His Word

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6:63‬ ‭NLT‬‬
3 things here:
1. The Holy Spirit is the One who breathes life back into our mortal bodies and gives us eternal life. We cannot save ourselves! In fact, we cannot be born again unless the Father draws us to Himself.
“For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6:44‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Without the Holy Spirit we are dead (spiritually separated from God).
“he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭Titus‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:25‬ ‭NLT‬‬
2. Human effort is powerless to redeem. Sure, human effort can accomplish things in the natural - like doing chores, earning a wage, discovery and development, etc. Even then, we must recognize that we can't do anything without God's mercy and grace.
“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭17:27-31‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Spiritually speaking, we are powerless to accomplish salvation!
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
We are saved by grace through the portal of faith.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬
3. God's Word is the very substance we need to sustain life.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬
In Genesis Chapter 1, 11 times the scriptures record that God "said" things in creation. God's Word created everything! Only through His Word can we love in creation as He intended. The breath of God and His Word are the very life we need. Without His Word we sink right back into the dust from whence we came, without hope. Only God's Word can sustain us!
“Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:89‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:33‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬
In Genesis 3:1-7, Adam made the single most disastrous decision in human history when he disobeyed the Word God had given him in Genesis 2:15-17.
We, too, make the most disastrous decision when we ignore the Word of God!
I pray this prayer for you today:
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭13:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Curtis R. Norris