Before You Open God’s Word, Believe It
By Rick Warren
"So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls." James 1:21 (NLT)
You may not always understand what the Bible says. But to anchor your life on the solid foundation of God’s Word, you need to humbly accept whatever God tells you.
In today’s verse, the word “accept” is from the Greek word dechomai. It's a hospitality term. It means to receive like a stranger. You are to receive God’s Word fully into your life. That means before you even open your Bible, you tell God that you accept whatever he tells you. You agree to believe his Word, whether or not you understand it.
Look at the first part of today’s verse. In order to accept God’s Word, you first have to take care of the filthy stuff in your life. Clean it out! Now, this doesn’t mean you need to clean up your life before you can come to God; Instead, it means sin can block you from hearing God. You can’t hear him when you’ve got something else filling your mind and heart. You’ve got to make space for the truth. Believing and applying God’s truth will change you and make you more like Jesus.
In the Bible, God often compares our accepting his Word to gardening. He wants us to accept the seeds he is planting in our hearts and minds. But before the seeding and the feeding comes the weeding. Before you meet with God, you have to take out the emotional and spiritual garbage in your life. You do that by confessing and turning away from your sins. You admit to God what you’ve done that goes against his Word.
Then, through acceptance and confession, God can produce the fruit of obedience in your life.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Choose Faith Over Fear!
Are you ready to live with more freedom, joy, and impact?
That’s what you’ll discover how to do in Pastor Rick Warren’s 6-session, *video-based Bible study Daring Faith.
Complete with a study guide and devotion for each day, this study will help you learn how to . . . expect the best, build a life of faith, stretch your imagination, take initiative, face your fears, and trust God while you’re waiting.
So request your copy of Daring Faith when you give a gift today to help more people break free from fear and find their hope in Jesus through Daily Hope.
*Video is available in DVD or streaming formats. The workbook will be mailed to you.
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
