Minister Meshack Mulenda
God, in His wisdom, has provided us with three key foundational principles to guide our spiritual growth. By understanding and embracing these, we open ourselves up to deepening our knowledge and relationship with God. The first foundation is the ministry of the Word, characterised by a passion for meditating on Scripture. Through the Word, we come to know God more intimately, allowing His truth to shape our lives.
Second, God bestows on us the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is crucial to comprehending the Word, enabling us to recognize Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. Lastly, God gives us the ministry of a teaching priest—someone to impart the knowledge of God to us. We should always look back at these three areas if we find ourselves at a standstill in our spiritual development.
They not only help us grow but also live fruitful and purposeful lives, reflecting the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1:26). As we embrace these principles, we can trust that God will draw us even closer to Him as He continues to guide, equip, and transform us.
When the Word of God comes, it must dwell within us before it can be fruitful in our lives. In John 15:7, Jesus Christ invites us to remain in Him as His Word remains in us. When we remain in Him long enough, we experience complete and sure transformation. God’s Word is the raw material for bringing about what is necessary in the present and enduring for the future.
Everything we see today came to pass as a result of the Word God spoke (John 1:3). Genesis depicts the Word of God as the power that sustains and holds all together. For this reason, the enemy is not interested in what we value in the material but rather the very essence of everything, what sustains our lives! Thus, the moment we lose the desire to read the Word, we know we are under attack. Let us then remain anchored in the Word, allowing it to shape and sustain us in every season of our lives
Now the understanding of the Word is crucial for us as it gives us the ability to be wise and live according to God’s Will. Godly wisdom has more to do with works than with words (see Mark 6:2), meaning it is in the application of the Word of God that we show our understanding. Sometimes we get the Word and use something else to interpret it (such as using life circumstances).
Scripture explains Scripture best; we must trust in the wisdom we receive from it. Hebrews 4:2 also shows us that simply having access to the Word is not enough. Without a heart that seeks understanding, we cannot benefit from it and this is dangerous because the enemy can then easily snatch the Word away from us (see Matthew 13:19). Our understanding of the Word is what allows it to take root, thus producing lasting fruit in our lives.
Knowledge of the Word also comes with responsibility. Oftentimes we receive the Word but don’t stay long enough to understand what it requires of us. Our sins or righteousness do not affect our ability to know what to do, as those have already been dealt with at the cross. Rather, our effectiveness is only as much as our capacity to understand the Word and so we should not be ignorant (biblically, this means foolish). Thankfully, the Holy Spirit, who deals with foolishness, also empowers wisdom. So let us yield to His leadership and guidance.
Fruitfulness is a product of a seed (see 2 Corinthians 9:10) and that seed is the Word of God. Proverbs 11:24 gives us a strategy for fruitfulness, being that the one who scatters more increases more. If we violate biblical principles such as this—such as holding back or failing to apply God’s Word—we will find ourselves confessing the Word but not seeing its fruitfulness. Thus, true growth requires the understanding and application of God’s Word in our lives. When we let Scripture and the leadership of the Holy Spirit guide us, we find lasting fruitfulness and strength in our faith journey. By staying rooted in the Word and faithfully submitting to the Holy Spirit, we can reflect the image and likeness of Christ in all aspects of our lives.
