Skip to main content

God's Word Will Build You Up

ACTS 20:32 NLT 32 "And now I entrust you to God and the word of his grace--his message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

 Many shy away from the Bible because they think it's just a bunch of rules to keep them from enjoying life. Although many have misused the Bible -- to tear people down, its true purpose is to build people up. Tradition makes us think a good sermon should "skin 'em alive" and make the listeners feel guilty. But God is on your side and He loves you. So He gave you His Word for your benefit, to build you up and give you things -- not to take anything good away from you.

 Certainly God's Word can, and will, correct you. But primarily, if you understand it correctly, the Word will build you up -- not beat you down and make you feel guilty. Yes, there are passages in the Bible that will not encourage you. They are needful at certain times for certain people who need to be corrected and called to repentance. But for those who love God and are His children, there are words of encouragement to build you up. Feed on the Word of God's grace -- His favor, His love, His goodness. It will build you up. If what you are feeding on is not encouraging your faith, check to see if it really lines up with the Word.


 Don't spend all your time meditating on a passage from the Bible that's not written to you. All the Bible is profitable, and we can learn from it. But you should concentrate on what God is saying to you, as His child: a member of the Body of Christ. The message God has for His family, the church, is primarily found in the letters (epistles) in the New Testament. These are written directly to us, the church. God is never interested in just cutting you down, or hurting you. His intention is to build you up, to encourage you, to make you better.

 SAY THIS: The true message of the New Testament will build me up. It is good news.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Building Trust When Faith Wavers

  Mark 9:21-24 21 And He asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 23 And Jesus said to him, `If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe; help my unbelief." Since faith is the core of our Christian experience, the consequences of wavering faith are far-reaching. Vacillating trust can lead us to make wrong decisions. Sometimes, after praying for direction, we might receive an answer that leads us to think, I can’t do that. So, instead of asking God to strengthen our faith, we make excuses. We may choose to postpone our obedience—even indefinitely—in order...

I Now Believe God Loves Me

 1 JOHN 4:16  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  Although I have endeavored to walk with the Lord for awhile, only in recent times have I started to really believe God loves me. My problem was that I kept focusing on myself, instead of God. I saw myself in my immaturity with all my faults and failures. I was not looking at Jesus the perfect sacrifice, but focused on myself and my shortcomings.  Even though I spread messages on the love of God, I never had confidence that God truly loved me just as I was. Instead I thought more in terms of God tolerating me, but not being too happy with me. I was trying my best to do what I thought God wanted, not really realizing that I could never earn God's love.  Now I am realizing that God's love is not dependent on me, but is entirely dependent on God alone. He does not love me because I am lovable, b...

welcome to my blog

Oh the waterfall of cleansing Grace! Welcome to my Grace blog.  I hope to both share and start a dialogue about Jesus Christ and how his life, relationships and teaching have a practical working value in our everyday lives. To go beyond our belief of Jesus... and into our belief in Jesus. I hope we can learn more about how the finished work of Christ on the cross empowers his work in us in our daily lives. I hope we can grow in His Grace and Wisdom! The name came from a Joseph Prince story in his book  "Destined to Reign"...here's the story: Prince tells the story of a young boy who found a rock out in the woods. Though it looked rough at first, he rinsed it in the small waterfall of a nearby stream. Turns out, the rock was marbly, smooth, and full of color. Not wanting to lose the rock, and afraid someone would take it from him if he took it home, he buried it back in the dirt in a tucked away place before he went home for the night. There, he left it. The ne...