The Lord's Treasture Chest
Aug 24, 2016 08:27:26 #
One Sunday morning in the early part of 1988, I brought forth this message to the congregation of a Non-Denominational Church that I was joined to before the Church eventually came to an end. I had been a Christian less than 12 years when I brought forth this message. This is the only message that I wanted to hold onto. From time to time, when I go back over this message, it really ministers to my Spirit. That is why that I have held onto it for all these years.
When the Written Word of God truly becomes a treasure in our hearts, the Holy Spirit then begins to reveal more and more "revelation truth" from God's Written Word to us.
I have also put a copy of this article, which is in it's original Word Document format, in the attachment.
The Lord’s Treasure Chest (Early part of 1988)
I am going to be speaking today about a principle that is very dear to my heart and without question, has been a source of unmeasurable dimensions in my Christian life over the years.
It is a principle that I have practiced through thick and thin throughout my almost 12 years as a Christian. I therefore will be speaking with great confidence in regards to this principle.
Much of this message is drawn upon my personal experience.
My first goal in this message is to stir our hearts to action. Notice that I used the word Action. In fact, the theme of the entire Bible is that of action.
How successful we are in life is determined by how far we reach out.
Have you ever really given thought as to why the Holy Spirit is given to us?
Without question, a couple of main functions of the Holy Spirit is to stir to action and to give vision.
Stir to action: John 6:44 – No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.
To give vision: What is vision? Simply put, vision, the kind that brings abundant life to a child of God, is a constant revealing of God to us.
Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish. (become unbridled)
I want to emphasize that God’s Word is His gift to us, which the Holy Spirit uses as His most powerful tool to give us vision.
Psalms 119:105 – Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The next goal is to take steps (steps of action) that will cause God’s Word to become a lasting joy in our hearts. (Renewing and transforming our minds)
John 17:13 & 14 – That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves, I have given them thy Word. (For God’s Word to become a lasting joy in our lives, we must first hide His Word in our hearts.)
Psalms 119:11 – Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
When we hide God’s Word in our hearts, it then becomes a treasure to us.
Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
If I told each one of you that there is a buried treasure of one million dollars in your backyard, I doubt very seriously if any of you would find it difficult to get motivated to the point that would produce the kind of action that would cause you to go and dig for that buried treasure.
I tell you of a truth, that there is a far greater treasure that is at the fingertips of each and everyone of us.
In fact, this treasure that is at the fingertips of each one of us, is of such great value that Christ shed His Blood in order that we might partake of it’s riches.
Revelation 19:13 – And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God.
The more that God’s Word becomes a treasure in our hearts, the more that we come to truly love His Word.
Psalms 119:97 – O how I love thy Word! It is my meditation all the day.
We did not develop a love for our Lord Jesus Christ until we asked Him to come and dwell in our hearts. For us to develop a love for God’s Word, it must continually dwell in our hearts.
Mark 4:19 – And the cares of this world, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
The Word of God is so vital to our life as a Christian, that we are told in 1st Peter 2:2 that when a person becomes a newborn babe in Christ, that he or she is to desire the sincere milk of the Word. This is how important that God’s Word is to our spiritual development. “I truly believe that the single greatest motivating factor in a Christian’s life is when God’s Word becomes alive in their heart.”
Colossians 3:16 – Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Luke 24:32 – And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?
The prophet Jeremiah experienced the burning heart to such a degree, that he states in the 20th chapter of Jeremiah, “But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.”
Jesus gives the reason for His words producing a burning affect upon the heart when he states in the 6th chapter of John. “The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life.”
I have noticed that a trademark at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in the city of Downey, is the Word of God being alive in the hearts of those who go to share the Gospel.
Merlin Carothers, a man of God who has a powerful prison ministry, has stated
“that when God’s Word is alive in our hearts, it helps to break the intimidation factor.”
Christian evangelism, in whatever form, when done with a Godly motive, is a by-product of God’s Word being alive in one’s heart.
Again, I repeat Psalms 119:11 – Thy Word have I hid in my heart. (In the movie “The Elephant Man”, he loved the 23rd Psalms.)
In the days which lay just ahead of us, and which we are now entering into, it is going go to be more important than ever that we have hid and are hiding God’s Word in our hearts.
Nobody can take away the Word that is hidden away in our hearts.
In order for the Holy Spirit to extract and reveal to us the many and marvelous Spiritual Treasures in God’s Living Word, we must go beyond just reading His Word, we must go a step further.
And that step further is the step that enables the Holy Spirit to cause God’s Word to become alive to us in a very special way, by opening our Spiritual eyes in a much greater dimension, to see the many marvelous Spiritual Treasures in His Word that were once hidden to our eyes and to our understanding, but now through the unveiling of them, brings a Greater Abundance of Life to us. They are just resting there, waiting to become ALIVE in our hearts.
When there is a buried treasure, one has to dig in order to partake of it’s riches. The same applies to God’s Word.
My definition of digging into God’s Word is to MEDITATE on His Word.
Mediation is the shovel that digs into God’s Word in such a way that we strike it rich in our Spirit.
So, the KEY to God’s Word that will enrich our lives in a number of ways, is to meditate upon His Word.
Psalms 119:97 – O how I love thy Word! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalms 1:2 & 3 – But his delight is in the Word of God: and in his Word doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not whither: and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
In my life, I have discovered that Scripture memorization has been and is a very exciting, powerful and rewarding way for me to meditate upon God’s Word.
Let me add by saying that the idea is not to accumulate a lot of verses for the sake of numbers, but to enrich our lives.
When I meditate upon a verse through memorization or through reading His Word, it is God speaking his direct Word to me, and I in return am speaking directly back to God through His Word, which brings about a great rejoicing in my spirit, because the natural result of meditating upon God’s Word stimulates a very deep form of praise in our spirit.
Personally, I hear God’s voice more clearly through His Word, that by any other means.
Only one thing can steal the Word of God out of our hearts or keep it from entering in. Mark 4:19 – And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful.
When the Written Word of God truly becomes a treasure in our hearts, the Holy Spirit then begins to reveal more and more "revelation truth" from God's Written Word to us.
I have also put a copy of this article, which is in it's original Word Document format, in the attachment.
The Lord’s Treasure Chest (Early part of 1988)
I am going to be speaking today about a principle that is very dear to my heart and without question, has been a source of unmeasurable dimensions in my Christian life over the years.
It is a principle that I have practiced through thick and thin throughout my almost 12 years as a Christian. I therefore will be speaking with great confidence in regards to this principle.
Much of this message is drawn upon my personal experience.
My first goal in this message is to stir our hearts to action. Notice that I used the word Action. In fact, the theme of the entire Bible is that of action.
How successful we are in life is determined by how far we reach out.
Have you ever really given thought as to why the Holy Spirit is given to us?
Without question, a couple of main functions of the Holy Spirit is to stir to action and to give vision.
Stir to action: John 6:44 – No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.
To give vision: What is vision? Simply put, vision, the kind that brings abundant life to a child of God, is a constant revealing of God to us.
Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish. (become unbridled)
I want to emphasize that God’s Word is His gift to us, which the Holy Spirit uses as His most powerful tool to give us vision.
Psalms 119:105 – Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The next goal is to take steps (steps of action) that will cause God’s Word to become a lasting joy in our hearts. (Renewing and transforming our minds)
John 17:13 & 14 – That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves, I have given them thy Word. (For God’s Word to become a lasting joy in our lives, we must first hide His Word in our hearts.)
Psalms 119:11 – Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
When we hide God’s Word in our hearts, it then becomes a treasure to us.
Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
If I told each one of you that there is a buried treasure of one million dollars in your backyard, I doubt very seriously if any of you would find it difficult to get motivated to the point that would produce the kind of action that would cause you to go and dig for that buried treasure.
I tell you of a truth, that there is a far greater treasure that is at the fingertips of each and everyone of us.
In fact, this treasure that is at the fingertips of each one of us, is of such great value that Christ shed His Blood in order that we might partake of it’s riches.
Revelation 19:13 – And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God.
The more that God’s Word becomes a treasure in our hearts, the more that we come to truly love His Word.
Psalms 119:97 – O how I love thy Word! It is my meditation all the day.
We did not develop a love for our Lord Jesus Christ until we asked Him to come and dwell in our hearts. For us to develop a love for God’s Word, it must continually dwell in our hearts.
Mark 4:19 – And the cares of this world, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
The Word of God is so vital to our life as a Christian, that we are told in 1st Peter 2:2 that when a person becomes a newborn babe in Christ, that he or she is to desire the sincere milk of the Word. This is how important that God’s Word is to our spiritual development. “I truly believe that the single greatest motivating factor in a Christian’s life is when God’s Word becomes alive in their heart.”
Colossians 3:16 – Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Luke 24:32 – And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?
The prophet Jeremiah experienced the burning heart to such a degree, that he states in the 20th chapter of Jeremiah, “But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.”
Jesus gives the reason for His words producing a burning affect upon the heart when he states in the 6th chapter of John. “The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life.”
I have noticed that a trademark at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in the city of Downey, is the Word of God being alive in the hearts of those who go to share the Gospel.
Merlin Carothers, a man of God who has a powerful prison ministry, has stated
“that when God’s Word is alive in our hearts, it helps to break the intimidation factor.”
Christian evangelism, in whatever form, when done with a Godly motive, is a by-product of God’s Word being alive in one’s heart.
Again, I repeat Psalms 119:11 – Thy Word have I hid in my heart. (In the movie “The Elephant Man”, he loved the 23rd Psalms.)
In the days which lay just ahead of us, and which we are now entering into, it is going go to be more important than ever that we have hid and are hiding God’s Word in our hearts.
Nobody can take away the Word that is hidden away in our hearts.
In order for the Holy Spirit to extract and reveal to us the many and marvelous Spiritual Treasures in God’s Living Word, we must go beyond just reading His Word, we must go a step further.
And that step further is the step that enables the Holy Spirit to cause God’s Word to become alive to us in a very special way, by opening our Spiritual eyes in a much greater dimension, to see the many marvelous Spiritual Treasures in His Word that were once hidden to our eyes and to our understanding, but now through the unveiling of them, brings a Greater Abundance of Life to us. They are just resting there, waiting to become ALIVE in our hearts.
When there is a buried treasure, one has to dig in order to partake of it’s riches. The same applies to God’s Word.
My definition of digging into God’s Word is to MEDITATE on His Word.
Mediation is the shovel that digs into God’s Word in such a way that we strike it rich in our Spirit.
So, the KEY to God’s Word that will enrich our lives in a number of ways, is to meditate upon His Word.
Psalms 119:97 – O how I love thy Word! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalms 1:2 & 3 – But his delight is in the Word of God: and in his Word doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not whither: and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
In my life, I have discovered that Scripture memorization has been and is a very exciting, powerful and rewarding way for me to meditate upon God’s Word.
Let me add by saying that the idea is not to accumulate a lot of verses for the sake of numbers, but to enrich our lives.
When I meditate upon a verse through memorization or through reading His Word, it is God speaking his direct Word to me, and I in return am speaking directly back to God through His Word, which brings about a great rejoicing in my spirit, because the natural result of meditating upon God’s Word stimulates a very deep form of praise in our spirit.
Personally, I hear God’s voice more clearly through His Word, that by any other means.
Only one thing can steal the Word of God out of our hearts or keep it from entering in. Mark 4:19 – And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful.
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