Treasured Truth

Sometimes we don’t listen to God and what His Word tells us to do and we get ourselves into trouble.  But the good news is that He loves us so much that He gets us out of the trouble we’ve caused ourselves, even though we didn’t listen to what He told us to do.

Here’s the question we should be asking ourselves—Are we walking in God’s Word?  If we believe what God has said, then we’ll be walking in it.  We should be applying the truth and wisdom found in the scriptures to our lives daily.

Scripture is profitable for doctrine—that’s what’s right.  For correction—that’s understanding what’s not right.  For reproof—that’s how to get right.  And for instruction in righteousness—that’s how to stay right.  So, the Bible has been given to us, so that we can know what’s right, do what’s right and stay right.

What’s the first benefit of daily reading of the Bible?  We learn to fear God.  We learn about Him, and Who He is.  We become enlightened by the person of God, inspired by the presence of God, and energized by the power of God when we’re feasting on His Word daily.

Have you ever been in a time when you felt like, you weren’t living right, and so you didn’t want to pray? You thought to yourself, “I don’t want to talk to God, because I know I’m not living right.”  But Psalm 103:13 says, “Like a father pities His children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him.”  So, the question is not really are you living wrong, the question is do you fear Him?

There’s no “new and improved” when it comes to the Word of God.  Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever.” God has already established all the ground rules for us in His Word.  So, we shouldn’t come along trying to make up new ground rules for our lives, because He’s already done it!

Divorce is not just a modern day issue.  It was actually a problem that had to be addressed in the Old Testament.  As we continue to look at the book of Malachi, we’ll learn more what scripture says about divorce.

Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” Pastor Ford points out that this means Jesus’ growth was prioritized.  In other words, the mental took precedent over the physical and the spiritual took precedent over the social.

As we consider the passage in Luke 2, which gives a brief description of Jesus’ growing up years, we’ll see that He grew in 4 specific areas:  mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially.  And we’ll continue to learn how this is not only a description of His growth, but also a prescription for how we can grow.

When we look at Luke 2:52, we should realize that it is not just a declaration about Jesus, it’s the reputation of Jesus.  Pastor Ford says we need to understand that those fourteen words are not just a description of Jesus’ life, but they’re a prescription for our lives.