July 31, 2023
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Oh I've come a long way for a technically challenged person. Well, there was a time I'd never used a computer - wasn't planning to. Somebody bought me one, said, "You're gonna." I didn't understand all about it, but I did learn how to use it. I remember back before the days of autosave, you know? There were some lessons I learned the hard way: I'd type in part of a book or a magazine article or notes of some kind, and then type in a password to save it. But I'd make one fatal mistake. See, you were supposed to hit this little key that said Enter or you wouldn't be seeing that material again. Just because it appeared on the screen didn't mean I had it. You had to save it by pressing the Enter command.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How God's Words Become Yours."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from James 1, beginning at verse 22. God says, "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does."
Now, these verses are about people who read and hear the Bible a lot. Is that you? Oh, it appears on their mental screen often, but it's people who don't really have it. They read it and then it disappears. See, there's no autosave here. Just hearing and knowing the Word of God does not a Christian make. Just because it appeared on your screen doesn't make it yours. You've got to hit Enter. How do you do that?
Well, the passage talks about not forgetting what you've read. So, first of all, you need to memorize it. You've got to know it isn't enough to just to have God's Words in your Bible. They've got to be in your heart so you can bring them up on your screen when the pressure's on. Your intuitive response. And that happens when you memorize a verse or a promise or a challenge and you enter it as yours.
I think you are also better able to remember when you write it down. That's my experience. Have you tried keeping a Jesus Journal with your Bible? It's the greatest thing I've ever done in terms of my growth in Christ to journal my Jesus time. After you've read, then you write what God has said to you in your own words and then you write what you're going to do differently that day because of what He said. See, you're processing it. Now it's autosaving because you're saving it when you write it.
God's words become yours when you use them too, not just when you write them. During the day, tell someone else the words God has spoken to you. Share them. That enters it into your heart more. And most of all, you enter the truths of God's Word when you apply what appeared on your Bible screen. In other words you ask yourself, "Lord, what application can I make to something I'm going to face today?" And then that means that day you do something that is a specific "that day" obedience to what you read in God's Word that morning.
Have you ever wondered how you could have heard so much Bible in your life and still be so far from your spiritual goals? Maybe you've not entered God's words by writing them down, by memorizing them, by telling somebody about them, applying it to your life.
Churches are filled with people who have heard God's Word about what Christ did on the cross, coming out of His grave, our need to pin all our hopes on Jesus and yet those people will not be in heaven. Because they knew all about Jesus but they never pressed Enter, they never opened their heart to Jesus.
Have you done that? If you're not sure you have, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Get to our website. I think you could come away from there knowing you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com.
When the message is important, which it always is when it comes from God, make sure it's not just good on the screen, but you've entered it in your life.