Bible League: Living His Word I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.— Psalm 119:11 NIV There are words that come from a high and holy place. There are words that come from heaven above, special words because they're the words of the Lord God. Unlike the words of human beings, the words of God are perfect (Psalm 19:7). They're true and they can be relied on. They're not trivial or irrelevant, but they reveal information about the most important things one could ever know. They tell us about God and His creation. They tell us how human beings ruined their relationship to God and how He has made a way to get it back on track again. Given that they're the words of God, we should pay special attention to them. We can't ignore the important information they reveal and expect life to work well. God took pains to record and preserve His holy words for us. He expects us to take them seriously by changing our lives in accordance with them. After all, the creation is His. It belongs to Him (Psalm 24:1). We must follow His instructions to live profitably in it. The words of God are so important that we should do more than just read them and listen to them. We should hide them in our hearts. What does this mean? It means a lot more than rote memorization. In order to hide the words of God in our hearts, we must take them to heart. We must believe and have faith in them. When we hide them in our hearts, they come to mind whenever we need them. We may not be able to recall them when someone asks for chapter and verse, but the concepts will be there when a storm hits and a crisis strikes. When we hide the words of God in our hearts, it will help us live our lives the right way. In particular, those mental reminders help us not to sin against God. It's harder to sin when your heart is full of God's words. Today, then, pay attention to the words of God that He has graciously given—and hide them in your heart. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 142-144 Psalm 142 -- I cry with my voice to the Lord. With my voice, I ask the Lord for mercy. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 143 -- Hear my prayer, O Lord. Listen to my petitions. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 144 -- Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who teaches my hands to war NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 10:14-33 1 Corinthians 10 -- Warning to Avoid Israel's Fate and flee from Idolatry; Freedom of believers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory.Insight What did Jesus mean when he said “they bring me glory”? God's glory is the revelation of his character and presence. The lives of Jesus' disciples reveal his character, and he is present to the world through them. Challenge Does your life reveal Jesus' character and presence? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed."I have seen his ways, and will heal him." Isaiah 57:18 It is the sole prerogative of God to remove spiritual disease. Natural disease may be instrumentally healed by men, but even then the honor is to be given to God who giveth virtue unto medicine, and bestoweth power unto the human frame to cast off disease. As for spiritual sicknesses, these remain with the great Physician alone; he claims it as his prerogative, "I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal;" and one of the Lord's choice titles is Jehovah-Rophi, the Lord that healeth thee. "I will heal thee of thy wounds," is a promise which could not come from the lip of man, but only from the mouth of the eternal God. On this account the psalmist cried unto the Lord, "O Lord, heal me, for my bones are sore vexed," and again, "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee." For this, also, the godly praise the name of the Lord, saying, "He healeth all our diseases." He who made man can restore man; he who was at first the creator of our nature can new create it. What a transcendent comfort it is that in the person of Jesus "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily!" My soul, whatever thy disease may be, this great Physician can heal thee. If he be God, there can be no limit to his power. Come then with the blind eye of darkened understanding, come with the limping foot of wasted energy, come with the maimed hand of weak faith, the fever of an angry temper, or the ague of shivering despondency, come just as thou art, for he who is God can certainly restore thee of thy plague. None shall restrain the healing virtue which proceeds from Jesus our Lord. Legions of devils have been made to own the power of the beloved Physician, and never once has he been baffled. All his patients have been cured in the past and shall be in the future, and thou shalt be one among them, my friend, if thou wilt but rest thyself in him this night. Daily Light on the Daily Path Exodus 16:15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. John 6:33 "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." John 6:49,51,55 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. • "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." • "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Luke 16:17,18,21 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail. • "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. • and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Exodus 16:17,18,21 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. • When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. • They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt. Matthew 6:31-33 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' • "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. • "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |