Thursday, May 11, 2023
An Imperative for Spiritual Success
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)
I’ve never met a Christian who was failing spiritually and was also studying the Bible diligently. That is because success or failure in the Christian life depends on how much of the Bible we get into our hearts and minds on a daily basis and how obedient we are to it.
Billy Sunday became one of the great evangelists of his generation. When he was a new believer, an older Christian gave him this advice: Take fifteen minutes each day to let God talk to you, allow fifteen minutes to talk to Him, and then spend fifteen minutes telling others about the Savior.
He told Sunday that if he did these three things, no one would ever write the word backslider after his name.
Not only does the Bible contain truth, but the Bible is truth. It is the standard by which we measure all other so-called truth.
Romans 12:2 tells us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (NLT).
If you’re a hungry person spiritually, then you’re a healthy person spiritually. Healthy people are hungry people, so it’s a good sign if you hunger for more of God’s Word.
I’ve spoken at various churches over the years, and I’ve discovered that I can take the spiritual temperature of a congregation in less than five minutes. I’m able to get a very real sense of where they are spiritually by how many of them bring their Bibles to church.
Of course, it’s great to have the Bible on a phone or tablet. But having said that, I think it’s really great to carry an actual Bible and mark it up as well. There is power in the Word of God, and we should want to fill our lives with it.
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