The Word

The Word

Yvonne Blackwood

ISBN 978-1-0980-8854-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-8855-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Yvonne Blackwood

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in this book are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotation identified as Amplified are from The Amplified Bible.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

God the Word was manifested in the flesh to take away the sins of the world. His name is Jesus, the Word of God, which was with God from the beginning and he was God. The Word is personal and alive. He was and is the living Word born in the fulness of time, sent to reveal God to Humanity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us, (and) we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1–2, 14)

Dedication

To my late grandmother, Sarah Maud Watt, who was dedicated to her children and grandchildren. Grandma taught me about the wonderful and awesome power that lies within the name of Jesus who is the invisible Word of God made visible. My grandmother was a mighty prayer warrior who demonstrated to me at an early age that victory can and is won down on our knees. It is through her prayers that we were sustained and kept safe during childhood and even now as adults. (The adage somebody prayed for me rings true in my life, that somebody was my grandmother.) Her tenderness, deep love, and devotion while raising my siblings and I, when our parents were away in England, has left an indelible imprint upon my heart and life. She has shown me what a true woman of God and grandmother really looks like and for this I am forever grateful. I love and miss you always. I am trying to become the woman of God and the grandmother that you modeled for me. You will forever live and be cherished within my heart.

To my late mother, Ivy Agatha West, who was the first woman to pray over my life and exposed me to the love of Jesus. A powerful and anointed woman of God, who lived by the Word, and taught her children around the dining room table about the love of God, because of you I have a love for the Word of God. We love and miss you.

To my late Aunt Daphne, who help to care for us as children even though she was also young, you gave us so much tenderness. We love you always.

To my beloved Aunt Mavis, lovingly known as Aunt May, you have been a tower of strength in my formative years, we went to church together, we worshiped, we prayed, and we fasted together. We sang happily as we walked to church in England, because the bus would not come fast enough. Even now when we get together, we ruminate upon those days. I love you.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Word of God who became flesh in order to become the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of humanity and through whose death all our sins are forgiven. I surrender my life to you.

Acknowledgment

Nothing in life is easy, but when you are surrounded with people that are willing to use their gifts and talents to help fulfill your dream and vision, success will truly be yours. Individuals are placed in our lives for a purpose, whatsoever we have become is the benefit of knowing and learning from others. The saying no man is an island rings true because this product is the result of all those individuals that I have met and learned from, whether it’s from their thoughts, ideas, teaching or work, because of my exposure to them and their experience, it has given me the tools I needed to do this project.

I wish to thank my wonderful husband and pastor, Altamont, for the many sermons and teaching over the years, also to our children Christopher and his wife Tahkeima, Anthony and his wife Stacy, and our beautiful daughter Krystal, who have always been my biggest supporters over these many years; they have always been pushing me to write. To our eight beautiful grandchildren Christian, Cayla, Chelsea, Chloe, Corey, Aaden, Austen, and baby Aaron you are my inspiration. My accomplishment is yours also.

To Pastor Deborah Dean, my friend, for her strong support and her belief in me finishing this project. Your generosity will never be forgotten, I cherish your friendship and your willingness to listen as I read and reread the manuscript to you. Thank you for being in my life.

Preface

As long as I can remember, it has always been one of my desire to write a book.

My first thought of writing was when I got married and my husband was called by God into the pastoral office. That was forty-six years ago.

Over the years, the desire has remained with me, but I was never drawn to sit down and write, I just could not feel the drive to do so.

When I first thought of writing I thought I would write about the life of being a pastor’s wife, kind of a reference for those who would find themselves like I did, in a position that I was not trained for. However, that was not what God wanted from me.

Others would always tell me to write a book, they would say write what is in your heart, we know there is a book within you, waiting to be written. These are people that I had never had a conversation with about what was in my heart. But looking back I believed God was talking to me through them.

My very own children would often ask me Mom, when are you going to start writing that book, and I would come up with all these excuses. But God has a perfect timing and plan.

It was in the month of December, a month that will be forever etched indelible within my heart. On Christmas Eve, I went to bed after returning from Church where we praised and worshiped God and I danced along with everyone else, I felt great I felt happy with great anticipation of the dawning of Christmas. I went to bed and fell into a sound sleep, only to be awakened at 5:00 a.m. with the most excruciating pain in my abdomen that I have ever felt in my entire life. I have given birth to three children and had birth pain, but this pain was like nothing I had ever felt before. After a while of trying to deal with it, I woke my husband and told him I needed to go to the hospital, because with my history of being a nurse, I knew something was terrible, wrong. Even before they told me I already knew what was wrong. I was diagnosed with small bowel obstruction caused by adhesions from a previous surgery. God provided me the best surgeon and surgical team on that Christmas morning. I was rushed into surgery, where three feet of my small bowls was removed. I spent nine days in the hospital and was discharged home to finish recuperating.

It was during this time of recuperation that the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, happened. Here I was on extended stay at home order. It was while on this lockdown in our home in New York, that God said it was time.

I was spending more time in His presence, God will put you in a place of stillness just to hold you close, to settle you down, so that He can speak with you. And if it takes a plague for Him to get your attention, He will use it. I am reminded that God will turn every bad situation in our lives around and uses it for our good and for the Kingdom. He was doing just that with me. it was during one of these quiet times while I was on my knees talking with Him, that He said in a calm but commanding and prodding voice. You will write about the Word. I said the Word Lord. It was then that He gave me this scripture, from Isaiah 55:11.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

It was not an impression within my spirit, it was audible within my earring.

He did not stop there, but He continued to speak. God said do you know that Jesus was and is my Word, did you know that He did not come back to me void? But that He came back accomplished. He said write about My Word.

My Word that is Invisible, Spoken, Written, and Made Flesh. He showed me the beginning in Genesis chapter 1 and the book of John chapter 1.

It was like lightning hit me, all of a sudden, the desire came upon me to write, and I had to write.

God then showed me the adoration of King David for the Word of God within the Psalms, such as Psalms 46, 119, 145, 102:2; 78:4; 119:111. The Word of God is the very substance of who God is, and God gave it to holy men through the inspiration of the Spirit to write so that men and women who are called by His name will read and also be inspired through the illumination of the Holy Ghost to understand and know who He is. I will deal with some of these scriptures and many more as I begin to let His Spirit use me.

I know there are many books out there about the Word of God, but I had to do what His Word was placed within me to do, I had to be obedient to what God said. It had sat within my spirit all these years brooding and resting, waiting for the right time to birth out that which He had in me.

Looking back over my life, I now see how the Word of God has been in my life through all that I am and where He has brought me from. Like me I hope while you read this book you will see the Word of God vividly, and you will know that God has already spoken His Word into your life.

I thank God for not giving up on me after all these years of waiting and doubting the ability to put His Word into writing. I thank Him daily for allowing me to recover from this physical attack and still be able to fulfill His purpose for my life.it took a plague, a pandemic, but God will use any means necessary to accomplish is plan and purpose, His Word will not be frustrated by any road block that attempt to stop the fulfilment of His promise Word. My heart is humbled before His presence. I become like the Psalmist David when he declared, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. I bow my knees and remain humbled in the presence of God, my heart truly Praise, and Magnify Him.

I want to thank all the wonderful authors who have written before me. They have given me a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for writing so that I was able to glean from your work.

Most of all, I thank God, the God of the Word and the Word Himself.

Read and be blessed.

Introduction

The strength and life of every Christian lies with God and His Word. Believers must have such a firm understanding of the Word, that they have no doubt as to who God is. Their beliefs in God should be so grounded that no storms or contrary wind should be able to snatch them from their rooted position in God. I believe that if the foundation of the believer is sure then they can weather any darts from the enemy. Believers are instructed by the Apostle Paul to study the Word: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

When believers study the Word of God, a wealth of knowledge and the light of illumination will open up to them the revelation concerning their God, and His awesomeness. The child of God must understand that it is in the pages of the Bible, that we come to know God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When the Scripture is read, the Holy Spirit will open the understanding by illuminating, shedding the light of the knowledge of the Word into the heart of the reader giving clarity of the Word of God. Illumination of the Word of God is one of the, ministry of the Holy Ghost within the life of the believer, He causes the Christians to understand the truths of God revealed within the pages of the Bible. With this new revelation within their hearts the believer will be able to experience, see and understand the power that lies within the Invisible, the Spoken, the Written and the Flesh Word of God. They will be able to see, with the help of the Spirit, the picture of Jesus Christ, His redemptive and redeeming work as the Word of God that He accomplished, upon the cross to bring forth the plan of salvation.

My attempt was to give you an understanding of who the Word of God is and what He has done for humanity. The importance of God’s Word in the life of every believers, and what it took to bring the redemptive Word of God down from the bosom of God, from the secret place of the Most High to dwell among sinful humanity, with that in mind, I will speak to you about:

The Invisible God

The Invisible Word

The Spoken Word

The Written Word

The Word Made Flesh

God is committed to His Word the principles and character of God lies within His Word. He cannot go back on His Word, when His Word leaves His mouth it will and must be done. God will always do what He says.

In fact, God says of His word,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,

saying, My counsel shall stand,

and I will do all my pleasure. (Isa. 46:10–11)

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isa. 55:11)

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. (Eph. 1:11)

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matt. 5:18)

God will never compromise His Word He is fully committed to what He says. His will, purpose and plans will always be enforced through and with His Word. Because His will is His purpose and what He intends to do, once God speaks it, He has to do it. That Is why when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying His Word, God could not go back on His Word, they had to die, that death was spiritual, and it brought forth separation from their God.

It is this commitment to His Word that has brought Salvation to man.

God created everything with and by the Word of His mouth, we are told in Genesis,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:1–13)

It is the same God, the same Word that became flesh; we are told in John chapter 1 that:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1–5)

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

To the reader, prayer and humility are the key factors in helping us to keep our relationship with God and others in prospective. While we will never understand God fully, we still must seek to know Him. The Apostle Paul told us while he was running the Christian race, his reason for enduring all the sufferings: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

This must be the hearts cry of every believers, That I might know Him.

The process of knowing God comes through reading His Word, even though we will never fully know Him in this life, we must continue to pant after Him. Our vision is not that clear right now, but it will be. Again, Paul reminded us: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Cor. 13:12).

Through prayer and humility mixed with study, God will reveal the things that you need to know about Him in this life. Be reminded that God has placed His Word even above His own name, this is powerful, because the word that we speak tells everyone who we are. Therefore, when the Word of God is released it shows and published who the sender is, it tells and shows the character, the integrity and the faithfulness of God. God must live up to what His Word speaks about Him, He is obligated. In the book of Psalms, we read:

I will worship toward thy holy temple,

and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:

for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Ps. 138:2)

The fact that God places His Word above His very name, speaks of who He truly is, His Character and His Person. God places His Word above Himself, reveals that even He Himself is fully submitted to the dictates of His own Word.

God is obligated to fulfill His Word, it is His law, and even He Himself is under obligation to His law. God is always faithful to His Word and He has the power to bring it to pass, no matter the cost. That is why even though it cost heaven the most prized possession, Jesus the Son of God the Word made flesh, God had to make good on His Word and honor it, by sending His only begotten Son to die for fallen humanity. We are told of this commitment and love of God through the pages of the Bible Gods Written Word. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16–17).

In the pages that follow I pray that there will be something to start each reader on the way to a better understanding of the WORD. Therefore, as you begin to read, allow the Spirit of God to plow and turnover the soil of your hearts and plant the Word deep within, where it will take root and germinate faith and bear fruit. The Word of God reminds us that the entrance of His Word brings light. This light will edify your souls and bring glory to God.

May God bless you richly, as you start your journey of reading for life and that more abundantly.

CHAPTER 1

The Invisible God

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was