What is the Difference Between Logos & Rhema?

     I learned when I was in college that there are two Greek words for God's word in the New Testament --one is logos which is the constant word or the black and white text,  and the other is rhema which is the instant word. Matthew 4:4  is a good example of both logos and rhema: "But He answered and said, It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.'"

In the footnote in the Recovery Version of the New Testament, it says word here is rhema.  Then it says:"In this temptation all the words quoted by the Lord from Deuteronomy were logos, the constant word in the Scriptures.  But when He quoted them, they became rhema, the instant word applied to His situation.  

   I was listening to a message on Living Stream's website this week, and one part was on Ephesians 5:26--"That He might sanctify her [the church], cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,"  I didn't realize it until he said it, but the Greek word here is also rhema.  This part of the message really spoke to me:    

"But this water is in the word, it's the laver of the water of the flowing of God in the word, but the Greek word for word there is rhema, the present word, the word spoken to us personally and intimately; it's God word with our name on it.  We need to say, 'Speak to me, Lord.'  Speak to us, Lord so that He has a way to sanctify us and prepare us to be His bride."

 Many times during the rest of last week, this pray rose up within me, Speak to me, Lord.  I need a word with my name on it!  But the base for the Lord's personal speaking to us is so obvious--we have got to spend time reading the Bible.  Doesn't it seem like it always comes back to that?  Every day I want to have this aspiration that I want to hear the Lord's speaking.

Posts on the Life Study of Ephesians:

What is the Subject of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians?
What is the Mystery of God's Will Revealed in Ephesians 1:9?
How Does God Head Up All Things in Christ in Ephesians 1:10?
How Does the Spirit Seal us in Ephesians 1:13-14?
What is the Surpassing Greatness of His Power in Ephesians 1:19?
From the Life Study of Ephesians: How Electricity Illustrates God's Purpose to Reach Man
What is the One New Man in Ephesians 2:15?
What is the Stewardship of the Grace of God in Ephesians 3:2?
Do You Know What the Multifarious Wisdom of God is in Ephesians 3:10?
What's God's Calling for in Ephesians 4:1?
What Does It Mean to Learn Christ in Ephesians 4:20?
Seeing the Church as the Bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:32
Seeing the Church as the Warrior in Ephesians 6
How Do We Apply the Armor of God in Ephesians 6?
What are the Seven Aspects of the Church Seen in Ephesians?
Why Did God Abolish the Ordinances in Ephesians 2:15?
Why is the Spirit Mentioned in Every Chapter of Ephesians?