Unchained!

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.

2 Timothy 2:8-9

God's Word cannot be chained! 

Many have tried for centuries to stop the spread of the Bible. God's Word has been banned, burned, and outlawed. It has been ridiculed and disparaged. Those who oppose it have claimed that it is full of lies and that only weak-minded people need it to prop up their fragile egos. But still the Word of God speaks! Despite all their effort, it has not been silenced and it never will be.

In Isaiah 55:11 God promises, "the word that goes out from my mouth... will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God's Word cannot be chained because it will not be thwarted!

Even if they succeeded in confiscating every copy of the Word and locking up every believer who was bold enough to preach the gospel; even still God's Word would not be silenced. God would find a way. Because at the back of God's Word stands the omnipotent power of God Himself! Behind the words printed on the page is God's Spirit at work. He uses the human phrases, the everyday illustrations and the metaphors to breathe new life into dead hearts. I Peter 1:23 reminds us that it was the Word of God that gave us new birth. "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."

We must never forget that there is supernatural power in the Word of God. Learn it, so you can use it to battle your doubts and temptations. Read it to your kids every day to plant the seed of faith in their lives. Speak it to your brothers and sisters in Christ to strengthen and encourage them in their faith. And memorize it so you can speak it to your lost friends. Invest your time and energy in God's Word and it will bring a harvest.