Mensa Otabil - The Word Is Near You (10/26/2025)
Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 14: «But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.» God’s word must be near us, in our hearts and in our mouths. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase " Life is War,» and we hear it all the time: life is a battle. Life is War.
So what is this war? What is this battle that life is all about? Is it some battle against poverty, sickness, disease, or global warming? Maybe battles in a military sense? Yeah, that’s some kind of battle, but the greatest battles in life are fought in our minds. It’s a battle of words, thoughts, ideas, and concepts in our minds that defeat us. Many of us struggle with thoughts of embarrassment, fear, inferiority, unworthiness, anger, inadequacy, anxiety, and guilt. We go through that. People may not even see the battle on our faces, but there is a war raging on in our minds. That is why we have to take the word of God to fight our battles, the internal battles, the word battles in our heads that want to bring us down.
Now, Satan knows that if he can succeed in planting a thought in your mind, he just leaves you. He doesn’t even bother with you because the thoughts he plants in your mind are going to do the battle for him. It’s so important that we stay in the word of God. Many times, after great moments of success, we enter great moments of doubt. You know, Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days, and it is after the fast that Satan tempted him. When he should have felt very powerful, very energetic, and very spiritual, that’s when the doubts hit him.
The doubts came from Satan against him, and remember, Jesus answered with the word of God: «It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.» So the battles we face sometimes come at a time when we feel we have won, and then these things bombard our minds. I just want us to pay attention to that: there are battles to be fought, and we win those battles with the word of God. The word of God must be in our hearts and in our mouths, and we must act on it.
So a couple of things to help us win the battle of the mind: first, we must get the word of God inside of us. We should read the Bible and have a consistent Bible reading process. We should also meditate on the word of God, which means that the word of God gets into us. We think about it and allow it to sink in. Many times we read the Bible casually, or we read a verse or a devotional. It’s good to listen to these devotionals, but that’s not how you win your battles. The word of God itself must be in you; that means you must make time to read the Bible, make time to meditate on the word of God, and make time to speak the word of God.
The word of God must not just be in our hearts; it must be in our mouths. It must be something we talk about. We must counteract our fears and doubts with the word of God. That’s how Jesus did it: he counteracted the temptations of the enemy by speaking out the word of God. You have to speak out what God says; don’t just speak what you say. Speak what God says. Then we have to act on the word of God. There are battles to be engaged in and battles to declare victory over. God is going to give you the victory; God is going to make you rise above every storm. His word is in you; his word is in your mouth. You have to speak his word and declare his word out of your mouth. That’s your way to victory.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, through your word, I overcome every doubt; I walk in victory every day of my life. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»