Psalm 119

I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading Ps.119 this time around. As the years add up of reading through the Bible, my love for God's word increases. I find that I can relate to the psalmist more and more, especially in the joy he experiences from spending time with the Lord in His word. When I started reading the OYB it was mainly a legalistic exercise because I knew I should. The rest of my motivation was wanting what I saw in others who were reading it. Now I can joyfully say that I truly look forward to my time each morning with my Savior!

dilegence

There seemed to be a theme of diligence running through the passages today, plus a warning to avoid those who are not. Peter is a good shepherd and is concerned for the sheep. I think he read Ps.119 before writing this chapter, for both speak of steering clear of those who are set on turning away from God. Proverbs 28:19-20 sums it all up by showing the rewards of remaining faithful and diligent. And in the life of Daniel we see the this lived out. He had lived a long time in pagan Babylon but when he was needed, he was right there, still faithful and humble and ready to be used by God. Sometimes, actually most of the time, my life seems pretty boring and run of the mill, but I need to just be diligent with what I called to do and the rewards will follow.

Psalm 119:33-37

I love reading Psalm 119. The writer has such a passion for God's word, it comes thru in every verse. Today I noticed the total dependence on God to apply the word. In these few verses 33-37, the psalmist says,"Teach me to follow, keep me, give me understanding, direct me, turn my heart and eyes, and preserve my life." Even though he loves and studies God's word, he knows that he can't live it in his own strength or ability. The more I know of God's word the more dependent I become on Him to teach, give, direct, turn and preserve me.

Ezekiel 37-38

I always find these chapters in Ezekiel exciting and terrifying at the same time, for unlike prophecy that is clearly about the distant past, these words speak of things still to come. We get news from the middle east on a daily basis. It truly is the center of the world and everyone is focused on what happens there. Whether it is some little personal problem or major world events, I am so thankful that I can say with confidence, I may not know what the future holds but I know Who holds the future. Amen!

more on faith

True faith equals action. In this list of people in Hebrews 11 everyone of them is noted for something that they did. It is easy to say we believe something but the proof is in our actions. I tend to be more of a wait and see kind of person. But the examples in this hall of faith were trail blazers. They simply chose to believe God and then acted accordingly. I'm thankful for such a clear example of what real faith looks like.

Hebrews 11

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb.11:1. Don't you love it when scripture gives us a definition? Especially for a difficult concept like faith. We see in this chapter that faith is essential to please God and it is the means by which God gives us righteousness. Faith is believing that God is who He says He is and He is going to do what He says He is going to do. Verse 13 says that these people died without receiving what God had promised but they believed Him anyway because their faith was in God and not in what they saw.

If anyone actually reads this, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Hebrews 10:22-25

I'm the kind of person who likes lists. They make it easier for me understand and remember. Here in Hebrews 10 is a great list for my day. There are four "let us" commands listed.

let us draw near to God

let us hold on to hope

let us think of ways to encourage each other

let us keep meeting together

These 4 things and in this order are what helped me get through a pretty low patch recently. Isn't God's word amazing!

looking at history

I thought that today's section of Psalm 105 was an interesting account of Israel's history. It went from leaving Egypt with silver and gold, to provision in the desert, to entering the promised land. There was no mention of rebellion and golden calves or grumbling and doubting that we know went on. It made me wonder if that is the way we will look back on our lives when we are in His presence. All we will see is the continual fountain of blessings from the Father's hand and all the times we failed to respond or turned away in rebellion will be wiped away and forgotten. I know the blood of Jesus doesn't just cover my sin but washes it away and the goodness of God shines brighter than the sun!

God's rest

Hebrews 4 speaks of entering God's rest. We enter by faith in the gospel which leads to a life of obedience. The other choice is no faith, disobedience and no rest. It is a life of always striving to be good enough but never getting there. I ache for those who choose the latter. As I read today's portion of Psalm 104 on the great, vast power of God, I realized that these words are comforting only to those who have entered that rest. We are so blessed to be in this place of rest!