Valerie’s dad was a chaplain in the military, so her family moved all the time. Valerie had difficulty adjusting to new settings and making new friends. She was also heavyset, which made it easy for other kids to tease her. They would call her fat and ugly, and say things like, “Valerie needs to watch her calories!” Over time, she thought that if so many different people said all of the same things, their words must be true. No boy had ever taken an interest in her so she believed she was unworthy of love and concluded that no man would ever marry her. Worse than that, she believed that not even God cared about her.
Those thoughts led Valerie down the road toward abusing her anxiety medication and getting into marijuana use. When she came to Mercy she, like all our residents, spent time each morning reading a passage of Scripture and discussing it with a staff member. During that time she developed a passion for the Word of God and a desire to understand it deeply. After she graduated, she started setting aside personal time every day to read a section of the Bible and journal about it. Now she looks forward to this special time with the Lord every day and to what He has to say to her through His Word. She is walking in total freedom.
Valerie chose her thoughts and chose to meditate on God’s Word. That choice brought amazing life and peace, just as the Bible promises.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
– 2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may act carefully according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way successful, and you will be wise.
– Joshua 1:8
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
– Romans 10:17
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
– John 8:31-32
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; its leaf will not wither, and whatever he does will prosper.
– Psalm 1:1-3
How many Christians do you know who are saved and go to church but who “walk in the counsel of the ungodly” in their social lives or the entertainment they consume or the kinds of conversations they have at work? To walk in freedom we must walk in the counsel of the godly in all areas of life. If you do that, you will make your own way prosperous and you will have good success. Light dispels the darkness. As the light of God’s Word goes into your mind, it pushes the darkness out. Then the freedom of Christ begins to connect to your heart in a deeper way.
Here are some other passages to deeply consider:
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
– Psalm 25:5, NIV
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
– Psalm 119:105
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.
– Proverbs 3:5-6
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.
– Psalm 37:23, NKJV
Do you trust God to direct your paths? Do you meditate day and night on His Word? I have met a lot of people who grew up under legalistic systems and had people beat them up with the Word of God. Just because someone abused God’s Word does not mean God’s Word is bad. Almost anything on this earth can be used for good or evil. The devil even uses Scripture for his purposes. The first time he tempted Jesus in the desert, he didn’t use Scripture. When he saw that Jesus was basing his response on the Word, the devil changed his tactics (see Matthew 4). He began twisting the Word to try to make it say what he wanted it to mean.
If we don’t meditate on God’s Word with the Holy Spirit guiding our understanding, we will be susceptible to the devil’s twisted presentation of Scripture. If you have only a surface knowledge of the Bible, it’s like taking a pocket knife to a modern battlefield. Get real – Paul said “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Cor. 10:4, emphasis added). The weapon is in your mind in your mouth. It’s called the Word of Almighty God.
By rightly handling the Word of Truth we experience freedom, healing, and restoration. Even when God uses His Word to bring correction, He does it in such a way that it doesn’t tear down or wound but builds up and heals. The key is to immerse ourselves in the Word. It says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). We need to hear it over and over again to remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. We need to speak it to ourselves with our mouths so our own ears hear our voice saying the truth. We need to stir ourselves up to remember. Peter said it was good for him to write the same things and remind you (2 Pet. 1:12-13).
You probably wouldn’t even think about missing a meal, and yet God’s Word is much more essential to our lives than food. Jesus quoted the Word when He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). If we simply put as much dedication into eating the bread of life as we do physical food, our problems would surely be few. It is “life to those who find them, and health to all their body” (Prov. 4:22).
Living in freedom and getting God’s perspective means hiding God’s Word in your heart with regular, passionate meditation and memorization.
Watch Nancy Alcorn this Monday on LIFE Today. This is an excerpt from Ditch the Baggage, Change Your Life by Nancy Alcorn. Copyright ©2015 by Nancy Alcorn. Published by Charisma House. Used by permission. All scriptures are Modern English Version (MEV) unless otherwise noted.
