Don’t just Listen- In His Word
9-18-17
You have heard it said by many
preachers and authors “It’s not about me.” Well today’s word is about you and
I, it is about taking the time to listen, to ingest, and then to do the Word. Do not just read it over today and let it sit
there in dead space; run with what you have learned, apply it to your life
today.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to
impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t
look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians-4
Consider it
pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the testing of your
faith produces perseverance. Let
perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you
should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it
will be given to you. But when you ask, you must
believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the
sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person
should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such
a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:2-7
So many times,
we say it; ‘we should read the Bible every day, go to church, and we will grow
in the Lord’. But what even is growing in the Lord? Does it mean you know more
memory verses than anyone else? Are we really listening to what is being said?
We go to
church and a sermon is preached. We enjoy the new graphics and laugh at the
jokes but are we really listening with our hearts? Or are you just listening
with our ears and filing it away to think on next week when pastor refers to
this week’s sermon?
Understand
this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to
speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does
not produce the righteousness God desires. So
get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God
has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
But
don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are
only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to
the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You
see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But
if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do
what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing
it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control
your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure
and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans
and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:19-26
Don’t just
listen to the Word, and claim to be as it says, but actually walk in the Word.
Walk in love, kindness, hope, joy, peace, obedience; for in doing these things
you will be a doer of the Word and a hearer of the Word; don’t just listen to
it, then; just do it!
For
merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the
law that makes us right in his sight. Even
Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when
they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. Romans 3:12-14
In order to truly
listen to the Word and understand it we need the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to
see and ears to here. In order to do this, we must pray and ask God to help us
to not only listen but do the Word. I venture to go one step further; in order
to do more than listen to the Word spoken to us, or that we have read in the
Bible, etc., we must take a step in the direction that we have heard. We must
do what it is that God tells us to do in His Word; every time we hear it we
must apply it to our lives. Don’t just listen, do the thing! Do what God’s Word
says, not just what man says but what the Spirit of the living God says from
His heart to yours. The time to act is now, don’t put it off. If God tells you
to clean up your life, clean it up. If God tells you to love on others, then do
it! If God tells you via sermon or
written Word to do a thing, you should do it because you will be doing the will
of God toward you. Just be sure it is truly the Lord encouraging you on. If you
hear it in a sermon, or spoken by a well-meaning friend you should always check
it to the scripture and see what is right. Then follow His lead.
… the Spirit speaks
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For
every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving.
For it is sanctified by the word of
God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance
of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in
the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But
refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness. For bodily exercise profits, little: but
godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come.
1 Timothy 4:1-8
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
for leading us through the Word of God, our Bibles. Help us to trust You to
lead us where we should go and to trust You to protect and guide us through the
living Word. Help us to discern what is right and to do the Word, not just hear it. In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested reading Romans 2: 1-29,
1 Timothy 4:1-16, James 1:1-27 and Romans 3:1-31