What's in the basket? T M Moore

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

John 15:3

There is an old story about a pastor and his grandson.  The pastor had been encouraging his grandson to read his Bible and study its words about how to live a Christian life.

One day the young boy came to his grandfather and confessed, "I do read it a lot each day, but I can't seem to remember what I read. I can't retain it!"

His grandfather's advice, "Take this basket to the creek and fill it with water and return it to me."

Obediently, the boy took the basket to the creek and filled it with water. But by the time he got back to his grandfather, all the water had all leaked out of the
 woven basket.

He questioned the older man and was told, "Try it again," which he did, but the same results - no water left in the basket.

"OK, try it once more," the old man said.

Again, it was empty.

"But how can I carry water in this basket?" he asked.

"Maybe you can't," the pastor said, "but look how clean the basket is!"

That's how God's Word is.

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he calls the Gospel "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16)

He actually means all of God's Word - Genesis to Revelation, since it all contains the message and story of Jesus.

"The  Bible is no ordinary book," says T. M. Moore.

"It is the Word of God, and has the power to open minds, penetrate hearts, and retool consciousnesses and wills so that people become altogether new by believing in Jesus.

"Nothing compares with the Bible's power to make us new.

"Because it is the very Word of God, it knows us, is able to be implanted in our souls, and works with the Spirit of God to accomplish results we could never achieve -- with the power of the Word working with in us....

"The power of the Word of God is spiritual power....that power becomes effective in our lives as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to accomplish real transformation in how we think, feel and will....

"As we position ourselves before the Word of God --whether reading or hearing it -- the Spirit takes that Word and applies it to the spiritual core of our lives...

"If we are truly listening, and willing to be taught, and if we can face up to areas of our lives where we need to repent of sin and cling more closely to God, then the Spirit will implant that Word in new ways, and further His work of making all things new [and clean] in our lives..."

And sometimes we are not even conscious of what the Spirit of God is doing; and how He is silently at work in our lives...He is cleaning us by the very work of His Spirit in our obedient hearts!

Cleanse me...and I will be clean...

wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7