Do you believe that God’s word
has power to set you free and to transform your life? When Jesus taught he
spoke with authority. He spoke the word of God as no one had spoken it before.
When the Rabbis taught they supported their statements with quotes from other
authorities. The prophets spoke with delegated authority – “Thus says the
Lord.”When Jesus spoke he needed no authorities to back his statements. He was
authority incarnate – the Word of God made flesh. When he spoke, God spoke.
When he commanded even the demons obeyed.
Scripture tells us that true
faith works through love (Galatians 5:6) and abounds in hope (Romans 15:13).
Our faith is made perfect in love because love orients us to the supreme good
which is God himself as well as the good of our neighbor who is created in the
image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26,27). Hope anchors our faith in the
promises of God and purifies our desires for the things which will last for
eternity. That is why the word of Christ has power to set us free from all that
would keep us bound in sin, deception, and despair. Faith is both a free gift
of God and the free assent of our will to the whole truth that God has revealed.
To live, grow, and persevere in the faith to the end, we must nourish it with
the word of God. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds that
we may grow in his truth and in the knowledge of his great love for each of us.
If we approach God’s word submissively, with an eagerness to do everything the
Lord desires, we are in a much better position to learn what God wants to teach
us through his word.
I hope you all have a good week.
Fr. Phil
