THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT TO MAN…THE WORD OF GOD

As a father, God the Father has spoken to His children. His desire is to enable His children to partake of His good plans in this life and eternal glory and honour in His presence.

A human being, who is composed of a Spirit, Soul and Body, can only be satisfied by having the knowledge of God. This God inspired Wisdom is found in the Bible. The Holy Word of God.

God has made available His word, so that we can choose life or death, blessings or cursing (Deut. 30:19). If I choose to follow and obey the word of God, Jesus said that I have chosen life…John 6:63. “The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life”

Everybody has a God – given right to choose. You can actually choose either to go to hell and spend eternity in the face and command of Satan, or you can choose to obey God, by reading His word and doing what it says and spend eternity in heaven with God.

If you choose to do His will and obey His commands, the Holy Spirit will help you to meet the terms of God. (John 7:17, Rom. 8:26)

THE ACCURANCY OF THE SCRIPTURE

To the Jews, each letter of the scripture was checked and rechecked when they were being copied. And if a single mistake was found the entire page was destroyed. They counted the exact numbers of verses, words and individual letters. They even measured the prescribed space between each letter and calculated the middle word and letter in each book. This was to make sure the accuracy of the word of God was maintained.

TESTIMONIES OF MEN WHO DISCOVERED THE WORD OF GOD

Several great men have spoken about the impact of the word of God in their lives, for example:

a)       George Muller, “The vision of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to

the place held by the Bible  in our life and thoughts. I solemnly state this from the experience of fifty four years”

b)       Kenneth Copeland, “God’s word is where the anointing of God lies”

c)       D.L. Moody, “I prayed for faith and thought that someday faith would come

down and strike me like lightning, but faith did not seem to come, one day I read in Roman 10, “Now faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” I opened my Bible and began to study and faith has been growing ever since.

d)       Rev. George Adegboye, “If God’s word does not occupy its place in you, you will  never achieve your place in God”

e)       Dr. Josphert Kimatu, “The Word of God is the only language which the Holy Spirit wants Us to communicate with Him”

RESULTS OF NEGLECTING GOD’S WORD.

1.       Spiritual Weakness

Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word which proceeds  out of the mouth  of God (Lk. 4:4)

2.       No answer to Prayers

I have called and ye refused … ye have set at nought all my counsel… I will laugh at your calamity… then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. (Prov. 1:24 – 28)

3.       Destruction

Who so despiseth the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. (Proverbs  13:13). This type of destruction will affect the persons, physical, mental, spiritual, financial etc health.

WHAT WE MUST NOT DO TO GOD’S WORD

1.       Don’t add or Diminish His Word.

Add thou not unto His words (Prov. 30:6), don’t diminish God’s word (Deut. 12:32). If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city (Rev. 22:19) .. God keeps His word… it shall be so!

2.       Don’t Read or Hear God’s Word and Neglect to do what it say

Be ye doers of the  word, and not hearers only deceiving (lying) yourselves (James 1:22). Rev. 21:8.  all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.

3.       Don’t Read God’s word  Faithlessly.

The word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it (Heb. 4:2)

4.       Don’t preach anything that is not God’s word

I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ… preach the word. 2 Tim. 4:1-2, 8,9.

5.      Don’t Desire walking as a Christian without plenty of God’s word in you.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. (Colossians 3:16)

6.       Don’t mix God’s word with Men Traditions

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13)

7.       Don’t think you will understand God’s word by easy procedures.

Look at the commands of our heavenly Master

1. “Search the scriptures” (John 5:39)
2. “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD” (Isaiah 34:16)
3. “Searched the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11)
4. “Study to show thyself” (II Timothy 2:15)
5. “Give attention to reading”  (I Timothy 4:13)
6. “Give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4)
7. “But the Holy Spirit helpeth” (Rom. 8:26)

 CHARACTERISTICS OF  THE WORD OF GOD

a)       The scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35)

b)       Every word of God is pure (Prov. 30:5)

c)       God’s word is eternal (Isaiah 40:8)

d)       God’s word will never pass away (Matt. 5:18)

e)       God’s word  is forever settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89)

f)        God’s word is true (Ps. 119:160)

g)       God’s word is powerful and alive (Heb. 4:12)

h)       God’s word is a discerner (Heb. 4:12)

i)         God’s word works in a believer (I Thes. 2:13)

j)        God’s word is the sword of the spirit (Eph. 6:17)

k)       God’s word gives faith (Rom. 10:17)

l)         God’s word builds up (Act 20:32, Job 22:23)

m)     God’s word grows (Acts 19:20)

n)       God’s word prevail (Acts 19:20)

o)       God’s word brings freedom (John 8:31)

p)       God’s word accomplishes God’s purpose (Isaiah 55:11)

IMMEASURABLE PROFITS OF GOD’S WORD

1. Grants strength and defies (Ps. 119:28, Acts 20:32)
2. Imparts hope (Rom. 15:4)
3. Gives answer to circumstances (Ps. 119:42)
4. Grants divine guidance (Ps. 119:133)
5. Imparts stability (Lk. 6:47 – 49, Ps. 1:1-3)
6. Grants direction (Ps. 119:105)
7. Gives spiritual cleaning (Eph. 5:26, John 15:3)
8. Gives spiritual laundering  (Heb. 4:12)
9. Grants freedom and liberty (John 8:31 – 32)
10. Equips a believer (II Tim. 3:16 – 17)
11. Impacts  God’s peace (Ps 119: 165)
12. Imparts wisdom, insight and understanding (Ps. 119:130)
13. Imparts  comfort and consolation (Ps. 119:50)
14. Secures salvation (I Tim. 4:16)
15. Is a protective safeguard against sin (Ps. 119:9 – 11)
16. Builds our faith (Rom. 10:17, Jude 20)
17. Brings health and life (Proverbs 4:22)

 THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE

The Bible opinion should always be taken as superior to any church’s (Denominations) opinion. Those who place their denomination opinion above the word of God do greatly error. The word of God should be our standard in all matters of faith. Never compromise the word of God with the opinions, traditions or thoughts of me.

THE NECESSITY OF FAITH

 Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

 According to the verse above faith is one of the basic teachings for a believer, yet so many Christian do not exercise themselves or labour in the Word of God daily to increase and mature in faith.  By just depending on Sunday for a preacher to search a scripture to bless your conscience will not last any body for more than ten years. A time will come when you shall be required to throw away childish things and eat real meat from the Word of God.

The source and system of faith

 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

 Faith is a spiritual force which is released by the Holy Spirit in the spirit of man due to the anointing which is in God’s word. This force is released as a seed and grows in revelation knowledge and produces faith. If one who has such revelation knowledge opens his or her mouth and speaks what he or she believed, the Spirit of God with honour those words as if its God Himself who spoke them. This is the way the system of faith operates.

 Faith is not hope and faith is not wish

The source of real faith comes by hearing and understanding the Word of God. If you are expecting anything from God without basing your expectation on the word of God, this is called hope. And hope shall always be in the future, real faith is based on the eternal living Word of the Almighty God. And this word works all the time, it carries power and works in the present now. If one expects good things without basing such expectations on the word of God it only amounts to mere wishes. They can happen by chance and only by the mercy of God can such things happen to be true.

 Faith can grow and can be seen

Faith grows from zero faith to other forms of faith depending on how a believer takes the word of God. It can little faith, great faith, weak faith, strong faith or even a combination like , weak little faith, strong little faith or strong great faith etc.

 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 6:30)

 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. (Matthew 8:10) 

 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: (Romans 4:19)

 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (Romans 4:20)

 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee (Matthew 9:2)

We have heroes of faith in the Bible

 The Bible has listed a list of men and women of faith in Hebrews 11. The Chapter begins by defining what faith is so that we should not doubt what each of the listed men and women had.

It says in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Its like when a man knows a little about God he or she gets a little hope and then goes in to the details of the Word, actually the Word of the Covenant so that God can count him or her faithful. The Word of God is a Blood covenant Word, that is why it has power and that’s why it can not be broken.

The study of the Word makes one to know the owner of the covenant so that we can be able to trust Him. We trust a person but we believe His Word. You can not believe the Word of one who you do not trust and likewise you can not trust a person who you do not know. Hence we should know God. Even animals know there masters.

 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: butIsrael doth not know, my people doth not consider. Isaiah 1:3

 No one can know God accept through His Word, prayer and fellowship with those who know him. Woe is he or she who fellowships with those who do not know God.

 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, (Jude 20)

 People like Abraham, Job, Joshua, Ezra, Moses and David etc knew God. Paul later said I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able. Wow, can you see the order of How to know God?

 Prayer and the Word are twins which generate faith

 Our Lord Jesus asked a question which we need to answer. In Luke 18:1.

 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; ² Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: ³ And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. ⁴ And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; ⁵ Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. ⁶ And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. ⁷ And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? ⁸ I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

 This illustrates a kind of faith which does not give up. The knowledge which made the woman to persist was based on what the woman knew a judge should do. She knew that it was only the judge who had the power and authority to fix her problem. This desperation made her to not to faint! And Jesus said that although God is not that unfair in performing His duties yes, men were slake in asking for help from the devils torments. 

 Just imagine

Faith can remove mountains, faith can open doors, faith can stop the mouth of lions, faith can open ways, faith can heal, faith can connect you to the power of God.

 The bottom line of the commandments

Our God has declared that if we are to walk with him we must have faith. For without faith no man shall please the Lord.

 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

God says, it impossible to please Him without faith. He did not say its difficult, he said its impossible. In other words what ever you are doing for God without faith, it is useless. It actually angers Him. All dealings with God must be based on faith. And faith comes by reading the Bible. So you can not please Him without the Bible. He said you must believe, but, you can only believe His Word. How can you believe without His Word? Or how can you trust Him without knowing Him? and How can you know Him without His Word?. God is always rewarding those who seek Him diligently because they seek Him by faith and faith comes from His Word and His word is only in the Bible. Hence no Word no faith. 

Why is studying the Bible important in growing in my Christian life?"

By Josphert Kimatu

The Word of God can make us to achive three things.

1. Spiritual growth: 2 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes [ The attitude of a Child] , desire the sincere milk of the word [ Create appetite] , that ye may grow thereby [ Aim of focus] .

2. Spritual Maturity: Hebrew 5: 11 -14 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

3. For spritual service: 3 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

How can you help somebody to study the Bible?

First I would define the terms in his or her question so that he or she can understand my answer properly. The first term is ‘The Bible’. Which I would define solemnly as the word of God, for it is written; in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). It is made up of a compilation of 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. It was given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped and prepared unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16). The word Doctrine in this verse means to establish one in God’s Order or ways. Hence the Word of God is the one which can establish one in the ways and patterns of God’s dealings with mankind. The word ‘reproof’ there means to dismantle false teachings and errors based on human traditions which are not according to God’s standard. Then the disciple can be corrected and instructed as a true follower of Christ. Secondly, a ‘Christian’ is a follower or a disciple of Jesus Christ. Actually the disciples where first called Christians at a place called Antioch (Acts 13), because they acted like Christ. So, people called them ‘little christs’ or ‘Christians’ because when they looked at them they were just like Christ Himself. The last term is ‘growing’, it means to increase in size, or to develop, or to mature from a young or little state in order to be to in a full functional state.

After that I shall try to establish whether the believer has a sound foundation in personal relationship with Jesus Christ who is the foundation of any real life giving spiritual life. I shall ask him or her if he or she had a personal confrontation with the risen Christ as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). And whether there is a revelation that Jesus is indeed the Christ and the readiness to personally acknowledge the truth by publicly confessing the Jesus Christ to others. Based on this foundation can I be sure that the instructions I shall give him or her concerning the importance of the Word of God in Christian growth shall not be a waste of time.

After that I shall start to tell him or her what Jesus said about God’s word in the life of a believer. For example in John 8:31-32, It says; Jesus spoke to those Jews who believed on Him if you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. The Jews where formerly sinners but they had become believers now, and they probably thought that was good enough, but Jesus said that they needed to continue in His Word if they were to be disciples indeed. I believe that continuing in God’s Word transforms one from being a sinner to a believer then to a disciple, who now matures to be a servant and eventually a friend of Jesus as we enter into the mature sonship with the Father. This progression is clearly shown in the gospel according to Saint John’s gospel in which sinners who do not know Jesus call Him all sorts of names, while believers call Him ‘saviour’, Then the disciples call Him ‘Master’ as in John 13:13, you call me Master and Lord: and ye say well for so I am. Then the servants call Him ‘Lord’ as in , John 14:15; Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what His Lord doeth; but I have called you friends; This is the basic Christian growth which is triggered by taking heed to the Bible and allowing the Words of Christ to dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16). 

Lastly I would encourage the believer to study and apply the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation by the help of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26, John 17:17). Moses admonished Joshua to mediate on the Law of the LORD day and night so that Joshua could be able to observe and do all that was written in the law. David also testified of the importance of delighting and meditating on the Word in Psalms 1:1-3. I would also be careful to tell the believer that God’s Word will not work if he or she does not cultivate the Fear and the Holiness of God in his or her life. For example, Psalms 119:11 teaches that if we keep God word we shall not sin against God. As the English people say that, ‘the Bible shall keep you from sin or sin shall keep you from the Bible’. So in order to grow and be blessed we need to fear the LORD and greatly delight in His commandments (Psalm 112:1). The apostle Peter admonished young believers to desire the sincere milk of the word of God so that they may grow thereby (1 Peter 2:2). This means that we take the word of God as our food for it contains all the spiritual nutrients we might require to grow and mature properly. For His word is spirit and life (John 6:63), so important is the word of God for all believers that we should give attention to it for it provides health and healing to all flesh (Proverbs 4:20-22).