“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house built but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6:46-49).

Howard Hendricks used to tell his students at Dallas Theological Seminary, “God doesn’t reveal himself to you to make you smarter sinners. God reveals God-self to you to transform you.”

It’s not about information. It’s all about application.

It is great that you are reading these Verse of the Day and interacting with God’s word on a daily basis. Studying and growing in your knowledge of God is a good thing. We cannot grow and mature as a Christian without growing in knowledge of God’s word. Faith grows where God’s word flows.

We grow in our faith as our knowledge of God and God’s word grows.

But there’s something critical for us as Western Christians to understand. The separation of knowledge from action is a Western philosophical concept. In Eastern and Middle Eastern thinking, there is no such thing as knowing something that doesn’t translate into doing something. Knowledge is doing.

Do you realize that Satan knows God’s word? Satan knows God’s word better than you, but he’s still Satan. He is still the father of lies. He is evil.

Knowledge without application is deadly. Knowing God better has to lead to applying God’s word better. Satan knows God’s word. But there is zero application of God’s truths.

A follower of Jesus Christ follows Jesus. That’s what being a Christian literally means. You do what Jesus does. You love what Jesus loves. You hate what Jesus hates. You follow Jesus.

Before we end, let me make clear that our deeds are in response to God’s grace and love. Our deeds do not save us. Only God’s grace can save us. But because we are saved by God’s grace, we respond with our obedience.

When it comes to knowing God, it’s not about information. It’s all about application.

“Do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Our world tells us to “Follow your heart.” Jesus tells us, “Follow me.”
Our world tells us to “Believe in yourself.” Jesus tells us, “Believe in me.”
Our world tells us to “Discover yourself.” Jesus tells us, “Deny yourself.”
Our world tells us to “Be true to yourself.” Jesus tells us, “Be true to me.”

What our world tells us sounds so nice, so “true”, so good. But it’s all lies.

How do I know that? I’ve tried to live life my way. It didn’t turn out very well. It actually hurt quite a bit. Look at all the people who have tried to live by the mantras of the world. It might lead to temporary happiness and bliss, but it will always leave us empty and hurting…leaving a trail of broken hearts and people around us.

There is only one way to find true meaning, purpose, and happiness – by turning to our maker and discovering God’s will for our lives.

One of the most toxic belief systems in our culture is “Do what makes you happy.” The reason why “Do what makes you happy” is toxic is because oftentimes what we think will make us happy leads to misery for those around us, and ultimately us too.

The thing is, we are not called to do what makes us happy. We are called to do what glorifies God.

And, here’s the kicker. It’s only when we discover what God glorifies God that we experience happiness and joy. When we glorify God, we get happiness and joy as a by-product. But when we seek our happiness, happiness and joy is always fleeting.

DO WHAT GLORIFIES GOD!!!

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).

There are a couple of things going on with this verse that I would like to start with:

1. The verse starts with the phrase, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”. You would think that belief would be paired with disbelieve. But that’s not what we have in the text. Instead of reading, “Whoever does not believe in the Son will not see life,” the text says, “Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life.”
2. If you are reading the verse of the day in the NIV you will notice that the NIV translates this verse differently. The NIV translates, “disobeys” with “rejects”, but this is an incorrect translation by the NIV. The Greek clearly says “disobey.”

God assumes that believing leads to obeying.

In fact, as far as God is concerned, disobeying is the same thing as not believing. If we believe, we obey. There is no believing without obeying.

The Greek word for belief is pisteuo. The word certainly means believe, but it also means to trust, to have faith in, to entrust. As far as the Bible is concerned, if one believes, one trusts, has faith in, entrusts, and obeys. So much so, to disobey is to disbelieve.

This is a poor analogy but it gets the point across. If you pisteuo – believe that you have the winning lotto numbers then you go out and purchase a lotto ticket with the winning numbers. The possibility that you would have the winning lotto numbers but not purchasing a lotto ticket with those numbers is preposterous.

Exactly. That’s exactly what God is saying about believing and obeying.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “The driver on the highway is safe not when he reads the signs, but when he obeys them.”

It’s the same with us.

There is no believing without obeying.