ULTIMATE CARE DEVOTIONAL.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2023. VOLUME 2.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦THEME: 👉THE LIVING WORD OF GOD 2“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”.TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 4: 4MESSAGE📕Recall Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates… “Though the enemy of your soul has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 CORINTHIANS 4:4), we must understand that the word is intended to touch the hearts of man. Yes, it is true that some may come to salvation by understanding the gospel first, but salvation does not come until the word of God takes root in the heart where the seed is planted. It is interesting that in Ephesians 6: 17, Paul tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God;“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”This sword is sharp. The word translated “sharper” refers to a blade that is able to do its work with a single stroke. It does not need to keep hacking away. But since it is a double-edged sword, it can protect and attack from either side regardless of the angle of attack. As a Christian you do not need any other weapon. How deeply does the word go into a man? What activity takes place when the word of God is proclaimed? …it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. We are learning in our evangelism class how to present the gospel in a way that bypasses the mind, the place of argument, and go straight to the heart or conscience. The word works that way for salvation but it also works that way for receiving all God’s promises. You see, until you can bypass the mind, the place that is the place of argument where the spiritual battles take place, and allow the word to go directly to the heart or spirit man, you cannot have the faith to receive His miracles in your life.Faith never stems from the soul, or the mind or emotions, but from the spirit or heart. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world; 4” For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5)On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. We do not allow our thoughts to steal the victory away from us. God’s word divides soul and spirit. It is sharp enough to separate the joints and the marrow – like a surgeon’s scalpel – and it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart or your motives. Look at what James says about having the right motives in receiving the work of God in your life. James 4:1-3; 1 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”.There are three things James talks about here concerning motives:1). Your relationships with other Christians are not where they should be. Your desires control you instead of your relationship with the Lord.2) You allow doubt to enter your mind and control your life so that you don’t even bother asking God for the very things you need.3) You want what you want when you want it. Not knowing that God gives to everyone according to the measure of their faith Romans 12: 3: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”Your prayer is always about you and never about God. You won’t receive anything that way. But the word, when applied to the heart, will change that if you let it. May the Lord give you a change of heart to always depend on Him through His words in Jesus mighty name, Amen.PRAYER🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Heavenly Father, I thank You for your word and life. I Thank you Lord for encouraging me to trust in You. Indeed, your words are truth and can be depended upon. I put all my confidence in Your Word in order to overcome my fears and succeed in all my endeavors in Jesus’ name. Amen! Empower me O Lord to walk in thy divine will and help me to stand up for my mandate in Jesus mighty name, Amen.FURTHER BIBLE STUDY🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿2 CORINTHIANS 4BIBLE READING PLAN FOR THE YEAR, 2023.MORNING: NEHAMIAH 8EVENING: NEHEMIAH 9💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦🍎 Author: Pastor NseAbasi Harry💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦HAMMER WORD BIBLE CHURCH, ABAK, NIGERIA CARES ⛪💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦