One of the points of last Sunday’s sermon was the fact that the early
church, the one we find in the book of Acts, did some things that made them
experience God and helped others experience God in powerful ways. That point was that they “devoted” themselves
to the Word of God.
They loved and longed for Apostles teaching and spending time with other
followers of Jesus. Their example points
us in the same direction and encourages us to fall deeply in love with the
Bible. It’s concepts and truth leads us
to know God in great ways. Yet we have
to remember that reading the Bible should be coupled with a relationship with
Jesus.
My desire and our prayer for The Community family is that we will begin
with a greater commitment to read and take in the Word of God that leads to
loving it and ingesting it more and more.
The Bible leads us into a deeper relationship with our Savior. Disciples stay close to the one they are
following, and the best way to stay close is to stay in the word of God.
The following is an article I read last night, and I knew that it would
get my point across in a great way. Read
on, and I pray that we will literally fall in love with His word.
THE WORD OF GOD
(article from the NAVITAGORS website; you can see it HERE)
We know that the Bible is more than merely words. And yet there are
times when we’re so
familiar with hearing and reading the Word of God that we sometimes overlook
the transforming power of the Scriptures.
Rich and Sarah Paulson* work with The Navigators in a part of the world
where the Word of God isn’t so familiar—where the truth of the Bible isn’t
discussed casually, or even openly. But when it is—usually in one-on-one
encounters with individuals—the transforming impact of the Word can be clearly
seen.
“Regardless of the complexity of a problem,” says Rich, “Jesus has
already prepared the perfect solution. He never fails to heal the brokenhearted
and set people free.” Here are just a couple of glimpses of how the truth of
the Scriptures brought about change in the lives of those who encountered it.
Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and
acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
One woman we met despaired because she did all the right things—she read
the Bible, she worshipped, she prayed, she waited on God—but nothing
changed. When she didn’t do all these activities, she felt guilty and
feared Jesus would be mad at her. I finally told her, “Jesus is not
looking for religion, but relationship.” His goal isn’t perfect
performance of activities, but full connection with His heart. The woman
listened in stunned silence, as she reflected on her experience. As we prayed,
she recalled all the wrong thinking she had believed and wept. When she
renounced religion, her heart became free to enjoy a genuine relationship with
Jesus.
Revelation
3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
that person, and they with me.
I had known Samuel since he was a young boy, because we often helped his
mother grow spiritually during our earlier visits to his city. Now a
young teenager, he came to us with a problem neither he nor his mother could
solve. He was plagued by fear of the dark and often had a dream in which a
demon laughed mockingly at him. We prayed with him about this, but nothing
changed. Something was missing.
Samuel had learned many Bible truths from his mother, but apparently he
had not yet connected his heart to Jesus. I shared with him what the man who
led me to Jesus told me, “When you hear Jesus knocking, you should open the
door.” I understood at that time that the “door” was the door of my heart. I
reminded Samuel that Jesus could not open that door from the outside. It had to
be opened from the inside.
When Samuel realized Jesus had been knocking at his heart, he was deeply
touched and readily welcomed Him into his life. Once Jesus lived within
him, Sarah led him to pray about his fear and the demonic dream. Within a few
minutes, the fear disappeared. He was free.
The Bible is more than just words. As the writer of Hebrews
acknowledged, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
*Not
their actual names. This article was copied
from The Navigators, Disciple! Monthly, November
2014 at THIS
LINK.
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