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Last week we started a new series we are calling “Sword Sharpening” and we are looking at how to make the most out of your time with the Bible. This week we will look at how the Bible is pointing to Jesus.

Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Here is a fascinating statistic from a survey I read recently:

64% of churchgoers rarely or never read the Bible.

The data tells us this number has been increasing with every generation. As compared to 51% of Seniors (age 69+), a massive 73% of Millenials (age 18-30) tell us they rarely or never read the Bible.

For us to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus, we need to grow deeper in his Word.

Colossians 3:16 (NIV)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

You need to understand that reading the Bible is not some boring, obligatory task. It is a life giving, exciting adventure.

John Chapter 1 tells us that Jesus is and was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1:14 (NIV)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This means that every time you open the Bible you are in some fashion coming to Jesus. With that in mind, consider this verse:

John 5:39-40 (NIV)
39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

I think the reason so many people aren’t passionate about reading and studying the Bible is because they’re coming for something other than Jesus. Our motivation needs to be love for God, wanting to know Him more. When you come with a heart of wanting to know and experience God, you won’t just be reading words, you actually experience the Word (Jesus). When you begin to experience Him in this way you will have a desire to keep coming back for more.

I want you to encourage you to read the Bible looking for Jesus. This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church we will be looking at two really cool stories from the Old Testament that reveal more about the Lord, so make sure to join us in-person or online.

I also want to try and have a practical suggestion each week. Last week it was about ‘illuminated reading’. This week I want to encourage us to apply what the Word says to our lives.

James 1:22-25 (NIV)
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.

It’s not about what you know. It’s about what you apply. Spiritual maturity is not about how much Bible you know, but how much Bible you apply. That is food for thought.

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.

This week we are starting a new series we are calling “Sword Sharpening” and we will be looking at how to make the most out of your time with the Bible. We just finished our series called “The Questions Jesus Asked“. There is an interesting question Jesus asks in Mark Chapter 12 that we didn’t look at but will serve as a great way to kick off this series.

Mark 12:24 (NIV)
24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

At some point in this series, we will come back to why Jesus asked this question and look at it in context, but before we can do that, we need to look at a number of extremely important concepts about the Bible. The writer of Hebrews compares the Word of God to a sword.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
12 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.

Paul connects ‘the Word of God’ as ‘the sword of the Spirit’.

Ephesians 6:17 (NIV)
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The sword is both an offensive and a defensive weapon. The Word of God helps us in defending against the enemy as well as assaulting the enemy during battle. We defend against him by not listening to his lies. We assault him as we live by trying to do the next right thing, experiencing the full and abundant now and forever life in Jesus as we carry out the mission and purpose God has for us.

Spiritual Battle

This life as a follower of Jesus includes spiritual battle. Our adversary wants us to live in fear. Fear is crippling. Fear is life stealing. Our culture is fearful. We are being actively terrorized. We do not need to live in fear! I think some people might have trouble with the whole spiritual battle illustration and yet it is something that we have throughout the Bible. Standing by while the enemy leads countless numbers of people to destruction and constantly attempts to steal away the life that Jesus came to give us is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Like Joshua, we need to be courageous.

Joshua 1:4-9 (NIV)
4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates–all the Hittite country–to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Sword Sharpening Keeps us Ready for Battle

There is a fascinating story in 1 Samuel that connects with the importance of having your sword sharp and being ready for spiritual battle.

1 Samuel 13:19-22a (NIV)
19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. 21 The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. 22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand;

The Philistines had removed all the blacksmiths from Israel, which made blacksmithing services costly and required traveling so the people of God just got lax and didn’t do it. When the time for battle came, no one was ready. It will cost you something to keep your sword sharpened. Time. But it is one of the best uses of time. It is life giving not life stealing. Don’t get taken in by the life stealing lies of the enemy, focus your thoughts on the Kingdom of God and the things of the Lord. Stand ready to engage in the battle by keeping your sword sharp.

We will be talking about this and much more on the weekend at Keys Vineyard Church as we discuss how to read and how not to read the Bible. Make plans to attend in person or connect online.

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.

Self-control and living lives that please God are our discussion points for today. In this series on the Fruit of the Spirit we have talked about the different aspects of the fruit of the spirit that Paul lists for us Galatians 5:22-23.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

In verses 19-21 of Galatians 5 Paul describes people that are out of control.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In this last message of the series we are going to look at self-control and the difference between the believer who has learned to yield their lives to the Holy Spirit and those who are still trying to live as the center of the story.

The Greek root for the word self-control means “to get a hold of ” or “to get a grip on”.

Real self-control is Holy Spirit produced fruit in us. We must come to the realization that it is not something we can do in our own strength. If we believe that somehow we are the source of our self-control we will take the credit for it rather than giving the glory to God.

We also need to understand that while this Holy Spirit provided self-control is a gift, we are still required to open it and live it out in order to experience it.

We want Jesus to get glory. We want to control ourselves in the power supplied by Holy Spirit.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

And we must always be thankful as we remember that every step forward in self-control is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We need to live lives that are pleasing to God. This type of living is not possible without God’s help. We need to know that He is with us and for us. That He loves and forgives us. That when we mess up He will forgive us and empower us by His spirit to do the next right thing.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 (NIV)
1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.