Monday, April 30, 2012

The Word-driven life

UV 393/10,000 John 8 v 31 The Word-driven life Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; Steven Covey wrote the well known book, “ Principle-Centered Leadership” and “ Seven Habits ..” Rick Warren wrote the book, “ The Purpose-Driven Life” but Jesus underlines the centrality of the Word-driven life. A mark of a true and committed disciple as distinguished from a passing or casual believer is the continuity of the Word of God and therefore, of Christ in our lives. The Word will throw light on our purpose. The Word will enable us to focus on godly principles of leadership. The Word will distinguish us as salt and light in this world. The diligent study and obedience to the Word is the touchstone of discipleship. The word, ‘ continue’ means to hold on till the end. The law in normal parlance is used to judge, to condemn, to imprison and to punish but James calls the Word of God, “the perfect law of liberty. “ It is used to show mercy and grace, to set free, to reward, to honour , to lift up, to endow people with the eternal and abundant life. It transforms us from mere listeners to doers. It transforms our hearts through the mind and so impels our hands and legs to go places and to act in alignment with the will of God. Continuing in the Word means continually focusing and meditating on it. It means reading, studying, remembering, memorizing, applying, obeying, honouring, following the Word in our daily lives. Continuing in the Word means that it penetrates and saturates our minds or our intellect, emotions and will. When we continue in the Word, it will teach us what we should continually do or in other words, it teaches us the discipline of what habits we need to develop in our lives. When we continue in the Word, it will teach us when to speak and what to speak. When we continue in the Word, it will shape our emotions and free us from anger, anxiety, fear, hatred, doubts, greed, discontentment, frustration and fill us with hope, joy, peace and grace. When we continue in the Word, it will guide us in our decision making and our choices. We will increase in wisdom and favour with God and man even as life- giving sap rises up in a plant’s stem to nourish the different parts of the plant. When we continue in the Word, it will make us fruitful and productive in our lives. When we continue in the Word, our darkened intellects will be transformed and lit up. We will be able to see beyond the here and now, beyond our mundane needs and desires into the eternal and everlasting. We shall indeed know the truth about ourselves, about others and about our Creator God. We shall know about the character and attributes of God: His abundant love and mercy. Such knowledge will set us free from being tied and tethered to the earth. It will set us free from our sinfulness and our shortcomings. We are set free to fulfill our God given and God intended potential. We are set free to experience life in all its fullness and abundance. When we begin to respect the Word, we affirm that we are disciples of Christ but when we continuen in the Word, the Lord affirms that we are indeed His disciples. To be a disciple of Christ implies to follow the disciplines that Christ practiced and preached. Prateep V Philip The Great I Am long song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoURpHcg8Io

1 comment:

  1. Thank you Philip for the word driven life !

    Blessings

    Buam
    London

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