Family Values - Bible Believing | Gina Elmes | 9th October 2022
This week Pastor Gina speaks about another of Family Church values – we are Bible Believing. We walk in the unchanging truth of God’s Word, resolved to never add to it nor take from it. We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The 66 books are compiled by about 40 writers but all are authored by God. The Bible has one theme throughout – Redemption – God sending a saviour to save us from our sins. We believe that the people and the situations in the Bible in scripture were actual and real, both people and situations. We oppose the thought that the Bible is a myth, or that it is merely symbolic (some doctrines think this). Both Psalms 14 and 53 relate that “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” In many places, scripture details how the Lord our God made everything and that we have no excuse to believe otherwise for we shall stand before Him.
Isaiah 55:8 onwards speaks about God’s thoughts not being our thoughts, rain and snow coming down to earth not returning without watering to enable the earth to flourish and his word not returning empty until it has accomplished that which it was sent for. So, in order to get to know God’s thoughts we need to read His word just as we need to hear the words from anyone else if we wish to know them. God is not mysterious, he has compiled a whole Bible of life for us to understand His nature, His thoughts and the best ways for our lives. This is why it is crucial we are Bible believing.
The Bible sheds light on the pathway of our lives. Psalm 119:104-105 (NIV) says “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path”. In other words ‘Lord please show me the way, I am tired of the wrong way’.
Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV) says “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty”. The prophet Jeremiah profit is speaking of the words of God like delicious food, so sweet they were my heart's delight. We need food to keep our physical bodies healthy and strong, the scripture tells us that we need spiritual food to keep us spiritually healthy and strong. We're not just a physical body - we have a spirit inside of us that's going to live on. We need to grow in our salvation, not living just as babies (1 Peter 2:2). Meditating on the Word of God a little at a time is a healthy way of digesting God’s word.
2 Timothy 3:16 explains how scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, correction and training in righteousness. Often we get things wrong in life but God has already planned for this by providing scripture to train us, correct us and give us higher ways of thought. John 15 speaks in gardening terms about how God will prune us in order we bear more fruit, to be even more free of the dead stuff that clutters our lives sometimes.
Romans 10:17 (NKJV) states “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. Our faith is increased hearing the word of God. Faith comes when we see our mind and our spirit with God's word. We do not need to feel we are people of little faith. Every time we go to the word of God, every time we mutter a little scripture under our breath…….our faith is being activated.
The word of God is our only offensive weapon! Ephesians 6 speaks of the Whole Armour of God. Our ability to withstand the devil and be strong in the Lord is dependent on putting on the whole armour of God. The sword of the Spirit is in fact the spoken word of God. When Jesus was challenged by Satan he said ‘It is written…….’. The only time the enemy speaks is when he is lying! The sword of the Spirit doesn't become a weapon just in our hands. It becomes a weapon when we speak it out.
This Family Value for our church is foundational. Being Bible believing provides not only a backdrop to life, we understand God’s thoughts, he feeds us through His word, he corrects and trains us likewise, our faith is grown upon His word and ultimately He provides an offensive weapon for us to ward off evil!
