God’s Word, how is it Important to Me?

                                            God’s Word, how is it Important to Me?

                                              by: Matthew Cortinas  Lesson for 7:7:2017

The Bible was given to us by God and it is Truth! It is freedom God, the Creator and Ruler of this world and, has given us His Book, the Bible. The Bible is to serve as a guide for our lives. His LIVING VOICE speaking to mankind. To give one of many examples of the Power and Truth of God’s word please turn to:

Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We are generally familiar with the word "truth," and know what it means today. This word is used in a number of ways in the New Testament. It means in the Greek translation as "genuine" or "real or reality". 

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.

As Jesus talked to his father, (in John 17) he acknowledged God’s Truth! If God said it, it's the Truth! Throughout the Bible, we can see that the Words uttered from the lips of God, created and put in motion absolutely everything that exists!! with this in itself, we must conclude that His Word is the Truth and represents absolute Truth​! 

 Numbers 23:19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

If trusting God involves obeying God’s Word, as it certainly does, then there can be no real discipleship without Bible study. Study of the Bible cannot be an occasional, lazy, or “in my free time” pursuit. It must be a passion of a believer’s life. This is because it is only by the studying of the Word of God that we learn what it is to obey God and follow Jesus. If you want to know God as He speaks to you through the Bible, you should do the following:

Study the Bible daily. Immerse yourself. We should study the Bible at least once each day, of course. With constant study, faith is built in his word. Faith in us, built by God's Truth!

2 Timothy 3 16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 What is important is that we discipline our lives to include regular Bible studies, just as we discipline ourselves to have regular periods for sleep, eating meals, etc. These things are necessary if the body is to be healthy and work is to be done. Sometimes we may miss a meal, but normally we don't. In the same way, we must feed regularly on God’s Word if we are to become and remain spiritually strong.

What happens if we neglect regular Bible reading? We grow indifferent to God and lazy in spirit. We throw ourselves open to temptation and easily fall into sin! Therefore, if we keep the light of God's truth shining brightly ahead of us, then we have a greater chance of avoiding deception. 

This is easy to understand because, if we are going to use the Word of God in the right way, we have to believe it. We not only have to believe it, we must trust it. When Jesus says that God's Word is truth, and that we are sanctified by that Word, we need to understand it from the point of view, the perspective, of God: that His Word is pure, genuine, factual, and reality—and all these are contrasted to man's word. Despite having the best of intentions and sincerity, man cannot even begin to come close to ultimate truth of the Word of God.

Think about this!! There is a personal, living, almighty God whose ways and laws are intrinsically right—they are true. Therefore, a person who has God's Spirit and is honest, who is willing to speak the truth and acknowledge it when it is shown to him, and who will use it in everyday, practical situations must eventually become like He...who we model ourselves after.

By reading the word and renewing our minds daily God is making us kings and priests, that is, leaders and teachers of a way of life based on revealed truth. He will not have anyone in His Family who does not embody truth as Jesus did. In other words, we, too, should be Truth in the flesh! However, for this to happen, we must live it to the best of our abilities now. We all fall short and fail in our walk, that is why God provided his Mercy and Grace for us to obtain forgiveness and continue walking in His truth.

Apply His Truth in your life! In secular books, we study to become informed or entertained. In reading the Bible, we study to know God, hear His voice, and be changed by Him as we grow in Holiness. As Christians, we need to allow the Word of God to become a part of us. As we read and reread the word, it will stick in our memories. Making it available to us at all times to reflect on.

When we study a passage, and we find something that pertains to our lives, we must stop and acknowledge it prayerfully. Without regular, personal Bible study and prayer, we are not really walking with Christ as His followers, and we are certainly not obeying His requirement for us to know  Him better!  There is a multitude of blessings waiting for us, we will find them in His living word as we study it, and will learn how to apply those blessings to our lives.

2 Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God (and His Truth) as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Don't forget Prayer! Study the Bible prayerfully. It is impossible to study the Bible devotionally without praying, since we are coming to God in Scripture and must communicate with Him verbally if we do. But although prayer is part of a devotional study of Scripture, I mention prayer only because we so often neglect it. The best way to study the Bible is to begin the study in prayer  remembering to be in awe of God's Word!!

John 8:32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The following is a prayer I use before I study.

Father, I pray my eyes will be opened to see the vision that You have impressed upon my heart, so that the wondrous work of the Word will come alive in me. Open my ears Lord to hear the Truth Your Word is giving to us. Help us, in Christ Jesus, to be still and know that You alone are God. You know me inside out, so search me and take away anything that is not of You. As I strive to see Your grace at work in me. I pray this in the name of Jesus! Amen