ARE YOU APPLYING YOUR LIFE TO GOD'S WORD ?

9/2/2019

I FIND MYSELF CONTINUALLY AMAZED AT HOW MY TIME IN GOD’S WORD AND THE UNDERSTANDING AND WISDOM I HAVE GAINED FROM THAT TIME HAS AND IS IMPACTING MY LIFE. THERE WERE TIMES IN THE PAST WHERE I WOULD READ THE BIBLE AND QUICKLY BECOME DISTRACTED, OR STRUGGLE TRYING TO COMPREHEND THE MEANING OF CERTAIN WORDS. I WOULD SOMETIMES FIND IT VERY DRY, AND MORE OF A HISTORY TEXT THAN A TRULY MEANINGFUL GUIDE FOR MY LIFE. SOMETIMES I WOULD CLOSE MY EYES AND OPEN UP THE BIBLE HOPING THAT GOD WAS LEADING ME TO A PROFOUND FEW WORDS THAT WOULD AMAZE ME WITH AN INCREDIBLE PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE OR CLARITY. AND SO IT WENT, FOR MANY YEARS. THEN, WHEN I BEGAN TO SPEND AND DEDICATE TIME WITH GOD IN PRAYER AND TRUE FOCUS, AN AMAZING THING HAPPENED. I BEGAN TO HAVE A THIRST TO TRULY HEAR WHAT GOD HAD SHARED WITH HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE AGES, AND WHAT HE WANTED ME TO GLEAN FROM ALL THEIR EXPERIENCES. I BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT HE HAD IMPACTED THEIR LIVES IN AN INTIMATE AND PERSONAL WAY, AND HE COULD DO THE SAME FOR ME.

I AM THE VINE, YE ARE THE BRANCHES; HE THAT ABIDETH IN ME, AND I IN HIM, THE SAME BRINGETH FORTH MUCH FRUIT: FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING. John 15:5

JESUS SAID TO HIM, I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME. John 14:6

THE WORD OF GOD CAME ALIVE FOR ME. I FELT LIKE I WAS RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED TO HIS PEOPLE. I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND WHERE I HAD COME FROM IN ALL THE EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS OF THOSE WHO HAD WALKED BEFORE ME. I BEGAN TO SEE CERTAIN THINGS THAT GOD REQUIRED OF MANKIND, AND HOW HIS KINGDOM WAS BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF ORDER, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. I LEARNED HOW HE HAD ALLOWED THINGS TO HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO LISTENED TO HIS WORD, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO REJECTED HIS WORD. HE BROUGHT FORTH MEN AND WOMEN TO SPEAK HIS DESIRES FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND TO WARN THEM THAT HIS AUTHORITY WAS COMPLETE AND GOOD. WALKING IN HIM WOULD BRING BLESSINGS, WHILE DISOBEDIENCE TO HIM WOULD RESULT IN JUDGEMENT AND SEPARATION. SO MUCH TO SEE, AND HEAR, AND LEARN, AND ALSO WRESTLE WITH…. AND I CAME TO A TRULY SIMPLE BUT ASTONISHING TRUTH. UNTIL YOU APPLY YOUR LIFE TO GOD’S WORD, THE WORDS ARE JUST THAT…SIMPLY WORDS. THEY CAN SAY A LOT OF THINGS AND BE VERY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING, AND STIMULATE INCREDIBLE CONVERSATION….BUT UNTIL THEY BECOME MEANINGFUL AND LIFE CHANGING FOR YOU PERSONALLY, THEY ARE NOT ACHIEVING WHAT GOD REALLY WANTS. HE WANTS TO CAPTURE YOUR HEART, AND CHANGE WHO YOU ARE. AND THE PERSONIFICATION OF HIS WORD AND ALL IT’S MEANING LED TO ONE DEFINING PERSON AND BLESSING…..JESUS. THE SON OF GOD, BEING BORN AS A MAN, TO WALK AMONG US, AND TO SUFFER AND DIE ON A CROSS THAT OUR SINS AND FAILURES MIGHT FALL UPON HIM. THAT HE WOULD DEFEAT DEATH AND BRING US THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH BELIEF AND SURRENDER TO HIM. COMPLETING WHO WE WERE DESIGNED TO BE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING…HIS CHILDREN. AND THIS INCREDIBLE GIFT AND HOPE ARE ALL RIGHT THERE FOR ANYONE WHO SIMPLY PICKS UP A BIBLE AND BEGINS TO READ :)

ACCEPT INSTRUCTION FROM HIS MOUTH AND LAY UP HIS WORDS IN YOUR HEART. Job 22:22

HOW CAN A YOUNG MAN KEEP HIS BEHAVIOR PURE ? BY GUARDING IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR WORD. I HAVE SOUGHT YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART; DO NOT LET ME DRIFT AWAY FROM YOUR COMMANDS. I HAVE STORED WHAT YOU HAVE SAID IN MY HEART, SO I WON’T SIN AGAINST YOU. BLESSED ARE YOU LORD ! TEACH ME YOUR STATUTES. Psalm 119: 9-12

SO ULTIMATELY OUR LIVES ARE THE PLACE THAT WE CAN APPLY THE WORD OF GOD INTO IT’S MOST POTENT AND IMPORTANT REALITY. AM I LIVING MY LIFE IN A WAY THAT GLORIFIES GOD, AND SHOWS OTHERS AROUND ME THAT I HAVE A WAY OF LIFE THAT I HAVE SOLIDLY BUILT MY FOUNDATION ON, AND I AM STRIVING TO ABIDE IN IT IN EVERY PART OF ME. MY ACTIONS, MY WORDS, MY EFFORTS TOWARD OTHERS SHOULD LEAVE NO DOUBT THAT I AM A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, AND A CITIZEN OF GOD’S KINGDOM. APPLYING YOUR LIFE IN THIS WAY WILL SET YOU APART. IT WILL MAKE YOU DIFFERENT. IT WILL BE CHALLENGING, HARD AT TIMES, BUT OH SO WORTH IT ! MY PRAYER FOR YOU IS THAT THE WORD OF GOD BECOMES SO ALIVE FOR YOU THAT YOU BEGIN TO CHANGE AND THAT YOUR LIFE BECOMES FULL OF THE JOY AND PEACE THAT ONLY GOD CAN BRING…..AND YOUR LIFE….BECOMES HIS :)

THEN I SAID, “ LOOK, I HAVE COME. AS IS WRITTEN ABOUT ME IN THE SCRIPTURES: I TAKE JOY IN DOING YOUR WILL, MY GOD, FOR YOUR INSTRUCTIONS ARE WRITTEN ON MY HEART. Psalm 40: 7-8

OPEN YOUR HEART, OPEN YOUR MIND, OPEN GOD’S WORD…..AND LET YOUR LIFE BE HIS / JA