By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

“And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” Luke 24:11

The only way to relate to an unseen God is through His word. We learn and understand about God through reading his word. God and his word are one, what he says is what he does. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If we want to really know God, we have to know the word because the word is God. The word will reveal God to us. He will never violate His word. God’s word is what he does and what he’s going to do. We know his character through His word.

Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Christ says no one can come to the Father except through me. Jesus Christ is the foundation. Good works are very important. We need to aspire to do good works. It has its own benefits and rewards. We cannot afford to be doing any other work except good works because we were not created in Christ to do evil work but the good works which God has planned that we should work in them. So, if we are not doing good works we are out of order and not living according to the new nature we have. As important as good works are, our goodness or works cannot bring us to God. We cannot relate to God on the grounds of our own merits. That will be setting the works of the Cross aside. Remember that without the shedding of the blood of Jesus there is not forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, only on the grounds of faith in The Lord Jesus can we relate with God. We have no name recognition before God. Therefore, we come in the Name of Our Lord Jesus.

 Some think they do have and insist that God recognizes their title and all they do for Him. So they have a sense of entitlement before God and in the Church they demand some kind of recognition and positions. Our righteousness is like a filthy rag. Through Christ we are made righteous and are able to come to the Father. Through studying the word of God conscientiously we can see the reality of God revealed through His word by the Spirit of God

God’s word is faithful. Romans 4:18 says “Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfil it. He took God at his word, and as a result he became the father of many nations.” When we take God’s word seriously and believe in it, God will manifest His promise already fulfilled in Christ for us. We have to have unwavering faith. Even when things look hopeless like they did for Abraham. Faith is revealed by action and by words. James 2:26 says “So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.” Our actions reveal what we really believe. During rocky times our faith is tested. We have to stand firm on God’s word so it can come to fruition.  Only those who consistently believe see the glory of God. To them all things are possible.

By grace we have been saved by faith. Nothing we did could earn us this salvation. Our salvation is a gift from God through our Lord Jesus Christ. No one can boast about their salvation because it wasn’t a reward for our good works. Eph 2:8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. NLT

Why is it that we struggle with believing the word of God? This is a serious reality for some of us Christians. Matthew 13:12 says “For everyone who listens with an open heart will receive progressively more revelation until he has more than enough. But those who don’t listen with an open, teachable heart, even the understanding that they think they have will be taken from them.” We think we have an understanding of the word because we quote scripture and preach it but there are no corresponding actions and result in our life. Verse 13 says “That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they never discover it. Although they will listen to me, they never fully perceive the message I speak.” We sit in church and listen, but we don’t understand the word because we aren’t teachable. We think we know it all, but our eyes of understanding are closed. If we open our eyes to see the word, the word will direct us to Christ Jesus. We should ask God to open our eyes of understanding and be intentional about the time we spend reading and listening to his word.

An example of treasuring the word of God is Mary in Luke 10:42. Mary sat down attentively absorbing everything Jesus said. Martha looked at it as Mary not helping her do the household chores and came to Jesus about it. Jesus’ response to Martha was to ask her why she was troubled and pulled away by the distractions of life. He then showed her that Mary had discovered the most important thing by choosing to sit at his feet. He said that he won’t take the privilege of Mary being at his feet away from her because it is her desire and treasure. Mary put the Kingdom above every other thing. She honored God by honoring His word. The spiritual food Mary got from Jesus is more important than helping Martha in the kitchen. Many of us are like Martha, being distracted by things we deem to be important. This causes us to lose sight of what’s really important, which is our relationship with God. Our walk with God is the most important thing in this world and we need to study the word to know God and build a strong faith in Him that can overcome all the challenges that all men face and the glamorous deceitful values the devil presents as alternatives including religious practices that have no place in the word of God.

Pastor Chined Emmanuel is the senior Pastor of Fountain of The Living Word Church, New Jersey, USA