Ps. 119:35

Ps. 119:35 Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.

We need help don’t we? We don’t always live by God’s Word. We tend to forget, neglect, ignore, or downright refuse to obey what God tells us to do. We struggle with living by God’s Word because we want to do things the easy way or we want to satisfy our own pleasures. We think sometimes that God’s Word is too demanding. Whatever we may think about God, we find it hard to want to obey him. Therefore, we must seek the Lord’s help. We are at war with our sinful thoughts and desires and we must have God’s help if we are going to obey him. The Psalmist said, “MAKE ME WALK ALONG THE PATH OF YOUR COMMANDS.” We need to pray the same prayer. We must have God’s help if we are going to obey him.

Sometimes the Lord has to make us walk in his Word. Because of our sinful leanings, we don’t always want to do what God wants us to do. We would wander away from God if it were not for his intervention. We must have His restraints on our lives if we are going to obey him.

Why do we need to obey the Lord? Because that is where happiness is found. God’s way is the only way to true happiness. The joy we get from obeying God has staying power. We find in obedience peace with God. We find satisfaction of soul that is not found anywhere else. We find that as we obey Him we want to obey him. Our desire for Him increases. We see through obedience gratitude for God’s blessings.

You can look for happiness all over the world and within the things of the world, but you will never find it. Happiness can only be found in walking along the path of God’s commands.

Ps. 119:29

Ps. 119:29 Keep me from lying to myself, give me the privilege of knowing your law.

Reread today’s Scripture. How might we lie to ourselves? One thing we tend to do is to think we are better off spiritually than we really are. We look at others and compare ourselves to them. We realize that we are better than many and become convinced that we are alright with God. We believe that the Bible is true and we might even read it and pray. We might be involved in various ministries in the church. We see ourselves in a good light.

But, what does God say about us? Are we really living holy lives before God? As we read and hear the Word can we honestly say that we are like that, doing that? Can we? God commands us to be holy and holiness is living free from sin. It is having godly thoughts, speaking in godly ways, acting in godly ways. No one can say that they have arrived and have no room for improvement in their walk with the Lord. No one who sees himself through the eyes of the Lord can do anything but be humbled before him and recognize his need for God.

It is a privilege to have at our disposal God’s Word. Some of us have several copies of it in our homes. We are blessed with the opportunity to not only become aware of God’s law, but to know it. We have no excuse for not knowing how the Lord wants us to live. Our ignorance is nothing but our laziness. We must be actively spending time in the Word so we can know how to live. We must meditate on it and discover ways to apply it to life. If you are too busy to spend time in the Word, you are too busy and your priorities are in the wrong place.

It is a privilege to get to know the ways of God. Let us not take it for granted or abuse it.

Ps. 119:9

Ps. 119:9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules.

How can anyone stay pure? Note first of all that the question is not, “How can a young person become pure?” We are made pure before God the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior. Jesus forgives all of our sins and makes us pure before God. In Christ the old nature that causes us to sin is changed into the new nature that causes us to want to not sin. We desire to please God and live under his guidance and influence.

We stay pure by obeying God’s Word and following its rules. Our unwillingness to do it hinders our growth and discolors our souls. Every time we disobey God we put a chink in our armor of purity. Disobedience darkens our soul. It impacts our relationship with God. It pulls us away from God and the farther we get from God, the less pure we become.

In order for us to remain pure we must obey God’s Word. We must purposely strive to know God’s Word and obey it. We can’t put into practice what we don’t know. So, we must constantly stay connected with the Word. We must read it, meditate upon it, and ask the Lord to help us live it out. We won’t be able to perfectly do it, but we will be able to do it more than we don’t. Our ability to live in obedience is directly connected to the effort and time we put into studying the Word.

There is no sugarcoating it. In order to stay pure before God, we must invest our lives in his Word. We must strive daily to put into practice what we know and seek to learn more.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, both now and in eternity.

Psalm 119:8

Ps. 119:8   I will obey your principles. Please don’t give up on me!

The Lord never gives up on those who are determined to obey him. He knows whether or not we are sincere and whether or not we are really trying. He knows that it is a demanding way of life. He never meant it to be anything other than that. We are in a war, not a cakewalk. The forces of evil are a formidable force, not easily conquered. There are many obstacles in our way to obedience. We can find a lot of excuses to not obey. We are easily convinced that to obey God is too hard or not in our best interests. It takes a strong will to follow up on our commitment to obey the Lord.

To obey God’s principles mean that we are constantly changing. We cannot stay who we are and still be who God wants us to be. God’s ways are the way of holiness. He is constantly at work in us to make us who we can and should be in him. God doesn’t give us principles to live by to make us feel good. He gives them to us to make us fit for the Kingdom. We are messed up because of sin. We have become ugly and sin hardens our hearts. So, it often is painful as we go through the change process. The Lord has to soften up our hearts in order to gain control of us. He takes His time to make sure it gets done right. He is persistent because he knows that there will be resistance. He is patient because he knows we don’t always understand what he is doing or why it needs to be done.

In order for the Lord to make us holy, we must do our part. We must submit to His authority over us and obey his principles. We must be determined to make His way our way. If we don’t give up our fight, the Lord won’t give up on us. He will always be on our side to help us gain the victory, one battle at a time.

Great is our victory in Jesus! Will you obey the Lord and share in it?

Interview with Author Jim Hughes C Through Marriage 04/04 by Shane Davis | Blog Talk Radio#.T3xxpmoh_-8.facebook

Interview with Author Jim Hughes C Through Marriage 04/04 by Shane Davis | Blog Talk Radio#.T3xxpmoh_-8.facebook

INTO THE DARKNESS

Matt. 27:45-46

THE JAIL OF DARKNESS
    A.  Sin keeps us from knowing we are enemies of God.
    B.  Sin keeps us from knowing where we are going.
    C.  Sin keeps us from knowing where God is--because sin drives us away from God.
    D.  Sin keeps us from knowing who God is.
THE VEIL OF DARKNESS
    A.  Darkness veiled Christ as he waged the war for our souls.  Eph. 6:10-12
               1.  The fate of humanity rested on Christ's shoulders.
               2.  Think about what was at stake.
    B.  Darkness veiled Christ as he tasted a sin he never knew.
    C.  Darkness veiled Christ as he suffered the agony of being separated from God.
THE WAIL OF DARKNESS
    A.  From the dark recesses of Christ's soul is heard the cry, "My God, my God...."
               1.  What could be more painful than to hear your only son on his death bed crying out for you and knowing there is nothing you can do to make the pain go away?
               2.  What agony, to know that your son is dying for something he did not do!
               3.  What greater love can there be than to allow your son to lay down his life for a people who did not deserve it?
    B.  From the dark recesses of Christ's soul is heard the cry, "Why?!!!"
               1.  Why?  Why have you forsaken me?  I don't understand.  Don't you love me anymore?
               2.  Why?  Why do I have to do this all alone?
               3.  Why?  Why does it have to hurt so?  Is. 53:5-6

Ps. 19:7-8

Ps. 19:7-8 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight to life.

Why should we read the Bible? Reread these verses before us today. The Word of God does for us what nothing else can. They reveal to us how to connect to God, stay connected to him, and connect to the world in which we live. The Bible is God’s life manual. There is no way to understand life apart from it. There is no way to figure out who we are and why we are apart from it.

The Bible is God speaking to us. It is perfectly true. God has given us his Word through many different people over a span of some 1600 years. It is authoritative over our lives because it comes from God alone. God did not allow anything in it that is not absolutely true and appropriate for our learning and walk.

When we are consistently in the Word with receptive minds, it will revive our souls. Guaranteed. We will never benefit from it when we have closed minds or selfish agendas. No one perfectly understands it or applies it perfectly. All of us have much to learn. We will benefit from it as long as we want to learn from God. We must leave our preconceived ideas at the door before we enter into its treasure rooms.

He who has ears to hear will always hear what God has to say.