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Are You Letting the Word Change You? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to the podcast.
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  I hope you all had a fun and restful weekend and that you
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  feel strong heading into Monday. I seriously cannot get over how
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  fast February has been flying by, and the fact that it's
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  almost over is just mind blowing.
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  But today we're going to be reading in First Thessalonians
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  chapter 2, verses 13 through 16. This passage is really steady,
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  but I believe it brings a lot of just great points for us to
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  remember, especially heading into a new week.
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  So with that, let's go ahead and read it.
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  We're going to be in verse 13, and we also thank God
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  continually because when you received the Word of God, which
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  you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as
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  it actually is the Word of God, which is indeed at work.
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  And you who believe for you, brothers and sisters, became
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  imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ
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  Jesus. You suffered from your own
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  people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews
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  who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us
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  out. They displease God and are
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  hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking
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  to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.
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  In this way they also heap up their sins to the limit.
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  The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
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  OK, so the first point that I want to make is Paul starts by
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  saying that he continually gives thanks to God for them.
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  This is constant. It's not occasionally, it's not
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  just when things are easy or when prayers are answered the
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  way that we hope. And so these believers, we see
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  that they're being persecuted, but there's still Thanksgiving
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  amidst that persecution, which made me think, what is our
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  gratitude tied down to? Because if it's tied to maybe
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  being healthy or being in the relationship that we want,
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  having enough money and finances, maybe even just being
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  included in events or friend groups when life is going
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  smoothly, if that's what it's tied down to, then ultimately
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  it's fragile. And here is just a really
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  important thing to reflect on. If the only thing that God ever
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  did for you was rescue from eternal separation, you'll that
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  would still be enough to live a life of Thanksgiving.
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  I know it's heavy, it's weighty, but it's true.
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  Because He saved us from death and it was free to us, though it
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  cost Him His one and only Son. So a thankful heart is not
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  forced. It's a natural response of
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  someone who understands and grasps what they've been rescued
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  from. Now also, the word of God is not
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  passive. Paul says that he's thankful
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  because they did not receive the message as the word of men, but
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  as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in
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  those who believe. Notice the phrase at work we see
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  all throughout the Bible, specifically Hebrews 412.
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  It says that the word of God is living and active and discerns
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  the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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  Second Timothy 316 All scripture is God breathed and useful for
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  teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness.
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  Those are all present tense verbs.
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  So the Bible is not just an old religious book with suggestions.
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  It is, quite literally, the living voice of a holy God.
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  But here's what I don't want us to miss.
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  It works in those who believe, not just in those who hear it.
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  And there's a difference between plainly hearing something and
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  actually accepting it. I want us to think about, OK,
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  you're hearing from a friend about their trip.
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  They're telling you the details of that, but you weren't
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  actually there. But then think about if you were
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  actually on that trip. One is passive and one you are
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  actually connected to, and it changes you because you have
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  those memories. So we go from hearing, to then
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  accepting, to them believing, and then to living it out.
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  But here's a question that honestly convicted me.
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  How much of my Bible reading has actually changed me?
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  If someone watched your life for a few days for this week, could
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  they tell you believe what you say you believe?
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  Because it is possible to read scripture every single day and
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  still stay unchanged if you're only consuming it and not
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  surrendering to it. And for me personally, in my
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  testimony, when I stopped reading, only when I quote, UN
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  quote felt like it. And when I started consistently
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  staying in the word and letting it rebuke me and teach me and
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  correct me and not just doing it when it was convenient.
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  I was never the same after that because it completely
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  transformed me and is still transforming me today.
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  So think if Jesus was physically teaching in your city today like
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  He is in a building in a church and you knew, you say you
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  believe that He is truly the Son of God with all the wisdom and
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  all the knowledge. Wouldn't you rearrange your
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  schedule or prioritize going and seeing Him and hearing from Him
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  because His words are still being spoken through Scripture
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  in the present day? Right now, His Spirit is with us
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  everywhere we are. So no, we don't have His
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  physical body in the room. We can't see, but we have His
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  Word and we have His Spirit and that is everything we need.
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  So moving forward, Paul also says that it was the evidence
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  that they truly believed the Word that was seen in their
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  lives. They imitated other churches,
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  but what did that imitation look like?
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  It looked like suffering. And Romans 817 it alludes to
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  this, that if we share in Christ's suffering, we will also
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  share in his glory. So a lot of the times,
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  opposition, it's not always a sign that you're doing something
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  wrong. It's actually proof that you're
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  becoming more like Jesus because that's what he faced.
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  And opposition will happen. It will occur in your life if
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  you are truly standing up for the truth.
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  These believers, they were being persecuted by their own people,
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  their own friends, their own family, just like Jesus was
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  rejected by his own hometown of Nazareth.
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  So I just want to be totally upfront.
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  A lot of us might not be facing persecution like these.
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  Churches face persecution. We're facing discomfort.
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  Maybe someone thinking that we're weird for being a
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  Christian, someone questioning our convictions or making us
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  feel smaller for saying no to certain things.
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  And we call that persecution y'all.
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  I've had moments where I have kind of toned down my faith so
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  that I would not feel uncomfortable in a room or feel
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  like the odd man out. And honestly, it's in those
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  moments that I look back on that, that conviction, it stings
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  even more. So here's the real heart check
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  for all of us. Are you, are you being silent
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  because you're loving or because you're afraid?
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  Jesus tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those
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  who persecute us. Matthew 544 But loving does not
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  mean shrinking back in fear. And one way or another, you will
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  face opposition. So the question is, will you
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  stand firm? Will you let people who the
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  enemy wants to use? Will you let people keep you
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  from sharing truth that could actually save someone's life,
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  that could bring them salvation and freedom that they need?
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  Because the enemy, he thrives off of your silence.
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  Whenever he can shut you up, that's when he is succeeding.
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  But the word of God, it's at work in you, in you who believe,
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  but it's not working so that you can hide it.
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  Y'all, the Word of God is living, it's active, it's
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  working. So ask yourself, are you letting
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  it? With that, let's go ahead and
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  move into prayer. Father God, thank you for
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  rescuing us. Thank you for salvation and for
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  the knowledge and understanding of that in US who believe.
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  Even if you had done nothing else for us, Jesus, salvation
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  alone by your blood would be enough to to deserve our endless
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  gratitude. So would you just help us to not
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  only hear Your word, but to accept it, to believe it, and to
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  live it? Let it truly be at work in us?
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  Would you provide us with courage when following you feels
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  uncomfortable and foreign? You say in Your word that we're
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  foreigners in this world. This is not our home.
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  And so we need you to give us boldness.
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  Help us to not shrink back from truth.
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  Father, strengthen us to stand firm even when it costs us
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  something. Would you make us people, Your
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  children, whose lives prove that we believe what we're reading in
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  Scripture, may we allow to transform us.
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  We ask this all in your name, Jesus.
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  Amen. OK, well that's what I have
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  today. Praying that the Lord speaks and
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  ministers to your heart personally and that you can take
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  some things away from this. Have a great Monday and I will
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  see y'all on the next episode.