The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God.
The Bible is far more than a doctrinal guidebook. God’s Word generates life, creates faith, produces change, frightens the Devil, causes miracles, heals hurts, builds character, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuses hope, releases power, cleanses our minds, brings things into being, and guarantees our future forever! We cannot live without the Word of God! Never take it for granted. You should consider it as essential to your life as food. Job said, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”6
God’s Word is the spiritual nourishment you must have to fulfill your purpose. The Bible is called our milk, bread, solid food, and sweet dessert.7 This four-course meal is the Spirit’s menu for spiritual strength and growth. Peter advises us, “Crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”8
ABIDING IN GOD’S WORD
There are more Bibles in print today than ever before, but a Bible on the shelf is worthless. Millions of believers are plagued with spiritual anorexia, starving to death from spiritual malnutrition. To be a healthy disciple of Jesus, feeding on God’s Word must be your first priority. Jesus called it “abiding.” He said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.”9 In day-to-day living, abiding in God’s Word includes three activities.
I must accept its authority. The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life.
Many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities: culture (“everyone is doing it”), tradition (“we’ve always done it”), reason (“it seemed logical”), or emotion (“it just felt right”). All four of these are flawed by the Fall. What we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God’s Word meets that need. Solomon reminds us, “Every word of God is flawless,”10 and Paul explains, “Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.”11
In the early years of his ministry, Billy Graham went through a time when he struggled with doubts about the accuracy and authority of the Bible. One moonlit night he dropped to his knees in tears and told God that, in spite of confusing passages he didn’t understand, from that point on he would completely trust the Bible as the sole authority for his life and ministry. From that day forward, Billy’s life was blessed with unusual power and effectiveness.
The most important decision you can make today is to settle this issue of what will be the ultimate authority for your life. Decide that regardless of culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, you choose the Bible as your final authority. Determine to first ask, “What does the Bible say?” when making decisions. Resolve that when God says to do something, you will trust God’s Word and do it whether or not it makes sense or you feel like doing it. Adopt Paul’s statement as your personal affirmation of faith: “I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets.”12
I must assimilate its truth. It is not enough just to believe the Bible; I must fill my mind with it so that the Holy Spirit can transform me with the truth. There are five ways to do this: You can receive it, read it, research it, remember it, and reflect on it.
First, you receive God’s Word when you listen and accept it with an open, receptive attitude. The parable of the sower illustrates how our receptiveness determines whether or not God’s Word takes root in our lives and bears fruit. Jesus identified three unreceptive attitudes—a closed mind (hard soil), a superficial mind (shallow soil), and a distracted mind (soil with weeds)—and then he said, “Consider carefully how you listen.”13
Anytime you feel you are not learning anything from a sermon or a Bible teacher, you should check your attitude, especially for pride, because God can speak through even the most boring teacher when you are humble and receptive. James advises, “In a humble (gentle, modest) spirit, receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted in your hearts contains the power to save your souls.”14
Second, for most of the 2,000-year history of the church, only priests got to personally read the Bible, but now billions of us have access to it. In spite of this, many believers are more faithful to reading their daily newspaper than their Bibles. It’s no wonder we don’t grow. We can’t watch television for three hours, then read the Bible for three minutes and expect to grow.