Unapplied Truth

 

We have never had more access to Gods Word than we do today.

There are unlimited versions of the Bible available on your phone, hundreds of thousands of sermons and teaching are easily accessible on TV, radio, podcast, and YouTube.
There are Christians books and magazine and newsletters on every subject and Bible verse.

The Word is readily available 24/7.

And I would venture to say the church is not more spiritually mature.
 
There is a quote attributed to DL Moody
“The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.”
 
The Word of God was not given just to increase our knowledge.
It is not enough to just hear the Word at church, read it occasionally, study it sporadically and think about it randomly.
 
The Word should become part of us and be applied to our lives daily.
There is a quote that says

"Unapplied truth is like unapplied paint. It doesn't do anybody any good. The value of paint is in the application."

In Matthew 22:29 Jesus is talking to Sadducees.
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
 
Wait? What? These are Sadducees.
They were committed to the Scriptures – they actually preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). Were they familiar with them? Of course. They read them constantly and heard them preached regularly in their synagogues.
 
But Jesus says they didn’t really know them, because they didn’t know 

the power of God behind them
—power that was able to change lives.
 
Now let’s look at 1Thess 2:13  “ . . . when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe”
 
The Word of God was at work in the lives of these people—

transforming the way they lived.
 
How?
Hebrews 4:12
¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
 
It is not enough to know the Word, we must know Jesus who is the living Word & then let Him EXPOSE those things in us so He can change us.
We must let Him expose those thought patterns and desires that don’t align with Him and His desires for our lives.
AND then do the work of partnering with the Holy Spirit to change those thoughts and desires.
God is not just looking for some behavior modification. He wants to change our very desires.
God’s Word doesn’t just cut skin deep – It penetrates to the bone, it has the capacity to judge not just our thoughts but also our very motives, attitudes, and intentions. 
The Word will show you who are really are, your thoughts and what’s behind them, along with your heart attitudes and postures.
 
I feel confident enough saying that most people reading this don’t need a “new revelation” or a new “on-time word”.
What we need is to actually apply the abundance of Word we have already heard, read, studied and done nothing with.
 
I fear we have lost the wonder of the Word of God.

That we have forgotten what a privilege it is to hear God speaking to us, and how vitally important it is for us to soak ourselves in God’s word so that we will be taught, corrected, and equipped to serve Christ (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

2 Peter 3:18  Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

The source and fountain of both grace and knowledge is Jesus Christ. To know Christ is to live and to grow in that acquaintance is to grow in the Spirit.

Christian maturity doesn't just happen. Unless we feast on God's Word, there'll be no progress. Unless we obey it, we'll never realize our full potential.

Last night at church we were challenged to ask God what things in our lives are keeping us from seeing Him clearly.

I felt the Lord impress that we often look at the “things” in our lives that keep us from Him… tv, phones, hobbies, etc. and then try to limit those things in our lives.

But those are just symptoms. The things God wants to deal with most are our ideas and misconceptions about Him and ourselves. 

He wants us to understand how He feels about us.

I pray that we grow, that we mature and we begin by fully applying the Truth of His Word in our lives. This will shape how we live.

Because we will live to Honor Him in everything!