In order to process truth we have to be receptive to it. Process means: a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. What are those steps? The truth of God’s word is just printed words on a page until we take steps to possess it. Jesus gave the criteria for being His disciple. John 8:31 says, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”

In verse 32 He revealed the process. It says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The Greek word for know means: to perceive, understand, recognize, gain knowledge, realize, come to know. It is the knowledge that has an inception, a progress, and an attainment.

Jesus was talking about receiving His truth in a way that it became experiential. I love Ephesians 3:19 in the Amplified. It is such a perfect description for me to grasp. It says, “(That you may really come) to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience)…” Did you get that? Possessing truth through personal experience means that it is ours. We speak it, walk in it, and receive assurance through it. It continually filters into and impacts our thought processes.

The verse continues, “…that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)!” When I think of the word filled I think of saturated. We are saturated with His truth. No lie can squeeze in because there is no room!

As a child I knew that God loved me. I memorized John 3:16 in Sunday School. I knew that nothing could separate me from His love according to Romans 8:38-39. These were verses hidden in my heart. However they were only knowledge without experience. It wasn’t until I truly read His word by peering into it, that I could make it my own. That is when I began to live in His love experientially.

John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Do you have a heart desire for His word? Do you gather its manna daily? Do you obey it from your heart?

I will never forget one day in 1967. I was a youth camp counselor. I had taken my girls out for our quiet time. The Lord spoke truth into my heart and I began to weep. It hit me so hard. ‘You do not esteem My words more than your necessary food.’ It was a truth that impacted me and changed the course of my life. Job 23:12 was not my reality. It says, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” May this be our continual experience.