Reconciliation Ministries
God's Word, Part 3 - 7 Blessings [Of God's Word To
You]
SAWDUST LIVING
THERE is a story told about a village which was infested with rats. The people
tried everything they knew to rid themselves of them but did not have any success until
one day. They put a pile of sawdust at both ends of the road into the village. At nights
the rats would come out and feed and feed on the sawdust. Instead of disappearing the rats
Grew Bigger and Bigger. Looked like they were on steroids! Night after night this
continued until one day there were no more rats- not one left. They all died. For you see
there is no NUTRITION in sawdust and they all died of MALNUTRITION! They had the
appearance of health but what they were eating was useless and of no benefit what so ever
to their well being.
ALL AROUND us people are feeding their souls on things that cannot satisfy or prosper
their souls and they are dying of spiritual Malnutrition. Christians, likewise in our day
of Apathy, indifference and spiritual laziness are feeding on second hand sermons, getting
their views of Christianity often from "Christian" music, whose words often are
based more on feelings than Sound Teaching, and they live roller coaster lives, at the
mercy of circumstances, feelings and are like little children tossed around by every wind
of doctrine as Ephesians 4:14 says. Our Bibles are barely opened, due to our busyness and
not only are we suffering because of our lack of maturity but those whom we come in
contact with fail to benefit due to our inappropriate feeding at the foot of the TV, and
Wall Street and anywhere but where we can be fed, and instructed, namely God's Word.
CHURCH MALNOURISHED;
And though our churches are busy, yet some are spiritual impoverished from the
pulpit to the view, because we have been feeding on "SAWDUST." during the week.
And the appearance of spiritual health on a Sunday morning is betrayed by our priorities
and pursuits from Monday to Saturday. And so we are MALNOURISHED and we turn to
entertainment IN OUR CHURCH SERVICE'S BECAUSE We cannot take in a Healthy dose of God's
Word.
Our services are short on the Word and much on announcements and entertainment. Jokes, and
dramas and "friendly seeking churches" abound. Anything not to offend. Indeed
anything to try and numb the void of our True Need for Nutrition for our souls, which God
supplies in Himself and through His Word. We are Hungering needlessly, but too often we
deceive ourselves into thinking we are fine!
God's Word is Given in part to
A. MAKE US WISE UNTO SALVATION - 2 Timothy 3:15
B. TO REVEAL TRUTH TO US- 2 Timothy 2:25
GOD'S WORD is ABLE to...
1. FREE YOU UP - "And you shall KNOW the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall
Set you FREE."- John 8:31-32
GOD'S WORD is ABLE to...
2. BUILD YOU UP - "And now I commend you to God and the Word of His
grace which is able to BUILD YOU UP..."
GOD'S WORD is ABLE to...
3. GROW YOU UP - "Like new born babes desire the sincere milk of the
Word by which you GROW..."
God's Word enlightened by the Holy Spirit and PRACTICED by the believer is able to FREE
you up, BUILD you up, and GROW you up...SPIRITUALLY and not only these three but Consider
some other things God's Word is Capable of doing in your Life....
GOD'S WORD is ABLE TO
4. GIVE YOU DISCERNMENT - "In fact though by this time you ought to
be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of GOD'S WORD all over
again.... Solid food is for the MATURE, who by CONSTANT use have TRAINED THEMSELVES to
DISTINGUISH good from evil."
Applying God's Word in your daily Living brings about MATURITY and as a result you can
understand and discern what God says is good and what God says is Evil. To be sure, others
may differ with your "assessment" of things but not God. For what He calls
"good" is "good" and what He calls "evil" is evil ... and
you will be in alignment with Him as you Chose to APPLY and PRACTICE obeying His Word.
GOD'S WORD is ABLE TO...
5. BLESS YOU. - "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law
that gives FREEDOM, and CONTINUES to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, BUT DOING
IT- he WILL BE BLESSED in what he does."
The Blessing is not for the one who knows truth. The blessing is not for the one who
teaches truth. The blessing is not for the one who can recite the truth. The blessing is
not for the one who can accurately divide the truth. The blessing is not for the one who
agrees with the truth. The Blessing is for the one who is a DOER of the Word.
God Blesses Obedience. Obedience is an evidence of Love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
"He who has My Commandments and OBEYS them he it is who LOVES Me," We express
our Love to the Lord through obeying the Word of the Lord!
TO CLARIFY: Often when we speak of God’s Blessings people think monetarily,
materialistically...AND THIS IS OFTEN BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT APPEALS TO THE person, it is
WHERE THEIR TREASURE IS [Matthew 6:21]. True these may be some blessings, as God's Word
says in James 1:17, "every good gift comes down from the Father...". But the
great Blessing is not always exterior. For indeed many have wealth who have no peace, but
the blessing is inward contentment and satisfaction with the Lord Jesus and His Joy and
Peace [Romans 5:1, Philippians 4:7] ruling our hearts and minds. God does Bless externally
and God does Bless Internally.
THE CHILD OF GOD; Hears Gods' Word and Obeys God's Word and God blesses Obedience as He
chooses. We do not obey to be blessed. We obey because He first loved us and out of Love
for Him we CHOOSE to obey to express our Love to Him.
GOD'S WORD is ABLE TO ...
6. PRODUCE HAPPINESS - " Blessed or HAPPY is the man who does not
walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of
mockers. BUT his DELIGHT is in the LAW OF THE LORD and on His law he meditates day and
night."
It s not a happiness that is dependent on External Circumstances but a deep abiding
happiness that God places in a heart... The Word "Blessed" here is sometimes
translated "Happy"..."Oh the HAPPINESS" WITH the PRACTICE of God's
Word comes DISCERNMENT. The HAPPY INDIVIDUAL is characterized by three Things according to
this passage:
A. He has DISCERNMENT - verse 1
B. His DELIGHT is in the Word of God- verse 2
C. He is being DEVELOPED by God- verse 3
True Happiness comes from being a DOER of God's Word.
GOD'S WORD is ABLE TO
7. GIVE YOU A KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST. -"And beginning with Moses
and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things CONCERNING HIMSELF in ALL the
SCRIPTURES."
THE ROAD TO EMMAEUS;
What a Bible lesson it must have been for these two discouraged disciples on
their way home from Jerusalem. Discouraged by Jesus death... Upon His resurrection He
walks alongside them and somehow were "prevented from recognizing Him"- verse
16... Beginning with Moses He began to take them through the Scriptures and show them
HIMSELF in the Scriptures. Too often we come to the Scriptures for "truth" or
"knowledge" for knowledge sake. for Sunday school lessons, or Bible lessons, or
sermon preparation and we MISS HIM!!! It is Possible to have your "devotions"
and never meet with Him!
"BUILT THE DAM AND MISSED THE RIVER!"
As one old country preacher said about a Hotel that was built in the shape of a
Dam beside the river in Knoxville, TN, in the USA ,"They built the Dam and missed the
RIVER." So often we Miss Him when we come to the Scriptures.
Look for Him when you come to read. Does the passage you are reading say anything about
Him? What does the passage you are reading say about Him? His character? Philippians 1:8
says that He is "Affectionate." How true this is and How has He demonstrated
that so to you?
Dear friend, Be occupied with Him. Seek Him when you come to HIS Word.
Some people are more occupied with "Principles" than the "PERSON" of
Jesus Christ. They've "built the dam and missed the river."- They MISS THE
POINT. The Point being Christianity IS CHRIST! 2 Peter 3:18 we are COMMANDED to GROW in
our KNOWLEDGE OF HIM...Paul, thirty years after his conversion wrote "that I may KNOW
HIM..." - Philippians 3:8-10. Indeed he said he counted it all "dung" that
he may KNOW HIM."
Don't get me wrong we need to know Principles from God's Word so we can apply them to our
life situation in order to please Him ... but dear friend ... the Goal is to Know and Love
Him.
Some people are content with Biblical Knowledge. But the Knowledge of God's Word is to
bring us to a Knowledge of God...that we may know Him and obey Him, Love Him and worship
Him aright- John 4:23-24
GOD'S WORD is ABLE to...
1. FREE YOU UP
2. BUILD YOU UP
3. GROW YOU UP
4. GIVE YOU DISCERNMENT
5. BLESS YOU
6. PRODUCE HAPPINESS
7. TO KNOW GOD
WHO IS SUFFERING?
Dear Friend, God has Given His Word, The Bible to you...to feed your soul and
bless you. Are you like the rats that were feeding and had the appearance of
"health" but who were dying? What do you feed your mind on? What is it that you
Gravitate to... Are you Maturing in your walk with God? Are you lazy and indifferent to
the things of God? Perhaps it may be time to check where you are "Dining" at.
Who is not benefiting because of your indifference? Your spouse, child, church? Those at
work? God gives His Word, not merely to inform you and I, but to Change us ... and that
others may see His blessing in our lives and indeed cause them to inquire why. Are you
being Changed?
SELF DESTRUCTION
I heard a story once of how wolves were caught in one snow filled part of the
world. The Trapper would get his knife and stick the handle of the knife deep into the
snowy ground, with only the blade sticking up. He would cover the blade with snow and then
put some blood on the sharp blade. As the snow froze, the wolf would be attracted to the
blood and would begin to lick and lick and lick the blood dry, never knowing that the
blood it was licking was its own. For as the wolf licked through the initial blood, his
own tongue was cut by the sharp blade of the knife, unnoticed by him. And the wolf would
die having inflicted a mortal wound from his desire for blood. All around us people are
dying, some in the fleeting pleasure of their sin...not knowing it is killing them. God
has given you His Word to Bless you and indeed "HOLD OUT THE WORD OF LIFE" as
Paul says in Philippians 2:16.... God desires you to share His Word with Others. But if
your not feeding yourself how can you feed others? The truth is, many of us Christians are
Destroying ourselves, and our witness by feeding on things that do not help to Build us
up, Grow us up, or Free us up ... and the result is weak Christians who are not grounded
in God's Word, but who are primarily emotional and entertainment orientated when it comes
to our desires for church and what we call "fellowship".
It is time to get in God's Word and Let God's Word get in you... The "Sawdust"
of this world can never satisfy your NEED. He can, and He by His Holy Spirit gives you His
Word to come and Feed on...
God desires you to experience these Seven Blessings from His Word.
APPLICATION;
You can Change. It begins with you choosing to and ordering your
PRIORITIES...Regarding GOD'S WORD. TODAY BEGIN TO Read it, Study it, Meditate on it, Hide
it in your heart, Obey it...and EXPERIENCE these SEVEN BLESSINGS of God for You today!
Where do you Begin?
1. - COMMIT to God's Word. - Prioritize your life to have times in His Word.
2. - SUBMIT to God's Word. - What it says, "do."
3. - TRANSMIT Gods Word ... - Live it out! And People will see the Reality of Christ lived
out through you and perhaps even ask why?
God bless, you are loved.
Aidan
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