Why DO people read the Bible?
Is it so that they can find out
What it says and what it means?
Or is it so that they can find out WHERE
Something is written to confirm
And support what they already believe?
The first comes from someone
Who is OPEN to learn and grow
In their knowledge of God
The second is from someone
Who has already decided who and what
God is and how things should be
This person, unfortunately, so often
Is CLOSED to the Spirit of God…
Which is so very sad…
Since Jesus said:
“It is to your advantage
that I go away;
for if I do not go away,
the Helper will not come to you…
However, when He,
the Spirit of truth, has come,
He will guide you into all truth”
(John 16: 7 & 13)
When we read the Bible
We need to be those who are
OPEN to the Spirit who will
Lead us into all truth…
In Romans 10 we come across
A passage that many people
Are familiar with…
“if you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus and believe
in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9)
Being “saved” is so critically
And fundamentally important
However, understanding what
The Bible says about that
Is equally important of itself…
Paul goes on to say in Romans:
“For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:10)
We KNOW how to speak with
Our mouth…
But how do we believe with
Our heart?
The heart is considered
As the seat of our emotions
And yet the physical heart
Is a pump that enables us
To live…
The first only exists figuratively
Within us and yet the second
Is a very REAL part of our being…
So the “heart” that Paul
Is talking about
Is the figurative one…
The seat of our emotions
And how are we supposed
To influence it?
The answer, I believe,
Comes in part
In a previous verse in Romans:
“But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is,
the word of faith which we preach)”
(Romans 10:8)
Please note that the Word
Is described as being
“in your mouth” FIRST
And then “in your heart”
And yet the Bible says:
“For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks”
(Matthew 12:34)
Whatever is in your HEART
The mouth will SPEAK
So how do we change
Or influence our HEART?
That is what I believe
Romans 10:8 is saying…
The word is in our MOUTH first
And then in our HEART
As we SPEAK words…
Those words influence
Our HEART…
Now we ALL know that
We speak MANY words
Day by day…
And unfortunately, NOT
ALL of them are fruitful
Pure and uplifting…
Perhaps we may be starting
To see where our problem
Lies in finding it so
Difficult to BELIEVE…
So often, for so many of us
Our heart is confused
As to what we TRULY believe
Since our heart is changed
By what we speak…
We are not consistent enough
In what we say…
“But I say to you that
for every idle word
men may speak,
they will give account of it
in the day of judgment.
For by your words
you will be justified,
and by your words
you will be condemned.”
(Matthew 12:36 – 37)
So we need to be careful
About what we SPEAK…
Are we saying good, sound
Faith building words?
Or are we saying what we think
Or what we feel?
Faith building words are
Simply saying what God says
About us…
“By His stripes we are healed”
(Isaiah 53:5)
(1 Peter 2:24)
“WE ARE the righteousness
of God IN Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
“I will say of the Lord,
“He is my refuge
and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.” “
(Psalm 91:2)
And so, so many more…