“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
—Hebrews 4:12 (NRSVUE)
A type of weed I’ve heard …my flower planted by my mail box (photo by Sara)
🎵“Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life…”
Songwriters: Gloria Gaither / Willam J. Gaither
The Bible, the Word of God is full of great mysteries and rainbow promises. They are there for you and me and all that desire to know God. My flower is such a mystery of beauty to me. At night it gently closes and early morning when the sun comes up it opens to gently greet the sun and me! I marvel to see its beauty.
When I pause to remember these words from our scripture, “The Word of God is able…” I ask what do we need the Word of God to do for us. Jesus is the way, the truth and light. (John 14:6 and read John 1:1-14)
thedailylily.com 
As looked at your photo, Sara, and re-read the words to the song, it seemed to illustrate it beautifully. All those dark, twisted, broken bits and pieces of wood/mulch look just like a ‘confusion’ of ‘brokenness and strife’. Yet out of that is growing that beautiful flower!
“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
That scripture you posted really lets us know the power and importance of the written word, the Bible, and the Living word, Jesus (“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” John 1:14).
I thought it significant that the Message translation likened Jesus mouth to a “sharp-biting sword”.
“And in the center, the Son of Man, in a robe and gold breastplate, hair a blizzard of white, Eyes pouring fire-blaze, both feet furnace-fired bronze, His voice a roar, right hand holding the Seven Stars, His mouth a sharp-biting sword, his face a blinding sun.” Rev 1:9-17
“But answering He said, “It has been written: ‘The man shall live not by bread alone, but by every word coming out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
And it also seems important that the scripture from Hebrews 4:12 you share, Sara, tells us that God’s sword divides. Looks like from 2 Timothy 2:15 that we are to be aware that there is a right and wrong way to ‘divide’ God’s word.
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
There is a lot of important lessons to focus on in this blog. Thank you for bringing Truth to our attention, Sara, and the need to “Read, believe, live”.
Debi, your thoughts invite us to read on, believe, and live with joy. This joy often comes from one another as God’s children show and share their joy in, “who we are and what we are not.) words from Tammy’s footnotes.”Let’s read on. Isaiah 35:1-10 GNBUK“The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wilderness. The desert will sing and shout for joy; it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon. Everyone will see the LORD’s splendour, see his greatness and power.“
“See the Lord’s splendor!” glorious to read! It makes me think let’s order a glass of ice tea and read about the Messiah’s splendor of grace, mercy and truth.
“…mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other” Psalm 85:10 This verse describes a time when God’s attributes of mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace come into perfect harmony.”
The footnotes for Hebrews 4:12 says:(NLT) “ the word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us. With the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God‘s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it shape our lives.”
This thought makes a perfect traveling companion don’t you think?
“God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not.” WOW!
that is a beautiful flower in the picture above 🥰