11/02/18 OUTLINE IN RHYME
NEW OUTLINE concerning the word of God... Need, Read, Freed*, Feed, Heed, Creed, Lead, Plead, Bleed.
OUTLINE IN RHYME
NEED... We all NEED the word of God. The Bible is God's revelation. It is God's invitation. It is God's doctrine, instruction. It is God's reproof, correction. It is God's leading, feeding. We NEED the word of God.
READ... We should all READ the word of God. God speaks to us through His word, whether we hear if from another person or we read it ourselves. God intended for us to read it for ourselves. It was transmitted by the Holy Spirit to holy men of old, chosen by God; God saw that it was transcribed and translated into our language. When we read God's word, God speaks to our hearts (inner man). Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
FREED...
We are FREED from our darkness, our bondage, Satan's rule, sins power.
Freedom in Christ begins before our regeneration, in the sense that we
are delivered from blindness, but God continues to FREE us from guilt,
pollution, unholy alliances, deception, fear, the works of the flesh,
the impure heart, the love of the world.
(thanks to Allen Barnes for pointing out that I had left out this wonderful work of God from this list).
FEED... We should FEED on the word of God. We should meditate, cogitate, investigate, appropriate. The word is milk, meat, nourishment, refreshment to our souls. It is light, it is power, it is encouragement, it is chastisement. We should treasure, consume, hide and cover ourselves innermost being with His word, so that we will not sin against God.
HEED... We must HEED the revelation of God. It is not good enough to be a hearer of the word, we must also be a doer of the word. (I could have used the word DEED for this point). God's word was manifested in His Son, and it is to be manifested in our lives also. We are able to keep His commandments and DO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT. The Bible (New Testament included) is filled with Do's and DON'Ts. We can DO the will of God when we receive and believe the word of God. Heeding is our choice.
CREED... We should make the word of God our CREED. We should believe, espouse the teaching and revelation of God. His word is the word of life. We should examine and judge everything in the light of His word. Let God be true and every man a liar.
LEAD... We should not only heed God's word, we should LEAD others to the word of God. We should LEAD others in learning the word of God. We should LEAD others in understanding the world of God. We should LEAD others in following the word of God.
PLEAD... We should PLEAD the word of God and we should PLEAD for the word of God. We cannot be silent witnesses or hidden lamps. We must trust the word of God and we must affirm the word of God. We (the Church) are the pillar and support of the truth (that Jesus is God in the flesh, that He died for our sins, that he arose from the dead, that He reigns forever and ever). God has entrusted His word to us, and commissioned us to take it to the world, to teach it to the world, to contend for it. We must also depend on the word for our defense. God will not protect us outside of His truth, His revelation. God's word is our cover, our high tower, our shelter, and we can plead our case before the throne of God, based on the word of God.
BLEED... We must be willing to give our lives in service and even in sacrifice for the word of God. If we deny God or His word, He will deny us. We must be willing to lose possessions, advantage even our own lives of the possession, proclamation and propagation of the word of God.
THERE IS MUCH MORE THAT CAN BE ADDED HERE. I thought of this outline about an hour ago and jotted down these thoughts (while doing other work as well). I hope this ministers to you.
