Word of God – Stephen Trammell

Bringing Your Worship (6)

The condition of your heart before God affects your private and public worship. If you want to have a high level of receptivity to God’s Word, your heart must be right before God. Sin will harden your heart towards God. Sin will hinder your capacity to hear from God. “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8 (NIV) “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.’” Isaiah 29:13 (NIV) Keep your heart clean before God. Stay tender. Be teachable. Maintain purity in your thought life. Consistently confess known sin and live a life of moral purity. Surrender daily to the Lordship of Christ and do not give the devil a foothold in your life. At all costs, do not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. Ask God to enable you to demonstrate a life of character and integrity. Crucify the flesh. Make no provision for the flesh. Keep your life in check. Weed the flowerbed of your life. Sounds like a commitment to perpetual care doesn’t it? Sin will create an immense deficit in bringing your worship to God. In fact, sin can easily become your worship. Guard your heart! Consecrate yourself before God and allow the light of His holiness to identify areas of your life that need to be surrendered. Bring your worship of God to God with a heart of purity! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor

“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.” 1 Thess 2:13 (NIV) How do you view the Bible? Have you developed an appetite for God’s Word? In order to grow spiritually, you must have a daily intake of God’s Word. We have so many opportunities to hear, receive, and accept God’s Word. You can read it. You can hear it on the radio, on a CD player, or on an Ipod. You can hear God’s Word being preached on television and in church. The more you feed on God’s Word the more you develop an appetite for daily intake. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12 (NIV) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV) Commit to read four chapters of the Bible each day. For example, read chapters one through four in the book of First John. Select one verse from each chapter that God uses to speak into your life. Write an action statement for each of the four verses that you identify. Accept God’s Word by receiving it into your heart and putting it into action. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor