words, it
is the mental realm of man. An expanded paraphrase of this verse
would be: "... receive the Word as a seed implanted in your human
spirit (Mark 4:14, Luke 8:11) with meekness, which contains the
power to save, deliver, heal and protect your mind " Praise the
Lord! The key to this verse is to receive with meekness. What is
meekness?
The word translated "meekness" in the King James literally means
(according to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words)
"... that temper of the spirit in which we accept His dealings with
us as good (James 1:16-17), and therefore without disputing or
resisting... it is closely linked with the word 'humility'... (it)
does not fight against God and more or less struggle and contend
with Him... it does not suggest weakness as the English does. " When
we think of meekness we think of "meek as a mouse". This is not what
the Greek says! To be Biblically meek is to receive from God with
the right attitude. That of, "What God says is true, is true,
despite what I may think, what man may think, what any denomination
or theologian says!" With this attitude you will receive from God's
Word!
Items of Interest in This Issue
Church name changes from "Word of Faith Fellowship"
to "Healing Springs Faith Center"... Tape offer from the Spirit
of Faith Seminar in Winston-Salem at New Covenant Church...
Announcement about starting Word of Faith Satellite Seminars...
Spirit of Faith Broadcast invitation... Itinerary
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