“You have never heard His words nor seen His form, nor does His Word dwell in you…” John 5:38

Chilling words from Jesus – that His words do not dwell in you. Question is, how do word dwell within us? What exactly does that mean and what does that look like in modern context? In John chapter 15, Jesus said the following,

“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask you whatever you desire and you shall have it..” John 15:7

His words should abide within us – within our soul and our spirit. In our minds. In our hearts. They should be the life source within. If they are not, then we have a problem.

Jesus Himself is described as the living Word. He is the walking embodiment of the Father’s will. (I have discussed this at further length in a previous blog so will keep the details short here.) As a Christ follower, we should make it our pursuit in life, to be just like Jesus was when He walked the Earth. We should desire the things He desired. We should do the things He was doing. That includes the miracles, the healings and all those that Jesus reached with the power of the Gospel message (and the persecutions and sufferings, at the hands of men as well). We should be just like Jesus walking this Earth. Now I’m not saying we are Jesus but that we can and should do what He did. (John 14:12, 1 John 14:7)

We need to create an habitual process of feeding on the words of God but, not just words from a book. We need the life-giving words of THE BOOK. You see, even the Pharisees and teachers of the law read the scriptures. In fact, they read them a lot. Memorized them and even adorned their garments with them. But even though they were constantly reading and memorizing scripture verses, it never got beneath their skin. It never changed them. They never really got it.

 

“You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” John 5:39-40

These are Jesus’ words to them that taught the law. The scribes. The Pharisees and Sadducees. He rebuked them for never having the Word dwell within them. They missed it and ultimately missed Jesus.

We can’t let ourselves be like them. We can’t let the Word slip by us for other things. We can’t even let ourselves get caught up in memorizing the Word if we never truly let it penetrate us and do some spiritual surgery. Does surgery hurt? You bet it does. Does surgery have a consequence? Absolutely. It’s always done with the intent of fixing a problem, of making us better than before. Same case with God’s words. The heal. They empower. They instruct. They lead and guide us. They are life and we should be eating them daily.

“Man can not live on bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

“…so the one who feeds on me will live…” John 6:57

We need to be feeding on Jesus and His Words. We need to make it our highest priority every day that we have opportunity to take another breath. When we feed on Jesus and His Word, we become like Him. Our problems are then met with solutions. Our sickness is then met with the cure. Our emotions are then healed by elation. Our relationships are restored and mended. Now we can do what the Father has called us to do. Now we become that ‘spring of water welling up to eternal life’ that Jesus spoke about. We have now have something to truly offer to others.

We now become the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.