SOUNDING OUT:
On Fire for God (Part 2 of 5)
We have been looking at the foundation
of a fervent attitude that springs from a genuine and
vital spiritual relationship with God. We are in the
process of searching out five activities that the Word
identifies as springing from a proper attitude and approach
to life. We will see the importance of:
1. Prayer and
Praise
2. Reading the Scriptures
3. Speaking the Word of God to Others
4. Giving of our Abundance
5. Fellowshipping with like-minded believers.
The Greek word prothumos
is a key to unlock God’s heart on these activities.
Last week we looked at the first of those, and this
week we will look at the second. We find the second
of our key activities in the next use of the words in
the prothumos word family.
Acts 17:11,12a:
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness of mind
[prothumia], and searched the scriptures daily,
whether those things were so.
12a Therefore many of them
believed....
They received God's
Word with all the intensity that comes from being ready
and willing. That same attitude prevailed as they put
their heads in the Book, daily! "Therefore many
of them believed.…" Their readiness to receive
and search the scriptures resulted in believing!
You cannot be prothumos unless you spend
time with God in His Word.
Proverbs 4:20-23:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my
sayings.
21 Let them not depart from
thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto
those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23 Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
That's a recipe for prothumos
parchment perusal that will lead to spiritual heartburn
of a serious kind. We ought to get comfortable reading
the Scripture. Enjoy reading it from various translations.
Apply the keys to the Bible’s interpretation,
knowing that you never need doubt the integrity of God’s
Word.
II Corinthians
1:13:
For we write none other things unto you, than what ye
read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge
even to the end;
I Thessalonians 5:27:
I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto
all the holy brethren.
Ephesians 3:4:
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ
1 Timothy 4:13:
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation,
to doctrine.
Do you get the impression
that reading is important? Its value is not limited
to accumulating incoming information. It also provides
direction for action encouraging us to do our Father’s
will.
Psalms 119:11:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not
sin against thee.
Habakkuk 2:2:
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision,
and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it.
Nothing but God’s
Word will really satisfy a longing soul. Jeremiah understood
and echoed this sentiment.
Jeremiah 15:16:
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word
was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for
I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
George Mueller (1805-1898)
was a great example of one delighted in God. He developed
a vast orphanage program in Victorian England, giving
sole credit to God and the power of prayer. With such
a reputation of faith and miracles in his prayer-life,
it is interesting to note the vital significance that
Mueller placed on the faithful reading of Scripture.
Some highlights from Roger Steer’s Spiritual
Secrets of George Mueller, follow:
Speaking about the importance of Bible reading
to his own congregation at Bethesda Chapel in Bristol
in May, 1871, he said:
“I judge that though
prayer is of the utmost moment, yet still this is as
deeply, or more deeply important than prayer itself:
for when we pray to God, we speak to God; but when we
read the Scriptures God speaks to us, and this is what
we so much need.”
In the spring of 1841,
Muller spent seven weeks with his family at Nailsworth
in the Cotswold Hills. It was during this time, that
he made a discovery about his daily quiet time with
God, which transformed his spiritual life. He described
his new insight like this:
“Before this time
my practice had been, at least for ten years previously,
as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer after
having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that
the most important thing I had to do was to give myself
to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation
on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged,
warned, reproved, instructed…. I began therefore
to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning,
early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having
asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon
His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word
of God, searching as it were into every verse to get
blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry
of the Word, not for the sake of preaching on what I
had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food
for my own soul.”
There is no way to develop
a relationship with God without developing a relationship
with His Word. God’s Word establishes God’s
Will. Our heavenly Father decided He would communicate
Himself to mankind through His Word. Therefore, if we
want to learn of Him we must come to His Word.
The greater our desire for and delight in the
scriptures, the more simple our lives become. Where
else are we going to learn about God’s love? Where
else are we going to learn how to operate the nine manifestations
of the spirit? God’s Word contains all things
that pertain to life and godliness. God’s Word
tells us “what is available” regarding spiritual
matters, and we renew our minds to claim it.
When our hearts stand in awe of His Word (Psalms
119:161), and we respect it continually (Psalms 119:117),
it will be more than just a vain curiosity. It will
be a longing that presses for fulfillment. Spending
time with God in His Word develops our passion to live
for God. We want to know God’s Word so we can
do God’s will.
If we want to be men and women after God’s
own heart, we have to be involved on a heart-level.
Superficial pleasantries and niceties rarely make for
a meaningful relationship, but when we live our lives
with delight and passion for the things of God, even
a mundane and routine life can be transformed by a heartfelt
personal relationship with God, the Author of the Book.
It is during our time spent with God in His Word
when we begin to learn how God speaks to our hearts.
God’s Word expressly declares God’s will
and lights our path so we can walk with Him. There is
no substitute for being diligent to present ourselves
approved unto God as workmen who need not to be ashamed
as we rightly divide the Word of truth. When we know
what the Word says, we know what God wants us to do.
When we know the Word we will be less likely to be surprised
at His direction via the manifestations.
In the next three weeks we will look at the remaining
activities in which we should be ready and willing to
engage. We should be predisposed to move in these categories,
and pursue opportunities to do so as they arise. Our
resolve will also guide us to their fulfillment as we
determine the way we should go.
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