God promised His followers that His voice is powerful
and doesn’t return empty. The Bible is
working. It uncovers things we cover or
things we don’t understand. The Bible
sheds light on the things that are hard to understand. The Word of God convicts us of wrong, and it
lifts us when we our thinking is wrong.
One of the pieces that shapes me the biggest and
rattles me the most is how you can read something one day and it has so much
for you, but the last time you read it you got something totally
different. Because God works with His
word in us, He can reveal different things at different times.
I recently began to read Romans for like the 1,000
time. It is amazing the new insight and
strength and truth I’m being shaped by.
Romans 1:1-7 NASB
Paul, a bond-servant of
Christ Jesus, called as an
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which
He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning
His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who
was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead,
according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through
whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the
Gentiles for His name's sake, 6 among whom you also
are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 to
all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
You have to know Paul’s story to really see how God
changed his life. Paul’s original name
was Saul, and Saul’s life consisted of being raised in the best of places and
doing all the right and religious things.
He was passionate as well about removing from Earth the people who
followed Jesus because those people went against what the religious leaders of
his day stood for.
God changed Saul’s life. What a huge example of how God can and still
changes lives today. In Romans God
teaches us what to believe and how to apply to our lives what we believe. Notice the changes in Paul’s life.
He was
called an apostle … set aside to do what God called him to do.
Paul was
convinced about Jesus … God’s gift to save the world.
He
understood grace … understanding that this life is based on what God did not on
what we deserve.
It was
Paul’s passion to spread truth … and truth was what God said.
This list could go on and on, and it will go on as I
study this book. But what I examine
again is how God changes and shapes my life by his word. It is tough as a preacher to remember that I
don’t just study the Bible so I can preach and teach it. God desires a relationship, one on one, with
me. It is through the Bible that most of
what I need comes from. He is shaping
me.
Are you allowing God to shape your life through the
truth of the Bible? Let His truth shape
you.
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