What is the word of god to you

The word of God is like seed scattered by a sower. The same seed yields very different results. In some lives, the seed is snatched away, like seed sitting on the surface of the path. In other lives the seed gets choked by the desire for other things. You want to be a Christian, but other things are bigger in your life. They have your heart and your attention. The word grows in your life, but it gets choked, and very little comes of it. 

Still, in others, the seed produced a bumper harvest. It can be 30, 60, or even 100-fold, depending on how richly the Word dwells in you. 

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. It will bring spiritual life. It will sustain spiritual strength. And, it will produce spiritual growth. If the Word of Christ dwells in you richly, this will happen:

You will grow in strength against temptation  

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14) 

John identifies different groups within the congregation in his letter. He writes some things especially to those who are older. Here he speaks specifically to young men. Notice what he says. 

i. The Word of God abides in you.  

The Word of God is going into your soul. It is settling in your inner life and it remains there. The result of this is strength. 

ii. You are strong.  

You started out like little children. At one time you were spiritual infants, but now, even though you are still young, you are spiritually mature. And this then leads to the next point: 

iii. You have overcome the evil one.  

There are victories over temptation in your life. Progress is being made. You are growing up in Christ, and the reason is that the Word of God abides in you.   

This is why it is so important for young families to find a church where they are rooted deeply in the Word of God. You don’t get this by going to a church that entertains your kids. And, you get this strength from a church and a youth group that is serious about getting the Word in their lives. 

You will grow in effectiveness in prayer.  

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)  

Notice how effectiveness in prayer arises from the Word abiding in your soul: “If… my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”  

The strength of our praying shows how much or how little the word of God dwells, abides, remains in us. Your ability to pray well for your wife and your kids hangs on this. Where the word abides, the fruit will be seen in effective praying.  

You will grow in wisdom and discernment. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. (Colossians 3:16) 

We live in a ‘how to’ culture in which many people are becoming more and more dependent on someone else telling them how to do even the most basic things in life.  

Once the ‘how to’ thing takes root in your mind, it can be quite paralyzing.  You lose confidence. You feel that you will mess things up unless you can get someone else to walk you through what to do. The Bible has a great answer to this, and it’s called wisdom.  

A rich and regular diet of the word of God will increase your wisdom. The Bible is the Word of God. It comes from the mind of God. Thinking God’s thoughts after him is the best way to grow in wisdom for every area of your life.   

You will grow in usefulness to others. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. (Colossians 3:16) 

Here’s a healthy church in action: God’s people are feeding on his Word.  It dwells in them richly. As they speak about their lives, they can help each other see how the Word relates to the various circumstances of their lives.  

Someone says, “I am really struggling with my 13-year-old daughter,” and explains some of the circumstances.  

Someone else says, “Here’s what I learned from the Scriptures that helped me. Here’s the principle I applied.” 

Not only are God’s people able to teach one another, but they are able to admonish one another, that is, they can spot where someone is straying down a wrong path and help get then back on the straight and narrow.   

This kind of mutual ministry in the body of Christ is wonderful. It depends on God’s Word dwelling in his people richly. 

How much more useful could you be to others if the Word of Christ dwelled more richly in you? 

You will grow in joy and thanksgiving.  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16) 

A rich diet of the Word of Christ always produces more joy and thanksgiving in the lives of God’s people than if you drift through life with your Bible closed. 

Spiritual life is found and it is nourished by the Word of God. But if you ask people the question, Where is spiritual life found? you are likely to find one of three different answers: 

i. The religious or communal answer  

Spiritual life is found and fed in the people around you. This is the teaching of the cults: Join us and all will be well with you. That’s what the Pharisees believed. Don’t buy that one. Sure, fellowship is important to the spiritual life, but it is not a source of spiritual life.

ii. The secular or psychological answer 

Spiritual life is found and fed from the instincts within you. This is the overwhelming consensus of our culture, The answers lie within you.  This is why so many Christians rarely read the Bible. They have bought into secular psychology and they feel that the source of life lies within them.  

iii. The biblical or theological answer 

Spiritual life is found and fed from the Bible before you: 

You have been born again… through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Peter 1:23) 

Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)   

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17) 

So, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly! 

Our Responsibility to the Word 

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16)  

Let the Word of God be the honored welcome guest of your life. Let the Word live with you let it remain in you. Don’t have a passing brush with the Word of Christ.  

The Word of God can dwell in the life of a Christian believer in different degrees. Let there be plenty of the Word in your life. Give the Word an honored and prominent place in your life.   

Is the Word of Christ dwelling richly in you?  

[This article was adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Word of God,” from his series Soul Care, Part Two]

Photo Credit: Unsplash

BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO

Everything that God does on the earth today, He does it by His Word and His Spirit. Everything God will do in your life cannot be outside these two. In Genesis 1, we see the two at work, during what is often called the work of creation. The Spirit of God first hovered upon the surface of the deep, and then, God released His Word: let there be light. And there was light! The Word and the Spirit work hand-in-hand.

Outside of His Word, there is nothing God will accomplish in your life. Therefore, your attitude to the Word of God will determine what God will accomplish in your life. Heb 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (NKJV). If your life is going to be properly framed, the Word of God, and your attitude to it, will play a key role.

How important is the Word of God to you? Does it mean anything to you? Do you consider it crucial to your living? When you hear the Word of God in church or hear the Word being preached on radio or television or you’re reading your Bible at home, what importance do you attach to it?

These questions are very important because the answers you give, tells a lot about where you are in life today and the direction of your life. Your attitude to the Word of God also tells me a lot about your relationship with God. If you value God in your life, you’ll value His Word.

The writer of Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (NKJV) This is a superlative description of the Word of God. He says again, in verse 11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (NKJV). In verse 148, the psalmist speaks of meditating on the Word of God. This shows a high regard for the Word of God.

Jeremiah, the prophet of God, says in Jer 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (NKJV). Did you see that? He ate the word and became unto him the joy and rejoicing of his heart. That is what the Word of God does.  However, not until you find it and eat it. The lives of many people are in shambles today because of the wrong words they’re hearing and meditating (eating) upon. How important is the Word of God to you?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Job was another person that valued dearly the Word of God. He said in Job 23: 12b, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (NKJV). That was a good attitude to the Word of God, for the Bible says man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). I love the way the Contemporary English Version puts it. It says, “Jesus answered; the scripture says no one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.” You, probably, have eaten once or twice today, but have you eaten His Word? You’re not supposed to be living on physical bread alone. You must esteem and enjoy the Word of God more than your daily food. How important is the Word of God to you?

If the Word of God is not important to you, you’ll not know what God has spoken about your life and His promises. Therefore, you’ll not be able to take advantage of them. How can you receive miracles from the Almighty God you have no regard for His Word, which is what He’ll send to perform miracles in your life? Matt 22:29 says, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God’” (NKJV). You must know what God has spoken, value it, tremble at it and obey it (Ezra 9:4).

There is power in God’s Word. Any life outside the Word of God cannot last. The foolish man in Matt 7:26-27, who built his house on sand, suffered a tragedy of a dismal collapse because he did not build it on a rock. Jesus interpreted that to mean that he only heard the Word but did not do it. That was a wrong attitude.

Don’t receive the Word of God as if it is the preacher’s word. If you receive it as the Word of God and believe it, it will become effectual in your life (1 Thess  2:13). Value the Word of God like a soldier will value the spoil or treasure of war (Ps 119:162).

15 Reasons the Word of God Should be Important to You

Great servant of God and Bible teacher, D. L. Moody, said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” Let me share with you 15 reasons I have discovered, in the Bible, that the Word of God should be important to you.

1.It is your power for salvation (Rom 10:13-15; Ps 119:41). No man can be saved without receiving the Word of God either by hearing or reading it. The Word is able to save a sinner and make him a child of God. Why don’t you invite Jesus into your heart now if you’re not born again? Tell Jesus you’re a sinner, confess Him as your Lord and Saviour, hand over your life to Him and invite Him into your heart today. If you’ve done that, please call to share this good news with me and pray with you. Congratulations!

2. It is your key to good success. Regular meditation on the Word of God, and consistent confession day and night, plus obedience, will give you good success in life (Josh 1:8). You can’t fail when you do this. You may get success through other means, but good success comes through the Word of God.

3. It is your medicine for healing and weapon of deliverance. There is healing and deliverance in the Word of God. “He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions” (Ps 107:20 NKJV). Do you need healing or deliverance? Get the Word of God that promises you this and begin to confess it regularly, and your healing and deliverance will manifest soon. But make sure you don’t give up if it looks as if nothing is happening. Walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).

4. It is your light for illumination and direction. Ps 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (NKJV). The Word of God will illuminate your path and give you direction in life. The writer of Ps 119, pleads in verse 133, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (NKJV). With the Word of God, you can’t be in darkness. His Word brings light.

5. It is your weapon of victory. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Eph 6:17 says you should take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. By the Word, you’ll overcome every enemy and opposition. Don’t joke with the Word; why should you play with the weapon that will guarantee your victory?

Rev 12:11a says the believers overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. The New Century Version says, “And our brothers and sisters defeated him by the blood of the Lamb’s death and by the message they preached.”  Preach the Word; confess the Word.

6. It is your access to the life of God. The Word of God will give you life. It will revive you and refresh you. Phil 2:16 calls the Word of God the word of life. Ps 119:50 says, “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life” (NKJV). The more of the Word of God you read, study hear and meditate on, the more the life of God you receive. Jesus is the Word of life manifested in the flesh (1John 1:1-2).

7. It is a more sure word of prophecy. 2 Peter 1:19 calls the Word of God a more sure word of prophecy (KJV). Holy men spoke as the Holy Ghost moved them. The words they spoke, written down in the Bible, have been fulfilled. The ones yet to be fulfilled shall be. None of the words of God shall go unfulfilled (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). It shall come to pass. Don’t trivialize the Word of God.

8. It is your unfailing promise. There are exceeding great and precious promises in the Bible. You need to study the Bible and appropriate them into your life.  His word to Sarah was a word of promise, and the LORD fulfilled it. “And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as He had spoken” (Genesis 21:1 KJV).  She conceived and gave birth to Isaac, the child of promise, as God had said (Rom 9:9). God honours His Word, and, He cannot lie. “God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent. Has he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num 23:19) It is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:18). God cannot lie; He will do as He has promised (Titus 1:2).

9. It is your realizable hope. The Word of God gives you hope that is realizable, because the author, God, has no limitation. He has the power, the credibility, the integrity and the resources to do what He has promised you. Therefore, your hope in Him is not misplaced. Ps 119:81 says, “I faint with longing for your salvation; but I have put my hope in your word” (NLT). Verse 114 says, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (NKJV). Let your hope be in the Word of God, not in mere human philosophy which leads to frustration. It only gives false expectations.

10. It is your pathway to faith. Faith comes by the continuous hearing of the Word of God, not by any other means (Rom 10:17) The more of the Word of God you hear, the more the faith you access. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Without faith, there is very little you can accomplish in life as a child of God. Why cheat yourself by despising the Word of God?

11. It is your water of cleansing. The Word of God is a cleansing agent. Eph 5:26 says Jesus sanctified and cleansed the church with the washing of water by the word. The Word of God has the power to clean up your life no matter how dirty your life is. As you’re exposed to the truth of the Word of God regularly, you’re being cleansed. The mirror of the Word of God allows you to see what is wrong in your life and gives you the divine enablement to make amends (James 1:23-25).

12. It is your creative power. When you put the Word of God in your mouth, and you keep confessing it, the Word creates for you what you are speaking. In Genesis 1:1, it was the word of God that created everything He made. Heb 11:3 says by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. John 1:3 made reference to the fact that everything created in the beginning was by the Word of God.

By the Word of God in your mouth, you can frame your own world to become what you desire according to God’s plan for your life. Stop speaking negative words; stop engaging in evil speaking – words that God has not said, and you will see great changes in your life.

13. It is your nourishment for growth. 1 Peter 2:2 enjoins believers, as newborn babes, to desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby. The Word of God, to Christians, is like milk for new born babies. It is also solid food for mature believers (1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12-14). Without physical food, a human being won’t grow normally. Without the Word of God, a child of God can’t grow spiritually. Because many Christians are not taking balanced diet of the Word of God, they’re suffering from spiritual kwashiorkor!

14. It is your protection against sin. Ps 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (NKJV). The Word of God will keep you away from sin when you study it, meditate on it day and night, keep it in your heart and allow it to control your thoughts and actions. Exposing your mind to the Word of God regularly and continuously brings about a renewing of your mind. This results in your transformation. That is how not to conform to this sinful world. The Word of God is the antidote to sin (Heb 12:2). Bible teacher, D.L. Moody, was quoted as saying, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

15. It is your power for reconciliation. The Word of God that believers preach is the word of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19). The only means by which the world can be reconciled back to God is by preaching the Word of God to sinners. It is the Word of reconciliation, through the ministry of reconciliation that Jesus has committed into the hands of believers, that saves sinners. If you’re born again, this is your ministry. Your duty is to see that others are saved just as you’ve been saved. What are you doing about that? He that wins souls is wise (Prov 11:30).

Conclusion: Having read this message, God expects you to cultivate and develop a positive attitude to His Word. Reverence God’s Word. Listen to it, study it, meditate on it, confess it, and, above all, obey it. Don’t despise or disrespect His Word. Be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer or reader alone, deluding yourself. The blessing is to the doer and not the hearer or reader (James 1:23). If you’re willing and obedient, you shall eat the best of the land (Isa1:19). This shall be your portion in Jesus’ name.

TAKE ACTION!

If you’re not born again, you need to make yourself ready for eternity. I urge you to take the following steps:*Admit you’re a sinner and you can’t save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start to attend a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church. There you will be taught how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now:  O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent and confess my sins. I confess Jesus as my LORD and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.  

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible believing, Bible-teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I’ll be glad to hear from you. May the LORD be with you.

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org

On Thursday afternoon I listened to Bud Burk’s sermon on prayer from last week. I was deeply moved. Christ went to Gethsemane and the cross so that I might be able to pray. Access to God in Jesus’s name was dearly bought.

My assignment today is to do for the Bible what Bud did for prayer. Our custom in prayer week each year is to sandwich the week with a message on prayer and a message on the word of God. Because the two are so intimately related in the Bible and in Christian experience.

• The psalmist prays, “Incline my heart to your testimonies” (Psalm 119:36). He prays that he would want to read and meditate on God’s word. Prayer and the word.

• He prays, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). He prays that he would see wonders in the Scripture. Prayer and the word.

• Paul says, “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17–18). Take the word praying. Prayer and the word.

• He says, “Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). Pray that the word would break through and triumph. Prayer and the word.

• And the apostles said that they should “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Prayer and the word.

“We believe that God has spoken in history and the Bible is the authoritative deposit of that word for all time.”

So we sandwich prayer week with messages on prayer and the word around prayer week because the Bible puts them together so closely, and because we believe this juxtaposition is the key to living the Christian life. That is what I will try to show today with illustrations of how this actually works. The text we will build on is 1 Thessalonians 2: 13–14:

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.

1. God has spoken.

Verse 13b: “You received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” So twice he calls his communication the “word of God.” This is not merely the word of man. Paul is speaking. But it is the word of God. God has spoken and is now speaking through Paul.

We believe that God has spoken in history, and that by inspiration, the Bible is the authoritative deposit of that word for all time.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

2. His word comes to us in human words.

In the middle of verse 13, Paul says, “You received the word of God, which you heard from us.” You heard God’s word from us. We are human. God is divine. We are speaking on his behalf. His word is heard in human words.

Christ had appointed apostles who would be his authoritative spokesmen. He teaches and guides and inspires them (and a band of brothers close to them) and they speak his word on his behalf with his authority.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:13, “We impart [God’s truth] in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” This is what we have in the New Testament — God’s word mediated to us in the divinely taught words of men. God’s words come to us in human words.

3. The Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us. . . .” God spoke, humans gave his word through their words, and the Thessalonians heard that. They heard the sounds. They knew the Greek language. They construed meaning with their minds.

God uses humans to deliver his word, and he delivers it to humans. Human minds hear and understand the word from God, and then another set of human minds receive it from those human mouths and again hear and understand it.

Nothing has been said yet about how the Thessalonians have evaluated the words. Only that they are hearing, and by implication, they are construing. They are trying to make sense of what they hear. That’s what we do when we hear someone speak. So the Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

4. As they heard, God acted on their minds and hearts.

What did he do? And how do we know this?

What he did was enable them to receive Paul’s words as the word of God. Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” That’s what God did. He opened their mind and heart to know that Paul was speaking the word of God, and he gave them the inclination to receive it for what it is, not mere human words, but God’s word.

How do we know God did this? Because at the beginning of verse 13, just before saying that they received his word as the word of God, Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this.” For what? “That when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.”

But why would Paul thank God for this? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians grasped the divine nature of the human word? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians embraced the human words as divine word? The reason is that God enabled them to do this.

It’s the same as when Peter said to Jesus: “You are the Son of God,” and Jesus responded, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). In other words, God enabled Peter to see that the human person of Jesus was more than human. And God enabled the Thessalonians to see that the human words of Paul were more than human.

“We thank God that . . . you accepted our word not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” We thank God because God gave you eyes to see the word for what it really is.

If you have welcomed the gospel as God’s word and believed, that’s how it happened to you. God opened your eyes. God inclined your heart. You saw in the words of man, the word of God (see John 8:47; 18:37; 1 John 4:6).

5. The Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as the word of God.

We’ve said it, but it deserves its own point. Point 4: God acted. Point 5: the result was that the Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as God’s word.

There is another word for this reception in verse 13: belief, or faith, or trust. “You accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” He is calling them believers now precisely because they accepted his word as God’s word.

So saving faith, involves the work of God, opening the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18) to see Paul’s message as God’s word and accept it, embrace it, receive it. Faith doesn’t look at the word of God from a distance and pronounce it true. It takes hold of it, receives it, takes it in, embraces it.

“If you have welcomed the gospel, then God opened your eyes. God inclined your heart.”

“As the word of God!” That is, as supremely valuable. Precious. All important. So the Thessalonians accepted, welcomed, received, embraced Paul’s message as the very word of God, as supremely important and precious and valuable in their lives. It was received as a treasure —whose value is only exceeded by God.

6. This word of God was now at work in the Thessalonians.

Verse 13b: “You accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” So God acted to cause them to welcome the word. And now the word itself is living and active in them.

The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

And what specifically was the effect of this working? That’s the last observation.

7. The working of God’s word produced joyful endurance in suffering.

Notice the connection between verses 13 and 14. End of verse 13: “which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.”

Paul is giving evidence that God’s word is at work in them. And he says that receiving Paul’s word as the word of God had led to suffering. But that by itself would not prove God’s word was at work in them, because they might have responded to their affliction with anger and doubt and unbelief. But they didn’t. How do we know that? Because Paul had already said it clearly, which is why he didn’t need to here. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6:

Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

By the Holy Spirit, God had powerfully given them joy in the midst of their affliction. “Our gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Spirit . . . And you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Now when we go back to 1 Thessalonians 2:13–14 we see how God does this. He does it by his word. Verse 13, at the end, “The word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered. . . .” Indeed you suffer with joy. Joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was giving them joy in suffering by the working of the word in their hearts and minds.

Applying the Text to Your Life

So here is the truth that I draw out of this for living the Christian life: by the work of the Holy Spirit, God defeats temptation (like the temptation to be angry and depressed that you are suffering) by awakening joy through belief in the word of God which is at work in us. And that word is most centrally the good news that Christ died for us so that all the promises of God are Yes in him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

So let’s say the lesson another way now. We live the Christian life, we walk by the Spirit, when the Holy Spirit overcomes our temptations to sin by awaking joy through faith in the blood-bought promises of God that are at work in us. So you see the dynamics at work here: the Holy Spirit, the word of God, faith, and joy. By the Spirit, we trust the promises which bring joy which defeats temptation. And all the while we are praying!

So now let me illustrate how this works. It helps me to have an acronym called APTAT.

A — I admit I can’t in myself do what needs to be done.
P — I pray for God’s help.
T — I trust a particular promise he has given.
A — I act to do whatever God is calling me to do.
T — I thank him for his help when I am done.

So here’s how it works with temptations for specific sins.

The Temptation of Fear

God has called you to do something. You know it’s right, but you’re afraid. What do you do?

You admit honestly and humbly: “I am afraid and I cannot do this by myself.” Then you pray: “O God, grant me courage. Please don’t let me be ruled by fear. Take it away.”

Then you call to mind a specific, tailor-made, blood-bought promise that Christ has guaranteed for you by his blood: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). You trust this promise. You say to God, “I take this promise for myself. I trust you. You are now my help.”

And you act. You act, believing that God, the Holy Spirit, is acting in you by his word through your faith. And when you are done, you bow your head and say, “Thank you. Thank you.”

The Temptation of Covetousness or Greed

You desire something that you don’t need. And the desire grows and starts to be very powerful. You’re losing your contentment in Christ — starting to feel that if you don’t have this, you will be miserable and maybe even give up on God. What do you do?

You admit you can’t beat this. It’s too strong. You need God’s help. Powerful help. Then you pray: “Father, I need your help. Please conquer my covetousness. Take away this craving. Restore my joy and my contentment.”

Then you call to mind a specific tailor-made, blood-bought promise like Hebrews 13:5–6: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

And you trust that promise. You say, “Yes, Lord. Yes. You will never leave me. You will take care of me. You are enough. You are my contentment. I trust you. I believe you.” And you act. You turn away from the idol. And as you turn away from the coveted idol, you thank him. “Thank you, Lord. Thank you.”

The Temptation of Bitterness for Being Wronged

Someone has hurt you very badly. Or perhaps they’ve hurt someone close to you. A huge injustice has been done. You know it was wrong. Everybody knows it was wrong. Efforts at biblical reconciliation have been made. Maybe you made progress, maybe you didn’t. And you find yourself eaten up with recurrent anger and bitterness against the offender. You may even be married to him or her. Or it may be your father or your former boss.

“Call to mind a specific, tailor-made, blood-bought promise that Jesus has guaranteed for you by his blood.”

And you know the bitterness is wrong, but you can’t seem to shake it, because every time you try the sheer injustice of it all rises up with such ugliness you clinch your fist and grit your teeth that this wrong is not being properly punished. Justice is not being done. In fact he or she may not even think they did anything wrong. Life may be going on just fine for them while you deal with the wreckage. What do you do?

You admit: “I can’t shake it, I need help. I am being enslaved by this bitterness. It’s destroying me, and no one else.” Then you pray: “Father, I really need your help. I can’t stop feeling rage at this person. Help me. Please take it away.”

Then you call to mind a specific, tailor-made, blood bought (and that is especially relevant here, because Jesus bled instead of being bitter) promise, like Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

And you trust this promise: He will repay. He will repay. Vengeance belongs to him and he will see to it that perfect justice is done for every sin against me, indeed every sin in the universe. He will deal with it, either in hell or on the cross. I don’t need to carry this cause anymore. I can hand it over to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). And I do that now. “I trust you, Father, to settle this matter perfectly. I trust you.”

And then you act. You get rid of the reminders you’ve been using. You don’t go to the brooding places. You burn the letters you’ve been simmering over. You stop rehearsing all the scenarios of vengeance. When they come up in your head you say, No, and turn to the word of Christ, the cross, the promises, the judgment.

And you look up to God, your merciful Father, and thank him for being a perfectly holy and righteous judge who lifts the deadly burden of vengeance from our back.

So I commend it to you: APTAT — admit, pray, trust, act, thank. I think this is what it means to walk by the Spirit. To walk by faith. I think this is what it means for the word of God to be at work in those who believe.

And I pray I will be able to look back on 2012 with you and say,

I thank God constantly that all year long you received the word of God, which you read in your Bible and which you heard from me; and that you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe, to set you free.

LifeWay often prints a plan of salvation on the inside cover of our printed resources. When we began working on The Gospel Project, we decided to create something new that would go along with the curriculum’s focus: the grand narrative of Scripture. In the end, we summarized the Bible in roughly 300 words and finished with a call for people to repent and believe. Here’s how we did it…

Trying to capture the story line of the Bible in 300 words was a challenge. There are all sorts of things we wanted to put in but didn’t have room for.

What do you think? How would you summarize the Bible in 300 words?

Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today, which named him one of 33 millennials shaping the next generation of evangelicals. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, and the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. He and his wife Corina have three children. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or receive his columns via email.