VIDEO The More the Better

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.  Psalm 19:7, NASB

After an extended workout at the gym, or a long bike ride on a scorching day, a refreshing sports drink can restore the body’s electrolytes. After a grueling week to hit a project deadline at work, a long weekend can restore one’s strength. And after a prolonged time of trouble leading to a diminished faith, the Word of God can restore the soul.

Or so says the psalmist David, who, given his life’s up-and-down path, should know. But restoring the soul is not all the Word of God can do. It can make the simple wise, it can bring joy to the heart, and it can enlighten the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8). And who wouldn’t want more of those benefits? It is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey (verse 10). Who would turn that down? But to get all those benefits, we must embrace the Word. The more we do, the more of those benefits we will desire—and we will dig deeper and deeper.

If those benefits appeal to you, don’t miss a day reading and studying God’s Word. The more you do, the more you will be blessed!

The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.  N. T. Wright

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Warning His Servants, Psalm 19:7-11 – Pastor Chuck Smith – Topical Bible Study

Eyes to See

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.  Psalm 119:18

I recently discovered the wonder of anamorphic art. Appearing at first as an assortment of random parts, an anamorphic sculpture only makes sense when viewed from the correct angle. In one piece, a series of vertical poles align to reveal a famous leader’s face. In another, a mass of cable becomes the outline of an elephant. Another artwork, made of hundreds of black dots suspended by wire, becomes a woman’s eye when seen correctly. The key to anamorphic art is viewing it from different angles until its meaning is revealed.

With thousands of verses of history, poetry, and more, the Bible can sometimes be hard to understand. But Scripture itself tells us how to unlock its meaning. Treat it like an anamorphic sculpture: view it from different angles and meditate on it deeply.

Christ’s parables work this way. Those who care enough to ponder them gain “eyes to see” their meaning (Matthew 13:10–16). Paul told Timothy to “reflect” on his words so God would give him insight (2 Timothy 2:7). And the repeated refrain of Psalm 119 is how meditating on Scripture brings wisdom and insight, opening our eyes to see its meaning (119:18, 97–99).

How about pondering a single parable for a week or reading a gospel in one sitting? Spend some time viewing a verse from all angles. Go deep. Biblical insight comes from meditating on Scripture, not just reading it.

Oh, God, give us eyes to see.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What do you think the difference is between reading Scripture and meditating on it? How will you spend time meditating on today’s verse?

God, open my eyes to see each wonderful thing within the Scriptures. Guide me down the paths connecting each one.

God Acts on Our Behalf

Lamentations 3:19-26

We’re so used to a hurried world that we sometimes expect speed in our spiritual life, too. However, God “acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isa. 64:4 NIV). Let’s look at three reasons believers are called upon to wait.

God may be preparing us to receive His blessings. Perhaps we need new skills, maturity, or a particular spiritual insight before we’re ready for God’s plan. For example, David waited years to sit on his appointed throne. But when he did, he was stronger, wiser, and a battle-tested king.

Our Father is often teaching us to have confidence in Him. How would we learn faith if He immediately fulfilled our every request? In my own life, the Lord has often said two words: “Trust Me.” And He has never been late to meet my needs. No matter how we justify rushing ahead of God, doing so amounts to saying, “I don’t trust You.”

The Lord will sometimes withhold blessing to protect us. We may never find out why, but be assured that God carefully decides whether to place the object of our desire in our hands.

Waiting isn’t easy, but rushing ahead of the Lord can short-circuit His plan. When that happens, believers are left unsatisfied, and they often live with the consequences. Be patient while God works out details. His best is on the way

Lover of Self?

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” (2 Timothy 3:2)

One of the dangerous teachings of the “New Age” movement that has spilled over into modern evangelicalism is the notion of “self-love.” Many psychologists—even Christian professional counselors—are attributing society’s ills, especially among young people, to the supposed lack of a “positive self-image” or “self-esteem” on the part of those exhibiting antisocial behavior. What they need, we are told, is to learn to love themselves more, to appreciate their own self-worth. The problem with this idea is that it is both unscriptural and unrealistic. People do not hate themselves. The Bible says that “no man ever yet hated his own flesh” (Ephesians 5:29).

Instead of learning to esteem ourselves, the Scripture commands us each to “esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3). Even the apostle Paul, near the end of his life, considered himself so unworthy that he called himself the chief of sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15).

We are told by some Christian leaders that the measure of our great value in the sight of God is the fact that Christ paid such a high price—His own death—to redeem us. The fact is, however, that His death is not the measure of our great value but of our terrible sinfulness. “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

In fact, as in our text, the rise of this self-love idea is itself a sign of the last days, when people shall be “lovers of their own selves.” It is the main characteristic of New Age humanism, which is based squarely upon evolutionary pantheism.

Christ died for our sins because He loved us, not because He needed us. We should live for Him in thanksgiving for the “amazing grace, that saved a wretch like me!” HMM

A Needed Revival of Repentance

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

—2 Chronicles 7:14

 

I have little fear that any nation or combination of nations could bring down the United States and Canada by military action from without. But this I do fear—we sin and sin and do nothing about it. There is so little sense of the need of repentance—so little burden for the will of God to be wrought in our national life. I fear that the voice of blood will become so eloquent that God Almighty will have no choice but to speak the word that will bring us down.

I do pray often: “Oh God, send a revival of repentance and the fear of God that will sweep through the continent that we may be spared and that we may honor Thee!”   EFE044

Lord, I pray for our country today. Our morality has deteriorated so horribly since Tozer’s day. I too pray, “Oh, God, send a revival of repentance and the fear of God that will sweep through the continent that we may be spared and that we may honor Thee!” Amen.

 

The Being and the Seeing

They shall know that I am the Lord their God…that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.

—Exodus 29:46

 

Adam sinned and, in his panic, frantically tried to do the impossible; he tried to hide from the presence of God. David also must have had wild thoughts of trying to escape from the Presence, for he wrote, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Psalm 139:7).

Then he proceeded through one of his most beautiful psalms to celebrate the glory of the divine immanence. “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (139:8-10).

And he knew that God’s being and God’s seeing are the same, that the seeing Presence had been with him even before he was born, watching the mystery of unfolding life. POG057

At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence. POG034-035

 

Science and Faith

Psalm 8:3-4

I’ve never quite been able to work out why some people think science and

Christianity don’t mix. It’s as if they think one disproves the other—and that’s nonsense.

We’ve known for some time of the existence of black holes and that the galaxies of which we are aware probably form only one-tenth of the entire universe. But now we are being introduced to a new class of “black objects.” Hydrogen and helium feature prominently in their makeup, but the number of these objects seems to be the most impressive piece of information. Apparently there are 10 million billion of them.

There’s obviously a good deal more to learn about these failed stars, and there’s a vast amount of speculation as to their value within the universe. But at least it gives the scientists something at which to point their telescopes.

No so long ago, two famous scientists set out to disprove the existence of God. As they examined the laws which govern our existence they amazed themselves by coming to the conclusion that evidence for a Creator was overwhelming.

Their research led them to issue a report which said that the chances of the world being an accident were a mere 10 to the power of 40,000. For those of us who don’t know what this means—even with a calculator—they said it meant that the chances of the world being an accident were “so utterly minuscule as to make it absurd.”

One of the professors said proof of a creator at work was to be found in “masses of evidence of designer activity that is continuing to sustain the universe.”

Belief in a creator is one thing. The next step is to ask ourselves why He put us here and what do we mean to Him? To go through life without trying to get answers is to miss the best exploration (and discovery) of all.

With the Psalmist we exclaim, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place, what is man, that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

Robert Street, It’s A New Day!