32: The Transforming Power of God’s Word
In Psalm 19:7-9 we see that the Word of God has the power to transform your heart, soul and mind.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The Holy Scriptures tell the love story of God redeeming His people back to Himself. Therefore, when you read it, your soul is brought back to God. It contains the words of life. Remember in John 3 when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and Jesus tells him he must be born again. He is telling him that his soul needs to be revived. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, say Ephesians 2, so our souls need to be revived. The Word of God, which is perfect, tells us how and who will revive our souls. It is Jesus our Redeemer, the Word made flesh, who breathes life back to us.
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The Holy Scriptures have the power to transform your mind. God does not call only those who are intellectually superior to understand the Bible. God calls the simple, he calls the everyday man, he calls the children to come and know what is true and beautiful and pure. The Bible can transform your mind, giving you wisdom beyond your years, helping you to make sense out of complex and difficult situations, to show and reveal to you how to deal with problems that surround you.
Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
I feel that I am a testimony to this truth. I was a “C” student through high school and college. Then I felt the call to go to graduate school at Covenant Seminary. I was scared to death that I wasn’t going to make the grade at the graduate level. But God who is rich in mercy, was able to renew my mind and enable me to overcome my academic challenges to thrive in seminary.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
The Holy Scriptures transform our hearts. They take hearts that were once cold and bitter and turn them into rejoicing. You can go to the Scriptures when you are feeling down and depressed when you are feeling lonely and exhausted and find joy and hope.
The apostle Paul writes his letter to the Philippians which is full of rejoicing in God’s grace and goodness, from prison!
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The Holy Scriptures open our eyes to the true truth about life; it’s meaning, it’s purpose. The Bible helps us see clearly what is going on around us. Think about it, when the lights are off and the room is dark, you can’t see anything, but when the lights are on you can see everything. The Bible turns the lights on in the room.
So we see that the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, the Bible transforms us. But exactly how does this work? Again, its not complicated: We read, listen, study and the Holy Spirit who lives in us works to transform our heart, soul and mind.