The Word of God

The Word of God is supposed to spread. God wants people to know about Him. He gave us His Word to help us tell about Him. Look at what happened in the early church...

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31 NIV)

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. (Acts 6:2 NIV)

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7 NIV)

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. (Acts 8:14 NIV)

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. (Acts 11:1 NIV)

But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. (Acts 12:24 NIV)

When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. (Acts 13:5 NIV)

They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. (Acts 13:6-7 NIV)

But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. (Acts 17:13 NIV)

When I preach and teach, I do try to get people's attention.  But once I have their attention, I try to get the attention off of me.  I try desperately to get them focused on the word of God.  That is because the word of God is inspired by God's Spirit.  It is protected by God's Spirit.  It is truth delivered by God's Spirit.  And there's more.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV)

When we reach the day that Jesus returns and all of us will be gathered together for judgement, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord.  On that day, though, it will be too late to make our decision for eternity.  Our decision is now, in this day, before Jesus returns.  In this day, God reaches out to us through people who carry and share the word of God.

How about you?  Have you made your decision?  Are you on God's team?  Do you work to get people to believe you or do you simply share the word of God?

Shared

God's word is not just given to us so we will hear and obey. It is intended to be shared as well.

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear." (Luke 8:4-8 NIV)

You understand that we can get it wrong, don't you? Even preachers and teachers can misunderstand, misinterpret, or misapply Scripture to our lives. This is why I don't experience joy when someone says, "Pete said..." I experience joy when people say, "Scripture says," or "God said in Scripture..." I always encourage people to check out what I am teaching by going back to the source: God's Word.

The story of the sower and the seed is a parable. A parable is simply a story with a deeper meaning. In this case the deeper meaning is spiritual. I'm grateful for Jesus teaching this parable for several reasons. One reason, though, is that he helps protect us from misinterpretation of the parable. Explains its intended meaning.

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11 NIV)

Before we go any further with his explanation, I want to pause right here. In this parable, God's Word is spread around. It is intended to be spread around. In fact, it is described as a seed, which is an item with potential for growth when placed in the right kind of soil. God's Word does no good when it is kept in the bag of seeds. It only does what it is supposed to do when it is placed in soil. Then it can do its work. It can grow.

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 8:12-14 NIV)

The various places where the seed fell represent the various conditions of the hearts of people. God's Word wants to take root in our hearts and grow. We, however, have control over the condition of our heart. When our heart is hard, the seed never begins to grow. When it is rocky, God's Word grows but never takes root. When it is full of weeds and thorns, Gods Word grows but is choked out by everything around it. God's Word is always positioned to do its job in our lives. We decide whether or not we will allow it to grow.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:15 NIV)

A crop only comes out of a single seed when the seed grows to maturity. When it matures, it has more seeds to share and those seeds drop down in the soil around the original plant. This is how it can produce a crop one hundred times beyond what was sown. The seed of God's Word doesn't just get in us to grow. It grows us to maturity so we will share.

So, how about you? Do you know the condition of your heart? Does your heart allow God's Word to grow in you? Do you allow the seed to grow you to maturity? In your maturity, do you share God's Word with others?

Obey

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." (Luke 11:27-28 NIV)

God's word isn't intended simply to be heard. It needs to be obeyed. This is the sticking point for most people. Whenever I have discussions with people about the existence of God, the inspiration of His Word, or doubts that they face, the real discussion is about this: obey. They can't believe that God is real, because that would mean they need to change something in their life. They can't believe that the Bible is inspired by God because of the chapters and verses that speak against their lives. What they miss is that God explains things out of love.

Let's say God wanted to explain gravity and the dangers of cliff. God might say something like this:
Whenever one finds the end of the ground upon which they walk, one should peer over the edge to see how far it is before the next ground. Should the drop be greater than ten cubits, do not jump from the one ground to the other. For when you hit the second ground, you will surely die.

You see, we listen to such a description and command and complain. "God doesn't understand science. If God understood science, he would tell us that our body will accelerate from the first ground toward the second at a rate of 21 1/3 cubits per second squared. It must not really be God." We say that "God is just trying to control my life. God doesn't understand how fun it is to jump and fall. God just wants to control my life and tell me not to do these things that are fun." We miss the fact that God is simply telling us not to jump off a cliff because God knows how He designed the world. Gravity will pull on us. We may enjoy the fall. But when we hit bottom, we will die.

And he continued, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)-- then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. (Mark 7:9-12 NIV)

Non-believers are not the only ones who do this to God's word. Believers do it to God all the time, too. We take what God said and "adjust" it to our "cultural context." Sometimes believers will remove passages they don't like with "really good reasons" from science or history. Others will leave it all in there, but reinterpret things in a way that it says something more palatable for our liking.

"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6 NIV)

Still others add to God's word with our own traditions. Then we make the traditions as important or more important than what God had to say. We nullify what God says for what we say. We set ourselves above God. Instead, we should obey God.

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." (Mark 7:13 NIV)

How about you? Do you believe God's word is God's word? Do you take God at His word? Do you try to subtract the things you don't like or add parts you want it to say? Or do you obey?

Hear

I don't know about you, but I've always been a "straight from the horses' mouth" kind of guy. I like to hear things from the source rather than through the telephone game. You know what I mean? That's why it has been so difficult for me at times to take the Bible as God's Word. I want to hear God's perspective, but I just wish God would tell me directly what God has to say.

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:18 NIV)

I would get jealous of passages like the one above. Peter, my name sake, got to be there. He got to walk around with Jesus. He got to hear Jesus preach and teach. He got to stand on the mountain with Jesus when the transfiguration happened. He got to hear God's voice from the heavens. It took him awhile to realize it, but he got to hear God's voice through Jesus as well.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19 NIV)

But even Peter had God's Word that he relied upon that wasn't a part of his day-to-day experience. Peter had the "prophetic message" that was passed down to him from his ancestors. Peter's Scripture was the Law and the Prophets. Peter's writings were the equivalent of our Old Testament today. We have the same writings Peter had. He "heard" God speak not only through the clouds and the voice of Jesus, but he heard God speak through Scripture as well. He trusted Scripture as God's Word, too.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV)

You see, God does speak directly to me. His Spirit dwells in me just like He dwells in every other believer. The problem is that I don't know how to recognize His voice in comparison to all the other voices in my head. I need help recognizing God's voice.

When I read Scripture, I'm reading the writings of different men throughout history. I recognize that they are men. I see that they wrote in different languages, different cultures, and even with different styles of writing and educational levels. They wrote, though, through the direction of God. When they wrote down their stories and prophecy and wisdom, they were really writing because God prompted them to do it. They were inspired by the same Holy Spirit who now dwells inside me. When I read their writings, I learn to recognize the Spirit's voice. It helps me hear.

So, how about you? Do you hear the voice of God? Does it match the voice of the same Spirit who spoke through the writers of Scripture? Do you read God's Word to learn how to hear God's voice?

God's Word

When I worked in the business world, I had a couple years in there that I traveled pretty often. When traveling, I got bored with eating out, so I started a habit to keep things "fresh" in each town I visited. First, I would ask at the hotel for a good restaurant. "This is my first time in town and I may never be back. Where should I go to eat?" Once I got there, I would ask the waiter or waitress the same thing. "I'm only in town for the day and I may never get back this way. What is a specialty here that I just need to try?" I got to enjoy many different excellent cuisines this way.

My first bowl of gumbo was in New Orleans. My first cheese steak sandwich was in, you guessed it, Philadelphia. Now that I'm back home, I have the memories of those foods in those places. When I try them in a restaurant around here, the original is what I compare them to. I can speak with authority on the matter, because I was there. I enjoyed the original because I was there. I can describe it because I was there.

Why do I care about what God has to say? It's because no matter where in geography or when in time we are talking about, God was there. God is always there. It's great that scientists have been working to determine how the universe began and how we came into being. I, though, just turn to God for the information because God was there.

Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know! "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:4-5 NIV)

At the Tuesday evening Bad Box Class a couple weeks ago, we discussed Spiritual Warfare. In the Bible study, we learned how to fight off spiritual enemies so we can love people. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about such things and he told them how to put on the full armor of God. In this letter he told them:

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17 NIV)

God's word is flawless. God's word is reliable. God's word protects us. God's word gives us everything we need to fight spiritual enemies so we can love God and people. God's word always describes what is true because God was there.

So how about you? Do you trust God's word?