How Does The Bible Guide My Life? (9)
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Think Like Jesus
Think Like Jesus
What Do I Believe and Why Does It Matter?
Key: Verse 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 throughly equipped for every good work.”
Introduction
The Key Question to be considered in this lesson is: HOW CAN I KNOW GOD AND HIS WILL FOR MY LIFE?
As believers in Christ, it is important for us to understand with confidence that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and it shares God’s truth and will for our lives.
Its vital also for us to know how to understand its truths for ourselves. The Bible helps us to know the important matters such as who God truly is. It shares His identity as being for us the One and True God and His love for us.
The Bible helps us to realize we have been born into sin and are separated from Him.
The Word God “The Bible” reveals for us that Jesus paid for our sins in order to bring us back into right fellowship with Him, He restore us.
The Bible gives us the ultimate outline to learn how to live successful and productive life and gives us the truth about the future and God’s ultimate plan for the redemption for all people. His plan for eternal salvation.
This Book, The Bible holds tremendous power for Christians. Our Creator God speaks to us through it because He loves us and wants us to have access to learning and knowing about Him. The Word of God carries great power and authority because of the authority of the One who speaks/utters it. God breathed life into all things, including the words of the Bible, and He uses His Word to show us His purposes.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Then he carefully unveiled to them the revelation of himself throughout the Scripture. He started from the beginning and explained the writings of Moses and all the prophets, showing how they wrote of him and revealed the truth about himself.
For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, and it pierces more sharply than a two-edged sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet! It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts.
Therefore, we should learn from the study of God’s Word, the role of His Word in the life of a believer; as one recognizes the authority of the Bible as God’s affirm its right to command our beliefs and our actions as we live according to His Word.
The Key Idea IS...
I BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND HAS THE RIGHT TO COMMAND MY BELIEF AND ACTION
As we accept the above statement, this means that we will only give the Bible the right to guide our lives as we believe in it to be the true Word of God.
There are three concepts given from the Word of God that support the fact that God’s Word is true:
We read that the Bible is inspired, that it is breathed out by God himself. Apostle Paul teaches in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (KJV)
We read that God revealed, or breathed, His message into chosen people to be penned/written down. It took forty authors more than, 1,400 years to record the sixty-six books in the Bible. After these inspired works were penned, individuals books were made/copied with carefulness to ensure that the True Word of God and its meaning was preserved/maintained. Then the Bible was brought to all people when it was translated from the original Hebrew and Greek copies into other languages. It is reported that the Word-The Bible is recorded with 99.9 percent accuracy.
When we study God’s Word-The Bible we read that it is infallible, or unfailing, in accomplishing its purpose. What God’s Word says will come about. Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Therefore, what we believe about the Bible impacts whether we will let it direct/guide whether we will let it guide our beliefs and actions. If its is the inspired Word of /god, our beliefs will be molded by it. If it is the inspired Word of God, our actions will reflect what we believe.
Every Scripture has been written by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. Then you will be God’s servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfill any assignment God gives you.
You must understand this at the outset: Interpretation of scriptural prophecy requires the Holy Spirit, for it does not originate from someone’s own imagination. No true prophecy comes from human initiative but is inspired by the moving of the Holy Spirit upon those who spoke the message that came from God.
Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
Therefore, God’s Word is reliable as His inspired word to us. It is inspired and infallible. God’s Word is True.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Key Application
WHAT DIFFERENCE THIS MAKES
Believing that God’s Word is actually His inspired utterance, life-giving, and unfailing Word, then how should it affect our daily lives?
The Bible should be the lens through which we view the world and everything we encounter. Allowing the Bible its rightful place in our lives and submitting to its authority opens our eyes to see the intervention of God in history, in our present lives, and on into the future as He continues to write the grand story.
If we believe the Bible is God’s inspired word, we should be motivated to study it to understand His will for our lives. The Bible forms the content of truth in which we seek to maintain our minds. As our minds are transformed, so are our lives as we trust the Lord to know what is best for us and to guide us. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” The Bible God’s Holy Word will guide us because it is the inspired Word of the Creator of both heaven and earth. So we can believe that the word of God has the right to command our beliefs and actions, therefore, we can allow it to take rightful authority in shaping our lives daily.
Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
God’s word is alive and active because it gives and stores up commands within the believer’s heart. It gives the believer wisdom as one applies it from the heart to understanding and it gives insight. As believers we must search the Word of God and then we can find the hidden treasure with understanding, finding knowledge, understanding and protection. God’s Word is “alive and Active.
The Ten Commandments reveals what is most important to God.
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
The ten Commandments shares with us and reveals what is most important to our God. God has given us all that we need to know about Him and how we should serve Him in His Word in His Holy Bible. He has clarified any misconceptions we might have about His character.
In studying God’s Word the Holy Bible we can gain a better understanding of who we are and our purpose in this world.
Recalling the three key applications in this study can help us understand the importance of doing what is right in our lives as we obey God’s Word...
The Bible is the lens from which we view the world.
We should remain motivated to study the Bible to understand God’s will for our lives.
The principles in the Bible must govern our lives when we don’t fully understand; we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help with our understanding...
After participating in this study one should believe that the Bible is absolutely true in matters of faith and morals. The words of the Bible are words from God. The Bible has the decisive authority over what I say and do. And lastly, one should come to believe that the Bible is relevant to address the needs for our world even still today.
In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there.
And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God.
They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning.
And through his creative inspiration
this Living Expression made all things,
for nothing has existence apart from him!
Life came into being because of him,
for his life is light for all humanity.
And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom—
the Light that darkness could not diminish!
Then suddenly a man appeared who was sent from God,
a messenger named John.
For he came to be a witness, to point the way to the Light of Life,
and to help everyone believe.
John was not that Light but he came to show who is.
For he was merely a messenger to speak the truth about the Light.
For the Light of Truth was about to come into the world
and shine upon everyone.
He entered into the very world he created,
yet the world was unaware.
He came to the very people he created—
to those who should have recognized him,
but they did not receive him.
But those who embraced him and took hold of his name
were given authority to become
the children of God!
He was not born by the joining of human parents
or from natural means, or by a man’s desire,
but he was born of God.
And so the Living Expression
became a man and lived among us!
And we gazed upon the splendor of his glory,
the glory of the One and Only
who came from the Father overflowing
with tender mercy and truth!
“I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest. The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you. So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine.
“I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless. If a person is separated from me, he is discarded; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire to be burned. But if you live in life-union with me and if my words live powerfully within you—then you can ask whatever you desire and it will be done. When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!
“I love each of you with the same love that the Father loves me. You must continually let my love nourish your hearts. If you keep my commands, you will live in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands, for I continually live nourished and empowered by his love. My purpose for telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!
“So this is my command: Love each other deeply, as much as I have loved you. For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.
“You show that you are my intimate friends when you obey all that I command you. I have never called you ‘servants,’ because a master doesn’t confide in his servants, and servants don’t always understand what the master is doing. But I call you my most intimate friends, for I reveal to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father. You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of my Father, for my sake, he will give it to you! So this is my parting command: Love one another deeply!”
“Just remember, when the unbelieving world hates you, they first hated me. If you were to give your allegiance to the world, they would love and welcome you as one of their own. But because you won’t align yourself with the values of this world, they will hate you. I have chosen you and taken you out of the world to be mine. So remember what I taught you, that a servant isn’t superior to his master. And since they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And if they obey my teachings, they will also obey yours. They will treat you this way because you are mine, and they don’t know the One who sent me.
“If I had not come and revealed myself to the unbelieving world, they would not feel the guilt of their sin, but now their sin is left uncovered. If anyone hates me, they hate my Father also. If I had not performed miracles in their presence like no one else has done, they would not feel the guilt of their sins. But now, they have seen and hated both me and my Father. And all of this has happened to fulfill what is written in their Scriptures: They hated me for no reason.
“And I will send you the Divine Encourager from the very presence of my Father. He will come to you, the Spirit of Truth, emanating from the Father, and he will speak to you about me. And you will tell everyone the truth about me, for you have walked with me from the start.”
The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is “The Word of Life.”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
To conclude, the word of God carries great power and authority because of the authority of the One who speaks it. God breathed life into all things including the words of the Bible and He uses His Words to show us His purposes.
For as the rain cometh down,
And the snow from heaven,
And returneth not thither,
But watereth the earth,
And maketh it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
It shall not return unto me void,
But it shall accomplish that which I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
The Word
John 1:1; 14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
V.14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, and it pierces more sharply than a two-edged sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet! It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts.
“The Holy Spirit is the one who gives life, that which is of the natural realm is of no help. The words I speak to you are Spirit and life. But there are still some of you who won’t believe.”
The earth and sky will wear out and fade away before one word I speak loses its power or fails to accomplish its purpose.”
In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life —