The Pursuit of Happiness (part 2)

Yesterday we were considering the promise of Christ to us found in the gospel of Luke..."blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it."

We looked honestly at are we placing ourselves in the best place to encounter God through His word. I trust you are in a Bible believing, Bible preaching/teaching church. If not, you should be, for you own good as we saw yesterday. Now that we are seated where the word of God is being faithfully preached and taught we will move on to even more wonderful truths regarding hearing.

As we saw, hearing means to not just hear the sound but to understand the sound heard. I can hear a noise in the other room but I must understand it for it to help me. If I hear a sound and do not discern it then how will I benefit from it. If I hear a sound and understand it to be someone breaking in then I can respond properly to what I know...such as call the police or in some cases...RUN!

To get this we need to learn another passage and the power of what it teaches us regarding the Bible. It is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It teaches us that the word of God aka the Bible will accomplish 4 things in us...

1) It will TEACH us! By hearing the word of God we learn what is right and true. What will last and bless not only us but also our marriages and families. How to truly be saved and get to know God, HIS way is found in HIS word!

2) It will REVEAL our errors! Now not only does the Bible show us the right way it also shows us when we are on the wrong road. It will let us know by convicting us. I call this "smacking us." This is when we see we are wrong and need to make some changes.

3) It will CORRECT us! In other words it will show us how to get back on the right road. Much like a road map that let's us see where we are and see which road to get on to get back on the right track. The Bible does the same.

4) It will TRAIN us! Here we see how to build into our lives the necessary tools/wisdom to help us to know what is right and how to do it. God uses all four of these to bring us discernment or understanding.

How about you? Are you hearing from the Bible? Are you learning its truths and applying them to your personal life, marriage, family and relationships? God has promised blessing when we do, so get in the book and let the book get into you! More tomorrow!

Blessings,

Bruce