First Place

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Keep thy heart will all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:22–23

There are spiritual rewards for attending to God’s Word, for putting His Word in first place. His words are life to those who find them, revival to their spirit, and supernatural life to their being. They are health to all their flesh. The Word is alive and powerful, and when it gets off the pages of your Bible and into your heart, it will produce life and health to your soul and body. But you must not only attend to, hear, look at, and keep the Word—you must also guard your heart with all diligence. You must be choosy about what you hear and what you look at. Anything that produces fear, worry, or unbelief must be filtered out of your life. Guard your heart by guarding the entrance into your heart—your ears and eyes. This will produce a flow of supernatural life out of your heart. Jesus said, “Out of [your] belly shall flow rivers of living water. . . . This spake he of the [Holy] Spirit” (John 7:38–39). The ability to allow God’s life force and life to flow out of your being is available if the Word of God is your focus and your foundation. You can build a spiritual house that is not subject to natural worries and cares. You will be solid and unshaken by the circumstances of life! There will not be a big enough storm to shake your life. Victory will become the order of the day—every day—and you will start to help others build their houses. My son, attend to My words!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Tools for Building

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes;
keep them in the midst of thine heart. —Proverbs 4:20–21

Here is what is required to dig deep and build a strong spiritual house: attend to His words. You do not need to attend to the news media’s word, the magazine’s word, the newspaper’s word, even some friend or relative’s word. Attend to the Word of God. How do you attend? Incline your ear, or listen, to the Word. We have the internet, TV, radios, all kinds of means that God has provided to get the Word into your ears. You are listening to something—let it be His Word. Let it not depart from your eyes! Look at the Word as the promises of God. Let them paint a picture in your imagination of you as healed! You as blessed! You as anointed! You as rich! You as on top! You as victorious! See the Word, not the problems. Keep it in the midst of your heart! What you allow in your ears and through your eyes will get into your heart. Whatever gets into your heart in abundance, you will speak (Matthew 12:34), and what you speak will produce life or death—a solid house or a ruined house. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Your tongue will speak from a heart that is full of whatever you allow in your ears and receive through your eyes. Building a strong house, a house that will stand, is easy! Just attend to His Word! Give your attention to the Word of God!

Pastor Tom Kehres

An Unshakeable Life

But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man
that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently,
and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. —Luke 6:49

It is possible to build on a sand foundation, possible to not dig deep, but to build on the surface of the Word of God. For a while it will seem as if everything is okay. The house is going up faster than the rock house; it will be done sooner. As long as the sun is shining, as long as sickness stays away, as long as financial trouble does not come, everything is going well, and the house is looking good. But when the flood comes, when the wind blows, when the streams hit, immediately it will fall. You cannot build on tradition; you cannot build on religious quotes; you cannot build on what your family says, what the doctor says, what the economists say, even what Christian TV says. You need to go to the Word for yourself and get your own foundation. The Word of God and the promise of God will stand the test of time. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word will not. Start your healing home on the Word—start your love home on the Word—start your prosperity home on the Word—start your minis- try on the Word. If you need direction, read the Word! If you need advice, read the Word. If you need a word from God, read the Word! Hear and do the Word, build a house, dig deep, lay the foundation on the Rock. Notice it was not the flood that destroyed the house, not the wind, not the streams, but the foundation that caused the house to fall. Do not look at and concentrate on the storm; look at the foundation, and the storms will not matter! They cannot shake it!

Pastor Tom Kehres