I didn’t realize how much I had forgotten. Kathy recommended I listen to a Heidi Baker podcast. She shared a scripture in the Podcast that i knew but had forgotten.
“For everything in the World… the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16)
So straight forward, simple & not like how most Men interact with one another. A great reminder of how God wants me to interact when the culture pulls the opposite direction.
But I had forgotten this truth because I have been away from reading/studying the word for years. I started to wonder what else have I forgotten? What other truths in Gods word am i completely not living in the benefits of? When I was younger & zealous for Jesus I loved the word. I loved sitting at Jesus’ feet to be taught the word (the Logos & the Rhema). I grew like crazy, always had scriptures in my head & heart to guide my decisions & interpret clearly my day to day.
As I’ve grown older, I find I’m growing duller & duller spiritually. So much different then when i burned like a bright light eager to meet God & walk closely with him daily.
Sure I still go to Bible study, Church, listen to Bible sometime on way to work, talk to my friends about spiritual things but every thing I have to contribute is things I learned years ago. The revelations I share, the truths I learned that impacted my life are all old. I have no fresh truth to contribute because I have had nothing new between God & I by casually doing all the above.
The world with its pleasures & worries have a way to dull your life. As a Christian, you can shrink to a dullness in your life that looks no different than the world. Im proof, if you dont add logs to the fire it will go out. I know I’m not the only other dull guy out there! Believing the daily grind is all there to look forward to today & tomorrow.
Im convinced you can be vaccinated from a dull life by discovering a living engaged God via reading & studying the Bible regularly searching for Him. God’s ways are so opposite!
How can Bible reading bring you life? God wants you to hear His voice through His Word. Reading the Bible has a supernatural way of raising your expectations for today& tomorrow. Life is not the sum total all your known, measurable limitations! Whats in your bank account, your friends or community, your background, your understanding of how things could get better or change, etc… do not have the final word on your life.
“Faith proceeds from (spiritual) hearing: moreover this hearing (is consummated) through a Rhema word from Christ”- Rom 10:17 (Greek Translation). The Strong’s Concordance defines the Greek word Rhema as the spoken word made by a living Voice. Jesus wants to speak to you personally and persuasively through the Bible (Logos-Greek for written word) making it personally yours as Rhema.
When I stopped reading the word, I started to forget what God wanted me to hope for!
Without God’s input, I started to think like I don’t have a Good Father in heaven basically I start thinking like people who don’t know God!
Faith comes from first knowing what to believe God for, then making the decision to actually trust Him for it. We have a “built in forgetter’, as my friend Rob would say. That is why we are to regularly read His word.
A man who finds God through His word will also find Him in his day to day life.
Reading Gods word opens up new possibilities for your every day life.
God renews our mind so we see the possibilities in every situation for God to teach us, strengthen us, extend His kingdom through us, love us, include us in all He is actively doing in our world today.
Here are some promises I desire to see come true in my own life & every mans life who is tired of living apart from a engaged & growing life with God, the author of real LIFE…
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, The Lord is upright; …and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92:14-15 NIV)
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV)
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; …They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; … (Psalm 112:6-8 NIV)
(HE) redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, (HE) satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:4-5 NIV)
