Living by the word
Lesson Two
“The word of the Lord
came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying” (Jonah 1:1).
The word of the Lord isn’t something we nod our heads to or merely
sound out A-men to. It is more important
and vital to our life than the very air we breathe or the food we eat.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live [Jesus
is talking about life here] by bread alone, but
on [or by]
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4; Dt. 8:3).
What bread is to our natural
life, God’s word is to our LIFE.
·
Without bread or food for our natural man, we
die.
·
Apart from the Word of the Lord, we have no LIFE.
The word of the Lord doesn’t
merely sustain us or give us life, it also directs the course of our life, so that what we live is LIFE. When I use the word LIFE, I’m not referring to breathing in and out or a healthy body,
but to a quality of LIFE that might
be called eternal.
It is LIFE that is overflowing with…
·
joy, and
·
peace, and
·
a jubilant sense of well being,
It is characterized by…
·
a love for others that is ecstatic,
·
a sense of being loved by God that is overwhelming,
·
a deep sense of security, and
·
confidence, and by
·
the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
It has the ability to…
·
endure adversity without complaining or caving in,
·
to forgive your worst enemies with ease,
·
to live carefree and faith filled.
I’m talking about the kind of LIFE that Jesus described when He said,
“I am come that you might have LIFE and that more abundantly.”
Paul declared, “we walk [or live] by faith [a faith that is
dependent upon and produced by the Word], not by
sight” (2Cor. 5:7).
The Christian life should not
be lived in reaction to circumstances and neither should it be based upon
calculated attempts at engineering life.
Such living, although applauded by the world and many in the Church,
tends to circumvent the purpose and will of God.
Abraham was able to satisfy his desire for a son by his union
with Hagar, but God did not accept Ishmael as the fulfillment of His promise to
Abraham. Abraham merely wanted a son,
God had His eye on the Son who was to come through Isaac.
We circumvent God’s best by devising
plans that will produce the outcome we want.
Jacob was destined to be the son that God would use to bring
about His purpose in the earth. But instead
of trusting God and living life by the Word of the Lord, Rebekah
and Jacob used deception to gain the blessing.
Now we may not use deception,
but like Rebekah and Jacob, we devise and act upon
plans that will give us what we want
in life.
How many of us are so reliant
upon God that we would give our youngest son the portion coming to him, all the
while knowing that he will spend it on riotous living in the far country? How many of us are honest enough to admit
that we are doing our best to keep the prodigal from leaving home, and that we
are miserable with the results we are getting?
They’re still at home, but they have no heart for God. In our reluctance to give up control, we’re
headed for the storm of our life.
I admit that planning is not wrong,
but it must be done with God’s counsel.
James offers a strong rebuke to
those who make plans independent of God.
He declares…
Come now, you who say, “
Solomon adds, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who
build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake for
nothing” (Ps. 127:1).
Perhaps the idea of living by the Word of the Lord is
disturbing to us because we’ve bought into the idea that we’re wise enough and
educated enough to make rational decisions that will bring us the results we
want.
·
We consult E. F. Hutton and rely upon his advice
before making financial investments.
·
We consult a medical doctor and adhere to his
advice when we’re sick.
·
We consult an attorney when faced with legal issues.
But when it comes to life…
·
We do our best and hope it works out.
·
We absent ourselves from the gather of the saints
where the world of the Lord is being proclaimed.
·
We rely upon our limited understanding and
intelligence, but we fail to consult God about His plan for our life.
Giving up control of our life
and turning it over to God is one of the toughest things we’ll ever do.
Yet God’s word to us is this: “Trust in the Lord
with all your heart, and do not lean
on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).
When the brilliant
ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months
at "the house of the dying" in
Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his
life. On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, "And
what can I do for you?"
Kavanaugh asked her to pray
for him. "What do you want me to pray for?" she asked.
He voiced the request
that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: "Pray that I
have clarity."
She said firmly,
"No, I will not do that."
When he asked her
why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let
go of."
When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the
clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity;
what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God."[1]
Trusting God means that we realize
we don’t have all the answers about our tomorrows. It means that we are willing to place our
lives completely into the hands of God in the belief that “He will direct us.”
·
What advantage is there is going to a medical
doctor and then disregarding his diagnosis and prescribed treatment?
·
What good is a word from the Lord if we refuse to
act upon it; if we fail to give heed to it?
I can tell you that the biggest
mistakes I’ve made in life have been the result of…
·
not consulting God or
·
of failing to act on His revealed counsel.
Jonah had a word from the Lord, but he acted in
opposition to it. Instead of going
directly to Nineveh, he bought a ticket that would take him more than 2000
miles in the opposite direction.
Some of us are headed for the storm of our life because we haven’t consulted God or because we’re
not paying any attention to the word of the Lord.
Some of us are in the midst of
a severe storm because we opted to go to Tarshish
instead of Nineveh—God’s will for our life.
No matter where you find
yourself, it’s not too late to turn from our
way to Yahweh; to admit our
foolishness and ask His forgiveness. God
can negate our mistakes and get us on track again.
David Smallbone decided to promote Christian
concerts in his homeland of Australia, where only 5 percent of the people
believed in Christ. When too few fans filled his seats during one major tour,
David took a $250,000 bath in red ink.
Creditors repossessed his home, and the father of six
A few weeks after they arrived, however, David was informed that
his position was "no longer available." He literally could not get
out of bed for several days. When he and his wife explained to their children
what happened, [turning point] they all got on their
knees and asked God to help them.
Interesting things began to happen. God provided bags of
groceries, a minivan, and odd jobs. Then the biggest surprise of all—a
recording contract for David's oldest daughter, Rebecca, age 15. She recorded
her first album using an old family name, St. James.
Flash forward to today. David promotes his own daughter's
sold-out concerts. Rebecca St. James has become one of the hottest Christian
artists in America. Christianity
I can guarantee you that you do
not want to experience the product of your planning, but if that’s where you
find yourself, it doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
Jonah’s advice to us would be, “The trip to Tarshish
isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Do it right the first time! Do it God’s way and you’ll save yourself a
lot of trouble. If you find yourself in
the storm of your life or worse yet, in the belly of a whale, turn to God. He’s waiting for you to acknowledge your need
for Him and to get you back on track.”
There’s a message in the
mess! God uses men and women who have
been broken by their failures. He uses
those who have been brought to their senses by boat rides that took them into
life threatening storms.
"Until one knows the will of God he
should keep his mouth shut. He should not exercise authority carelessly.
. . . Persons with many opinions, ideas, and subjective thoughts are to
be feared. They like to be counselors to all. They seize upon every
opportunity to press their ideas on others. God can never use a person so
full of opinions, ideas, and thoughts as the one to represent His authority. .
. .
"Unless we are completely broken by the Lord we are not qualified to be
God's delegated authority. God calls us to REPRESENT His authority, not
to SUBSTITUTE His authority. . .
"This is not to imply that before he can be used by God he must be reduced
to having no opinion, no thought, and no judgment. Not at all. It
merely means that the man must be truly
broken; his cleverness and his opinions and his thoughts must all be
broken. Those who are naturally talkative, opinionated, and
self-conceited need a radical dealing, a basic bending. . . . Only after
one is scourged by God does he begin to live in fear and trembling before
Him. He dare not open his mouth inadvertently. In our much talking
we will soon forget ourselves and expose the real self. How we need to be
slain by God's light. . . . Like Balaam in Numbers 22:25, we need to be
pushed against the wall and to have our foot crushed. . . . Only by such
painful experiences as this shall we be delivered from ourselves.[3]
Perhaps the storm you’re been
experiencing has broken you and gifted you with the realization that there is
no LIFE apart from living the word of the Lord!