Christianity Is Real When We Pursue, Search, Remember, and Apply the Scriptures

Among Christians, God’s word is highly honored, little read, less understood, and rarely applied. You must hear that word with open ears.

Attentive ears rarely keep company with a mouth never at a loss for words. It is almost impossible to hear what God is saying while you are talking.

Anger does not accomplish God’s will (James 1:19-20). Hot heads and smoldering hearts do not either. You are in the worst possible company when you fly into a rage and are beside yourself.

You cannot receive God’s word properly while compromising morally. New Christians bring much into their new lives that they need to leave behind them.

Dirty stories, filthy talk, and jokes with double meanings are like old, stinky clothes to be tossed. They will never be in style in God’s Kingdom. Your words are a good indicator of your spiritual health.

Deliverance from sin’s power depends on embracing with meekness the ingrafted word. God grafts His word in you when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

You are like a lemon tree engrafted with the bud of an orange tree. Eliminating moral filth means cutting off the lemon tree immediately above the engrafted bud. Bearing a bumper crop of sweet fruit requires submitting to the engrafted word.

James warned about deceiving yourself (James 1:22-24). Sometimes you congratulate yourself because you hear the word taught and preached, whereas many others do not.

Hearing God’s word earns no special favor with God. One act of obedience is better than hearing one hundred sermons. Being useful to God is far more significant than being religious.

You do not impress God by Christian positions held, the number of church services you attend, how loudly you sing, or how long you pray. You impress Him by doing what the word says. Singing about reaching the lost does not win them. Singing about loving others is no substitute for sacrificing to benefit them.

James described four mileposts on the road to blessing (James 1:25). The first is to pursue the message of the Scriptures. The second is to continue to search the Scriptures diligently.

The third is to remember what you hear. The fourth is to apply it to your life.

A doer of the word is gainfully employed in the Lord’s work. The kind of religion God accepts changes how you live.

Real faith expresses itself through loving deeds (Galatians 5:6), such as caring for widows and orphans. There are countless other ways to show it.

As God’s child, you must avoid the world’s pollution. Do not allow its God-excluding thoughts and action patterns to shape you.

Beware of putrid religion (James 1:26). Non-believers easily detect its stench and do not want to be anywhere near it.

Pure religion has a sweet, clean smell. It draws rather than repels unbelievers. That is real Christianity! What is your takeaway? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.

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God has empowered me to write His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength. It’s a free, evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship e-book. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead 6,090 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 15,150 people. I invite you to explore and use it in your setting.  

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