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For six long weeks Elijah had walked across the wilderness of Sinai. Finally he reached and began to ascend Mt. Horeb. Elijah was in search of God.

And, according to 1 Kings 19:9 (NKJV), “the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” Elijah answered with a complaint. I did everything you told me to do, but your people have rejected your covenants and killed your prophets. I’m the only one left in the country, and now they want to kill me too.

Well, the Lord gave Elijah a word. According to verse 12, our Creator spoke to the prophet with a still, small voice. He will speak a word to you as well. Let his Word, living and active, speak to you. Open your Bible and listen.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

A major abortion-pill case is now before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Louisiana is challenging the FDA’s decision to remove the requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person, allowing abortion drugs to be prescribed remotely and mailed directly to women. 

Louisiana argues that this policy undermines the state’s ability to enforce its own pro-life laws. The case is especially significant because the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision returned abortion policy to the states. Yet abortion providers in states like New York or California can still mail abortion drugs across state lines, bypassing those laws. 

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling could determine if states actually have to protect unborn children after Dobbs. This case is about more than one drug. It is about whether pro-life states can actually enforce the laws their citizens have enacted. 

My friend, Scott, told me about a man he knows who has been a professional bus driver for years. The driver is actually from Australia, but he has driven bus tours in places across the world. And he says there is this one classic movie that his passengers seem to watch on just about every bus tour. In fact, it’s been shown on his bus so many times he literally knows the script of the movie by heart! But the funny thing is this: because he’s always driving, he’s never seen the movie that he knows all the words for!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about “Only Knowing the Words.”

It’s not enough to just know the words; especially when it comes to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible describes people who are a little like that bus driver who knows all about the movie but has never really experienced it. These people know all the words about Jesus, but somehow they have never really seen Jesus, never really experienced Him as their personal Savior, their personal Lord. In fact, there’s probably someone like that listening right now. And Jesus is reaching out to you right now to become more than words to you.

In Mark 7:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord may be describing you or someone you know. “…These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” In other words, they talk a good game, they talk a God-game, they sound like they know Him but they’re far away. And only God knows it because they sound so good.

This business of belonging to Jesus, of having eternal life, is so much more than something in your vocabulary or in your head or the meetings you go to. Romans 10:10 makes it clear that “…it is with your heart that you believe and are justified…” That means made right with God. It’s whether Jesus is in your heart that determines your destiny, not whether He’s in your words, or your head, or your beliefs, or your schedule. It’s possible to have Jesus all around you but not inside you. And if you’re missing Jesus, you’re going to miss heaven.

Could it be that for all your time and experience in the world of Jesus followers you’ve somehow never really committed yourself to the Man who died for you? In Matthew 7, Jesus describes people who will come to Him on Judgment Day saying all the right words, having all the right background, having done all the right things, and then some of the most chilling words in the Bible. He will say to them, “I never knew you.” They had Christianity, but they missed Christ.

Those who are in the deadliest danger zone may not be those who haven’t heard about Jesus, but those who have heard over and over again, and they’ve never responded. Could that be you? You’re risking a hardened heart that passes a spiritual point of no return.

This is the day for you to say words to Jesus, not just all those words about Jesus. Words from your heart to His heart that say, “Jesus, beginning today I want to really belong to You. I am totally trusting You as my Savior from my sin, which You paid for when You died on that cross.” He has been waiting a long time for that invitation to come in and to take over your life. Don’t risk hardening your heart. Don’t risk missing what could be your final opportunity.

If you want to be sure you belong to Him today; if you want to "cross over" as the Bible says from death to life and know Him in your heart, not just in your head, I think our website would be a great place for you to go next. It's ANewStory.com. And it will help you nail down your personal relationship with Jesus once and for all.

You’ve had the right words, you’ve had the right beliefs, but it’s never satisfied your soul, has it? Now, this is the day you can finally know the Savior that you’ve known about for so long.

Anne shares about the Holy Spirit, God's Word, and truth from John 16:13.