Building my life on God's Word part 5 (Actions)

We kicked off our NEW series this past Sunday "40 Days in the Word." You can listen to the podcast at http://www.wyandottefamily.com/listen.html or you can download it from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wyandotte-family-church/id478735158We talked about using our five senses to build our lives on the Bible. We spent the morning going over “hearing God’s Word or receiving it with our ears.” 

The previous 3 BLOGS were about receiving God's word through our “Sight, Hands; Mouth and Mind” TODAY lets take a look at responding to God's word through our actions.

I respond to the Word with my actions.

This is the fifth thing that James tells us to do with the Bible.  I respond to it with my actions.

James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says!”  Turn it into actions. 

It says, do not deceive yourself.  How do we deceive ourselves?  We think if we’ve heard something we’ve got it. We think if we listen to a sermon then we’ve applied the message to our lives. If we skimmed through a chapter of the Bible, that we have been transformed. That actually is not how it works.  I could talk to you about how to be a good father but if you don’t do it, the information doesn’t help.  You’re just deceiving yourself.

I could talk to you about how to build a balanced budget based on scriptural principles, but if you don’t do it, you’re jut deceiving yourself.  You don’t really know it. A great quote from a friend of mine is, “It is not he who has the most information that wins but he who applies it.” –Konan Stephens

Here is the hard but true reality for all of us… “We only believe the parts of the Bible we actually do.” I only believe the part of the Bible I actually do.  We are to be doers of the Word. 

That’s why I always have one overarching slogan or theme in my messages. We have one main focus each Sunday for us to focus on, pray about, meditate on, discuss in home groups and apply to our lives. Instead of dumping tons of information or trying to change several things, we focus on one thing. Why?  “Don’t merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!”

Let’s go back to that story that I started with where Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 24.  Look at this verse.  “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice [underline that – puts them into practice.  In other words you are a doer of the Word, you’re an applier of the Word, you respond to it] is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine… [you come to church, you listen to them but you don’t put them into practice] is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 

I don’t want that to happen to you.  I’ll say it again: We don’t know the storms that are going to come into your life or into our nation in 2014 or 15.  But I do know this.  You’ll crumble if you don’t have solid foundation for your life.  And the solid foundation for your life in not the opinions of others, it’s not what’s popular on tv, it’s not prevailing culture.  Because that changes like shifting sand.  We need to build our lives on the unchanging Word of God. When you build your life on truth, if it was true a thousand years ago it’ll be true a thousand years from today because truth does not change.  It’s a rock.  And we need a rock to build our lives on.

How do we know if our lives are not build upon a rock (THE ROCK).  You’ll have stress.  You’re stressed out.  Because the sands are shifting and the house is tilting and you feel stressed and worried and anxious about that, because your house isn’t solid and steady because it’s not built on something that doesn’t change.

Prayer:

Dear God I want to build my life on the rock, not on sand.  I want a solid foundation of truth.  I want to build my life on the Bible.  So I commit the next forty days to learning how to do these things.  I want to receive your Word with my ears.  I want to hear God speak to me.  I want to read your Word with my eyes.  I want to begin a regular habit of Bible reading.  I want to research your Word with a home group where I write it down and we discuss it and we talk it out.  I want to study your Word.  I want to learn to do that.  I want to learn to mediate, to remember and review your Word throughout my day.  So when I’m starting to get upset you can bring that verse to mind.  I want to respond to your Word and do what it says.  In Jesus Name Amen.


Adapted from thoughts from Rick Warren and the 40 Days in the Word Campagin