²²
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.
Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.                           
                                                       -James 1:22

“People do not know the Word until
they begin to practice it and let it live in them. They may have sat
under one of the finest teachers or preachers in the country for years,
yet it has never become a part of their lives.”

~E.W. Kenyan

In Part 2 I discussed some myths people believe about being doers of the Word – today I want to challenge those myths and help you see what it truly means to be a “doer of the Word”.

If you’re living it, you won’t be worried, depressed, down, etc.  – Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the spirit is joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. While these things
already belong to us, if we’re not acting on the Word – they won’t be prevalent in our lives. I always like  using the “Peace and Joy Gauges” in my life – if I don’t have peace and joy in my life – I’m missing it somewhere. 

If You’re Living it, You’ll see Results - John 15:7,8 tells us that if we’re doing the Word, we’ll bear fruit (see results in our lives – success, increase, influence, seeing lives changed through us, etc.) and God will get the glory. Is your life getting better and better? If so, that is an indicator that you’re living the Word.

If you’re Living it, You’ll do Everything God asks You to do, not Just the Parts You Find Convenient – People that only act on parts of the Word that they find are convenient do not believe God is a good God, loves them, and is looking out for their best interest. Everything God asks us to do is for our benefit including tithing, not having pre-marital sex, etc.

If You’re Living it, You’ll have a Peace in your Life no Matter what Circumstances Come Your Way – Jesus said, that if we build our lives on His Word  (become doers of the Word) that no storm in life will be able to destroy us. The Word says that He’ll give us a peace that we won’t even be able to comprehend in the midst of even the hardest times in our lives. I found this to be true when I lost my mom in high school…

It Pays to Be a Doer of the Word!

What are some other truths about being doers of the Word?

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.                                                                                   -James 1:22

“People do not know the Word until they begin to practice it and let it live in them. They may have sat under one of the finest teachers or preachers in the country for years, yet it has never become a part of their lives.”

~E.W. Kenyan

Myths People Buy into About Being Doers of The Word

I know the Word, so obviously I’m doing it - That’s a lie! You can know the Word inside out and not do one thing about it. That is equivalent to saying, “I believe in God, so that means I’m a Christian and Jesus is Lord of my life”. In James 2:19 it says that even demons believe in God, and they tremble at his name. Satan believes in God and even knows the Word of God, but that doesn’t make him a Christian anymore than you knowing the Word makes you a doer of the Word.I remember when I came to the realization that I know a ton of scriptures and leadership principles, but I’m not doing them… huge wake up call!

I’ve been a Christian for years, obviously I’m living it – Wrong again! You can be a christian for 50 years and still be a spiritual baby. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians that he wished he could give them meat of the Word, but they weren’t mature enough to receive it. In Hebrews (I believe Paul is the author) he tells them that by the time they should be teachers, they are still in need of learning the Word. In both cases – he was able to tell they weren’t spiritually mature because they weren’t living the lives they should be (doing) with what they knew about the Word.

I’ll do the things I want to do, and Ignore the Things I don’t want to do – This is where you hear people say things like I’m cool with cutting out things out of my life like swearing, porn, drinking, (etc.) . . . but Tithing? Are you kidding me? I’m not doing that! They live the parts they think will be beneficial to them and the things that seem like they’ll be an inconvienience for them to do, they just ignore.

These are just a few of the myths I see people buying into in their Christian walk – tomorrow I want to talk about the truths concerning these areas.

Can you think of any myths people believe that I didn’t mention?

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. -James 1:22

I’ve been growing up spiritually for over 6 years now and I really enjoy reflecting on the journey. Zack Blair and I were just talking the other day about how far we’ve come in our journeys and how far we’ve seen others come in theirs. I believe that if a believer will seriously go after God with all of their hearts that they can become spiritually mature in about 4 years. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll always be maturing, I just mean that they’ll have a solid foundation built to build their lives on.

One of the things I’ve come to recognize about mature believers is that they are doers of the Word of God. In other words, they actually live their lives according to how the Bible tells them to live it.

How do you know someone is a doer of the word? – They’ll bear fruit (John 15:7-8). The Bible says you’ll know people by their fruit (Matthew 7:20). You’ll be able to tell by peoples lives whether or not they are a doer.

I really believe that so many people are missing out on God’s best for their lives because they’re not living out the Word of God. They listen to all the right sermons, know scripture, and know the right things to say, yet have nothing to show for it in their lives.I believe that’s why James said that people who are not doers of the Word are only fooling themselves.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in people who can talk a big game, I’m interested in people who are actually living it and seeing the fruit of living for God. Those are the people I want to surround myself with. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not walking in this to the level I should be by any means, but I strive to be a doer every day and my hope is that as you read these posts, you will to!

So over the next few days I want to talk about the difference between being hearers of the Word versus being doers of the Word. The difference between the two could literally be the difference between life or death, being successful or failing, receiving healing versus staying sick, keeping your marriage verse losing it, being rich verse being poor, the list goes on and on. Have I got your attention yet?

We’ll dive into this tomorrow….

Thoughts?