The Importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life: Keeping God's Word

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Hey, I want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me? You can reach me at gregatharvest.org. Again, that's gregatharvest.org.

And you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. Read the Bible as if your life depended on it because it does. It was our 26th president, the rough rider himself, Teddy Roosevelt, who said a thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education. A surprising statement from someone who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the importance of being a student of God's Word. More than that, making it part of the fabric of our lives so it controls what we think, say, and do.

That's our goal. I heard a story about a father talking with his daughter and her five-year-old friend Kristen about birthdays. And it turns out that the father of the little girl and her friend Kristen both had birthdays in the same month. And he said, you know what Kristen? Our birthdays are only three days apart.

And she looked at him and said, yeah but you grew much faster than I did. You know why is it that some people seem to grow more spiritually than others? Is it just the luck of the draw?

Is it just a random thing? Do we have anything to say about it? Or how about this? Why is it that some move forward and accomplish great things for God's glory and then others just fall away from the faith? Do we have anything to say about that? Is there anything that we can do to ensure that we will have a faith that will last for a lifetime? You know sometimes people will say something along the lines of, well I tried Christianity and it didn't work for me. But this is a ridiculous statement. Because we are not talking about a product. We are talking about the Creator of the universe that will work in any life that is truly dedicated to Him.

It really comes down to this. Do you want to grow spiritually? So there are things that we can do to help that take place. There are certain disciplines in the Christian life that must be in play for spiritual growth to happen. I know we don't like the word discipline. I know we don't like the idea of doing something even if we are not in the mood to do it.

But there are disciplines that must be in play. In other words you don't outgrow these things. You don't come to a certain point in your life spiritually where you say, I no longer need to do that thing. For instance you are never going to come to a point in life where you are going to say, yeah you know I am not really into eating anymore. I used to be into the whole eating thing with the best of them.

Three times a day. Sometimes even some snacks. But I have given up eating. I just don't eat food. Well you are going to be dead very soon. Ok. Or I am kind of over the whole breathing thing.

I think it is overrated really. No. You need to breathe. You need to eat.

You need to drink and so forth. And in the same way in the spiritual life you can't say, well I don't really read the Bible as much as I used to. I have kind of moved beyond that. Or you know I don't really think I need to pray like I did when I was a young Christian. Or well I used to be very involved in the church but I have sort of pulled back a little bit. No.

No. If you want to be a growing Christian. If you want to be a Christian that is progressing you need to constantly be in the Word of God. You need to have a strong prayer life and you need to be a vital functioning part of the church. You neglect these things.

I am telling you it is only a matter of time until you are going to start spiritually unraveling. You see growing spiritually is a combination of doing the right thing and not doing the wrong thing. Let's say you wanted to get into shape physically.

Well it is probably a combination of exercise, working out in some capacity, and eating the right foods and not eating the wrong foods. In other words we go to the gym and eat fried food all day long and maybe one is going to work against the other. So have these things work together in your life. There are certain things we must stay away from and certain things that must be embraced. We are told over in 2 Timothy 2, run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Pursue righteous living, faith, and love, and peace with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Run from the things that pull you down.

Run toward the things that will build you up. One little chapter of the Bible that puts it together beautifully is Psalm 1. It says, Blessed or happy is the man, or the woman, who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, or stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law, or the word, of the Lord, and in it does he meditate day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will bring forth fruit in his season. His leaves shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper. Blessed or happy is that man. Now did you notice that the happy man, the spiritually blessed person, avoids certain things? He doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. But instead his delight, his delight is in the word of the Lord. And in it he meditates day and night.

And if this man or this woman does this what happens? They will be like a tree planted by the rivers and they will bring forth lasting fruit. And this is what Jesus wants from us.

Lasting fruit. So that brings me to point number one. And this is really the topic we are going to explore. And here it is. If you want to be a growing Christian you must read, study, and love the Word of God.

Let me say that again. If you are taking notes you might want to write it down. If you want to be a growing Christian you must read, study, and love the Word of God. A fruitful believer will always be a lover of God's Word. Psalm 119 verse 159. See how I love your commandments. The psalmist writes.

Lord give back my life because of your unfailing love. All your words are true. I love your commandments.

Number two. You need to read the Bible as if your life depended on it because it does. You need to read the Bible as if your life depended upon it because it does. Jesus in the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount said in Matthew 7, whoever hears these words of mine and does them or puts them into practice, he is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock and the rain comes and the streams rise and the winds blow and they beat against the house.

But it does not fall because its foundation is on the rock. Who is that person? The one who hears the Word and does it.

Now Jesus says, whoever hears My Word and does not do it, here is what He is like. He is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand and the rain came down and the streams rose and it fell with a great crash. One is like a guy building a beautiful edifice on a firm foundation and the other guy is like a person building sand castles. You know sometimes they have these sand castle contests and people come in and do these amazing elaborate sand castle structures and I just look at those and think, man they are going to be gone so quickly. I mean I think it is the role of every small boy to destroy every sand castle ever made. I watch my grandkids play and the girls are so careful to build their little sand castles and dig their little tunnels and they have got their little turrets and the shells and it is so adorable. And then my grandson Christopher just comes over.

He just can't wait to stomp it out. That is what it is like to hear God's Word and not apply it in your life. You are like building on sand.

So here is why this is important. Because one of the things a young believer is going to face is doubt. Not that you don't face it as an older Christian because you do. But when you are a young Christian that is one of the first things you get hit with.

Right? Doubt. Oh do you really think you are saved the devil will whisper in your ear. Do you really think you are a Christian.

There is no way. And this is one of the devil's oldest ploys going back to the Garden of Eden when he went to Adam and Eve and said, Did God really say what you thought He said? So he will do that with a younger Christian. That is why they need to know the Word of God and understand that their salvation is written down. It is recorded in God's book of life and it is explained to them in this book the Word of God. You know it is interesting that the Bible compares the Bible to a sword.

It calls it the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Remember that when Jesus was in the wilderness being tested by the devil with every temptation Jesus responded with the Scripture that He had memorized and I was quoting. The devil came to Christ after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and said, Hey you must be pretty hungry. Why don't you take that rock down there and turn it into a piece of bread. And what does Jesus say? It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is like he defended himself with a sword.

So you know you use the sword to defend yourself right? So the devil comes to Jesus and he says, Why don't you jump off the pinnacle of the temple? And Jesus again comes back to the Word of God. It is written, You shall not test the Lord your God.

Like that. Satan comes back again. Oh, well why don't you fall down and worship me right now? Jesus says, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God. In Him only shall you serve. It is a sword.

Use it. A lot of us keep our swords sheathed and we keep our Bibles closed. We need to understand the importance of knowing God's Word. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing about listeners who found Jesus through Pastor Greg's teaching is so encouraging. Hi Pastor Greg. Early last year I found the Lord and accepted him there at Harvest Christian Fellowship.

Before that, if someone had told me that I would be a believer in Christ, I wouldn't have believed them. God is so good. My best to you and your family. If you've had your life changed through Pastor Greg's teaching, would you let him know? Just drop him an email at gregatharvest.org.

Again, that's gregatharvest.org. Today, some important instruction on how vital it is to make God's Word the centerpiece of our lives. Pastor Greg continues now with his message, The Importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life, available at harvest.org.

I heard a story about a young man named Billy Sunday. He became a Christian and an older Christian said to him, Billy, there are three simple rules that if you practice these, no one will ever write the word backslider after your name. Three simple rules, Billy. Number one, take 15 minutes every day to let God talk to you. Take 15 minutes every day talking to God. And take 15 minutes every day to tell others about Him.

If you do these three things, no one will ever say you are a backslider. I thought that is pretty good advice. 15 minutes each day to let God talk to you. 15 minutes every day to talk to God. And 15 minutes every day talking to somebody else about God or telling others about Him.

Let's focus on the first one. And that is 15 minutes every day to let God talk to you. Does God still speak to us today? Answer. Yes. Does He speak audibly to us today?

I would say generally no. But yet He does still speak. How does God primarily speak to us today?

Through the Word of God. That is why you need to open it. Because if you don't open it you are not going to hear from Him. I heard about a man who took his wife to see the doctor. He was sitting in the waiting room. Suddenly the doctor comes bursting out saying, Does anybody have a screwdriver? Someone gives him one and he runs back in the room. The guy is thinking, What on earth is a screwdriver? A few more moments pass by and the doctor bursts out and says, Does anyone have a pair of pliers? Someone gives him pliers and he runs back in the room. This man is getting nervous now.

His wife is in there. And the doctor bursts out a third time and says, Does anyone have a hammer? The man says, Doctor stop right now.

What is wrong with my wife? The doctor said, I don't know. I am trying to get my medical bag open. See so the whole idea here is if we don't open this book we are not going to hear from God. Open the Word of God. Now most of us believe God's Word is true. I read that 58 percent of Americans believe the Bible is inspired and inerrant.

That is pretty amazing. 56 percent. But only 19 percent read it on a regular basis. Now explain that.

Oh yes. I believe the Bible is God's Word. I believe God's Word is given to us from heaven. Do you read it?

No. But still it is nice to know this. If I really believe that should I not be opening it on a regular basis? Because really when you get down to it and start reading God's Word it is the most amazing book ever given to the planet earth. It is actually not one book but 66 books written over a 1500 year span. Its words were written by 40 authors from every walk of life.

Kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars. Yet all of the authors directed by the Holy Spirit write about one main thing that is God's redemption of mankind. It is all inspired.

It is all breathed by God Himself. And so when the Bible tells us to do something I should do it. When the Bible warns me about something I should heed the warning.

When the Bible tells me not to do something it is for my own good. Have you ever noticed that there are warning labels on practically everything these days? Really strange warning labels.

I have read some and I thought are you kidding me? Because usually when there is a warning label on something that means that someone somewhere did the thing they are warning you not to do. So I came upon a collection of warning labels. I am not making any of these up. These aren't jokes.

These are all real. Real warning labels. On a cardboard windshield sunshade. Warning. Do not drive with sunshield in place.

So someone did that for sure. How about this one in a hairdryer. Why would you put this in a hairdryer? Warning. Do not use while sleeping. How do you use?

I mean how do you do that exactly? I am not making these up. On an electric rotary drill. Warning.

This product not intended for use as a dental drill. That is just scary. On a bathroom heater. Warning.

This product is not to be used in bathrooms. But it is a bathroom heater. I like this one.

This is true. Warning. On a box of rat poison. Warning. This has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice. I was kind of hoping it would kill them quicker than that. Because it is rat poison. Right?

This one makes no sense at all. On a shipment of hammers. Warning. Harmful of swallow. It is probably the guy that used the drill. Now I will swallow a hammer.

That will do me some good. Here is one that really is scary. It is a child sized Superman costume.

This is actually on one. Warning. Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

I am going to go up on the top of the roof and try it out. There are crazy people out there. So they put these warning labels on these products. And you wonder about these people that try to dry their hair when they are asleep.

Or try to fly because they have a Superman costume. They should take heed to the warnings. And God's Word gives us warnings to help us. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. Over in Hebrews 4.12 it says, For the Word of God is alive and it is powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Maybe that is one of the reasons we don't want to read the Bible.

Because we don't want to discover something about ourself that needs to be changed or repented of. But that is why we dig into the Word of God. Martin Luther once said quote, The Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet. It runs after me. End quote.

And it is alive. Have you ever been in a situation where you opened up this Scripture and it just jumped out and spoke to your situation exactly? Or maybe sitting in church and there was a message being given and it was as though that preacher knew all about your life and was speaking directly to you. I have had people actually accuse me of this. I have had husbands come to me and say, My wife has been talking to you about me.

Hasn't she? I say, No sir. No but you described the situation. That is my situation. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about me in church.

I say, Sir I don't even know what you are talking about. But you know I believe that the Lord will speak to us when we open His Word. Gather together in church.

Sometimes it is on the radio. Sometimes it is in written form. But God will honor and bless His Word.

But here is the thing. If you want to know if you are a healthy Christian here is how. You will be a hungry Christian. A hungry Christian is a healthy Christian. A healthy Christian is a hungry Christian. They are hungry for the Word of God. 1 Peter 2 says, Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk and by this you will grow up in your salvation. So if you are not feeling well you go to a doctor.

What is the first thing he does? He says, How is your appetite? And if your appetite is good then that is a sign that you are in good health. That is why I know I am healthy right now because I am typically hungry as I usually am. And you know it is a funny thing how you are not feeling well and you don't know why. You think maybe I am getting sick and I am feeling lightheaded and I am irritable. And someone might ask, When is the last time you ate?

Oh right. I forgot to eat. This is not a personal statement. I have never forgotten to eat. But I have met people that they forgot to eat. I can't even wrap my mind around that thought. I forgot to eat.

Ok. And you will feel almost as though you are sick what a difference a meal will make. A lot of times when a child is small a little baby they start crying. It is usually a few things. Number one they are hungry. Number two they need their diaper changed. Or number three they need a nap.

And when I am irritable my wife is. No I won't go there but it is a similar thing. Not the diaper. We are not there yet. But hopefully never. But you see we have to hunger for God's Word. Pastor Greg Laurie with good insights on the importance of God's Word in our lives. And how a healthy believer will hunger for more of the Bible.

There is more to come from this message here on A New Beginning. It is a study titled The Importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life. The importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life. The importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life. The importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life. The importance of God's Word in the Believer's Life. Now if you missed any part of the insight. You can hear the study again at Harvest.org.

Or request a permanent copy on CD by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here talking with my friend Daryl Strawberry. An incredibly successful baseball player.

Really a legend. But you know in many ways Daryl. Some people might think you had some storybook life. And you know you just grew up and your dad coached you and played catch with you on the front street. And then one day you were discovered by an agent and you went on to glory.

Well you did go on to sports glory. But you had a very difficult upbringing in your home. And it was far from a storybook life.

Tell us a little bit about what it was to be a young Daryl Strawberry. And in particular your relationship with your father. But also tell us about the impact of your mother. Yeah it was very sad being a young kid. Because I was always in this fear of my father. Because it was like such a monster coming home.

And you didn't know what you were going to get on any given day or night. He would come home and he would be drunk at night. And he would be loud. And I was about 14 years old and he came in loud again. We all woke up and my older brother Michael told him wanted to just get out of here and leave us alone. And he was just kind of running around the table talking about well I'll kill all you guys. He pulled out a shotgun and said he was going to kill the whole family. And me and my brother kind of went into action there.

Ronnie went in and grabbed a butcher knife. I grabbed the frying pan and had it not been for my mother. And she was a little petite woman. Had it not been for her making us get out of that house. We was going to kill him that night.

We just had it. And she just yelled at us and she made us get out of that house and go down the streets to the neighbor's house. And we were just so mad because we didn't want to leave her. And she was like I'll be okay.

You guys get out of this house. And from that night it was no more father there. After that he was not around us anymore.

She removed him from us. And that's the brokenness of who I was and my brother Ronnie was at the same time. We just suffered so many things and we were in such fear and we were so empty on the inside. Broken generations just continue to go on until you break out that cycle. And if you never break that cycle the kids come after you while your kids can be in the same cycle. So I was able to break the cycle for my kids and they never saw me put my hands on them or yell at their mothers or anything. Even though I was dysfunctioned I knew better not to touch them because I was so scarred and wounded.

And when you have wounds and scars like that it is surreal. I don't care if you put on what kind of uniform you put on. You could put on a baseball uniform. You could be a celebrity.

You could be a police officer. Those scars and wounds will always be there until you let God heal you. And it wasn't until I let God heal me. Putting on a baseball uniform did not make me a man.

People need to hear that. Making millions of dollars and being privileged did not make me a man. It just made me a baseball player. I didn't become a man until I met Jesus.

When I met Jesus that's when I became a man and started to live the right way and understand the way a man should live. You know my mom was married and divorced seven times. I lived in an abusive home. I saw her get into fights and men hit her.

One guy knocked her unconscious and almost killed her. And if I had not climbed out of the window of our house that night I may not have lived to tell the story. So I have a little sense of what you were facing. But God stepped in and he broke the cycle of sin. And God can do that for any person listening right now.

I don't care what your parents did or your grandparents did. You can have a new beginning in Jesus Christ. And it happened for Darryl Strawberry and it happened for me and it can happen for you. And that's why I want you to read Darryl's powerful story and the things he has to share that he's learned in life. Thus far in his new book called Turn Your Season Around. Subtitled How God Transforms Your Life. Yeah this could be a life saving book for someone listening.

It shows us how God can set our lives in the right direction no matter our past. And we want to send Darryl's book your way to thank you for your donation. Really an investment to help us continue to touch lives each day with this radio program. So will you contact us today? Drop Pastor Greg a note and let him know what his teachings mean to you.

And then when you include a donation be sure to ask for Turn Your Season Around. You can write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to Harvest.org.

Hey everybody Greg Laurie here. Personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study. It's a worship service. It's church in your home. Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so join us for Harvest at Home. People are listening in from around the world.

Listen to this. We have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well next time more insight on the important role God's word plays in helping us grow spiritually. Tune in and join us here on A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at Harvest.org.