I am going to share today's "Faith Food" by Kenneth E. Hagin because he gives us the next step after meditating the Word of God, which we looked at earlier this week!
Practicing the Word
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).
Your spirit can be developed by four things. We have examined the first: meditation. Now we will look at the second: practicing the Word. Practicing the Word means being a doer of the Word.
There are talkers about the Word. And even rejoicers about the Word. But we don't have many doers of the Word. Begin to practice being a doer of the Word. Under all circumstances, do what the Word of God tells you to do.
Some think that being a doer of the Word is simply keeping the Ten Commandments. No, that's not what James 1:22 means. After all, under the New Covenant, we have only one commandment—the commandment of love.
If you love someone, you won't steal from him. You won't lie about him. Paul said that love is the fulfilling of the law. If you walk in love, you won't break any law that was given to curb sin. So, if you're a doer of the Word, you will walk in love.
But being a doer of the Word for New Covenant Christians means doing primarily what is written in the Epistles. Those are the letters written to the Church. They belong to us, and we are to do them.
Confession: I am a doer of the Word, not just a hearer only!
One of the first things that many children are taught is the 10 commandments. They memorize them, study what they mean and then attempt to obey them by self will and determination. The TRUTH for the born again believer is both great good news and a call to a much greater standard! We are part of a Covenant that has fulfilled the Law so that WE are no longer bound by it. We no longer live bound by those 10 rules that not one single person ever could keep, EXCEPT the ONE sinless ONE: JESUS! By HIS complete adherence to the Law, He became the perfect Stand-in for those of us who could not (EVERYONE!). He BECAME sin itself by taking upon His sinless Self OUR sin. His sinless nature gave Him the right to do so AND to totally defeat satan! Because He had no sin of His own, satan had Him illegally in hell! He left hell victorious over satan, sin, death and hell! When He rose from death, the First reborn MAN, He gave us the right and privilege to take part in HIS righteousness in the same way that HE took OUR sin! He did it for everyone, but ONLY those who will RECEIVE Him will have Him! Your spirit can be developed by four things. We have examined the first: meditation. Now we will look at the second: practicing the Word. Practicing the Word means being a doer of the Word.
There are talkers about the Word. And even rejoicers about the Word. But we don't have many doers of the Word. Begin to practice being a doer of the Word. Under all circumstances, do what the Word of God tells you to do.
Some think that being a doer of the Word is simply keeping the Ten Commandments. No, that's not what James 1:22 means. After all, under the New Covenant, we have only one commandment—the commandment of love.
If you love someone, you won't steal from him. You won't lie about him. Paul said that love is the fulfilling of the law. If you walk in love, you won't break any law that was given to curb sin. So, if you're a doer of the Word, you will walk in love.
But being a doer of the Word for New Covenant Christians means doing primarily what is written in the Epistles. Those are the letters written to the Church. They belong to us, and we are to do them.
Confession: I am a doer of the Word, not just a hearer only!
Now that we have done this, we have the RESPONSIBILITY to LIVE as His representative! We have the freedom of only ONE commandment, but contained in that ONE is ALL of them! The GOOD NEWS is that we have HIS ability inside of us in the Person of Holy Spirit to help us do so, AND we are doing so to please Him and to represent HIM well, NOT to gain Heaven. We are already citizens of Heaven, here merely as ambassadors to draw others to Him. That brings us to James 1:22 (above)! It is only by being DOERS of the Word that we meditate on that we are able to grow up and mature in the things of God and in our role as ambassador. The word "deceiving" is the Greek word "paragizomai, which means: to misreckon, to delude, to miscount, to cheat by false reckoning, stray mentally, have a wrong opinion, to err. WE cause ourselves to think, speak and act wrongly concerning the Word of God when we fail to put what we are learning into practice. Refuse to deceive and delude yourself! When you understand something that the Word of God is telling you to do, begin to do it! None of us 'do' the Word perfectly, YET, but HE will help you 'get it right' as you go along! And all the while you are learning and growing, keep putting HIM first place! AMEN! Here is Hillsong UNITED with "Glimmer in the Dust":
Shalom in Him!
