Posts Tagged ‘Scripture’

Reason 4: So that the word of God abides in you

” So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV)

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7, ESV)

“I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:14, ESV)

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;” (1 Peter 1:22-23, ESV)

The word of God is an abiding word (1 Peter 1:23). The word of God is truth (Romans 10:17) and brings about the new birth (1 Peter 1:23) and brings faith (Romans 10:17) and enables us to overcome the evil one (1 John 2:14, see also Reason 3 of Reasons to Memorize Scripture).  Although memorizing scripture is one method of to have the word of God abide in you, it is not and should not be considered the only means to abide in the word. By nature abiding in the word of God includes spending time in it through reading, mediation, and study.

The abiding word of God brings us within reach of a few of Jesus’ promises. There are a few different kinds of promises. Some are unconditional like when God appeared to Abram and promised to give his offspring the land, while other promises are conditional like when Jesus say’s “if” you abide in my word then ask whatever you wish or then you are truly my disciples. The promise Jesus gives us is a conditional promise. He will not give the result of the promises unless we meet the required condition.

It is important to understand what the promise is. Often times people will create a false promise by taking a verse out of the context of the passage. In the case John 8:31, the promise of abiding in His word, is that we are His disciples. That is important but it does not stop there. It continues to say that we will know the truth and will be set free by the truth. Unless we abide in the word, we are not disciples and we will not know the truth or be set free by the truth. Additionally, John 15:7 indicates that if we abide in the word we can ask God whatever we wish and it will be done for us. Taken out of context this verse fits almost any bad theology. Therefore, we must keep reading. Verse 8 say’s “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” The asking whatever you wish is directly related to bearing fruit and glorifying God the Father. If we abide in the word our desires will be transformed by the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:1-2) so that we can bear much fruit. The asking is for the bearing of much fruit.

Memorizing Scripture will help us to abide in the word of God when we are living our daily lives, running errands, having conversation at work, in a meeting, paying bills, going to the hospital, and reading the test results. If we want to bear much fruit, be disciples, fight sin, defeat Satan and love one another we must abide in the word.

Abiding in the word,

Pastor Ray

Reason 3: It enables you to fight the fight of faith.

Christians are to grow in holiness. We are saved through sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13) or through an increase in holiness. An increase in holiness is an evidence of conversion and faith in Christ. The Christian life is to be fought. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12, ESV).

Therefore, we know that we are to be saved through sanctification and that we must fight for faith. The question is how?

We grow in holiness and fight sin with the promises of God. It is the word of God that enables us to fight sin. Sin offers a promise; and God offers a promise. Our fight of faith is to trust God’s promise over the promise of the sin. Faith is to trust God.

Example 1

For example, one may be tempted to steal money. The promise sin offers: If you steal this money then you will have money for food.

The way to fight the promise of that sin is to counter it with God’s promise:  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26, ESV).

Therefore, we counter the lie of the devil with the promise of God to provide. Of course we are more valuable then birds of the air!

Example 2

Another example may be one who is tempted to lie or cheat because others oppose us. The demonic promise: That by lying or cheating we will overcome those who rise against us.

However, we can fight this temptation to sin with the promise of God in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Example 3

Perhaps you struggle with anxiety and are tempted to be anxious. We can fight that sin with the promise of God in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” Or “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3, ESV).

Memorizing Scripture provides us with the promises God ordained we use to live the Christian life. If we do not know the promises of God then we are only able to listen to the promise of Sin. We have nothing to offer in opposition to Sin. Every moment of everyday we should be trusting Christ. How can we trust that which we don’t know? Faith in Jesus is trusting Him for salvation. It is trusting Him for the finished work on the Cross. It is trusting Him for the forgiveness of sin, however, it is also used to fight sin and to prevent sin. The Word of God is to abide in us.

For the keeping of faith,

Pastor Ray

During Simon’s talk with the Youth Group last evening, he mentioned the problem of people taking Scripture out of context and distorting the meaning of God’s Word. He gave the example of an individual telling him that “For God so loved the world” from John 3:16 means that since God loves the world, everything in the world should be loved. Simon pointed out the pitfalls in taking such a teaching to its logical conclusion.

I am hopeful that any passages of Scripture you find on this blog will be true to the Word of God in context; it is the reader’s job to test any words proclaimed to be God’s Words.

Another example of a verse who’s meaning changes as it is quoted out of context is “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This verse is often quoted as a magical formula for conquering any and every problem, for succeeding at various tasks, and for accomplishing the impossible. While other passages in Scripture may make a case for the Christian accomplishing the impossible through Christ, it isn’t Philippians 4:13. The context of Paul’s “I can do all things” proclamation is learning to be content with much or with little. “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul may have been considering the wise teaching of Agur from Proverbs 30:7-9.

“Two things I ask of you O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and dishonor the name of my God.” (NIV)

I suspect that each of us has a different threshold of what is too much or too little. Paul seems to be saying that his limits have been stretched in both directions and he has learned to find contentment in either extreme.

As you choose verses to commit to memory, remember to retain the contextual meaning of those verses and to rightly divide the Word of Truth.

Reason 2: The word of God brings hope.

” My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.” (Psalm 119:81, ESV)

“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.” (Psalm 119:114, ESV)

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” (Psalm 119:147, ESV)

Psalms 119 is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. It is the longest chapter in the bible and it is the longest sustained meditation and praise of God’s word in the bible. For those of you who struggle with the desire to read the bible, or memorize scripture, or meditate on God’s word, or have never read Psalm 119; I highly commend it to you.

The word of God is hope. It is our hope in the time of trouble, trial, pain, suffering, anxiety, decision making, triumph, joy, weakness and strength. The word of God guards our heart from fainting in times of weakness and satisfies the soul when longing for eternity with Jesus. Time spent in the bible, the word of God is sure to be the best investment of our day. We should be memorizing everyday so that when we are at work, school, around the house, on the phone, in a meeting, driving the car, or on the ferry we are able to depend on the promises of God given in his word. Scripture sustains us, but only when we have it with us. If the word is not with us to sustain us, we will substitute God’s word with something else. It is impractical to open the bible every time you need it. However, memorized scripture is always there when you need it. Memorized scripture never fails, it always strengthens!

In need of more memorized scripture,

Pastor Ray

Reason 1: It helps you meditate on Scripture.

As I have been working and memorizing the first part of Ephesians, I spent a significant amount of time with verse one. Not because it is difficult to memorize, rather it is because when memorizing you spend more time in what you are memorizing.  Therefore, when memorizing Scripture we are better enabled to meditate on the word of God, which helps us to understand a word, verse, passage, chapter, book and the Bible. Meditation is required to memorize. You must spend time thinking about, repeating and perhaps writing the words you are memorizing. To memorize we are forced to slow down and this allows us to see things we generally pass over.

Perhaps you may be encouraged to hear my experience with verse one and seek for similar experiences. This one verse is profound. When you slow down you may be impacted the way I am. Read and think about the first part of the verse.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God… Eph 1:1

Paul was an apostle because of the will of God, no other reason; and certainly not because of Paul. Now, put yourself there. Ray a Pastor of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. _________ a disciple of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Contemplate your testimony, trails, pains, struggles, and your circumstances. Now praise the Lord for who you are, where you are and what you are, because you are what you are by the grace of God. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Praying for you all,

Pastor Ray

The spiritual growth of a believer should always be increasing, never stagnate or decreasing. Books are one of the best ways to enhance, deepen, build and strengthen your relationship with Christ and ultimately love God more. Please check in from time to time as we continue to offer book and reading suggestions. Recommended Reading List.

Pastor Ray

Luke 6:45 reminds us that what is in our hearts will overflow in our speech. If Scripture is true (and it is) then the conversations that continue to crop up regarding sports, politics, business, family, and even church seem to indicate that we place greater importance on a myriad of other subjects and systems than we do on seeking the Kingdom of God. As I listen to the passion demonstrated regarding all of these man-centered systems, please forgive me if I am misreading words and not seeing the heart of the matter. I am reminded of Psalm 115:8 and Psalm 135:18 and Isaiah 44:9; the context of these verses discusses the futility of human effort in the making of alternatives to God (making idols). “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”  And finally, “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.” What are we treasuring in our hearts? What does the evidence of our words indicate about our heart’s overflow? Can we identify and cast down the idols in our own lives? God forgive us and continue to change us into Your likeness.

 Merry Christmas, from Tony

A “Recommended Reading” list may be found under the “Resources” tab on this web page. If you desire to get to know the Word of God and the God of the Word better, you may wish to check out that link.

 A quick search of Scripture for the words “mind, meaning, believe, truth, understanding, know,” and “knowledge,” yields over 3,000 separate references. God’s Word has much to say about our minds. At times, I look in the Bible and wonder how the disciples could miss obvious meaning in words spoken by Jesus Christ. In Luke 18:31-33 the Twelve are specifically told of the approaching death of Jesus, but we are informed that they didn’t understand any of what was said. “Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.” (How often is the meaning of God’s Word hidden from us?)

After the resurrection and all the rumors of Christ being alive again, the disciples received another opportunity to hear the teaching of the Messiah. Luke 24:44-45 says, “He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”  Christ then reminded them of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and told them to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they were clothed with power.

The beauty of worshiping God in spirit and in truth is that God is the originator of both. Pray that he will open our minds to the understanding of the Scripture, and that he will clothe us with power to do his will and bring him glory.