The Proceeding Word

By: Donna J. Kazenske

Matt. 4:4 – He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Every word that comes forth from the mouth of God is a proceeding word.

God’s word can come to us through His written word, through His holy prophets, through dreams and in visions. When the Lord speaks forth His word, the manifestation follows. The word precedes the manifestation.

I’m so very thankful that the God I serve is a living God. He’s not a wooden image carved by the hands of man. Nor is His body still lying in a damp cold tomb with a boulder blocking the entrance. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Resurrection and the Life. He is our life source and it’s time for the church to get connected to Him.

Luke 10:38-42 – Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

How many times have we been guilty of being distracted by so many things in the natural that we’ve missed out on what the Lord wanted to deposit in us by His Spirit?

Martha was distracted with much serving. Although serving is a good thing to do, Jesus made known to her that in this particular situation it was a distraction. Her focus should have been upon Him, not on the dirty dishes. Yes, we are called to be His ministering servants, yet there are times that we must lay aside the servant’s garments and put on Christ.

Martha was doing a “good” thing, but Mary was doing that which was needful and eternal. Jesus said, “Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.” Because she made the right decision to sit at His feet and hear the proceeding word coming forth from His mouth, she was receiving a divine deposit that would not be taken away from her. The word that was infiltrating her spirit man was an eternal word. Jesus was imparting revelation knowledge to Mary as she sat at His feet in humble adoration and expectation. She had positioned herself to receive a proceeding word direct from the heart of God. She had chosen that which was needful, that which was spiritual over that which was natural. While Martha was concerned about the biscuits and chicken, Mary was concerned about the Rhema word that was permeating every part of her being. While Mary had perceived that this was her day of visitation, Martha missed it completely because she was so caught up in the realm of natural living and thinking. She failed to perceive that God Himself was in their midst bringing fresh manna from heaven to feed them. Who needs natural food when the Bread of Life is standing in your very midst?

How many of us have missed our day of visitation because we have been too busy to spend time with Jesus? How many of us have missed our day of visitation because we have been distracted with earthly things and things that seem good for the moment?

Psalm 119:11 – Your word I have hidden in mine heart that I might not sin against You.

The writer of this psalm realized the importance of the proceeding word of God. He realized that He needed a deposit of God’s word readily available on the inside of Him at all times.

Temptation comes knocking on our door at the strangest times. The attacks of the enemy do not slow down just because we are sleeping safely and soundly in our bed at night. The attacks of the enemy are like fiery flaming arrows being unleashed upon both the saved and the unsaved. He is no respecter of persons. It makes no difference if you are an engineer, a banker, a psalmist, a baby sitter or the president of the United States of America. The attacks will come and we must have the proceeding word of God deposited on the inside of us so that we will have something to draw from when those attacks begin to come against us.

As a result of my going to the bank to deposit money into my savings account, I know that I will have some money to draw on whenever I have an urgent need. It’s the very same concept in the realm of the spirit. We must have God’s word deposited within us, in our inner man, in our spirit man at all times. We should always be able to dig into the depths of our spirit and pull out what’s needed in any given situation.