| Worship 11.16.08 |
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To follow Jesus, we must live in His Word. What does it mean to live in His Word? I believe it means at least 2 things. First, we must regularly study and apply the teachings of Jesus to our lives. This is no small task all by itself. Many people are happy having someone else do all the heavy lifting when it comes to studying His teachings. They sit in church pews or in front of radios, TV's and computers, and think they're hearing the Word of God. They read devotionals, "Christian" fiction, and books from pastor this and doctor that and think they're reading the Word. They look at the commentary in their "study" Bible and think they're studying. All they're really getting is someone else's opinion of God's Word. Jesus makes it clear, we must be in His Word if we are to be His followers.
The second thing is this; we must live our lives in Him, having Him living in us. The book of John captures some things about Jesus the other gospels leave out. It describes Jesus as the "Word", look at John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." The Word was a term used commonly at that time to mean God; it means "the Divine expression". The "Truth" was a name Jesus gave to Himself, as recorded in John. Jesus' whole mission is to free us from sin. It's clear in Chapter 8 , that's the kind of freedom He was talking about. I believe Jesus used these very words so we, who follow Him, would understand that it's more than study, and reading and holding to some doctrine. It's more than learning and doing. That's all necessary for growth in Him, but living in his Word is more than that. It's about being! Paul wrote , 'I've been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.' Jesus often said things in "code" to confuse and anger those He was speaking to, but to make a Spiritual point to His true followers. To us, 2,000 years after he spoke, I believe Jesus was saying: Meditations and Reflections
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