Each Day Already is a Challenge

Sermon Notes - August 5

Faith Works - Part 5

Word Up, Word Active

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25 NKJV

Adjust our lives for the Word of God.

...so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His varvelous light... 1 Peter 2:9 NASB

...so not offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Romans 6:19 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NIV

Jesus didn't ask the disciples to come and discuss with him, he said, "Come and follow me."

We have to do #1 above to do #2 below...

Accept the Word of God.

He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 NIV

We have to hear, understand, then produce.

Attitudes for access:
Try to listen. James 1:19a Be quick to listen...
Seek to learn. James 1:19b ...slow to speak...
Be laid back. James 1:19b ...and slow to become angry...

We have two eyes and one mouth for a reason. We're supposed to listen more than speak.

Assimilate the Word of God.

Jemas 1:21 NRSV for if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;
James 1:24 NSRV ...for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.

Hebrews 4:12 NIV For the word of God is living and active...it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Read the Word.

James 1:24a NCV But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God's perfect law that makes people free...

Here the word study means to "stoop down and gaze in."

Three questions I need to ask before reading God's Word:
What can I learn from this?
What is God trying to tell me?
How can this make me a better believer today?

One promise I need to make before reading God's Word:
Whatever I read I promise to obey.

Ruminate on the Word.

Do you know what ruminate means? Chew on and chew on again (as in cows and cud), meditate on, ponder.

Here's an interesting observation. Worry is negative meditation. Ponder that one...

James 1:25b NCV But the truly happy people are those who...continue to study it.

If God is trying to tell me something, what is the...
Promise I need to claim.
Problem I need to confess.
Purpose I need to practice.
Praise I need to acknowledge.

James 1:25c NCV They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God's teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy.

Act on the Word.

James 1:22 NIV Do not merely listen to the wod, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:25 GW However, the person who continues to study God's perfect teachings that make people free and who remains committed to them will be blessed. People like that don't merely listen and forget; they actually do what God's teachings say.

John 13:17 NIV Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

James 1:26-27 TLB Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn't control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn't worth much. The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord - not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world.

Character confirmation.
Take control over your mouth.
To care enough to work your faith.
Stay clean in an unholy environment.

Maturity is how much change in character there has been.

When it comes to studying the Bible, there are more auditors than students. (Remember college days? You could audit a class and not have to take any notes or tests or really learn anything? You could just sit in.)