Tag Archives: God’s Word Translation

Why Read The Bible – Day 32 0f 32 – Obedience

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Today’s Scripture:  “ I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.”   Psalm 119:59

Introduction:

How fitting it is that we wrap up this series with Psalm 119, and with one last reminder about “Obedience”.  I don’t have a long-winded introduction, and I don’t believe that this message is going to be very long-winded neither.  It’s been a long journey to get to this 32nd day of this series, and I think we’ve covered a lot of topics, subjects, points, and reasons why reading the Bible is so important…none more important than the one we talked about in our last message…that’s how we encounter and interact with God…every time.

Isn’t that good news?  Every single time we read the Bible we are interacting, and having an encounter with God.  Like I said, I don’t know about you, but for me that’s the best and only reason I need.  It allows me to have a personal interaction and encounter with God every time I read it.  That’s a good enough reason for me.

Today, however, we wrap up this series with one last reminder about:  “Obedience”.

Today’s Message:

As I began to write the introduction I heard the Holy Spirit simply say that this is the last time in this series to remind not only you…the reader, but me the writer that we need to do what we read.  We need to be obedient to the Word of God.  Yes, we all know that none of us are going to get 100% when it comes to following the Word of God, but we should always endeavor to be obedient to the Word of God.

For me, as I think about the ministry that I’m called to the greatest thing that I can do for you is to make sure that I’m preaching the Word.  That to me is the pinnacle of obedience for all who are in ministry.  If you’re preaching anything other than the Word of God…then you aren’t in obedience to the Holy Ghost.  Period.

You can be mad at me all you like, but Paul didn’t write:  “Preach the Purpose Filled Life by Rick Warren” or “Preach Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen” or “It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado” or anything else did he?  No.  Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV):  “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

I don’t know how anyone else feels about that verse right there, but to me that is a commandment not a suggestion.  It’s something that’s a good idea.  It’s not something that might be a good topic for discussion.  No…the Word of God should BE the discussion.  It should BE the idea.  It should BE the message.

I have written:  “No Word of God = No Holy Ghost.  No Holy Ghost + No Word of God = No Power” enough times to realize that if I want to have the power of the Holy Ghost in anything whether it’s in my own personal life, in my marriage, in my finances, or in my ministry…then the Word of God is the only access I have to the power of the Holy Ghost.

Listen, the Holy Ghost doesn’t do anything apart from the Word of God.  We know that from creation that the Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the deep until God spoke, and then He performed that which God spoke.  Do you realize that the Holy Ghost is 100% obedient to the Word of God all the time, and that there is never a time that the Holy Ghost does anything of His own free will?

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:13 – 14 KJV

Did you see that?  “He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak:”.  This is Jesus talking about the Holy Ghost.  At no time does the Holy Ghost ever speak and act independently of the Word of God.

Do you know that’s how we are supposed to live our lives?  We are supposed to live our lives in the exact obedience to the Word of God that the Holy Ghost does.  However, unlike the Holy Ghost who is subject and fully submitted to the Word of God…we aren’t.  We have free will.  We have the ability to decide whether we’re going to obey what we read or not.  We have the ability to do like David writes and think upon our ways and turn our feet to His testimonies.

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)

This to me is what I am now held accountable to as a pastor.  I am responsible to be obedient to preaching, teaching, and writing messages that are centered upon the Word of God.  If I write about anything else then I am in disobedience to the Word.  You know, I’ve said this a few times, and it bears repeating…if it wasn’t for the Word of God…I wouldn’t have anything to write about anyways.

I can promise you this.  Without the Word of God I wouldn’t even be able to write like this.  Come on, you saw the messages I wrote in the beginning.  You can see…I can see how much better a writer I am today then I was when I started.  How did this development as a writer come?  By obedience to the Word of God.  The more I was obedient to the Word of God, and the Holy Ghost the better my ability to write has become.

All of this that Christlike Ministries NWA and Pastor Bryan is about today is because I’ve been obedient to the Word, and to the Holy Ghost.  Listen, this isn’t me.  I’m not able to write like this.  Outside of what I do here for the Lord I am an okay writer, but this…these messages I write on a regular basis…this isn’t me…this isn’t my ability…no this is ability, utterance, and unction that comes solely from the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost.

Do you know why I have this ability, why I have this unction and utterance, why I have this anointing, and why I am able to have the power of the Holy Ghost flow through me and my writing?  Because I preach the Word.  That’s it.

Here’s reason number two to read the Word of God:  The Power of the Holy Ghost.  Listen, if you need more than these two reasons as to why we read the Bible…then I don’t believe a 32 day series is going to help you…and I pray that you come to understand that these two reasons here are enough to answer the question Why Read The Bible?

  1. The Word of God is the only guaranteed way to always have personal interaction, and a personal encounter with God.
  2. The Word of God is the only way to have the power of the Holy Ghost in your life.

If you need anymore than those two reasons right there…then I suggest you go back through this entire series, and before you do ask the Holy Ghost to speak to you.  My messages are NOTHING without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and the ONLY way I get the inspiration of the Holy Ghost is through the Word of God.  I cannot be anymore clear than that.

We read the Word of God because that’s how we encounter God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost on a regular…hopefully daily basis.  We read the Bible because that’s how we find out about Jesus, and come to realize that the Bible is Jesus in book-form.  We read the Bible because that’s how we get the power of the Holy Ghost to flow in and through our lives.

We read the Bible because not reading the Bible is disobedience to the Word of God, and we all know that disobedience to the Word of God in any form is sin.  So…the last and final reason we read the Word of God is because if we don’t read it…it’s sin.

I don’t know about you, but I just named off 4 good reasons why we read the Bible…and I’ll close this series and message by giving you the four reasons:

Four Reasons Why We Read The Bible:

  1. It’s how we have personal interaction and encounters with God
  2. It’s how we learn that the Bible is about Jesus Christ…and how we learn about Jesus.
  3. To turn on the Power of the Holy Ghost in our lives.
  4. Not reading the Bible is a sin.

Points for Pondering:

“ I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” Psalm 119:59

  1. What made David follow God’s laws?
  2. As you reflect upon your life…do you see obedience to the Word of God?

Conclusion & Prayer:

Congratulations! You’ve finished your YouVersion Why Read the Bible? Reading Plan. It’s so fulfilling to complete a worthwhile goal. We trust that you experienced God’s presence in a special way as you engaged with His Word through your plan. Your Friends at YouVersion

Yes.  If you have managed to follow along through all 32 messages in this series I’d like to say two things.

First of all, congratulations.  I know it’s been a long series, but if you’ve made it from beginning to end that means that you’ve at the very least been committed enough to see this series through to the end.  I would like to now encourage you to use the commitment you had to this series…and turn that commitment into a desire for daily reading and studying of the Word of God.  If you need to know why…then I’ll refer you back to the four reasons listed above.

Secondly, thank you.  I want you to know that I appreciate every person who likes us on Facebook, follows us on Twitter, networks with us on LinkedIn, and reads our messages on WordPress.  The whole reason that I’m doing this is because of you, and my desire to help equip you to have a more personal, intimate, and deeper relationship with God.  I am thankful for each one of you who follows along with these messages…even the ones who are quietly following us.

I hope that more of you will like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, network with us on LinkedIn, read our messages on WordPress, and of course visit  The Official Website of Christlike Ministries NWA.  I guess I can post this one last time because it’s so important that you understand the heart of this ministry, and why this series in particular was so important to the foundation of Christlike Ministries NWA.

This ministry is about the integrity & character of Christ…and that means we will stand upon & up for the Word of God.  The Bible will ALWAYS be the ultimate authority over my life, my home, and my ministry…and it’s the foundation upon which this ministry will stand until the day the Lord comes for us.  That is my personal promise & pledge to you. This ministry will Preach the Word & be held accountable to the integrity of the Word of God!
Blessings & Grace to you.
Bryan J. Kizer
Pastor & Founder
Christlike Ministries NWA

Let’s pray and wrap up this series shall we.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for all that You’ve had to say to us through the Why Read The Bible series.  We admit that we all can spend more time in Your Word, we can all make Your Word more of a priority in our lives, and that we need to be reminded that part of being obedient to Your Word…is…well…reading it.  Forgive us, Oh Lord, for taking Your Word for granted, forgive us for not reading Your Word, and forgive us Lord…for not obeying Your Word.  We love You and honor You, and we understand that one of the greatest ways that we can prove that we love and honor You is by being obedient…and making sure that daily Bible reading and study isn’t just a part…but the priority in our lives…because in all reality…that’s how we interact and encounter You.  In Jesus’ name we pray…Amen & Amen

Why Read the Bible – Day 31 0f 32 – Interaction with the Word

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Today’s Scripture:  “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”  Ezra 7:10

Introduction:

For this message we go to a book in the Bible that not many know about…and many probably don’t even know exists.  The book of Ezra.  Not much is known about Ezra or the book that he wrote, but I love how you can find something like:  “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10.

This verse gives us a couple of things to talk about as we look at “Interaction With The Word”.

Today’s Message:

So…as we talked about yesterday and a couple other times throughout this series we have clearly come to the understanding that the Bible is Jesus in book-form.  Can we agree on that?  If not, just take a moment to re-read John 1:14 (KJV) a few times, and eventually as you read it…you’ll come to the conclusion that the when we hold the Bible in our hands we are holding Jesus.  When you look at the Bible that way…I promise you that it will give you a different perspective…and when you realize that Jesus is the Word and the Word is Jesus…then you realize like I have that the Bible is really Jesus in book-form.  Okay?

So, if that’s the case then every time I read the Bible…watch this now…I am having a personal encounter and interaction with God.   Is that right?  Think about it.  If in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  If the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.  Then every time I read the Bible…then I am interacting with the Word…and when I am interacting with the Word since the Word was with and is God…then I am interacting with God.  I am encountering God every time I read the Word of God.

So, take a moment to allow that to sink in.  Meditate upon that for a moment, and see how that might impact how you look at the Word of God.  I know for me that when I got this revelation, and I began to look at the Bible and understand that when the Bible talks about:   “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1 (KJV), and then you add “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.” John 1:14 (KJV).  Then you add to it a few more verses like:  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”…you begin to understand that God, Jesus, and the Bible are all the same…and that when I am reading the Bible…I am encountering and interacting with Him…that gives me the easiest answer in this entire series.

Why read the Bible?  To interact with God.  We read the Bible to interact with it’s Author.  We read the Word of God because it’s the easiest way for Him to speak to us.  It’s the easiest way to encounter Him, and it’s the only way that the Holy Ghost can work in our lives.  Remember that the Holy Spirit hovered until God spoke.  So…as long as God’s Word isn’t being read and spoken into and over our lives then the Holy Spirit can’t do anything in our lives.  Why?  Because the Holy Ghost responds to the spoken Word of God.

That gets us back to not just reading the Word or just hearing the Word, but doing something with the Word of God.  That gets us back to why the Word of God is the ammunition  for our prayers, and that prayer and the Word of God are the only offensive weapons in the Armor of God.  It gets to the under lying point of this entire series.

Listen…if you take nothing else from this series.  If you remember nothing else from this series.  Even if you never read another scripture from the book of Ezra again…I implore you to remember this point right here:  Reading the Word of God guarantees that we encounter God…every single time.  We can never open the Word of God, read it, and not have an encounter with God.  This book, this thing that sits and collects dust on our coffee table or nightstands…is the surest way to have an encounter and interact with God.

Can I ask you a simple question?  What other book in the world can you read it and immediately have an encounter or interaction with it’s author?  I mean this is true of books whether they are secular or Christian.  Can you read a Stephen King book and come away with it having a personal encounter and interaction with Stephen King?  Can you read a Rick Warren book and come away with having a personal encounter or interaction with Rick Warren?  Can you read a Dr. Seuss book and have a personal encounter or interaction with Dr. Seuss?  The answer to all three of those questions is an emphatic…NO.

You may read someone else’s book, and come away from it thinking they are talented or have really good knowledge or wisdom.  You may read someone else’s book, and get maybe a glimpse into their mind (which I don’t necessarily know is a good thing).  But the one thing that you cannot ever get from anyone else’s book…even  an auto-biography is a personal encounter or interaction with it’s Author.  The only book of it’s kind…is the Word of God.  There is no other book that compares to the Word of God.  There’s no other book like it any where.  There’s no other book ever written that can compare to the Bible…because no other book in the world allows you to not only have the opportunity to transform a life from darkness to life, there’s no other book in the world that offers the reader and hearer and opportunity to enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ to find eternal life, and there is no other book written anywhere by anyone that offers you the opportunity to have personal interaction and encounters with the Author every time you read it.

No, friends, this book…the Bible is not just any old book.  This Book is special.  This Book is one of a kind.  There is no other book written under Heaven that compares to the Word of God.  In fact, I believe that thanks to this verse from the Book of Ezra we now have the number one reason why we should read the Bible…To Encounter and Interact with God.

Friends, if that’s not a good enough reason for you…then I don’t know what is.  If this message would’ve been made available on the first day…then I wouldn’t have a reason to write 31 messages about why we should read the Bible…because in my opinion…Encountering God is the only reason I need…and I would hope that it’s the only reason you would need.  The rest of these messages describe something about the Word of God, how we should respond to the Word, and why the Word of God is important to us…but today’s message is the absolute best reason for reading the Bible.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think any other point is needed in this message.  I believe I’ll end this message right here by naming:  Encountering and Interacting with God as the number one reason to read the Bible.

Points for Pondering:

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10

  1. What are three things that Ezra was determined to do?
  2. Are you determined to do these things?
  3. Why/Why Not?

Conclusion & Prayer:

The three things that Ezra was determined to do was he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord (the Word of God), to do it (do what He read in the Word of God), and teach in Israel statutes and judgments (teach others the Word of God).

By now I would hope that you’d know that Christlike Ministries NWA and Pastor Bryan’s desire, passion, and determination is to do these three things.  Seek the Lord…Do what He leads us to do…equip the saints to do the work of the ministry.  In fact, this is a good place to remind you of the mission and vision of Christlike Ministries NWA are.

The Vision:  My heart is to share the love of God with you, introduce those of you who don’t know God to Him, and help those of you who do know Him…to know Him better.

The Mission:  To assist believers in developing their relationship with Christ through Bible study, prayer, and worship. Building quality believers so that they can experience God in a more intimate way.

About Us:  The desire of this ministry is to draw people to God through establishing a personal relationship with His Son…Jesus.  Building quality believers so that they can experience God in a more intimate way.

That, my friends, is the ministry that you are supporting every time you visit and “like” our Facebook page:  Facebook Fan Page of Christlike Ministries NWA, follow us on Twitter:  Twitter for Christlike Ministries NWA, join our network on LinkedIn:  Christlike Ministries NWA on LinkedIn, read our messages on WordPress:  Christlike Ministries NWA Messages on WordPress, or visit the official website:  www.christlikeministriesnwa.org.

I guess I feel it necessary to repeat one last time my personal pledge to you as the pastor, founder, and message writer for Christlike Ministries NWA.  That is this:

This ministry is about the integrity & character of Christ…and that means we will stand upon & up for the Word of God.
The Bible will ALWAYS be the ultimate authority over my life, my home, and my ministry…and it’s the foundation upon which this ministry will stand until the day the Lord comes for us.
That is my personal promise & pledge to you. This ministry will Preach the Word & be held accountable to the integrity of the Word of God!

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, as we begin to wrap up this series about Why Read The Bible may we realize that the most important reason for reading Your Word is because this is the primary way that we can not only interact with You, but have a personal encounter with You as well.  Every time we open Your Word and read it…You are speaking to us, You are interacting with us, and if we’d just think about it for a moment we’d realize that You are wanting to have an encounter with us.  Lord, let us no longer take Your Word for granted, let us no longer take a nonchalant approach to Your Word, but rather let us treasure it as David, Ezra, and others who understood that Your Word isn’t just another book to read, but the most direct way to have a personal encounter with You.  Lord, thank You for Your Word, and thank You for writing a book that is like no other in the Word.  There’s no other book in the world like the Bible because it’s written by no other Author…because there’s no other God that compares to You…and we thank You that You’re so full of grace and mercy and a desire to have a personal relationship with us that Your Word was written so that we could have that personal interaction with You.  We give You glory and honor…and ask these things in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen.

Why Read The Bible – Day 29 of 32- Freedom of Obeying the Word

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Today’s Scripture:  “44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.  45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.”  Psalm 119:44-45

Introduction:

We return to Psalm 119 to continue the discussion we’ve had over the past couple days about obeying the Word of God.  We’ve been talking about how it’s not enough to just hear the Word, but we must do something with the Word we hear as well.  I am excited to find out what it is that the Lord would have to say to us today as we talk about the “Freedom of Obeying The Word”.

Today’s Message:

Psalm 119 continues to some what be an underwriting chapter of the Bible for our series here on “Why Read The Bible?”.  We haven’t visited Psalm 119 for a while, but here we are again using it to continue to talk about obeying the Word.  So, now we’ve heard from David that it’s not enough to just hear the Word, we heard from James (the brother of Jesus) that it’s not enough to just hear the Word, and of course, we heard from Jesus Himself that it’s not enough just to hear the Word of God…that the hearing of the Word should be followed by action.

However, looking at it from the concept of freedom is intriguing to me.  David writes “I will walk at liberty:  for I seek thy precepts.”  Do you mean to say that obeying the Word of God is liberating?  Well…yes and no.  First of all…David wrote it.  Secondly…we all know that He who the Son sets free is free indeed.  We also know that being set free at salvation is just the beginning.  There are many other things in our lives that God will eventually have to deliver us and set us free from…right?

So, what David is saying here is something that’s quite exciting to me that I never really considered as a reason to read the Bible myself, but that’s the point of this series…fresh revelation as to why reading the Bible is so important for us as believers.

Freedom.  As we inch closer to the Independence Day here in the United States of America one of the things that’s always talked about is that we “broke the chains of tyranny from Great Britain.”  Don’t you know that when we come to Jesus and confess Him as Lord and Savior of our lives that He breaks the chains of tyranny that sin, death, and Satan once had over our lives?  We received freedom by accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ by faith, and once we responded in faith by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord…we were given freedom…freedom from spending eternity in hell.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s an awesome illustration of what David is writing about here.  It is simple, but some times it’s good to not overly complicate things isn’t it!?!   Sure, in my life there have been many things that God has set me free from as a result of me hearing the Word, and responding to the Word I heard.  I have been set free from the bondage of alcoholism, pornography, and even slothfulness.  Those things came as a result of hearing the Word, and doing something with the Word that I heard.  So, yes, indeed…there is freedom in obeying the Word of God.

That brings me to this point.  If it’s true that freedom comes from obeying God’s Word…then that means that bondage comes from disobeying the Word.  That means that even as born-again, spirit-filled believing Christians we can find ourselves in bondage to things by simply not obeying the Word of God.

Isn’t that right?  I mean a Christian who is born-again and spirit-filled can be addicted to pornography right?  It’s certainly not God’s will for someone to be addicted to pornography, but what happens here is that Christians who are addicted to pornography having allowed the Word of God they have heard on sexual immorality to get into their hearts, and begin to walk those scriptures out.  Freedom from that addiction will only come by obedience to the Word of God.  There’s many scriptures that can help here…a few of them being “greater is He that’s in me than he that’s in the world.”,  “I can do all things through Christ who is my strength.”, and my personal favorite:  “There is victory in Jesus.”.

There’s many more things that born-again believers can find themselves in bondage to if we’re not careful to obey the Word of God…isn’t there.  Sadly a lot of those things revolve around sexual sin.  Things like adultery.  We all know the Word of God is clear that if we’re married then we ought to not go outside of the boundary of our marriage to sleep with other people…right?  So, why is it that adultery is just as ramped in the body of Christ as it is in the world?  I’ll tell you why…there is a severe lack of preaching of the Word of God.

See, here’s where we get back to preaching and teaching the Word of God.  No one ever really likes to preach on sin…do we?  I know I certainly don’t enjoy sitting through services where the Lord feels it necessary for my pastors to preach a message that is dealing with a particular sin or sins.  However, the awesome thing about New Life Christian Center is that I have three pastors who are unashamed to preach the Word of God.  Therefore, sometimes they are going to have to preach on sin

See, friends, there was a question a while back over on Facebook that a certain poster was asking what the greatest issue facing the church today was.  There were several different answers, and eventually I waited as long as I could before I responded by saying that the greatest issue facing the body of Christ today is the refusal to “preach the Word”.  If the Word of God was preached than it would solve and deal with a lot of these other issues that are listed.

Can I say something here?  I believe that all of the major issues that are damaging to the body of Christ could and would be solved by one simple thing.  Preaching the Word.  Why?  Because you cannot tell me that all these moral issues that people are practicing in the church today would be going on if the Word of God was the focal point of the pulpits in this country.  Why weren’t there all these issues in the days of old?  I mean you never really heard about infidelity in the church until the fall of a few guys like Jimmy Swaggart, you didn’t hear about financial issues until we heard about Jim & Tammy Baker, and there wasn’t all this crazy stuff going on for many…many years.

I believe that the decline of the moral fabric in the church is directly related to the decline of the passion and obedience to one simple Bible verse.  Preach the Word.  That’s a command.  It’s not a suggestion, but today people would rather preach from a Rick Warren or Joel Osteen book instead of THE Book.  Today preachers would rather talk about prosperity, and become nothing more than prosperity pimps selling everything from healing oil to portions of their anointing for whatever you can give towards their ministry.  Today rather than offend people by telling them  that Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life…they would rather offend God by telling them that they really just don’t know anymore or that there’s a bit of truth to every religion, or that they’re going to leave the judging of someone’s heart to God…because they just don’t know who is and who isn’t saved.

Listen…I know who is and who isn’t saved.  If you have never believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord…you are not saved.  You cannot purchase anyone’s anointing because it wasn’t ever anything that they could purchase.  Jesus purchased the anointing by His death, burial and resurrection on the Cross.  You cannot sell that and think that God’s okay with you doing that…and you also cannot point to anywhere in Scripture where anyone was able to buy someone’s anointing.  Finally, there is absolutely nothing wrong with reading “The Purpose Filled Life” by Rick Warren, “It’s Not About Me” by Max Lucado, or any other book by any other Christian author.   I have nothing against those books, and I’m sure there is a lot of really good insight in those books. BUT…there is absolutely positively NO redeeming value in any of those books.  Yes, you may gain some knowledge, understanding, and a better biblical perspective…but not one person is going to get saved because they read “The Purpose Filled Life”.  They are going to get saved by hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ that’s only found in the Word of God…and even then they are only really going to be saved when they believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord.

So…I believe the reason the church is under such bondage today is because they have strayed and disobeyed the Word of God.  It’s a very simple word, but something that few seem to want to do anymore because they either feel the Bible isn’t relevant in today’s society or they feel that the Old Paths are outdated and won’t work today.

Well…I don’t know what their Bible reads, but I know that mine says that strict adherence to the Word of God will take care of a lot of these social, moral, and sexual issues that have invaded the body of Christ.  Everyone in the body wants this “breakthrough doctrine” that’s been preached…well…if you want a breakthrough start preaching and teaching and hearing and doing the Word of God…and I guarantee that breakthrough that you’ve been wanting is going to come…start obeying the Word of God.

Freedom.  I don’t know about you, but I prefer not to live in bondage.  Sure.  I do still have things that I need to learn to walk out and be obedient to the Word of God about.  I know that.  I told you that yesterday that if you’re looking for someone who is flawless and doesn’t make mistakes then this isn’t the ministry for you to follow…because I am most certainly not flawless.  I don’t have a 100% when it comes to following the Word of God, and being obedient to the Word of God.  I’m not willing to live in that kind of deception.  Remember that John writes in his first epistle that if we say we have no sin then we make God a liar, and the truth is not in us.  So…I’m not ever going to sit here and write to you that I am perfect, and that I follow the letter of God’s law to a “T” because I don’t…and I’d be lying to you.

But one thing that you can count on from this ministry and it’s pastor is that we will always be accountable to preach and teach the Word.  I like freedom a lot better than bondage…and now that I know the more Word of God that I obey the more freedom comes…it makes me want to work that much harder to allow the Word of God to work in all the areas of my life…Amen?

Points for Pondering:

“ So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.  And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.”  Psalm 119:44-45

  1. Why did David devote himself to God’s commands?
  2. Why would obeying God’s word lead to freedom?

Conclusion & Prayer:

So, we continue to wind down this series by talking about our response to the Word of God.  We spent most of this series talking about the Word of God itself, and now we’ve been talking about why we should read the Bible…and that we shouldn’t just read it…but do something about what we’ve read.  As always with many of the messages in this series I have on simple piece of advice, admonishment or encouragement…and that is this:  Pick up that old dusty Bible and start studying.

Now…I would like to add one last thing:  Do what it says.

Heavenly Father, thank You for today’s message.  Thank You for speaking to us today about the freedom that comes from obeying Your Word, and the bondage that comes from not obeying Your Word.  Lord, help us to become faithful doer’s of Your Word…and not just readers and hearers only.  We want breakthrough, we want freedom, and up until this point maybe many of us (including myself) forgot to link these things with obedience to Your Word.  So, give us, Lord God the ability, strength, and determination to not only be readers and hearers…but obeyer’s of Your Word.  In Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen

Why Read The Bible – Day 23 of 32 – Treasure The Word

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Today’s Scripture:  “1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”  Proverbs 2:1-6

Introduction:

I am a couple of days behind.  The last few days when I work six in a row get to be a little rough.  I usually get up and write after I take a nap, but I just knew that it was time to take a short breather so I can come back strong and finish up this series.

So, this would’ve been Tuesday’s message, and what we would’ve talked about on Tuesday is what we’re going to talk about today…Treasure the Word.  I know that this is going to be a good message, and am excited to get right into it.

Today’s Message:

So, before I begin since I’m still a little groggy and foggy I figure it’s a good idea to start with a prayer.

Lord God, I thank You for another day and opportunity to write messages inspired by the Holy Ghost.  Holy Ghost, I need You to lead and guide me into all truth so that I may write only of the oracles of You.  I ask You to anoint my fingers, and make them as a pen of a ready writer.  Writing only that which You, Holy Spirit, would have to say.  I ask that You would give the readers open hearts and minds, and that You would give them an encounter with You through this message.  I pray for boldness, clarity, and conviction…and I ask these things in Jesus’ name…Amen & Amen.

Treasure the Word.  This goes back to the message we had not too long ago about Delighting in the Word.   See, if more people in the body of Christ treasured the Word of God then we would have more than 25% of Christians who read and study their Bibles on a daily basis.  See, because you give your time and attention to the things you treasure.

If you treasure your marriage you will give time and attention to your spouse.  If you treasure sports then you’ll do like I do at times and get so carried away with sports that you forget about the fact that you have a ministry to take care of…and people who are counting on you to take care of your ministry.

Oh yes, I’m going to get personal today.  I can sense it already.  I can sense the Holy Spirit wants to deal with some things in your hearts and mine through today’s message…and I haven’t even gotten to look at our scriptures for the day yet.

The question really is about what do you treasure?  Do you treasure your relationship with God more than you treasure you position at work or is work more important?  Do you treasure your relationship with God more than you treasure television or is it more important to know what’s happening on Criminal Minds?  Do you treasure the Word of God or is it more important to read the Sunday newspaper?  Do you treasure the Word of God or is it more important to watch your favorite program on television.  That’s the second time about television…some of you may need to shut the television off for a while…and reacquaint yourself with the Word of God like I did not too long ago.

See, what is most important to you is what you treasure.  If you don’t treasure the Word of God enough then you’ll be more interested in watching NCIS.  If you don’t treasure the Word of God then you will be more concerned with SportsCenter.  If you don’t treasure the Word of God then you won’t have any compassion at all for anyone or anything outside of your own personal interests…and the Word of God instead of being a light unto your feet will be an impediment to you having a good time.

See, there in lies the issue.  Whether you’re a preacher or not.  Reading and studying the Bible on a daily basis is WORK.  It requires time, sacrifice, and commitment.  You cannot expect to get revelation from the Word of God when you occasionally  show up for church on Wednesdays and Sundays, and maybe you grace a small group with your presence or maybe you don’t.  But, you cannot expect to have fresh revelation and have the Word of God impacting your life if you are barely interested in doing the basics.

Listen.  I am writing to myself.  It’s easy to argue with yourself sometimes, and lately it’s easier to decide to stay home some times because of my work schedule.  Do you know what the difference is?  I am writing messages, and I treasure and value the Word of God.  There is a premium that I have placed upon God’s Word.  So if I miss a Wednesday or a Sunday I’m not missing an entire day’s opportunity to get into the Word of God.  Yet, I’ve had the Lord tell me to just suck it up, and get my tired butt to church…because He’s the One who supplies my energy and strength when I don’t have any.

Don’t you know that when I go to church even when I’m at the end of myself physically that’s when He can take over because I’m not believing or trusting in my strength.  I’m fully trusting in Him, and because I am obedient and crucify my flesh…and make it go to church anyways…I usually get some good revelation from going.

So, more often than not, even when I’m at my weakest points I still suck it up and get to church.  Like I did last night.  Last night was the end of a six-day work week, and I was exhausted.  It was 4pm, and I was already arguing with myself, but I put my foot down and decided that we were going to church…and I’m glad we did because both of us had really good services.

You see.  I treasure God.  I treasure the Word.  It’s valuable to me because my relationship with God is valuable to me.  I want to know how to live a better life.  I want to know how to get closer to God.  I want to know how to please Him, and be one of those who is told “well done” at the end of life.  Do you know how I find that out?  By treasuring the Word of God.

That’s a huge…huge problem today.  Preachers are becoming slothful because these days you can go on to one of many websites devoted to helping preachers and pastors…and you can print out a sermon that someone else studied and wrote out.  All you have to do is pick a topic, and you can find sermons that are complete with scriptures, jokes, illustrations, and most of the time they’re free.  So, as a pastor who is more interested in entertaining his congregation than feeding them something that will really help them they download this sermon, preach them, and wonder why there’s no anointing or power.  They wonder why the Holy Spirit isn’t in manifestation in their church…in fact the only time they might feel a slight breeze of the Holy Ghost is during worship because God always inhabits the praises of His people…but there’s no power, no anointing, no yoke breaking, no healing, no gifts of the spirit, and no one in the congregation is really getting fed because they’re not really being taught anything of value because the minister who decides to take that short cut and preach someone else’s sermon is really feeding their sheep junk food.

That’s right I said junk food.  Growing up as a kid my mom and I some times would do what we’d call “junk food” night for supper.  All the ice cream, cookies, and whatever else we wanted for dinner we could have, and did have.  Do you know that as a child I enjoyed those dinners, but what I didn’t realize back then is something I know now.  There was absolutely no nutritional value to those junk food dinners because they were empty calories.  It’s the same thing with these ready-made sermons that you preachers download and print off the internet…they are empty of substance.

Preacher, you are starving your congregation because you have left your first love.  I believe that when Jesus talks about the church that left their first love that it’s the Word of God that they have left because when you have the Word of God as the cornerstone of your ministry…like  Christlike Ministries NWA has it…then you cannot forsake your first love.  I told you I was going to get personal in this message.

Listen to me, preachers.  You cannot continue to feed your sheep junk food.  If you’d take the time to read your Bible yourself then you would know that there are people in your congregation who are desiring the sincere milk of the Word, and you also have people in your congregation who are starving for substance…for meat and potatoes and vegetables…they are desiring a well-balance meal supplied to their spirit…and the only thing that can supply that to them is the Word of God that you’re neglecting to feed them.

Preacher, what you have is a congregation full of malnourished sheep.  If you treated your own pets the way you treat God’s sheep the Animal Control Police would be coming to take your pets, and charge you for cruelty to animals for failing to provide them with an adequate diet.

Let me be clear:

GOD IS GOING TO COME AND REMOVE YOUR SHEEP IF YOU DON’T START TO FEED THEM THE WORD OF GOD.  IF YOU CONTINUE TO UNDER NOURISH THE SHEEP THAT GOD HAS PLACED IN YOUR CARE AND ENTRUSTED YOU TO TEACH THEM HIS WORD…HE WILL TAKE THEM FROM YOU.  YOU ARE ALSO GOING TO ANSWER FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT YOU LEFT MALNOURISHED AND UNDERFED.  YOU ARE GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERY SHEEP THAT YOU REFUSED TO FEED BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT DOWNLOADING A SERMON WAS MUCH EASIER THAN STUDYING ONE FOR YOURSELF.  PREACH THE WORD PREACHER…THAT’S NOT A SUGGESTION IT’S AN ORDER FROM OUR COMMANDER AND CHIEF…THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Beloved, what do you treasure?  What’s valuable to you?  Have you placed a premium upon the Word of God and God’s presence or are there things that you’ve made more important than God?  I had to answer these questions a few weeks back, and I found that I needed to fast from a few things for a while because I’d placed other things above my relationship with God.  Friends, if you’ve done the same then I would like to encourage you to do the same.  Turn off the television, and turn on the Word.  Turn off the world, and turn on God.

Jesus said that “Where your heart is your treasure will be also.”  Where is your heart?  What’s valuable to your heart?

Points for Pondering:

Listen…Treasure…Tune…Cry out…Ask…Search…Seek.

  1. What do these words convey?
  2. Why would this father desire these things for his son?
  3. What is valuable to your heart?
  4. Have you placed more of a premium upon the world or God?

Conclusion and Prayer:

I truly believe that there’s a premium in my heart upon the Word of God.  After all it is the most important thing that we as believers have outside of salvation.  Well, without someone preaching the Word to us there wouldn’t have been salvation.  The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  See, people cannot even be saved without the preaching of the Word of God.

Do you treasure God’s Word?  Is it valuable to you?  If there’s something more valuable to you than the Word of God…then you seriously need to repent.  I don’t know why there is such an anointing on me to talk about the importance of the Word of God, but maybe that’s something that I’m called to…is making sure that it’s understood how important God’s Word is and how valuable to us it should be to us as ministers.  We’re called to be ministers of the Gospel…not ministers of someone else’s sermons.

Oh my, let’s pray shall we?

Oh, Lord.  Please forgive us for being so lazy and placing other things above You and Your Word.  Please forgive us, Father God for making Your Word something that’s ineffective and undesirable because we’d rather download someone else’s sermon than teach or preach a message we’ve studied for ourselves from Your Word.  God…please give Your preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists, apostles, and prophets a love and fire and burning passion for Your Word.  Remove those who have devalued Your Word, and replace them for preachers who are unashamed to still preach what thus sayeth the Lord.  Draw us back to the Bible, Lord…teach us to treasure Your Word, teach us to put a premium on Your Word, Your presence, and the things of You…and forgive us for the things we put above You and Your Word.  I love You and I love Your Word, but I ask that You would even burn with in me a more intense desire, fire, and passion for Your Word that can only be satisfied by more of You Word.  Let the fire and passion for Your Word burn with such intensity that nothing else will satisfy me.  Thank You for what You’re accomplishing through these messages, and I thank You Lord God, that Your Word never returns void, but always accomplishes that which it was sent out to do…like rebuke, exhort, encourage, instruct, and equip Your people…let us all become more perfected, let us all reap more of the profits of being students of Your Word, and let us all continue to be instructed in righteousness that we may be complete, lacking nothing, and fully equipped to go into the Word preaching and teaching Your Word.  In Jesus name…Amen & Amen

Why Read the Bible?–Day 21 of 32 – Understanding of the Word

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Today’s Scripture:  “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.”  Psalm 119:27

Introduction:

So, Psalm 119 seems to be an underwriting chapter for our series on “Why Read The Bible?”.  Today, however, we see something else from this chapter.  It’s talking about understanding the Word of God, and that’s where we get back to constantly studying and meditating upon the Bible.  How in the world is it that we can understand the Bible if we don’t read it, study it, and meditate upon it?  I write messages based upon what I know and understand…how in the world could I write messages if I didn’t have any knowledge, wisdom, or understanding of the Word of God?  I couldn’t.  I’ve found myself saying this a couple of times…if it wasn’t for the Word of God I wouldn’t help, but have anything to write about.

Today’s Message:

Psalm 119 was written by David.  The more that I read from Psalm 119 the more I am able to see, and understand why David’s reputation is a man after the heart of God.  David’s love for God’s Word is something that I only wish that I could duplicate myself.  I can’t even pretend that I’m that saturated and infatuated with the Word of God.  Even as a pastor and someone who has a ministry I can admit that my love of God’s Word pales in comparison to what we read in Psalm 119.

However, what I can tell you is that I understand the heart of David here.  I love God’s Word…don’t get me wrong, but what I’m admitting is that even I can see that I can always stand for more room for the love for God’s Word.

What bothers me about my admission is that I’m one of the 25% or less that reads my Bible on a daily basis.  I have to…especially as a writer.  I must have an understanding and knowledge base of God’s Word in order to deliver good, solid Biblical messages.  Yes, the Holy Spirit inspires, and helps me write…but I also have to be able to draw on my wisdom and understanding at times as well.  The only way I can do that…is to read the Word, study the Word, and ask God to help me to understand what it is I’m reading.

I will also admit that I had a couple of really good teachers.  The first…and best teacher I’ve had was the Holy Spirit who taught me the Word of God Himself during several times in what I would describe as my own personal wilderness.  Part of that wilderness was a couple of stays in the Kenosha County Jail due to horrible decisions I made while being carnal, and not really wanting anything to do with God.  I can testify to the fact that I spent quite a lot of time reading and studying during a couple of extended stays in the iron bar hotel.

The second was Pastor Stephen Robbins who was my pastor from 2001 through 2007.  While under the leadership and shepherdship of this man attending his church services wasn’t like attending a sermon, but Bible college.  I credit him with confirming the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding the Holy Spirit gave me during my times of incarceration.  I was extremely blessed by this man because he helped the Lord to really build and solidify the foundation I now have in God’s Word.  It’s how I learned to have discernment, and now know when someone is preaching a false gospel…and who isn’t.

Under his teaching I established a foundation in things like “Justification by Faith”, “The God Side”, and an overall understanding of the basics of the Christian faith.  I believe he has an anointing similar to Paul’s which was the defense of the true gospel, understanding the mystery, and again the general foundational truths in which are now the foundations upon which Christlike Ministries NWA is built.  I owe so much to Pastor Stephen Robbins, and thank God for him.

I am greatly disturbed by the fact that less than 25% of the body of Christ studies their Bibles on a daily basis.  I admit that I found myself in that place for a while.  I was one of those Christians who was one of those who had the Word of God fall amongst the thorns.  I can admit that I had the cares of the world turn me into a carnal Christian, and I’m certainly not proud of that…but I know what it’s like to live life as a Christian that way.

Not only do they have the cares of the world distracting them, but we tend to kind of live life with one foot in the world, and one foot in the kingdom of God.  We’re also the kind of Christian that Jesus refers to as lukewarm.  Listen, I’ve written several times now that the reason there are so many powerless Christians today is because of a lack of understanding, knowledge, wisdom, and having a foundation in the Word of God.

I can even be honest enough with you all to say that until this year, and until the Lord spoke to me His theme for this year for me…Getting Serious About Being Serious With God is because of my living life among the thorns.  God got hold of me, and my attention through the third person in which I give credit for my growing knowledge and understanding of the Word of God.  New Life Christian Center’s Pastor Cass Hill.

It’s been an awesome year.   Launching Christlike Ministries NWA has helped me to become that good ground that the Lord speaks of during His parable on the four soils.  It’s helped me to take the other foot that I was trying to keep in the world, and cross it over into the kingdom of God.  Getting Serious About Being Serious About God is one of the first messages I wrote, and it’s also kind of the starting point of what’s become a heck of a ministry.

It’s also helped to really get my heart on fire for God’s Word again.  Like I’ve said a few times…without the Word of God I don’t have anything to write about.  So, in all seriousness I’ve turned a major corner over the last six months, and I enjoy what I’m doing now for the Lord.

Understanding the Word of God is of vital importance in these last days…and we are living in the last days.  Proverbs is full of verses that link wisdom and understanding.

  • Proverbs 4:5:  “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.”
  • Proverbs 4:7:  “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
  • Proverbs 16:16:  “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”
  • Proverbs 19:8:  “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.”

Wisdom and understanding are always linked together…and do you know what’s also linked with these two things?  The Word of God.  “Through Your precepts I get understanding.”  Psalm 119:104 (NKJV). Through Your precepts I “get understanding”.

Friends, we all need to discover a passion and love for the Word of God like David writes about in Psalm 119.  I know that one of things this series has done in my heart is help me to discover that I need to pray as I have that God will burn a passion and fire for His Word that’s unquenchable.  I hope that this series has given you the same desire.

Points for Pondering:

  1. What is David’s desire?
  2. How would it affect your life if you had a better understanding of God?
  3. How can you get a better understanding of God without reading and hearing the Word of God?

Conclusion & Prayer:

I don’t have much to say today in closing.  I think this has been a pretty good message.  I will repeat something I just wrote.  I hope that above everything that this series has helped to challenge your heart and love for the Word of God.  I hope that this series has helped to burn a passion in your heart for God’s Word.  I hope that it’s sparked a desire to spend more time in God’s Word on your own.  I really hope above everything that what this series has done is get you to dust off that Bible, and start reading it more often.

Oh Lord, I can’t seem to stop with the prayer of desire for more of a burning passion for Your Word.  I just ask for the fire and passion to be such that is unquenchable and unsatisfied by anything, but more time in Your Word.  I love You so much God, I love Your Word, and I ask that You would continue to help me to write and to increase in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  I pray that those who are following along with this series have a passion burning in their hearts for the Word of God, and challenged to be spending more time in Your Word.  I give You glory, honor, and all the praise.  I thank You for the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding You’ve given me…and I thank You for helping me to write good, solid messages…in Jesus’ name I ask this…Amen & Amen