"The Disciple's Cross: Living in God's Word"
After Jesus was baptized, he was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God and after He had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, Satan came to him and told him to turn stones into bread. However, Jesus responded, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
This means that the word of God is as vital to the Christian as oxygen is to our body. Indeed, it is the word of God that saves us, sanctifies us, leads us, trains us, and guides us along life's way. In fact, Christian author, Avery Willis says that we are to "Live in God's word" and this living in God's word makes up the bottom part of the visual representation of the Disciple's Cross.
Now some of us know what it means to live in social media. We are constantly plugged into these mediums and getting our feeds from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In and Periscope to name a few. In the same manner, to live in God's word means that we are constantly being fed by the word of God and that we have a H-E-A-R-T for God's word as follows:
H - Hear the word. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"(Rom 10:17)
E - Examine the word. "Blessed is he that readeth the word" (Rev. 1:3).
A - Analyze the word. "Study to show thyself approved unto a worker not ashamed" (2 Tim 2:15).
R - Remember the word. "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed to thy word, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against the" (Psalm 119:9).
T - Think about the word. "Blessed is the man who's delight is in the law of the Lord and upon his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2)
Finally, if we have a H-E-A-R-T for the word, then we'll also be compelled to "Apply the Word" as it says in James 1:22, "Be ye doers of the word and not just hearers." It is my prayer that you'll join along with us, if you haven't done so already, for our 40 days of Transformation journey, and that you'll live not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Kip Banks, Sr.