When we started Harvest Christian Fellowship, I began teaching through the Bible. And I’m still doing that today, because I know how important it is in people’s lives.
In chapter 2 of the New Testament book of Acts, we find this description of the first-century church: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (verse 42 NKJV).
This tells us the early church was a learning church. The phrase “they continued steadfastly” speaks of passion, of engagement. Certainly, we need anointed preaching today, but we also need anointed listening. We need to give our attention with intention.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus often would say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” In modern vernacular, it might sound like this: “Listen up! Pay attention to what I’m saying to you right now.”
Years ago, Cathe and I were on a plane that had to make an emergency landing. When the flight attendant went over the safety regulations before takeoff, I must admit that I wasn’t paying much attention. In fact, I think I was reading a magazine.
But when the flight attendant went over the protocols again to prepare us for the emergency landing, I paid close attention. I listened as though my life depended on it, because it did.
If you want to be a growing Christian, then you need to read the Bible in the same way. Because your spiritual life depends on it.
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In his conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock” (Matthew 7:24–25 NLT).
He continued, “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (verses 26–27 NLT).
You determine which of those two you will be.
After God placed Adam and Eve in a literal paradise, the devil came to Eve and said, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT). And then he lied to her.
In the same way, soon after people put their faith in Christ, they’re often hit with doubt. They think, “What if this isn’t true? What if I psyched myself into it?”
When doubt strikes, we need to believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. And we need to come back to what the Bible says.
As Christians, we’re in a spiritual battle, and we fight a spiritual battle with spiritual weapons. The apostle Paul referred to the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit (see Ephesians 6:17). And when we use it, when we memorize it, it will help us in times of trial and in times of temptation.
When evangelist Billy Sunday became a Christian, an older believer gave him some advice. He said, “William, there are three simple rules I can give to you, and if you will hold to them, you will never write ‘backslider’ after your name. Take fifteen minutes each day to listen to God talking to you; take fifteen minutes each day to talk to God; take fifteen minutes each day to talk to others about God.”
God speaks to us primarily through the Bible. Thus, a successful Christian will be a Bible-studying Christian.
Yet a lot of Christians aren’t opening their Bibles. Instead, they’re looking at social media. One study revealed that every day, 66% of evangelical Christians look at Facebook, 39% look at YouTube, and 32% read the Bible. That is a problem. We must open the Bible and see what it has to say.
The psalmist wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11 NLT).
I remember when I first started reading the Bible. I couldn’t believe that I had finally found the user’s manual for life. I couldn’t believe the words were so relevant to what I was facing as a 17-year-old kid. And since then, I’ve found that the Bible is relevant for every phase of my life.
David wrote in the psalms, “The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7 NLT). God’s Word is perfect.
If you’ve ever looked at an old high school yearbook, you probably were amused by the hairstyles. A lot of strange hairstyles come and go. But the Bible never goes out of style. Trends come and go, but the Bible is always fresh and relevant to what we’re facing.
The Bible is the most amazing book ever written. It is literally God’s message to us. Technically speaking, it is not one book but 66 books written over a 1,500-year span.
Its words were written by 40 individuals from every walk of life, including peasants, kings, fishermen, philosophers, poets, statesmen and scholars. Yet they all wrote about one thing: God’s redemption of humanity. And each one was inspired by God.
The apostle Peter wrote, “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21 NKJV). It was the Holy Spirit who moved these prophets to speak for God.
In addition, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “all Scripture is inspired by God” (NKJV), or literally, breathed by God. This means the Bible is God’s infallible word. The Bible is completely trustworthy.
If you want to be a growing Christian, then you must read, love, study and memorize the Word of God.
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