Ephesians 5:26 - Oh, the Cleansing Power of God's Word.

Ephesians 5:26; Oh, the Cleansing Power of God's Word.

Eph. 5:26 (KJV) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
washing of water by the word, 

Eph. 5:26 (NIV) to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing 
with water through the word, 

Ephesians 5:26 (NLT)  to make her holy and clean, washed by 
baptism and God's word. 

Eph. 5:26 (AMP) So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed 
her by the washing of water with the Word, 

Eph. 5:26 (CWR) He did this to set the church apart and through 
the power of His word, washed away our sins even before we were 
baptized. 

Words of Encouragement,
for some of us who can't seem to remember what we have read:

   A story is told of an aged Christian who had long grieved 
over her ability to remember what she read in the Bible. Day after 
day, as old age and infirmity drew on, she would read from the Book 
she loved, only to find that a few minutes after closing her Bible 
she could not recall a word. One evening, after going through the 
same experience again, she lay down to sleep, tired and discouraged, 
telling herself it was useless to read what so soon passed from her 
mind.   
   That night she had an impressive dream. She seemed to be 
standing, with a loosely woven basket in her hand, by the bank of a 
beautiful stream whose crystal waters flowed softly at her feet. By her 
side stood an angel in shining robes, who bade her stoop and fill her 
basket with living water.   
   Again and again she tried to fill it, but the loose mesh 
would not retain the water and it flowed out again. Disappointed and 
disheartened, she turned weeping away; but the angel, bending tenderly over 
her whispered, "Look inside the basket, dear one." Gazing with tear 
dimmed eyes; the woman saw that the basket, which had once been soiled 
and dusty, was now white as the driven snow, sparkling in the 
sunlight.  And so it is with the word of God. Even though we may often be 
unable to recall what we have but recently read, if we constantly fill 
our minds and hearts with the word, it will exert its cleansing, 
life-giving power in our lives. By Leonora L. Warriner, Signs of the Times, 
January 31, 1939