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The Bible as Life-Coach

22 Oct
The Bible as Life-Coach

We’re continuing through the book of Romans. As we enter chapter 15, Paul is beginning to conclude his letter. There are some final thoughts that he wants to get across to us.

He starts by talking about Scripture.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:4

We need to know who God is and how He operates. The Bible looks at people that the Lord has worked with in the past and how He dealt with them.

It also shows us what the Lord likes and dislikes. That’s the place of Scripture. As I study its pages, I come to know who this God is, that I’m serving.

Endurance. The first thing that being teachable brings me is cheerful endurance. God has put certain things in writing so that I’ll know what to expect. I learn that as long as I’m in the world, there will be troubles and trials coming my way.

Because of this Word, I won’t be offended that the path before me isn’t an easy one. But I also know that God is with me, and He has already triumphed over my problems. All I have to do is keep walking forward in faith and trust in Him and I’ll see His deliverance manifest in my life.

That’s why this is not just putting my head down and grinding through the problems of life. It’s a cheerful endurance because I know that the Greater One is going through with me.

Encouragement. The Scripture also encourages me. This word means to call alongside. The closest concept we have to the Greek word for encouragement is coaching. The Bible is my life-coach.

Through the pages of Scripture, I can see what others have done in my situation. I have the example of those who went their own way and lost out, as well as those who trusted God and were victorious. This gives me the strength to carry on even when I don’t feel like it. That’s what a coach does. It inspires me to a higher walk in the Lord.

It also shows me areas in which I can improve. I may have done things a certain way my whole life. I’m comfortable in it. But, in God’s Word, I find that God has a better, more fruitful way of accomplishing things. That encourages me.

Hope. The Scripture also brings hope. It’s because of this endurance and encouragement that I can walk in the hope that only comes from knowing what God has promised to those who serve Him.

Please understand that the word hope in the Bible is not like the watered down version that the world uses. They say things like, “I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.” It’s more like wishful thinking. That’s not the hope found in the Scripture.

Our hope is fully expecting things to turn out the way God said it would. It means that I know in my heart that God doesn’t lie. It doesn’t matter what the situation looks like right now. It doesn’t even matter whether I can see a way out or not.

What I rely on is the fact that God said it, so therefore I expect it. That’s the hope that Scripture will equip us with if we let it be our teacher and life-coach.

Endurance, encouragement, and hope. These are three things that the world is in desperate need of right now. We won’t find them on the TV news or on our social media feeds. We need to spend quality time in the book God has given us.

Question: How has the Scripture helped you?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on October 22, 2021 in Encouragement, Scripture Series, Spiritual Walk, Word of God

 

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My Ministry (Repost)

24 Jun

Over the next week or so I’m going to be away, visiting family.  So during that time, I’m reposting one of my more popular series.

Every so often I take a post to talk about my ministry.  There are always new followers of this blog, so I want to let you know exactly who you’re following.  I hope that you’ll continue to stick around after you find out!

The Lord called me to be a pastor back in 1987.  My anointing, however, is that of a teacher.  When the Holy Spirit anoints someone to teach, He works in them to bring out the truths of Scripture; making them plain and understandable to the body of Christ at large.

But the thing you really need to know about me is my passion.  What is it that drives me to serve Christ and His church?

I’m absolutely passionate about seeing the Church of Jesus Christ get into position for the Last Days.  I believe that we’re on the cusp of the final move of God on the earth before the return of Christ.

The church has come a long way since its backslidden state in the Dark Ages.  God continued to move upon His people, restoring things that had been lost.  But as far as we’ve come, there’s still one more thing that God needs to restore in us.

I’ve found that there’s a theme throughout the New Testament that we’ve whitewashed over.  In spite of the fact that this truth saturates the Scripture, we seem to have missed it.

It’s the understanding that God’s people need to be hearing and obeying God’s voice – His Word.  Please understand that I’m not talking about reading the Bible – God’s Holy, Written Word.  I’m talking about hearing from Him directly.

I believe that the first book of the New Testament that was written down was the book of James.  Listen to what he says.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22

Notice that he uses the word “listen” and not “read”.  This is the first of many verses that deal with this issue.

I love the Scripture.  I read it, meditate on it, memorize it and confess it.  It’s through the written Word of God that I know how to be saved and how to serve the Lord in a general way.

What it doesn’t tell me is exactly what I’m supposed to do.  Who am I supposed to reach out to?  What am I to say to them and how am I to say it?  Where do I fit into the body of Christ?

All of these questions and more can only be answered by the Holy Spirit, Himself.  Unfortunately, many Christians think that hearing from God is only for a few highly spiritual individuals.

My passion is to educate believers on where God wants to bring them to and how to get there.  Most of what I preach and write about in this blog fulfills a part of this mission.

By the way, I’m currently working on my speaking engagements for the Fall and Winter should churches start public meetings again.  If you think that my ministry is something you want to see in your area, check out my Speaking Page on this website.  It will have all the information you need to contact me.

The return of the Lord is getting close.  We need to be intentional about preparing ourselves for the final harvest.

Question: How prepared are you for the return of Christ?

© 2020 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on June 24, 2020 in Ministry, Return of Christ, Revival, Word of God

 

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Rhema – The Key to Victory

13 Jan

In my last post, I talked about prayer in the spirit as the key to spiritual warfare.  It’s through prayer in the spirit that we receive the helmet and the sword.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:17-18

As we’ve already seen in this series, the helmet and sword speak of the authority and power of God working in us.  God wants to show His power through us in order to bring the Good News of Christ to the world.

We need to understand how our weapons work.  Specifically, I’m talking about the sword of the spirit – the rhema – Word of God.  For a detailed discussion of the word, rhema, click here.

Remember, we’re talking about the armor of God.  That means this is the sword of the Lord.  Our knowledge of this got watered down over time.  We have used this weapon less and less since the advent of the printing press.

You may not want to hear this, but the Bible is not our sword.  The sword is a spiritual weapon.  As a matter of fact, the devil doesn’t fear the Bible.  He has it memorized.  There are even times that he uses it against God’s people.

It’s the rhema – Word of God that’s our spiritual weapon.  But does that mean I don’t need the Bible?  Absolutely not!  We are to study in order to show ourselves approved to use the rhema.

Look at what Jesus said to the Pharisees.

“If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
John 5:46-47

Literally, the Lord said, “If you don’t believe what was written, how will you believe my rhema?”  The rhema is the revealed Word of God to me…and to you.  This is the greatest weapon of the church; God speaking to us.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Matthew 10:34

Christ brought us the spiritual weapons that we would use to fight the enemy’s kingdom.  The Sword of the Spirit was just what we needed for victory.

Under the Old Covenant, they had no spiritual weapons.  All their battles had to be fought in the natural.  That’s why the Law of Moses had so many death penalties.  The only way to stop the spirit of adultery was to kill those who were controlled by it.

After Christ died and rose again, everything changed.  Now there’s nowhere in New Testament that tells us that God will fight the battle for us.

We now have a weapon that the enemy cannot defend against.  He can debate the Bible with you.  But a sword that pierces the spirit, he has no defense against that.

That’s why it’s so important that we understand, not only what the Word of God is, but how we use it against the enemy’s kingdom.  God wants His people to hear His voice and act on it in obedience.  That’s the key to our victory.

Question: Why is a Word from God so destructive to the enemy’s kingdom?

© 2020 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2020 in Power of God, Prayer in the Spirit, Spiritual Warfare, Word of God

 

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Scripture and the Word of God

27 Feb

Bible 2I have been posting about the Word of God and its relation to Scripture.  I’ve probably said some things that have caused you to question my beliefs.  In today’s post you’ll see that what I believe is firmly rooted in the teaching of Christ, Himself.

At one point the Pharisees were trying to come up with a reason to kill Jesus.  They were upset that He healed people on the Sabbath and called God “Father,” among other things.  It’s important to see how the Lord handled these men.  Remember, these were people who dedicated their lives to the study and memorization of Scripture.

And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
John 5:37-40

Notice how the Lord’s words to the Pharisees resemble His words to Satan when He was tempted.  He first tells them that they have not heard from God nor seen God.  He then told them that God’s Word did not live in them.  Wait a minute – they had the Scripture memorized – yet God’s Word did not have a place in their lives.

Jesus then makes a statement that we need to pay particular attention to.  He admits that those around Him diligently study the Scripture.  Isn’t that a good thing?  Why does it sound more like an indictment when the Lord says it?

Because it all depends upon why you’re studying the Scripture.  They were approaching it with the wrong reasoning.  Listen carefully to the words of Christ.  He said that they diligently study the Scriptures because they think that by the Scripture they possess life.

Jesus is clear.  You cannot possess life in Scripture.  You can only possess life in Christ.  It doesn’t matter how hard you study or how many verses you have memorized, according to Jesus, you will not find Life in the Scripture.

You may get mad at me for saying it – but that will not change the truth.  How we handle the Scriptures these days borders on superstition.  So many of us believe that the Bible is going to give us what we want.

I have heard it preached (I preached it, myself, before I understood the truth) that if you want something from God, “just find a Scripture that supports it and stand upon it.”  That’s not what the Bible is for.

Christ came that we might live the abundant life.  That life will only be found in Him.  There are many aspects of the abundant life that the above truth could apply to.  Think of how we do things in the church today.  Christ could be speaking directly to us.

Question: How have you seen the Bible used superstitiously?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2013 in Word of God

 

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Understanding the Word of God

15 Feb

BibleAfter they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:31

We are so far removed from the reality of this Scripture.  This is such a simple statement about the early church, yet the term Word of God meant a far different thing to them than it does to us.

One of the things I must be careful about is to bring forth this truth clearly so as not to confuse anyone.  That’s not my goal.  I want to see the church of this generation walk in the same powerful Word that these believers had.

It’s unfortunate that when most believers read the phrase Word of God, they immediately think – the Bible.  The truth is, that’s not always the case.  We must remember that at the historical point in this Scripture, there was no Bible that they could speak from.

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
1 Corinthians 4:6-7

Here Paul warns us not to go beyond what is written.  Unfortunately we don’t understand this today.  Because of our shallow understanding of what the Word of God is, many abuses have crept into the church.  There are those who are now very adept at using the words of Scripture to fleece God’s sheep for their own personal financial gain.

God wants to clean up His church.  I believe a proper understanding of the Word of God will help us in this area.  That’s why I’m going to post about this for a little while – it’s so important.

Jesus, the Living Word, is the final authority on this matter.  That’s why His teaching will be the foundation for what I share.  Before we begin to look at the words of Christ in the next post, I want to share a couple of interesting facts that I uncovered in my studies.

When you read the pages of Scripture, there are some facts that emerge.  First, throughout the entire Scripture, the Word of God is always spoken and never read.  There is one notable exception to this.

The prophet Jeremiah was banned from coming before the king on pain of death.  The Lord spoke to him a Word of prophecy for that king.  So Jeremiah dictated it word for word to his secretary and told him, “Write what I SPOKE and read the Word of God to the king.”  As this Word was read to the king, he burned it page by page as it was being read.

Conversely, according to the Bible, the Scripture is always read and never spoken.  These are a couple facts that we need to think about.  Over the next few posts, I believe that the words of Christ will clarify some of these issues concerning the Word of God.

Question: Have you ever heard someone use a Bible passage for their own agenda?

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2013 in The Church, Word of God

 

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