Feasting on the Word: His Word like a Mirror
21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. James 1:21-25
We are PEOPLE OF THE WORD
The foundation of our faith is the Holy Bible. We hold fast to the inerrant and timeless Word of God. We believe the Holy Scriptures are to be read individually, read and discussed corporately, and walked out as a community.
James begins by telling us 3 important truths about us and the Word:
We have filth and evil that needs to be removed from our life.
God has a Word that He wants to plant in our lives.
The Word is POWERFUL for it has the ability to save our souls.
If we want to activate the power of the Word in our life we must be hears and doers of the Word of God.
The hearing is not good on it’s own. You must hear and do.
The Word of God is like a mirror. When we look into it, we see ourselves.
“The glass of the Word is not like our ordinary looking-glass, which merely shows us our external features; but, according to the Greek of our text, the man sees in it ‘the face of his birth’; that is, the face of his nature. He that reads and hears the Word may see not only his actions there, but his motives, his desires, his inward condition.” (Spurgeon)
Now James gives us two possible responses to what we see in the mirror:
You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
You look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard then God will bless you for doing it
This is the only option that carries the blessing of the Lord. This is the year of Blessing. Do you want the blessing?
5 Steps to be SET FREE by the Word of God:
Look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free
You can’t read the Word of God without seeing
You need the Spirit of God to read the Word of God
But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. Job 32:8
See 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
Sermon on this here.
Set apart time daily to read the Word of God
You need TIME to look CAREFULLY : parakyptō
To stoop to a thing in order to look at it
to look carefully into, inspect curiously
Pray before you read the Word
Give me eyes to see what the Spirit is saying
Correct what needs correcting, encourage what needs encouragement
Speak Lord, your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:10)
Pause as things jump out at you or are highlighted for you
If something offends you pay attention
If a word stands out to you, look it up
Study Resources:
Complete your reading and ask the Lord:
How am I like the person I just read about?
What caution do you have for me?
What error is in me?
How do fall short?
What do you want to show me in relation to You?
Confess
Once the Lord shows you something in you. Confess it. Say it out loud.
Confession is you telling the Lord: I see what you are showing me.
Main difference between the first response and the second: acknowledgement
Repent
Repentance is the doing part.
It means to turn away 180, from the behavior or action and being doing something different from what you were doing.
When you repent, you demonstrate to God that you heard and act on what you heard.
GOD BLESSES THIS!!!
THIS IS GOOD NEWS! He has made a way for us to be free from the things that can easily entraps us! (Hebrews 12:1)
Ministry Moment:
Confront the fear to see what is really within. The Lord only exposes what He wants to make whole.
2 Samuel 12
