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What place should THE WORD OF GOD have in my busy schedule?
Throughout the Bible, we find three very
important subjects discussed regarding what is necessary for us to
survive and mature AIR, WATER and FOOD. Information is found in
the Bible about each of these subjects, so if you want to grow up
and find God's purpose for your life, the Word of God should be
your number one priority.
AIR:
Man cannot live without air.
After God formed the first man from the dust of the ground, He
breathed into his nostrils the breathe of lives, and Adam became
physically alive and also spiritually alive (Genesis 2:7). In 2
Timothy 3:16 we find that the Bible is the very breath of God, and
it has been given to us for |
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the purpose of providing DOCTRINE, REPROOF, CORRECTION
and INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS so that believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ may grow up spiritually. Here are a few examples of what these
words mean: The word doctrine simply means teaching, but BIBLE
DOCTRINE involves the teaching of the Word of God. In warning the
Children of Israel that their thoughts were far from God, the prophet
Isaiah said "These people draw near to God with their mouths, but
their heart is far from Him because they are deceived by trusting in
what men say rather than what God's Word says." (Isaiah 29:13) Jesus
called the religious rulers of His day hypocrites, because they led
the people astray by teaching them to follow the commandments of men
(human viewpoint) rather than teaching sound Bible Doctrine to them. (
Matthew 15:7-9 and Mark 7:7) In Proverbs 4:2 we are told to listen and
concentrate on the instructions of God and learn to understand them,
because the Lord has given sound doctrine to us in His Word. The Lord
has given some men the gift of Pastor-Teacher for the purpose of
edifying believers. REPROOF shows a man that he is a sinner, and that
the wages of sin is first spiritual death and then physical death.
Because Adam sinned and died spiritually, and we are said to be "in
Adam", we are born with a sin nature and are spiritually dead... no
fellowship with God. (Romans 5:12) Therefore, just as Jesus told
Nicodemus, a learned Pharisee, that he had to have a spiritual birth
in John 3:3, and that the source of that new birth would be the Holy
Spirit revealing Jesus Christ to him, God the Holy Spirit will
activate our human spirit when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by
faith alone with nothing added to that faith (John 3:5,6). Peter tells
us that a man must be born of incorruptible seed which is the Word of
God that lives and abides forever. (1 Peter 1 :23) Then in 1 Peter
2:2, Peter explains that we will begin to grow up spiritually if we
feed on the milk of the Word of God. In his epistles, Paul has much to
say about continuing to mature as a Christian when we learn,
metabolize and apply more advanced teaching.
CORRECTION involves changing our thinking. God says that His
thoughts and His ways are entirely different from our thoughts and our
ways. ( Isaiah 55:8-11) In Isaiah 30:21, God says he wants us to walk
in His ways rather than our ways. 1 Corinthians 2:16 declares that the
Bible is the mind of Christ, so we need to learn to think as He does
about every situation in life. Then Paul advises us to walk in faith
just as we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. When we do, we
will be rooted, built up in Christ and established in the faith
through sound Biblical teaching by pastors who know the original
language of scripture so that we may learn, metabolize and apply God's
Word on a daily basis. (Colossians 2:6-8)
WATER:
In the scriptures, water is sometimes used literally and also in
relation to the new birth. (John 3:5) God's Word is the source of the
new birth, and the Holy Spirit is the agent of salvation. When the
woman of Sam aria came to the well for water, Jesus offered 'Uving
Water' to her and told her if she drank it she would never thirst
again. She became curious, so Jesus explained that the water He
offered would provide eternal life. When she said she knew that a
Messiah would come one day, Jesus told her He was that promised one,
and she believed in Him. (John chapter 4)
FOOD:
The words of Moses to the second generation of the Children of Israel
when he reminded them of how the Lord had cared for their fathers and
for them for 40 years in the wilderness were: "Man does not live by
bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
(Deuteronomy 8:3) Before Jesus began His earthly ministry, He was
tempted by the devil. In Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 we see that Jesus
had been in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights without any food, and
then the tempter came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God,
command these stones to become bread." (the devil knew very well that
was true, but he was trying to make Jesus provide for Himself rather
than rely on His Father for food) Jesus responded to the devil with
the same words used by Moses hundreds of years before.
"THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND POWERFUL... SHARPER
THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD, PIERCING EVEN TO THE DIVIDING ASUNDER OF
SOUL AND SPIRIT, AND OF THE JOINTS AND MARROW, AND IS A CRITIC OF THE
THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART." (Hebrews 4:12)
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