The Word of God and the Spirit of God.

So often these ideas are conveyed separately. I have heard people talk about having too much Word and not enough Holy Spirit. Others warn that too much inspiration of the Spirit moves people away from being grounded in the doctrines of God’s written Word.

Sometimes these two ideas are presented as the Word of God in balance with the “presence” of God.

These distinctions and the warnings about these ideas being in tension with one another and in need of “balance” are erroneous.

The Word of God is the breath of God. It is the inspired or God breathed (by the Holy Spirit) written Word. And that Word is alive and powerful. What gives the Word this lively power? The Spirit of God. The presence of God.

If there is an experience in the presence of God how can it be different than the Word of God which is made alive by His living presence? Should not any experience in the presence of God leave us with indelible echos of His voice? Should they not confirm all that we have read from scripture? Shouldn’t they resonate with rich doctrine, holy mystery and gospel centerdness?

If the prophetic Words of the Lord flow freely during times of praise and worship how are they not still the Word of God? Even if they are not the sermon time during service?

We like to separate things according to our tradition and practice. And by we I mean humans in general. But also specifically Christians of the Charismatic variety.

And what we are parsing out is a perception we have of the two methods for God’s breathing into us.

Preaching and teaching as oration supposedly from deep study of the written Word.

Worship as corporate or individual expression both in liturgy or in free form.

So we (chariscostals or pentismatics) often divide the two and battle it out for supremacy.

Our services are God breathed because the preacher didn’t get to preach?

Our services are in disarray because the preacher didn’t get to preach?

“All Word and no Spirit, we dry up. All Spirit and no Word, we blow up?

What in the world? No no no no no.

Is anyone vetting these postulating sounding quotes with scrutiny?

God’s Word is alive with His presence. Yes!!!!

We have indeed experienced His presence and the prophetic revelation of His Word when it is preached even when worship didn’t give us goose bumps or result in three tongues and three interpretations!

God’s presence is alive with His Word. Yes!!!

We have experienced the Word of God when worship saturates our services so much that a planned sermon didn’t occur. As long as the worship confirms the Word of God.

So in each element, both songs of worship and praise as well as the preaching of the Word of God - both the Word and the Spirit are available for us.

But are we looking for them and are we receiving from them both in each element of our services?

And are we looking for both the Word and the Spirit in every minute of our daily lives?

When we participate in a conversation with the Lord, when we experience the fullness of who He is, we have been fully immersed in His Word AND His presence.

The daily devotion to be saturated in God’s Word, fully meditating, muttering, questioning, listening, and receiving from Him should be a powerful manifestation of His presence.

We miss it if we view His manifest presence solely as a result of singing praise and worship songs or singing in the spirit with our hands raised.

The ancient Fathers of our faith “sang” the scriptures much like a cantor would today in a synagogue.

That sounds to me like a powerful combination of the things some people are insisting are separate.

And if our services or our worship nights find us elated and floating on clouds of glory, speaking in unknown tongues, harping it and bowling it until the cows come home - are we not breathing in and out the living Word of God?

We most certainly are, if the activity confirms the Word of God and it isn’t a self-seeking pleasure cruise. His presence empowers us to witness to the world not to establish a cult of worship. Like some have the habit of doing.

His Word and His Power are of the same triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Intermingled, overlapping, reenforcing, self-confirming of one another in every expression of our interaction with Him.

Our problem is our lack of intentionality to be aware of the oneness and sameness that binds together both our spirit-filled experiential worship and liturgy with our Word of God-breathed, Bible study, preaching teaching, daily lived out lives on earth as it is in heaven.

What can we do?

Open our eyes to see the Spirit in the Word and open our eyes to see the Word in the Spirit. Realize we are missing it because we aren’t looking for it.

Practice situational awareness. Find His presence in the beauty of Creation and reflect what a beautiful confirmation of God’s Word has overtaken you.

Study deeply the Word of God and stop to allow the radiance of the Spirit to quicken all of your senses, all of your spirit, soul and body.

Get rid of the mentality of balance, or of hybrid. Stop pursuing some semblance of genetically engineering something that already exists as a perfect whole. There is no balance of Word and Spirit, there is only harmony and a rhythmically perfect dance of symbiosis.

Jesus as the living Word was Holy Spirit breathed from one moment to the next. He never stopped being the Word and He never stopped being the Spirit.

It isn’t about singing the Word - the Word is our song, just as the Five Books of Psalms mirror the Five Books of the Law.

Our lives empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ are lived as confirmations of the prophetic Word and are both a forth telling and foretelling of all that will one day be confirmed and consumed by the Word of God and the Spirit of Almighty.

It isn’t either or. Nor is it both and. It is simply One self confirming Truth, the Word is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Word.

We are led by the Spirit of God who always confirms the Word of God who is always made alive by the Spirit of God.

Emotions are inconsistent. The Word is settled forever in heaven. Spirit and Truth Worship is eternal. Our liturgies are temporary.

We shouldn’t be broken by the self-imposed rigidity of our favorite liturgy. Rather our lives should be broken with the broken Body (His Word consumed daily) of our Savior, and re-animated and made alive by His Spirit into daily resurrection power. As forgiven as made righteous as recipients of salvation by grace through faith.

Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT

16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17Then Christ (the living Word) will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, (Spirit empowered revelation of God’s written Word) as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

I pray this becomes real to you and that you will live as as a complete follower of Jesus Christ in all the fullness of life and power that comes from God, both in Word and in Spirit.