20/20 Vision Needs the Fire & Hammer of the Word
Instead of DOING better in 2020, I’m aiming for SEEING better.
That sums up my resolutions for 2020. Last week I wrote 20/20 Vision in 2020 to dive into this concept. How do I see clearly when so often I’m blind to the Lord’s work and purposes?
There’s only one reliable way I’ve discovered in my years of pursuing the Savior. The perfect pair of glasses is the Word of God— His direct commands, promises, and love corrects my short-sighted, me-centered vision.
If I don’t stay grounded in the Bible, I’m in danger of creating a god in my own image, who agrees with my opinions. I see life through ME in stead of HIM. When others speak, I keep the messages I like and throw out the ones I disagree with.
But when I put on truth everyday, I see myself more clearly. I have a correcting lens to view the world.
Next week, I’ll discuss specific ways to systematically get in the Bible, but this week I want to make another point. The Bible is SUPPOSED to change us, and change is not always pleasant. Removing the world’s cataracts requires cutting and removing and repairing.
Warning! You are now entering a Danger Zone.
Hammer and Fire
God is criticizing false prophets when He asks this:
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29 ESV)
Well that sounds scary. And painful. But poor vision without Jesus makes correction mandatory, and the fire and the hammer of the Word will do just that. Let’s examined Scripture to discover what Scripture has to say about itself.
The Fire of the Bible
Jesus’s words contain the light and heat of fire.
They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32 ESV)
We must never ignore those moments with a verse sears our heart. The Lord can burn us with His words to change our direction or reveal a truth or correct a misunderstanding. It’s our job to heed those moments.
I have to be READING the Bible to have opportunity for this to happen.
The Lord’s words burn with the light of illumination.
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. (Exodus 13:21 ESV)
When the inspired words of Scripture disagree with my opinions or preferences, something has to change. And it isn’t the Word. The revealing light of the Bible shows me the way to go and the what to believe.
A map only works if I examine it. Same with the Bible.
Flames can devour. Farmers burn fields to clear off old plants, kill weeds and their seeds, and add nutrients back into the soil. The momentary destruction yields greater harvest in the future.
Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. (Exodus 24:17 ESV)
The fire of Scripture can also momentarily destroy us— but it ALWAYS brings life, healing, and greater future fruitfulness.
For the Word to clear off the weeds it must come into DIRECT contact with our lives.
God’s truth protects us and His presence through His Word dwells gloriously in our heart.
"'And I will be to her a wall of fire all around,' declares the LORD, 'and I will be the glory in her midst.’" (Zechariah 2:5 ESV)
When we get behind the protection of the wall of the Word, and when we invite the glory of Scripture straight into the midst of our heart, we walk in His glory.
God’s protecting presence in Scripture enters our lives as we dive into it.
The Hammer of the Word
Hammers accomplish two tasks in the builder's hands: demolition and construction. Progress requires both. The old must get out of the way for renovation, as anyone who watches HGTV understands.
To achieve 20/20 vision this year, I need Scripture to have a "demolition day" to any wrong thinking and opinions in my mind.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, ESV)
Our weapon against the ideas and opinions that could destroy our walk is the hammer of the Word. Let’s examine Scripture about the power of that hammer.
The hammer is a powerful tool, made more so by the strength of the person holding it. The Spirit of God can use the Word to smash us, in the most devastating and glorious ways.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 ESV)
Old lies can be destroyed. Burdens smashed. Weight of guilt and cost of sin obliterated.
We will need to exposed ourselves unflinchingly to the Truth to come in full contact with its power.
Those in construction work long and hard. Skill and knowledge and practice increases their expertise and the beauty that can be created astounds me. The Bible WORKS in us to build us into workers for the Kingdom.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV)
It deals with sin and redemptively brings beauty where none existed before.
For the Bible to powerfully change us we must receive it, hear it, accept it, and let it have it’s way.
Ignoring the Bible deprives me of my only weapon.
Not only can we wield the hammer of the Word, but also the sword. Think of the power of a LIVING sword. That means the one who holds the sword is not the only one with power and volition. The weapon itself fights as well!
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
The inspired Bible divides the falsehoods I walk in from the truth of Jesus’s way. It clarifies my thoughts and reveals my intentions.
The living Sword only works when I pick it up.
For 20/20 in 2020
I need the fire and the hammer of the Word EVERY DAY of 2020, so I can see clearly, and wrong thinking can be destroyed, and the useless cleared, and the new built.
The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved. (Isaiah 41:7 ESV)
What a year it would be if in 2020 we could not be moved from the truth. Join me next week as I begin a discussing the HOW of diving deep into the Word. The Bible remains the deepest, richest, most unfathomable treasure I’ve ever experience in life. So join me and let’s get our vision corrected for 2020!
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