“Are We living out the truth we believe in?”


BIBLE READING: Ezra 7-8

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10 ESV)
Jesus, in Matthew 15:8, quoted Isaiah saying, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”. The scribes and Pharisees He was speaking of had substituted their own laws for those of God’s, simply giving lip-service to the Lord. We are guilty of the same when our actions do not follow the truth, but our lips declare we believe. When the way in which we live does not reflect our professed beliefs, I have news for you; we don’t really believe them! It’s like a man talking about the power of gravity, but then walking off of a cliff because he didn’t really think he would fall.
When we don’t live out the truth we say we believe in, our faith is dead. For “as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). The life, the essence, is gone from our faith when we don’t live according to it. All our Christianity is in this condition is an empty husk, a mausoleum for our decaying words. If we are genuinely following Christ, we “ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). It is the Spirit led flow of a believer’s life to “do”, or put into practice, what we learn from Scripture.
Ask yourself these questions today and answer honestly both to yourself and the Lord:
Is there a lack of joy in my Christian walk?
Do I neglect prayer because I don’t actually believe it does anything?
Do I neglect the Bible and simply listen to what others have to say about it?
Do I, like the Pharisees, honor God with my lips but not with my heart or actions?
Be encouraged to live out the truth that we profess: abiding joy is possible and it grows from living faith, prayer is both heard by God and powerful (James 5:16), and it is our glory to search Scripture for its deep wisdom (Proverbs 25:2).                                                                                                                                          -www.shortdailydevotions.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday - October 4, 2016

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Genesis 32:22-32 Do you want to be blessed? That sounds like a rhetorical question, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want to be blessed? I guess it really depends on your definition of “blessed.” Many people desire blessings that will make them wealthy or, perhaps, material goods. However, being blessed is not limited to those physical things. In fact, sometimes we can be blessed in the most unusual ways. For instance, in Genesis 32:26, we find Jacob wrestling with what we often call an angel. Within the story, Jacob is overtaking the angel and holding him down; refusing to let go until the angel gives him a blessing. The angel obliges Jacob, but not in the way he might have imagined. The angel changed his name from “Jacob” to “Israel,” but he also did something else. He put Jacob’s hip joint out of socket, causing him much pain and difficulty walking. In part, his blessing had to do with him walking with a limp. How is tha...
Read more

Resolutions: Draw closer to God through study of His word

BIBLE READING: John 14.7 Spend time alone with God’s Word.  Besides the spiritual growth we will gain from study, we will also come to know Him better.  Reading His word brings us in touch with Him.  Jesus tells us in John 14:7 – “If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also.”   Just studying the life of Jesus will help us to know God better.   In seeking God’s help, we can draw closer to Him through prayer, meditation, nature, and study.   “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:2  I Tim.4:13,15 - “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine… meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them.”   Regardless of our circumstances we can rely on God’s unchanging character.  God is good. God loves me. God is with me. God knows my problems. God cares. Romans 8:31(b) tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Make a resolution to slo...
Read more

“Examples”

BIBLE READING: Mark 13- Luke 1 DISCUSSION                                                                                   This past week we have read of some great examples in the bible.   We read in Mark 13 about us being ready and being prepared for when Jesus returns.   We need to all stay awake!   In Mark 14 we read of one action having such an impact.   How this woman gave her very best to Jesus because of her love for Him.   In Mark 15 we read of Pontius Pilate and his desire to keep his power.   He loved his power and did not want to give it up even if that meant sending an inno...
Read more