APPLYING THE WORD OF GOD

Psalm 119:105-  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

In this well-known Scripture passage from the Psalms, the writer is, in plain terms, extolling the benefits of the Word of God.  Clearly he has seen how to live a life that is pleasing to God by following His Word.  He has learned to apply the Word to his life.  Those who are new in the faith or who are otherwise not all that familiar with the contents of the Bible will have some difficulties in doing this.  You cannot apply what you do not know, or do not know well, and there is no easy way around it: If you are to be able to live by the Word you have to know the Word.  How do you know the Word?  You read the Word—daily.  As you become knowledgeable about what is in the Bible, you still will have to learn how to apply it to your life, how to live by it.  There are two main ways that this is achieved.

First, as believers the Holy Spirit lives in us.  As Christians we should always pray before opening our Bibles that the Spirit of God will give us understanding of what we are about to read and, where possible, how to apply it to our lives.  He is fully capable and more than happy to do this as you see here:

John 14:15-17, 26, 15:26, 16:13-14:  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you…But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me…However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

1 Corinthians 2:10-13:  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The second main thing we can do in order to learn how to apply the Word of God to our lives is to learn from others who know it better than we do and who (hopefully!) are living by it themselves.  It is good if you have a spouse or other family member who is a mature Christian and is familiar with the Bible.  If this is not the case, then a Christian friend can help you with this. Whether you have either one of these options or not, there are also some good teachers and preachers of the Word out there.  But what if you do not know who they are?  Well, here is a list of people we at It Ain’t Over Ministries have followed who have proven to be reliable men of God: Perry Stone, Jonathan Cahn, Rick Renner, Ron Phillips, Chuck Lawson, Vlad Savchuk, and Bryan Cutshall.  Of those who have gone on to be with the Lord but whose teachings can still be found on the internet and in books: David Wilkerson, Derek Prince, Chuck Missler, and Adrian Rogers.

Talking about the Word of God and also meditating on it (thinking it over or speaking aloud as you ponder it), are other important and effective ways to learn more about the Bible and how to live by it.  As you do this, over time you will be amazed when Scriptures you cannot even remember suddenly pop into your mind when they are needed.  The Holy Spirit does this with what you have deposited in your spirit by reading the Word daily.  The admonition for those who preach and teach the Word to be knowledgeable is not just for them, it is for all of us.  As we familiarize ourselves with it we can not only, in time, show other believers who are less experienced how to apply the Bible to their lives, we also learn how to witness to the lost about Jesus Christ.  There are certainly blessings to be found in living by the Bible and staying in it!

2 Timothy 2:15- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1 Peter 3:15-  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;…

Psalm 1:1-3:  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.