Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Soul Survival and the “Rock Your Faith” series.

As I shared in the first post, something happened almost 20 years ago that rocked my husband’s and my walk with God. Though we are far from perfect, the principles we learned during that time and since then have impacted our lives greatly.

There is nothing special about us. If you are a believer in Christ, God has the same plan to grow and change you (Eph. 4.14-15). In fact, you may already be much farther down the road of spiritual maturity than we are. But, hopefully, each of you will glean some nuggets as we go through these principles.

Two weeks ago in Rock Your Faith: The Danger of Self-Imposed Blindness, I began sharing some of those principles. And last week’s post was Rock Your Faith: Personal Accountability & Snowplow Parents. If you missed any of them, just click on the links.

This week’s subject may seem like a no-brainer to some. But even though we may claim to believe it, actually living as if we do can be challenging at times.

Rock Your Faith: Take God at His Word

God’s Story from Creation to Re-Creation

God’s Word is full of commands and consequences. It’s laced with examples of obedience and disobedience on the part of God’s people. But it’s also full of His promises to us and our perfect example in the life of His Son.

God’s Word, His story, is a story of redemption. Everything in the Old Testament points us to our desperate need for a Savior and prophesies His coming.

The New Testament tells us about Jesus’ three and a half years of ministry, His life, death, and resurrection through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Those books are followed by the Acts of the Apostles with its history of the early church.

Beginning in the book of Romans through the little book of Jude, God left us with the epistles, letters to local churches in the first century clarifying doctrine, exhorting them to obedience, and much more. But these letters weren’t just written for them, they are for us, too.

And, finally, the book of Revelation which is the vision given by God to the aging Apostle John concerning the end times.

From creation in Genesis to re-creation in the book of Revelation, it’s all God’s story. The more you read the Bible, the more you see how all 66 books fit together in one continuing revelation of Him.

God-Breathed

But it’s not enough to know what information the Bible contains. There are many books of history, many other books written about God, and even books that claim to prophesy things to come. So, what sets the Bible apart?

2 Timothy 3.16-17 tells us:

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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The phrase translated “by inspiration of God” literally says it was God-breathed.

And 2 Peter 1 says:

¹⁹ And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

So, in the same way that a sailboat is carried along by strong winds, men were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote the Bible. They were the instruments. God used their personalities and writing styles, but He was the Divine Author.

Peters also tells us that the Word of God is incorruptible and that it endures forever (1 Pet. 1.23-25).

And Jesus said that God’s Word is truth (Jn. 17.17).

So, how does the Word impact our lives?

All We Need for Life and Godliness

Let’s look a little closer at 2 Timothy 3.16-17. It tells us that God’s inspired Word “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” It teaches us what is right (doctrine), tells us when we’re wrong (reproof), shows us how to get it right (correction), and help us grow and make obedience a lifestyle (instruction in righteousness). Verse 17 goes on to assure that when we live by it, we’ll be complete or mature and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1 says:

² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God’s Word gives us everything pertaining to life and godliness. It’s sufficient. It provides us with all the knowledge we need to live life before Him and with others.

The Word of God is powerful. It has the ability to pierce our hearts.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4.12).

It can speak to us like nothing else:

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Lk. 24.32).

Most of us can read those passages and say, “amen.” But do we live as if we believe it?

Living It

James says that we are to do what the Word says not just know what it says (Jas. 1.22-25). He goes on to tell us that if we don’t, we will only deceive ourselves.

God told Joshua to meditate in the Word day and night and to do all that is written in it (Josh. 1.7-8).

We are to let what the Bible says guide our lives. It should be our standard.

But the place where our faith and trust in God and His Word are often proven is in the tests and trials of life.

Do we trust God and take Him at His Word when we’re tempted to worry? Do we believe His promises to provide and care for us and remember that worry is sin (Matt. 6.25-34; Phil. 4.6)?

Do we take God at His Word when marriage gets hard and we’re tempted to leave (Matt. 5.31-32; 1 Cor. 7.10-11)? Do we choose to be a doer and not just a hearer when it goes against our feelings?

Do we take God at His Word when someone has sinned against us and we’re told to forgive (Eph. 4.32) and overcome evil with good (Rom. 12.21)? Or do we justify our anger and bitterness?

Do we take Him at His Word and trust Him when life gets hard or doesn’t make sense (Prov. 3.4-5).

The only way we’ll be able to do that consistently is if we first hide His Word in our hearts (Ps. 119.11). Then we must pray (Heb. 4.14-16) and rely on the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14.16-17).

But ultimately, we must step out in obedience. When we do our faith and our spiritual muscles will be strengthened and we’ll grow in our walks with God.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb. 5.14).

Stepping out in faith, taking God at His word, being a doer and not just a hearer are not always easy. They often require going against our feelings and even the advice of well-meaning friends. But if you do and if you do it consistently, it will rock your faith. You will never be the same.

In future posts in this series, we will look at other principles and passages that have the potential to “Rock Your Faith.”

Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter so you won’t miss any of them.

Blessings,
Donna