Monday – April 4, 2016
It is Monday, receive our greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God is so good, He is better than good whether we can see it in our circumstances or not, we must think it by faith, say it by faith, expect it by faith, and not remove our hand from the plow (His calling) by faith. Remember faith does not just drop on us and cannot be prayed into us, or imparted by the laying on of hands. According to God’s Word, God’s Law, faith comes by one way and one way only and that is by hearing the Word of God.
Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Unlike the Hebrew “Old Testament” with many words that reference God, in the “New Testament” there is a single word. In the King James Translation of the Holy Bible the final phrase of this verse is “the word of God” however many other translations put the word “Christ” there instead.
Romans 10:17 (ESV)
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
It is unclear which is more accurate but the use of the word ‘Christ’ may add a little clarity. Remember that the Word of God is Jesus who is the Messiah and the Anointed One. And recall that the word ‘Christ’ is translated Messiah, Anointed One, and the Anointing. The Anointing being the Holy Spirit. Anyone can speak the Word of God but not all persons are speaking the Word led of the Holy Spirit.
John 1:1 (KJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All Scripture came by the breath of God, inspired of God, the Holy Spirit of God and men of God wrote these Words down giving us the tool for eternal change, the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Faith which is our confidence, our reliance upon God comes through knowing Him. The better we know Him, the more faith or confidence we can have in Him. This is much like our human connections, the better we know a person the more confidence or not we can have in their word. We get to know God, develop faith in God, through the Word of God. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 it is by hearing the Anointed Word of God. We hear the Word of God in many settings like Church or Sunday School, TV, other teaching forums, but most importantly we must speak the Word of God to ourselves. The more of the Word of God we hear the more empowered we are to hear the Word of God. We can all hear the sounds of the words that are spoken but have we made a decision to hear, meaning to receive, prove, and use the Word heard to become more like Jesus? When we do there is a supernatural empowerment to hear and understand more of the Word of God. Do you enjoy taking to people that are truly interested in what you are saying or people who are just being courteous? Which one will you share the most with?
Remember we have been discussing ‘walking in Him’ by faith in Him and I will now return to our text Scripture and our secondary text in Ephesians.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
We now know if we didn’t before that we receive Him by faith and we walk in Him by faith. We also know that our walk with Him becomes more and more like Him as we engraft the Word of God. Tomorrow I will pick with the following passage and then we will return to Colossians.
Ephesians 2:5-8 (KJV)
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
By Pastor David R. Wood
