It comes about, by the way, as you participate; not as you spectate. You can come into a meeting like this, and you can be absolutely unmoved by everything. We can be in the most wonderful worship time, and God's presence is touching some, but He's not touching you. That's because of a failure to participate. It's always about participation. That's why when we come together, often it's very slow and sluggish to get started, because we kind of come in as spectators; passive, leaning on the musicians to do something for us, rather than arising in our spirit to engage with God. That's something we could speak on another time. I want to speak in this one here, of the word of God energising us. The question we have then: how does the word of God energise us? So let's go back into the verse.
The first thing is: you have to place value on God's word. I wander around, I look around, I watch people coming in. I find how many people don't have a Bible. Now I know we put the words up on there, but I like to have a Bible. I like to have my own Bible, and I like to mark my Bible, and I read my Bible and mark it, and take notes of what God is saying; because the word of God can ENERGISE ME! The word of God can bring MIRACLES into my life, you see?
And so I want you to notice something here, the first thing is: you have to place value on the word of God. Notice what it says here: you did not receive it as the word of men; so it says something they didn't do, and then something they did do. Just have a think about what that might mean.
If we're talking about some words being the words of men - in other words, someone is just sharing their opinions and their ideas - it's a lot of information. You can go on the Internet and get a lot of information. You can download words. You can download pages of words, but they may not do you any good whatsoever, and particularly in terms of your spiritual life.
They can help, or not help. The problem is in how we receive them. Now if you receive just the words of men, here are some things that you would automatically think: well it's just his opinion, and so immediately you dismiss the words as having much authority. There's no authority in this.
We think then: it's just someone's opinion, it's someone's ideas, it's quite interesting information, and the attitude is: you take it or leave it. So if I agree with it, I'll take it; if I don't agree with it, I'll leave it; and that's the mentality we have, with the things that people say. Not only that, many people say things which are either not true, or exaggerated; so we have a tendency, when we hear messages, to filter them all through, and just pick on little bits that we like or agree with, and we're receiving it as if it's the word of men.
Now it says here: you did not receive this word as though it was the word of men, or just people preaching. You received it as the word of God. Now to receive something as the word of God means: I am listening for God to speak to me. In other words, it doesn't matter who's up there preaching. I believe that: God, if His word is preached with boldness and strength, that I can receive something from the word of God.
So if I come into a place where someone's preaching, they may be preaching a particular message, but I'm listening for what God wants to say through it; and I know that at certain points in the message, He will start to speak to me; and I always have a pad, and I write down the things that God is bringing to my attention. Now that's what it means - to receive it as the word of God.