We are continuing with this year’s Word for 2023: Receiving God’s Best As We Give Him Our Best. One of the greatest gifts the Lord has given us is His Word. I remember when I first got saved. While incarcerated, a man came into my cell out of nowhere and handed me a Bible. At that time, I was at one of the lowest places in my life. I had nothing to my name; I had no one to call. I wasn’t even sure where to go at my release; but I remember I started reading His Word, and something began to happen on the inside of me. Hope started rising; I started to see within myself the possibilities of a better life and future, even though I had no outside evidence to support what I was feeling. This was the day that I transitioned from living in the reality of the world to living in the reality of God… and the Word of God was the gateway into it.

 In John 1 the Bible says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Everything starts and finishes with the Word of God. Remember this: your faith begins where the will of God is known. How do we know His will? Through His Word!

 The Word of God has many purposes for our lives, and we must really understand this to have a successful Christian life. One of the main purposes for the Word is to bring structure into our lives. Even though we are free in Christ, to maintain that freedom we have to live our life within the framework of His Word. John 8:31-32 (KJV) says, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That word continue in Greek does not mean movement; it means to stay in the same place. So the Word of God is not something that we try out for 30 days; it is a place where we live.

 John 15:7-8 (KJV) says, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. So we abide in Jesus and His Word abides in us.

As we do this, it will cause our lives to be fruitful, and the Lord will be Glorified in our lives. There is a connection between hearing the Word and doing the Word. What you do as a Christian is connected to what you are hearing. The best thing you can do to affect what you do is to hear the Word of God.

 James 1:25 (AMPC) says, But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience]. Hallelujah!!!! My brother and sisters, please understand… the blessings that come into our lives by simply obeying the Lord keeps us in the place to receive God’s best for life. You don’t have time to waste your life being disobedient to the Word, because you will lose in the end and miss out on the Lord’s best for your life.

 Another purpose for the Word of God in our lives is for spiritual food. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 (KJV), But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is amazing. Jesus compared God’s Word to bread which is used to sustain our physical life; the Word of God is given to help sustain our spiritual life. In the natural, someone that does not eat will be malnutritioned, and then become weak and eventually will not be able to function in the natural. Without the Word of God, your spiritual life will become weak. This is dangerous, because if your spiritual life is weak, it will be difficult for you to walk in the realm of the supernatural, or the place where we receive God’s best.

 1 Peter 2:2 (AMP) says, …like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment]. It would be evil to deny a newborn baby the food it needs to grow and be healthy. What keeps the baby eating is hunger for the milk that his or her mother provides. The Bible says we should desire the Word like the baby desires the milk. You will only eat what you are hungry for. I pray in 2023 that the Lord will give us a fresh hunger for His Word, and this will position us in our spirit to receive nothing but the best from our God!