I have noticed that a lot of us folks who call ourselves Christians, tend to have a pretty distorted view of the Scriptures.  This is something that we need to pay attention to, especially since our view of God’s Word determines our faith and our faith determines our life!  Romans 10:17 says:  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

We don’t really value the Word!  We say we love it, but we are not so good at obeying it. We claim we believe it, but we do not fully understand or apply it!  This is a faulty foundation and needs to be fixed.  We need the right attitude toward the Word of God or everything else is going to be off!

We need to take a look at what the Word has to say about itself!  A lot of people believe, but believe it in a vague way.  Many take the Scripture and use it the way they want to use it, which leads to a whole lot of misunderstanding and frustration.  Our goal needs to be to use it the way God intended.

We need to believe that what we read in our Bible is God’s Word!  Our Bible is God’s inspired Word written through men!  Our Bible is God inerrant Word and is perfect in every way!  It is accurate, trustworthy and the perfect guide to direct our life!  Our Bible is God’s infallible Word and speaks to every situation of life!  We need ABSOLUTES and the good news is that there are absolutes and we can have confidence in God’s Word!

We really need these absolutes!  James 1:2-8 “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

I am not perfect, but I am excited to say that I am experiencing that God’s Word is true and it is changing my
life in more ways than I could have ever imagined!  In Mark 4:3-20 we read the lesson that Jesus taught about the parable of the seed and the soil and find a very important lesson about what God’s Word is and how it works.

Jesus said:  3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” 13 And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

You Reap What You Sow!  The old saying comes right out of the Word and it is very true!  We learn from the above passage that “God’s Word Is The Seed!”  You can’t grow anything without a seed!  Verse 14 tells us that “The sower sows the Word!”
The seed that we plant, the seed that produces a harvest in our lives us God’s Word and you have to live it to understand it!

It is a simple, but powerful truth:  If you don’t plant, you can’t harvest!  If we really believe it’s God’s Word, then we should plant this Word in our lives!  We want the blessings of God, but won’t use what He has given us!  The best way I know to plant the seed of God’s Word in our heart and lives is by taking time to meditate on it.  (Not just read it, but actually “stew” on it!)
You can’t claim a promise that you don’t know.  In other words:  You have to know the promise to claim the promise!

1 Peter 1:22-25 gives some great instruction from another perspective when it teaches:  “22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.”  It says that we have been born again not from perishable seed, but imperishable seed.  The greek word for seed in this passage is where we get our word for sperm.  From the word seed comes impregnation and from impregnation comes life.

It Is The Natural Design Of God!  We have to obey the natural laws and design of God, if we expect to live in blessing and victory!  We have to do our part, because this is how the Kingdom works!  God will not do for you, what He expects and has prepared you to do for yourself.

Ephesians 4:11-16  “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  This passage teaches us that God has provided others to help us, but that we are all responsible and have a part!

Will You Do Your Part?  Will you do your part to make sure that you are building and living life from the right foundation?  Here are three steps to help you get headed in the right direction:  1.)  Fall in love with the Word!  Get your very own personal copy and carry it with you.  Read it every chance you get and share it with others!  2.) Study, apply and obey the Word!  Open it up and seek to understand what you are reading and how it makes life better.  Practice what you are learning and grow in every area that you can.  3.) Claim the promises of the Word!  The Scriptures are full of all kinds of promises.  Find these promises, know them, claim them, experience them and talk about how amazing they are!

Thank you so much for letting me share a little of what the Spirit is sharing with me and I hope that it blesses and grows you so that you might continue to live blessed!