DAILY BIBLE VERSES AND PRAYER THOUGHTS: MONDAY - VERSES: Psalm 19:7; John 6:66-69 PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank God that He has given us His Word so that we can know what to do. TUESDAY - VERSES: 1 Chronicles 22:12; Psalm 1:2; Mark 7:14-16 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to help you have the understanding and wisdom to know how to live His teachings in your life. WEDNESDAY - VERSES: Psalm 119:1; Matthew 7:24-27 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God for the courage to do the things that you have heard or read in the Bible. THURSDAY - VERSES: 2 Kings 10:31; Isaiah 30:9; 53:6 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to forgive you for the times in the past that you have heard His Word and not done it or refused to even listen. FRIDAY - VERSES: Psalm 119:169-176; James 1:23-25 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to help you remember the things you have learned and not be a forgetful hearer. SATURDAY - VERSES: Exodus 18:17-20; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to help you look for ways to be an example and help others hear, learn and do His work in their lives. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I like the way I am doing it better than the way you are not doing it. The person who complains about how a work is being done has a moral obligation to present a better alternative. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided. - Tony Robbins @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ASSIGNMENTS 1. At least once a day read over this material and read or sing the song. 2. Place the scripture where you will see it often throughout each day. 3. Think of areas of your life where you know what you should do but you're not doing it. 4. At the close of day write down the ways you have actually been doers of the word. 5. Plan to tell the class how you became a doer where you had been only a hearer, or tell how you should have done something God said to do but didn't. SPIRITUAL HEALTH REGIMEN - WEEK 17 DOERS OF THE WORD - 11-11-12 TO 11-18-12 SCRIPTURE - James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. COMMENT - If we think that we are good Christians because we come to church, study and listen to sermons we are deceiving ourselves. We must do what the word says. We must be obedient. SONG – TRUST AND OBEY 1. When we walk with the Lord In the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. 2. Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt nor a fear, Not a sigh nor a tear, Can a bide while we trust and obey. 3.Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow we share, But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a grief nor a loss, Not a frown nor a cross, But is blest if we trust and obey. 4. But we never can prove The delights of His love Until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows, And the joy He bestows, Are for those who will trust and obey. 5. Then in fellowship sweet, We will sit at His feet, Or we'll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey. REFRAIN - Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. THOUGHTS Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. -- Will Rogers @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Ultimately it's the doer who counts. For as President Theodore Roosevelt once said: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither defeat nor victory." Some Christians are so afraid of failure that they become reserved, overly cautious, and uninvolved in life. They follow a policy of guarded living, holding back time, talents, and treasure from God's service. Their motto is: To keep from failing -- don't try! On the other hand, those who are willing to make mistakes and risk failure are the ones who ultimately achieve great things. Instead of being filled with fear, they go forward in faith. Problems are challenges. While they may not all be solved, these courageous people would rather live with that reality than have a clean record of no failures and no accomplishments. Benjamin Franklin said one time, "The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all -- doing nothing." @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ DOERS OF THE WORD INTRODUCTION I. RECEIVE WITH ____________________ - V. 21 A. WHAT ____________________ IS NOT - JAMES 3:13-18 B. MEEK ARE _____________ - MATTHEW 5:5 C. RECEIVE THE ____________ WITH HUMILITY AND GENTLENESS, AN ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE II. THE __________________ WORD - V. 21 A. KNOW THE TRUTH - JOHN ___:32 B. WHEN YOU KNOW THE _____________ THEN IT IS IMPLANTED OR ENGRAFTED IN YOU. C. WE MUST BE ___________ __________ AND MEEKLY ACCEPT THE SEED IMPLANTED IN US AND ALLOW IT TO GROW - MATTHEW 13:19-23 III. WHICH IS ABLE TO ___________ YOUR ___________ - V. 21 A. THE WORD MAKES US _________ FOR SALVATION - 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17 B. OUR SOULS ARE ______________ - 1 PETER 1:22-25 C. THE WORD ______________ US - EPHESIANS 5:25-27 IV. BE DOERS OF THE WORD, NOT ____________ ONLY - V. 22 A. ________________ TO THE WORD FREES FROM SIN - ROMANS 6:16-18 B. NOT SAYING LORD, LORD, BUT _____________ WILL OF GOD - MATTHEW 7:21-27 C. FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS _______ - JAMES 2:14-20 V. __________________ YOURSELVES - V. 22 A. THE WORD IS LIKE A ______________, - JAMES 1:23-24 & 2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 B. WE ________ WHAT WE ________ - GALATIANS 6:7-8 VI. DOER IS ________________ IN WHAT HE DOES - V. 25 A. HEAR & KEEP - REVELATION 1:____ B. KNOW & DO - JOHN ___:17 C. HEAR & KEEP - ___________ 11:28 D. HUNGER & THIRST FOR RIGHT - MATTHEW ____:6 CONCLUSION @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ A New England preacher, impressing on his congregation the necessity of practical godliness, and contrasting the early Christians with those of the present generation, very properly remarked, "We have too many resolutions and too little action. The Acts of the Apostles is the title of one of the books of the New Testament; their resolutions have not reached us." @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, By the grace of God I shall do! - Edward Evrett Hale @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ The Master's will, for this I pray, Whatever it may be! I do not want to miss Your best; Reveal it, Lord, to me. My own desires may lead me wrong, I must consult my God; His counsel will be justified, When all the way I've trod. O soul of mine, delight in Him! His Word discern, obey! The plan you seek to know will then unfold from day to day. We do not live our lives alone: If I am in God's will, The lives of others will be helped, His purpose to fulfill! My all, O Lord, I give to You, My body, mind and soul; May all the days that lie ahead, be under Your control. - Frances L. Hess DOERS OF THE WORD SCRIPTURE - (James 1:21-25) Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. {22} But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. {23} For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; {24} for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. {25} But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. INTRODUCTION A. (Luke 6:46) "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? B. (Heb 4:1-2) Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. {2} For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. C. (Rom 12:1-2) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. {2} And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I. RECEIVE WITH MEEKNESS (21) A. WHAT MEEKNESS IS NOT - (James 3:13-18) Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. {14} But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. {15} This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. {16} For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. {17} But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. {18} Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. B. MEEK ARE BLESSED - (Mat 5:5) Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. C. RECEIVE THE WORD WITH HUMILITY AND GENTLENESS, AN ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE II. THE IMPLANTED WORD (21) A. KNOW THE TRUTH - (John 8:32) "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." B. WHEN YOU KNOW THE TRUTH THEN IT IS IMPLANTED OR ENGRAFTED IN YOU. C. WE MUST BE GOOD SOIL AND MEEKLY ACCEPT THE SEED IMPLANTED IN US AND ALLOW IT TO GROW - (Mat 13:19-23) "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. {20} "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; {21} "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. {22} "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. {23} "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." III. WHICH IS ABLE TO SAVE YOUR SOULS (21) A. THE WORD MAKES US WISE FOR SALVATION - (2 Tim 3:14-17) But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, {15} and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. {16} All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, {17} that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. B. OUR SOULS ARE PURIFIED - (1 Pet 1:22-25) Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, {23} having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, {24} because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, {25} But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. C. THE WORD CLEANSES US - (Eph 5:25-27) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, {26} that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, {27} that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. IV. BE DOERS OF THE WORD, NOT HEARERS ONLY (22) A. OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD FREES FROM SIN - (Rom 6:16-18) Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? {17} But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. {18} And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. B. NOT SAYING LORD, LORD, BUT DOING WILL OF GOD - (Mat 7:21-27) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. {22} "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' {23} "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' {24} "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: {25} "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. {26} "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: {27} "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." C. FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD - (James 2:14-20) What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? {15} If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, {16} and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? {17} Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. {18} But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. {19} You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble! {20} But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? V. DECEIVING YOURSELVES (22) A. THE WORD IS LIKE A MIRROR, SHOWING US WHAT WE REALLY ARE LIKE – 1. (James 1:23-24) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; {24} for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 2. (2 Cor 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. B. WE REAP WHAT WE SOW - (Gal 6:7-8) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. {8} For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. VI. DOER IS BLESSED IN WHAT HE DOES (25) A. HEAR & KEEP - (Rev 1:3) Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. B. KNOW & DO - (John 13:17) "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. C. HEAR & KEEP - (Luke 11:28) But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" D. HUNGER & THIRST FOR RIGHT DOING - (Mat 5:6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. CONCLUSION A. WHAT WE DO AFFECTS OUR SALVATION - (James 2:21-26) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? {22} Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? {23} And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. {24} You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. {25} Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? {26} For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. B. ARE YOUR SINS FORGIVEN? - (Rom 4:7-8) "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; {8} Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin." James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.