“All-In With The Word" By Nancy Dufresne

  Mark 4:23-25 in the Amplified Classic translation reads, “If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue (power) and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. For to him who has (ears to hear) will more be given; and from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away [by force].”

     We are the ones who determine how much power and knowledge flows in our lives – not God. The greater the place we give the Word in our life, the greater the degree of power that will flow. In other words, how we treat the Word will determine how much we receive from God. How we treat the Word will determine whether or not we will receive our answer and our miracle.

     No matter what belongs to us in Christ, we will only partake of it to the measure we are interested in it. None of us want to fail simply because we aren’t interested enough to give the Word first place in our lives. 

     Esau wasn’t interested in the birthright that belonged to him and traded it off for a bowl of soup – for something natural. Sometimes, we are robbed from simply due to our lack of interest in that area. We get distracted by the natural things of life and neglect the spiritual inheritance that is ours to possess. We must stir ourselves up toward what is ours in Christ and toward the plan God has for our life. 

     Caleb was interested in what God had for him and his nation. His interest showed in that he was whole-hearted toward God and His Word – he was “all-in.” When his whole generation died prematurely, he didn’t because he was wholehearted toward God’s Word.

     The Word is not a common book. When people treat the Word as a common book, their life will break down and the adversary will have no trouble overthrowing them in a crisis. If people treat the Word as common, they don’t receive what they need – healing, prosperity, victory, etc. Lightly esteeming the Word is dangerous because God meets our needs and delivers us by the Word.

     First Samuel 2:30 reads, “…For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (AMPC). God and His Word are one – how we treat the Word is how we’re treating God. When we show honor for it, we are honored by it. Some are suffering because they don’t give the Word first place in their life. When the Word is important to us, it will direct what we fill our days with. We are to be interested enough in receiving our help and answers to give the Word first place in our life.

     When we are believing God for a miracle, there can be no room in our thought life or our words for anything else but what HE says.

     Especially when faced with a need, we are to give an “all-out” effort toward the Word – be “ALL-IN” with the Word. Give it your all, give it your best. Put the Word first in your life. In every situation of life, ask yourself, What does the Word say about this?

     Proverbs 4:20-22 tells us, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”

     We can’t let our attention go to anything else but what God says when we need a miracle. We must be interested enough in what God provided for us to give it our full attention. When we need a miracle, we don’t have time for the unimportant. We must put the Word first.

     Lillian B. Yeomans was a medical doctor who ended up on her death bed. She got back into fellowship with God and began believing Him for healing. Even though she had troubling symptoms, she would sit day after day and feed on healing scriptures. She filled up with the healing Word. After a short time of doing this, she realized that every symptom was gone and she didn’t even know when they left, for her attention was on the Word and off of her symptoms. 

     Victory comes when the Word gains our full attention – when we get FULL of the Word. Be interested enough in your victory to give the Word your full attention – get full of the Word. When we give the Word our full attention and are “all-in” toward the Word, it won’t take long for our answer to show up!

     As we feed on the Word, God can show us the remedy for our situation. Sometimes, the remedy for us is just to give the Word its proper place in our life and in our attention – that would remedy many situations.

     What has God been dealing with you about? That’s His Word to you! To not address what God is dealing with you about can be costly. 

     There have been times when God has said to me, “The window for you to make that correction is closing.” The opportunity to make changes was closing. It’s dangerous not to make changes when the opportunity to make them is there.

     As Jesus stated in Mark 4:24 (AMPC), “…The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue (power) and knowledge] that comes back to you….” As we give the Word first place in our lives, we increase the measure of power and knowledge that flows in our lives – so let’s be “all-in” with the Word!