When God Brings a Passage of Scripture to Life
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing. — 2 Chronicles 36:22
But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;" that is, the word of faith, which we preach. — Romans 10:8
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: When God applies a passage of Scripture to my life, I mark it with a note and a date so I can remember it throughout my spiritual pilgrimage. Over time, seeing it fulfilled has helped me distinguish it from an emotional impression. During a crisis that lasted for months, Psalm 40:1–3 came to me in different ways. I held fast to its promise that I would be lifted out of despair and set upon solid rock. The new song gave me hope that I would emerge transformed, with a renewed message, so that those who witnessed the process would trust in God. We can hold on to such passages during trials: struggling with the support of a word God has given us carries a different strength from relying only on general spiritual principles.
At times, when God brings a passage of Scripture to life to apply it in some way to my life, I mark that passage with a note and a date, so that I can remember it and use it as a guiding strength throughout the various stages of my personal spiritual pilgrimage.
That practice has been a great blessing in my life, especially when I have seen what some of those passages said come to pass over time and have been able to confirm that it was not merely an emotional impression or a projection of my flesh.
During a time of crisis in my life, God gave me a passage, Psalm 40:1–3, which says,
1 I waited patiently for Jehovah,
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 And He brought me up out of the pit of despair, out of the miry clay;
He set my feet upon a rock and made my steps firm.
3 Then He put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God.
Many will see this and fear,
And will trust in Jehovah.
I had entered a time of great personal trial that lasted months. The same word, the same passage, came to me from different sources during that time.
I held on to that word. Every part of that passage spoke to me and promised me something that encouraged me and filled me with hope.
The last thing that passage declared was: “Then He put a new song in my mouth.” I felt that God was saying to me, “When you have come through this trial, you will be a different man. Your ministry will have other qualities, and I will put a new message, a new theme, a new song, in your mouth, in your life, and in your ministry. And those who know about your battle and have seen the before and after will, as the passage says, ‘fear and trust in Jehovah.’”
Because, you know, when you go through a trial, many people are watching to see whether you will sink. Many are waiting to see whether God will get you out of your predicament or whether you will succumb under the weight of the trial. And there are even others who secretly want you to sink! We always have a great many witnesses around us. And God tells us, “Do not worry. When they have seen what you went through and have witnessed how I brought you out and set you on solid ground, on a secure rock, many will see this and fear and trust in Jehovah!”
Those passages we gather from our devotional life speak to us and give us strength. We can stand on them. They become our battle cry. When I wield the sword, I do so while standing on that sacred and prophetic ground. The sword blows you strike when you are standing on the rhema word of God are ten thousand times more powerful than when you are merely fighting while relying on general spiritual principles.