Secrets of Cheerful Living | Dwell in the World
The sun beat against my skin, the gentle waves rocked our boat back and forth like a leaf blowing in the wind. It was the 6th hour on our fishing adventure attempting to catch the tricky Tarpon in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We had been at it all day. Well, let’s be honest, Preston had been at it more than me. I did a lot of watching and cheering. But at this point, I was getting tired of being on this tiny boat. Despite my layers of sunscreen and sun-protective clothing, I could feel the sun damaging my skin. I was hungry, tired and desperately needed a restroom. I remember specifically thinking, “Now I understand what Paul must have meant by being ship-wrecked- it has to be one of the worst ways to die.” I was being just a little dramatic (surprise, surprise) but I was tired of being on that boat if we weren’t catching any fish.
My husband loves to fly fish. For those of you who don’t know a lot about fishing, fly fishing is typically a little bit more challenging than your traditional salt-water fishing. Our guide, Captain Jack, knew just where to find the fish. He put us in a GREAT spot. Multiple schools of this coveted fish had swam right past our boat throughout the day. There was just one problem, we hadn’t caught a fish. We had multiple attempts to catch these beautiful fish, but Preston, having spent the past 6 months studying for his biggest medical school exam, hadn’t had much time to practice his casting. The fish would come, and Preston would work and work to get his line out to the fish, but he just couldn’t get it together. Our guide had put us in the right position, but we still couldn’t hook a fish. This reminds me of the Secret of Cheerful living that we are going to dive into today- Dwelling in the Word.
Last week we talked about living in the Spirit (if you missed last week’s post, jump back and read it really quickly!) We talked about how the Spirit comes to make His home with us. That the Spirit no longer has a visitation culture but a dwelling culture. The word “home” used in John 14:23 (that we studied last week) literally means “to dwell, remain, or take up residence” in Greek. It’s interesting that we find the same word that describes the Spirit, describing the Word of Christ in Colossians 3:16:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
It may be easier for us to understand the Spirit of God dwelling with us if we believe the Spirit is in fact the very person of God. It may be a little bit more of a challenge for us to understand how the Word of God, a seemingly inanimate book, dwells in us. To help us understand, Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word in this way:
“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.”
How is the Word alive? How does it accomplish what is being described here? If we take a look back at our John 14 passage, Jesus gives us a clue:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26.
Here we are given two main duties or “job descriptions” of the Holy Spirit:
To teach us all things
To bring to our rememberance what Jesus has said to us
No, we haven’t lived and walked with the physical embodiment of Jesus, but we know what he said to us, how he acted and how responded in situations by the words divinely penned in the collection of books we call the Bible. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says it like this:
“ALL Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
As we release control to the Holy Spirit, we begin to experience the Word of God in a whole new way. He is the way that words that were penned over 2000 years ago still have relevant implication on our lives today. The Word of God doesn’t “time-out” or “go out of style”. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and His word remains true in our lives throughout the scope of time.
Our fishing experience with Captain Jack reminds me of the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in our lives. Our fishing guide put us in just the right spot, but we still couldn’t catch a fish. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is our guide. He is our Helper and He leads us and points us in the way we should go. He lines us up right on top of the fish, but he can’t hook the fish for us. The Word of God is like our fishing equipment. We had the right equipment for our excursion- the top of the line Salt-Water fly fishing gear- but because we were out of practice, we couldn’t catch the fish. We have been given the Word of God as a tool. Most of us in America have multiple copies in our homes and full access via the internet. I wonder how often we can’t “hook the fish” or see the true fruit of the Word in our lives because we are out of practice of using our tool. We pull out the Word only when we are in hard times, instead of seeking God in His Word on a daily basis. I do believe God can speak through His Word during hard times, but I also believe if we have stored up the Word of God in our hearts, the Holy Spirit will bring it to our minds when hurt arises and will use it to help us get through it.
No, we cannot earn our salvation by anything we do, but once we have received salvation, we are to “work out our salvation... because it is God who works in you to will and act to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
Just as realizing and acknowledging the Holy Spirit is a key to cheerful living, dwelling in the Word of God allows us to unlock the true power of the Spirit in our lives. They work hand-in-hand, ultimately drawing us closer to God. In Ephesians, Paul describes the two together as part of the armor we are given as Christ followers, “The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6: 17). Cheerfulness comes from gaining God's perspective and His Word is the key to elevating our attitudes. Start simple- Let's practice! Let's pick up the Word of God this week and ask the Holy Spirit to allow it to shape our lives.
