Last week, Ken kicked off our first series of the New Year. We are calling this first conversation Real Faith Disrupts, and in some ways, this will be challenging for us to step into, and I will tell you why. As Christians, we know and would tell others that our lives are forever changed as we experience the gift of salvation through Jesus. God’s love floods our hearts, minds, and souls. But here’s the challenge: we celebrate this, we sing about it in worship songs, and we tell others this Good News message while many of us just aren’t open to, willing, or excited to have anything change in our lives. We want heaven someday, and we love God, but we just don’t want any disruption to our lives; even if it would lead to a better life, we fight it and can be uncomfortable with any change. But real faith disrupts what was to lead us into what could be! Last week, as I listened to Ken introduce the series, I just kept thinking about how challenging this series will be as we engage 12 essential questions in our faith because most of us want eternal life, but we are comfortable with our lives and settle into paying our bills, and doing our best to be good people. We love God but aren’t interested in Jesus disrupting our lives, and many of us fight that disruption, even knowing that it could lead to a better life because we are comfortable where we are. That is why Ken’s question last week was so important and why we needed to personalize it. The question was,
“Who owns you?”
Did you think that through? It’s really where we have to start. Who has ownership of your life? If it’s Jesus, you will experience everything Christianity advertises. If it is you, well, you will struggle to allow God to lead, everything will feel harder than it should, and your faith will be frustrating. As I sat and listened to His talk last week, I kept thinking about something Jesus said that has always bugged me.
Matthew 7:13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. NLT
Through Jesus, the greatest thing that could ever happen to us can happen to us. We can have eternal life and find and experience our best lives possible. This is The Good News message that Jesus came to us people to help, to set the world right…and because of this incredible gift, we all can enter God’s Kingdom. All we have to do is accept the gift…BUT…so few do. What is up with that? If this is the most important thing, and it’s something we all want…why do so few find it? Ken explained it to us last week. We struggle to live for God and fully follow Jesus…we don’t want Him to disrupt our lives. For so many of us, we want Jesus. We believe He is who He says He is…but the sticking point is that we don’t want the disruption in our everyday lives. I shared an image that Ken sent me a while back with you all, and I want to share it with you again today because it is a visual of how we Christians can act and everything we want to avoid in our faith.
The point of walking through these 12 questions about our faith is to get past that instinct of living for ourselves and following Jesus to more, to our best lives. If we are going to experience that, we must understand that real faith disrupts what could be so we can experience more in our lives. Today, we are investigating the first of our 12 questions:
What is The Bible to you?
Have you ever thought about this? If it was you and I sitting here talking over coffee, how would you answer this question? Whether you could wrap that up in a sentence or not, we all do have an idea of what the Bible is to us, and today, I would like to talk about how many of us view the Bible and then point you to something that many of us miss about what Scripture can be in our lives, and we will wrap this day up looking at a couple of ways God’s Word is described in Scripture itself. But to get us thinking here this morning, I want to take you to a popular and inspirational Scripture that we all love. It’s one of those Scriptures we put on posters and T-shirts and love sharing and hearing as we walk through life. It’s found in Joshua, and I think it can lead us to something we must understand about The Bible.
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” NIV
This is a good one, isn’t it? We love this and want this. We want to be strong and courageous, not afraid or discouraged, and secure in knowing that the Lord will be with us wherever we go. But as inspiring as that is, we often miss or ignore something important from this moment in Scripture. There is a caveat placed on these awesome things that we all want in our lives, and I think it can be why we struggle to grasp what Scripture can be in our lives. If we step back and open up to more of this story in Scripture, we see what an amazing moment this is. God is speaking to Joshua and promising him and the Israelites some incredible things. Moses, their great leader, is gone, and now God is speaking to Joshua, letting him know he will lead the children of Israel into the promised land. So, this is a massive moment, a changing of the guard, and a promise to be fulfilled after decades in the making; this is something they have worked and worked to achieve; they have lost loved ones and been near death themselves while wandering in the wilderness for decades. I can’t imagine there is much hope left, especially with the death of their great leader. But God tells Joshua it is all about to happen, and he will lead them into the promised land. Let’s look at the few verses before the one we want to put on a poster. There is something very important that is so often missed or read right past to get to the good stuff in verse 9.
Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” NIV
This is a very popular area of scripture, and in general, we can be drawn to a couple of things I think we can say we all want. We focus on the idea of being prosperous and successful in verse 8. We love and are inspired by the being “strong and courageous” thing and the inspirational words found in verse 9, but we miss how God says those awesome things can happen in our lives, and I believe what we focus on and what we miss reveals a lot about how most people see what God’s Word is in their lives compare to what it could be. So, God is speaking to Joshua, wanting Him to be strong and courageous, and He will need to be as he leads this big move into The Promised Land; three times, he tells them to be strong and courageous, even adding a very courageous there in verse 7. But we must look at what God tells Joshua to do to be strong and courageous, the thing that will make him prosperous and successful, not afraid and discouraged but able to live His best life possible! It’s to follow God’s Word, focus on it, meditate on it, never stray from it, and carefully follow it…then you will experience your best life! Did you see it?
Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” NIV
So, according to God, the way to live and experience our best lives possible is to follow and obey The Bible, to follow it closely, to focus on it, meditate on it, and keep it in our hearts and minds to a level where it’s in our mouths, so that we may live it out…that is how we thrive in life. I love that line: Be careful to DO everything written in it! We live out God’s Word; why? Because it leads to the best version of ourselves, to our best lives possible. It’s interesting because many of us know this story, have been taught this story, and have read it ourselves. For most of us, the big takeaway from this story is that God wants us to be strong and courageous. We love the idea of being successful and prosperous and think, yes, sign me up for that! But we can overlook the big takeaway: which is how that happens in our lives! The Bible is the way to all that we want in life. Even if Our Heavenly Father says it is, we struggle to see it this way. Instead, we often see the Bible as a big book that is hard to read, that we must read, or at least tell people we read, that is full of heavy and burdensome lists of things we can and can’t do. We drudge through life trying to do the do’s and not do the not do’s. We rarely grasp the fact that the Bible is there for us to read, focus on, follow, and live out so we can experience our best lives possible, even here in this broken world. Our mindset on Scripture matters, and I believe that culture has done a fantastic job of attacking our mindset on God’s Word and how we view it. I talk with so many frustrated Christians who wonder why life is so hard and why their faith life is such a struggle, who can’t understand why Christianity advertises freedom, victory, and abundant life through Jesus while everything seems to be so opposite of that. It’s a life they simply aren’t experiencing…but it’s also clear that they aren’t spending time with God. They aren’t reading God’s word and living it out. They may read some because they think they have to or to gain some knowledge, but it’s not translating to how they live life. Remember what God told Joshua would lead Him to the best life possible? It wasn’t just to read the Bible but to center on it, keep it close, and do what it says; that’s the way to our best lives possible.
So, let me ask you again: How do you view The Bible? What is it to you? Do you see it as a heavy book full of rules and regulations set up as a burden to restrict your life? If you aren’t sure if you view the Bible this way, I can help you. There is a test found in Scripture that can help us here.
1 John 5:2 The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG
I love this Scripture and often think of it as I listen to people talk about their faith, especially when they talk about how difficult it is. It’s amazing how hard life can be when you aren’t allowing God full ownership of your life. If you view God’s commands as heavy and troublesome, it’s telling you something about the ownership concept Ken told us we would see all through this series. You are still running your life, unable or unwilling to allow Scripture…even if you could admit there may be something better on the other side of what God is asking of you! The flip side is true, too; if you dive into God’s Word and serve Him and it is not troublesome, it shows that you have given ownership of your life to God and are following Jesus. So, what is The Bible To You? How you view it determines so much about your inner world, which is determining so much of your outer world! I want you to sit in something that may be a brand-new thought today…but one that changes our lives completely if we truly grasp it. God wants you to enjoy life in your short time on this Earth. He wants you to experience life as He designed, which isn’t a rough life but something I like to call our best lives possible. Did you know that? He isn’t trying to burden you and make your life harder. He is lovingly guiding you to more, to your best life, but He also loves you enough not to force that on you; it’s up to you. So often, we view God and His Word as the thing that restricts us when it’s designed to be the guide to all we want!
Proverbs 1:1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king — 2 Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; 3 A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair. MSG
God tells Joshua that if he follows The Word of God, he will be strong and courageous and experience his best life. In Proverbs, we see God’s Word described as a manual for living; once again, it can be a guide to our best lives possible. So, let’s talk.
What if that is true? What if Scripture is a guide to live our best lives possible? Do you understand that is exactly what Your Heavenly Father wants for you? He wants you to thrive! It is amazing to me how this world and culture have made it more normalized to live unhealthy, godless lives than it would be to live for God and pursue life in His design. More than that, this world has convinced many of us that if we give ownership of our lives to God, the fun is over, and life becomes hard, heavy, and just, well, a total bummer compared to the fun we could be having! Now, we are stuck following the rules and being good people. When we think this way, we are missing the truth of God’s love for us and the depth of what could be. Somehow, our enemy, through our culture, people, and just our selfishness, is convincing us to view Scripture as something restricting us rather than a guide to everything we want in life. We have to see that and shift our thinking because how we view Scripture will determine how we treat it and engage it, which will determine our life experience.
As I think about how we view Scripture, a great illustration is through the parent/child relationship. A parent places rules and guidelines on a child. I mean horrifically heavy rules for a child, like wearing a coat when it’s cold. What a battle that can be! Eating healthy foods, oh, the battles we face at the dinner table. I learned the hard way not to engage in that wonderful stand-off at dinner of the “you can’t leave the table until you eat all your vegetables!” Young parents, I will tell you that is a dangerous game with a child who has nothing to do for the rest of the evening, while you may…so just a warning on that one! It can be a long night. LOL, and then there is bedtime. It was one of the great daily battles of those younger years with a child. That horrific, oppressive time, which is never when it should be, that a child is told they need to go to bed. It’s horrible for the child and can wear the parent out, as that magical moment sneaks up on the child every night, followed by tears, dragging of the feet, and a battle to get them into bed at or as close to that bedtime as possible. So, let’s think about why a parent would put these horrific rules in place. Is it to torture or burden the child? No! Is it because the parent doesn’t love the child and wants them to feel the weight and blindly follow the rules? No! The rules are there because they love their child. It’s so they are healthy and rested and able to live their best life. It’s to help, not to hinder or torture. I wonder how many battles, emotions, and tears would be avoided if the child could stay focused on their parent’s love for them, viewing all these things as what they are, rules to help them be the best version of themselves possible!
Can I tell you something? It’s the same thing with God and us. God’s Word was lovingly given to us by our Heavenly Father. Until we view it as a loving guide given to us to live our best lives possible by God who loves us…it will feel as hard to engage as bedtime with the kids can feel, becoming a daily battle over something that should excite us, inspire us, and be the thing we can’t wait to engage because we know it strengthens us, guides our lives to more, and free us to live our best lives possible. Our mindset on this is powerful and determines how our lives go because The Bible is living, active, and can lead our lives, but only if we allow it to work in us and through us.
As I was processing this idea of how we view the Bible, I wanted you to see something that so many of us miss: that it truly is a manual for living, a guide to our best lives, yet so few view it that way, which is why the Bible is so hard to engage. When we grasp God’s love and understanding He wants us to thrive, we view the Bible in a new way and see it for what it is. It changes everything, allowing us to know God and step into the lives He designed us to live, our best lives possible!
There is an awesome place in Scripture that shows such a heart for God’s Word. It’s actually the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. Don’t worry; we won’t read the whole thing, but I want you to see something here because it shows a heart for God’s Word. We don’t know for sure who wrote it; some think David wrote it for Solomon, and Solomon does echo some of it in his writings. Some think it was one of the prophets or Daniel, but regardless of who wrote it, we see a tremendous heart for God’s Word and a great helper in how we should view it and what it should and could be in our lives.
Psalm 119:96 Nothing is perfect except your words. 97 Oh, how I love them. I think about them all day long. 98 They make me wiser than my enemies because they are my constant guide. 99 Yes, wiser than my teachers, for I am ever thinking of your rules. 100 They make me even wiser than the aged. 101 I have refused to walk the paths of evil, for I will remain obedient to your Word. 102-103 No, I haven’t turned away from what you taught me; your words are sweeter than honey. 104 And since only your rules can give me wisdom and understanding, no wonder I hate every false teaching. TLB
You know, we live in a difficult world. We have so many things in life to work through, from people issues and challenges to life issues and challenges. We face pressure, stress, and, at times, more than we feel we can handle on our own, which is why we are so thankful that we get to walk through life with God, but this is another major benefit of God’s Word. Aren’t there times in your life when you wish there were some help or at the least an instruction manual on how to work through things? Me too. In so many ways, that is the beauty of God’s Word. With the time we have left, I want to show you three things Scripture says the Bible can be in our lives. There are so many, but if we saw Scripture as these three things, it could change the entire trajectory of our lives. Scripture is that important. So, here are three ways The Bible describes itself. I would say three ways the Bible can help us if we allow it to do so. A lamp to guide us. Food to nourish us. Our source of comfort.
The Bible is a lamp to guide us.
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. 106 I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regulations. NLT
Aren’t there times when we feel lost or unsure where to go or what to do? In those times, we can be so thankful for God’s Word. Now, I will say this about this amazing lamp to guide our next steps in life. We have to let God’s Word do that. We must read and study, slowly working through God’s Word in ways we can understand. Then, most importantly, we must DO what it says, just as God told Joshua. If we want all the benefits of God’s Word, it must be central in our hearts, minds, and souls and engaged in a way that disrupts our lives and becomes the words we live by.
Food to nourish us.
God’s Word builds us up and nourishes our hearts, minds, and souls.
Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. NKJV
Do you view scripture as essential to your life and your inner health? Many people don’t seem to understand how essential God’s Word is to our survival, and because of that, our souls are drying up and starving without the nourishment of Scripture. We would turn to it more often if we understood we needed it to survive. But doesn’t that sound a little dramatic or something a pastor would say to you? I mean, come on, Sam, I won’t die if I’m not nourished by God’s Word. Think about this: if I tell you to stop eating for a few months, you will ignore me because we need food to survive; without food, we’ll grow weak and eventually die. Well, so many Christians are spiritually starved and weak because they ignore the spiritual “food” God has provided in the Bible. Billy Graham once said this about Scripture:
“The Bible is not an option; it is a necessity. You cannot grow spiritually strong without it.” Billy Graham
You know, so many issues today happen because our hearts, minds, and souls are drying up and starving. We turn our backs to God’s Word, the nourishment our souls need to survive, and then struggle with our inner worlds in every way. We overlook the importance of our souls. We have studied how many issues we face today can be traced back to the health of our souls, from depression to anxiety, to loneliness, to relational issues, and down the list I could go. It is amazing how popular mental health issues are becoming, with anxiety being the fastest-growing disease in the Western world. Yet somehow, we aren’t seeing that at the same time as a mental health crisis is unfolding all around us; as a culture, we distance ourselves from God and find God’s Word to be less and less important. We are starving our souls. So often, we willingly turn our backs on the nourishment our souls need while wondering what is wrong with our inner worlds. God’s Word is the nourishment we need to live; if you aren’t in God’s Word, as God commanded Joshua, your heart, mind, and soul are starving and drying up.
The Bible is the place we find comfort.
Psalms 119:49 Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. 51 The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. 52 When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord. ESV
As I was writing this talk, I just kept thinking about life and how challenging, confusing, and painful it really is, and then I thought about what we turn to in those overwhelmingly painful times. If we were to go into the world today and ask what people do to find comfort, we would get various answers. Most would involve escapism or a way to numb ourselves from the pain or stress we face. If we turn to things like alcohol and substances, escape into social media, hit our streaming apps, and binge-watch shows mindlessly, over and over again, maybe we go out and buy some new things or book the next great vacation. In all that stuff, we find some temporary relief, but we are doubling down on issues in our lives. Now, we find some temporary relief from the pain or stress, but in the end, we end those things pull us away from our best lives and deeper into the issues of life, leading to more unhealthy behaviors, emptier bank accounts, and even addictions in our lives. Do you know what that does? It makes a hard life harder. This world has done a tremendous job of pointing us to anything and everything but God to find comfort when it is to be found in Him and His Word. Listen to that Scripture we just read, but this time, in The Message Version.
Psalms 119:49 Remember what you said to me, your servant — I hang on to these words for dear life! 50 These words hold me up in bad times. MSG
So, I want to ask you this. Do you hang onto God’s Word for dear life? Is it God’s Word that holds you up in the tough times that we know WILL come in our lives? This past year, I could tell you stories from my life that make it sound like God just blessed me over and over again, and I can also tell you stories from my past year that were painful, emotional, and overwhelming. I have joked lately that my life seems to be turning into a country song, right down to losing our dog not long ago. And I will be very transparent with you. I spent a lot of time in prayer, begging God for the help He always provides. But Scripture has been so important through those challenging moments of my life. So much comfort for me has come from God’s Word. I’m not telling you that to prove I’m a good Christian. I’m telling you that because I love you and want you to find and experience your best life. Culture points away from God, and many follow that popular path to comfort, but we know where life and comfort are found. It’s not found in a bottle. It’s not found on Netflix or the next dream vacation; it’s found in God’s Word, which is a lamp to guide us, food to nourish us, and our source of comfort in this difficult world.
So, ask yourself this first question today.
What is The Bible to you?
How you view it is how you treat it, and how you treat it determines your spiritual condition, and your spiritual condition determines your life experience. It’s that clear and that important to your life.