Everyday Church
How to Approach the Bible
(upbeat music) - Hello friend, welcome to today's podcast, Everyday Church with Pastor Jason Kiefer. Everyday Church is a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. Now let's join Pastor Jason in a verse by verse study through the book of Ephesia. - Hey my friend, it's good to have you today on the Everyday Church podcast and I hope you're having a great day in the Lord and man, I'm just thankful for all that the Lord does for us and I know that you are too. And today I wanna just take a minute and just kind of a verse that was on my heart. This morning I was doing my devotions and I don't know how you are and I think we're probably similar. I think most of us are all similar to this in this area. You know, we have struggles in life and you know, things in life, you just feel like man. You know, one day you're up here and the next day, maybe you're struggling with an issue, maybe doubt, fear, discouragement, just many different things it could be. And you know, if we're not careful, the thought that came to me this morning was we use the word of God to kind of try to fix the problem. And I know, you know, in our mind that's what the word of God's for. But in reality, and when I say to try to fix the problem, I think sometimes we use the word of God to give us instruction on how we can fix the problem. That's the better way to say it. I think we wanna go to the Bible and we wanna kind of figure out okay, what is God's word telling me to do? And you can't read the Bible, read God's word without finding instruction in it. And there are some things that it tells us to do. But primarily God's word is, it's transformation. It's to transform our lives. The power of God is in his word and not in our ability to do something or accomplish something. And I think that's where a lot of our frustrations come from sometimes. I know for me, I think that's where a lot of my frustration can come from is, I know what God's word tells me to do. Okay, but what am I depending on God's word to do? I think of what Hebrews chapter four was the word that was the verse that kind of came to mind for me this morning. And it says for the word of God is quick. And the word quick there is just to be alive, it's alive. And think about that for a moment. It goes by Ephesians, kind of uses the same word. You have to be quickened, who were dead and trespasses and sins. So we know that word there means that something is brought to life or something is alive. John described the word as a person. He said in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus is the word, right? He's the word. And so as I was thinking about this this morning, just thinking about and some of the things that I struggle with and I think we all struggle with in life is it's not that God's wanting me to get the right instruction. First, I wanna diagnose the problem, then I wanna get the right instruction, then I'm gonna fix the problem, right? That's not really how God's word works. And I think that as we learn to depend upon God's word, we trust God's word, we trust the power of his word. He said the word of God is quick and it's powerful. It's quick and powerful. It changes us, it changes our life. You know, the scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And I think about what renews my mind, what changes my mind, it's the word of God. And the word of God is powerful, it's real, it's alive. And I think when I begin to look at God's word as transformational and not informational, man, what a huge help it becomes to me. And my independence is upon God and his word, not my ability to carry out God's word. And I think for me, man, we struggle a lot with that because deeply rooted in us is this need to be in control, this need to prove that we can do it. And I think if we're not careful, we have a salvation in my grace. You know, we know that that's a given, but man, if we're not careful, we'll make sanctification by works and we'll make it about works. And I believe that salvation and sanctification together produce some really good works, right? We are his workmanship, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed as what the Bible tells us. And so, as we grow in him and as we grow in his word, we should grow in our dependence upon his word, my trust, my trust in his word. I'm putting my trust in his word. The word God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And I've heard many people, they take this verse and they'll just use it as though the word of God is, you know, it's there to get you, it's there to just only expose you and all your weaknesses and all your flaws and all that other stuff. And man, the word of God does that in some pretty serious ways. You know, it'll expose things in our life, maybe pride, maybe anger, maybe fear, maybe a certain sin that you're dealing with. It'll definitely expose those things. But I just, you know, the word of God is powerful in that it brings great comfort. It brings great joy. I think there's peace. I think that our minds are to be ruled by the peace of God. And so, if we're transformed by the word of God, then our minds will be ruled by the peace of God. And I look at the, you know, when you look through the Gospels and you just see the message that Jesus preached, man, the heart of the Savior was to bring people to Him. And He used the message, the message of the gospel, the message of Him being the Son of God, giving His life for the world. His hope, His desire is to redeem the world to Himself, to restore that which has been broken, to restore, to renew that which has been destroyed. And He does that. He builds that through His word. The scriptures, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And, you know, I think that as we, you know, as you spend time in God's word, if you go to it for just primarily instructional, you kind of walk away empty, if you will, right? You kind of walk away, sometimes feeling guilty, sometimes feeling overwhelmed, sometimes feeling unworthy, I guess it'll be a good way to put it. And I don't just, I don't know that God gave us His word for that purpose. Ken, when I'm not in line with His word, and some of those things happen, sure, but God's word is not just to show me that I'm out of line, now figure out how to get back in line. God's word, when I put my faith in my trust and I just rest in His word, God's word brings me in line with Him. I think of what the Psalmist said in Psalm 130. He said, "I wait for the Lord, and in His word do I hope. "I wait for the Lord, and in His word do I hope." I remember some years back, I think it was 2017. Man, I just, that verse, I was going through that verse, that chapter and my devotions. It was a time of waiting in my life. I wasn't really doing anything in ministry or, so it was a tough time for me, and I don't like to wait. But I remember in that time, I was reading that verse and it's like, "Hey, I wait for the Lord." And I was like, "Man, I don't wanna wait for the Lord. "I'm tired of waiting for the Lord." And that second part of that verse stuck out to me where it said, "In His word do I hope." And man, immediately, I know it was the Holy Spirit brought to mind, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God. And so I just, in that moment, I realized that I wait for the Lord, and in Him do I hope. I hope in the Lord too, and it's like the Lord reminded me that when my hope is in His word, my hope is in Him, and His word reveals who He is to us, and His plan for us, and His plan for us to grow our relationship with Him, and in our fellowship with Him. And so I think, you know, when I'm learning in my life, and man, I'm sure I got a long way to go in this, and but I'm learning that when I approach God's word as relational, transformational, restorative, it's God's plan on how He's restoring me, ultimately through sanctification, how He's redeemed me in salvation. When I see God's word as that, man, it becomes so much more. And it's not like this thing that I gotta do every day, and you know, I gotta go read my four chapters, or five chapters, or whatever it is, or I gotta read through the Bible in a year, and I mean, all that's great, it really is. It probably helps with accountability, and I think you have to have a plan to get somewhere. But man, really, you know, think about it. If the only time I spend in God's word is just based on a plan to get somewhere, like what's the enjoyment in that, right? Where's the growth in that? And so what we have with the Lord is a relationship, and I think it should be treated as thus, and not going to God's word as an encyclopedia. Might be a good way to put it. I said something like this a while back to somebody. I was like, hey, how often you use your car owner's manual? And I don't use it unless something goes wrong, right? And if you're like me and you know me and how I can work with cars, I don't even use it then. I go find somebody who knows what to do. But needless to say, we have a car owner's manual, probably in the glove box of your car, and you don't use that until there's something wrong, and you need to figure out the problem. Don't, I won't encourage your friend. Do not approach God's word that way. Learn to want to be in God's word, and learn to desire His word. Learn to desire to submit yourself to God's word, to the spirit of God's word, to the transforming power of God's word, right? And not just to see it as a fix it book or an instructional book to help me get it right. I've heard people say the Bible stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. Yeah, that's great. You're kinda gonna have to do it on your own, it sounds like. I'm gonna tell you, look, you can't do it on your own, there's no way, there's no way you can do it on your own, you might as well give up on that, and you might as well just learn to each and every day, submit yourself to the plan and the will of God, and depend on the Holy Spirit to lead you, and He will, He will lead you. And that's not to say that He does not give us instruction from His word for things that we need to do as believers, and we have to do as believers. It's not to say that, the word of God does do that. But if that's what it is primarily, man, it gets things really out of balance, and then before you know it, we slip into this performance-based Christianity. And I just wanna encourage it today, it's not about that at all. God's not looking for you to perform, He's not looking for you to pass the test today. He's not looking for any of that. He's looking for you to depend on the work of Christ, which is revealed to us in and through His word, and the power of His word working. And, man, I hope today, I know it's a little different, but I hope that's an encouragement to you today, and maybe that hit you in the soul, just kind of the way it did me. And I'm praying for you today. I'd love for you to reach out, and probably chances are we, we probably just maybe struggle with some of the same areas, right? We're just human for people, and we can encourage one another and help one another. And so, be sure to like this, if it's helped you share this episode of Everyday Church, 'cause it really is about us learning together, growing together as God's children. And, hey, listen, shoot me an email. You can do that at everydaychurchabc@gmail.com, and I'd love to have a conversation with you, talk to you. If you need help in any way, let us know. We wanna be a blessing to you. So, well, let's go to the Lord in prayer, and I hope you have a blessed day. Father, thank you for your mercies, for your goodness to us, for your love for us. And Lord, I just, I thank you for your word. Father, I've spent a lot of years just not really understanding what your word is, and Lord, I'm beginning to better understand it. And I know there's a long way still to go, and I just pray, God, that, Lord, if this can help somebody today, God, it can be a blessing to them, and encouragement, Lord, and they can come to the place, Father, where they see your word as changing their life, as transforming their life, Father, as these words being alive and real. And Father, thank you for your word. How good it is to us. We love you, and thank you in prayer. In your name, we pray. Amen. (upbeat music) - Thank you for listening to Everyday Church, a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. If this episode was an encouragement to you, be sure to hit like, share it, and subscribe for future content. (upbeat music)