BUILD UP YOURSELF IN THE WORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 22, 2023.

SUBJECT: BUILD UP YOURSELF IN THE WORD! 

Memory verse: "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20 vs 32.)

READ: Second Timothy 3 vs 16 - 17:

3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

3:17: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished to all good works.

INTIMATION:

The word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us. It is the means by which God instructs those who seek to be His children. One cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless he is guided in life by the inspired Word of God. 

God’s Word is profitable for motivating repentance in one’s life and direction of his behavior. No realm of the human life escapes its penetrating power and judgements. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. Obedience to the Word of God will deter one from the wrong direction of life. Study of, and meditation, on the Word of God will mold one’s mind for correct thinking and behavior. 

Our conquest is ensured in our building up ourselves in the Word of God by doing all that is required of us in the Word. Today’s memory verse was the apostle Paul’s recommendation to the believers when he was leaving the church at Ephesus. He may never see them again and he commended them to the Father. He turned them over into the hands of love, and he said, ‘I not only do this, but I commend you to the word of His grace.’ The apostle Paul's epistles are the words of His grace, and so the whole New Testament makes up the Book of the Word of the Father's grace.

If the apostle Paul is to be here with us now, he would say, "I want you to study it. I want you to prove yourself capable of doing the Word." There will be ability in the Word as you study it to put you over and make you a conqueror. To merely know the Word has no real value in it unless it becomes a part of your life in practicing it. As you begin to live the Word, then it becomes a part of your very being—enters into your blood, into your very system. Consequently, the strength and ability of God becomes a part of you, and you would be overwhelmed by “the exceeding greatness of His power toward you who believe, according to working of His mighty power.” 

The apostle Paul entrusted the Ephesians elders to the guidance of the revealed Word of God. It would spiritually build them up if they allowed God to work in their lives through the Word. If they remained faithful to the Word of God, they would receive the result of their faith which was the salvation of their souls in heaven. God’s people must be entirely dependent on the Word of God for direction. Neither subjective emotional experiences nor traditions should be allowed to be the foundation upon which disciples of Christ base their faith. 

Since the Word of God will be our only standard by which we will be judged, then it is imperative that we direct our lives according to what is written. One must come to the Scriptures with the attitude that within them lies wisdom and answers to all problems of life. With such an attitude toward the Scriptures, one will benefit from his study of God’s Word. The fact that the Scriptures are sufficient to guide one to eternal dwelling, implies that one must trust in God’s speaking to him through the revealed Word of God.

The Bible, in Hebrews 4 vs 12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.” In this context, the passage refers to the stability of God’s Word of promise. Christians must walk in faith in the Word of God’s promise. In one trusts in the promise of God, then God’s Word is able to transform his life. 

God’s word is living because God lives. It’s metaphorically illustrated as two-edged sword that is able to cut both ways in correcting one’s behavior. With the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it shape our lives. 

The effectiveness of its power is illustrated every day by the transformed lives of formerly hardened sinners who have yielded to God’s promise of an eternal rest to come. Transformed lives that are revealed in the gentle and humble servants of God are a continual testimony to the awesome power of God’s Word upon a meek and subjective heart.

Prayer: Abba Father, build me up in Your Word, and endue me with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You in Your Word, and my understanding of the hope of Your calling and the riches of Your inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of Your mighty working power toward those who put their trust in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!