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Hardly got into Psalm 119 and already I had to stop to ponder this:
You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
(Psalm 119:4-6)
Firstly, I am not taking seriously the fact that God's precepts are to be fully obeyed. Most of the time, my obedience tend to be partial, half hearted. Why? I believe because I do not fear God enough, and with that, the lack of motivation to be steadfast in all my ways in obeying God's decrees.
The solution? The psalmist continues in verses 7-8.
I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.
I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
I know how weak I am...the important thing, I believe, if I caught the heart of the psalmist..is not to give up trying. Take it one day at a time, strive to walk as righteous as we can before God. Praise Him, obey Him always. And when we do fail, keep crying out to Him for grace and mercy.
I know I have this to my advantage, based on His Word:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
(Psalm 51:17)
"This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word."
(Isa 66:2b)
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fear the Lord
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After yesterday's sermon, it struck me that fearing God IS the key: the foundation behind the principle of the Sabbath.
"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
(Isa 58:13-14)
I cannot honor the Sabbath if I don't fear the Lord.
I cannot find delight in the Sabbath if I don't fear the Lord.
I will go my own way if I don't fear the Lord.
And...I will miss the blessings if I don't fear the Lord.
Sad reality is that I don't fear the Lord ENOUGH in many areas of my life. The unedifying thoughts that I have encouraged & entertained (and not tried hard enough to eradicate); the murmurings and grumblings; the discontent about life, the lack of fervour, the ill-discipline, the desire to do my own thing instead of obeying God....the list continues.
Why else am I still in this state, if I have the proper fear of the Holy God in my heart?
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (Eph 5:8-17)
A wake-up call. Time to take heed.
_
After yesterday's sermon, it struck me that fearing God IS the key: the foundation behind the principle of the Sabbath.
"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
(Isa 58:13-14)
I cannot honor the Sabbath if I don't fear the Lord.
I cannot find delight in the Sabbath if I don't fear the Lord.
I will go my own way if I don't fear the Lord.
And...I will miss the blessings if I don't fear the Lord.
Sad reality is that I don't fear the Lord ENOUGH in many areas of my life. The unedifying thoughts that I have encouraged & entertained (and not tried hard enough to eradicate); the murmurings and grumblings; the discontent about life, the lack of fervour, the ill-discipline, the desire to do my own thing instead of obeying God....the list continues.
Why else am I still in this state, if I have the proper fear of the Holy God in my heart?
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (Eph 5:8-17)
A wake-up call. Time to take heed.
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Monday, April 21, 2008
An Important Prayer
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As I meditate on Psalm 84, I realised that the key is our desire for God.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84)
Beautiful to recite, but if I were to be very honest with myself, then I need to admit that the intense desire for God as described by the psalmist, does not come naturally to me. Unfortunately, I know how prone my heart is to wonder, to leave the God I love.
And as I ponder on how I should pray in order to retain the strong desire for the presence of God all the days of my life, God again pointed me to the prayers of Paul in Ephesians:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Eph 1:17-19a)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
(Eph 3:16-19)
I need God's help in these key areas:
(1) Spirit of wisdom and revelation - to know God better.
(2) Eyes of my heart need to be opened so that I may know
(i) the hope that we have in God
(ii) the riches and inheritance I have as His child
(iii) the incomparable great power for me, as a believer
(3) Strengthened in my inner man with the power of the Holy Spirit so that God lives in my hearts through faith.
(4) Be rooted and established in the love of God
(5) Power to grasp the great depth that Christ has for me, so that I can be filled to the measure of all fullness of God.
I need definitely need help...so I am going to start to trust God by praying with faith. I believe He will answer. Stay tuned for my progress.
_
As I meditate on Psalm 84, I realised that the key is our desire for God.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84)
Beautiful to recite, but if I were to be very honest with myself, then I need to admit that the intense desire for God as described by the psalmist, does not come naturally to me. Unfortunately, I know how prone my heart is to wonder, to leave the God I love.
And as I ponder on how I should pray in order to retain the strong desire for the presence of God all the days of my life, God again pointed me to the prayers of Paul in Ephesians:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Eph 1:17-19a)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
(Eph 3:16-19)
I need God's help in these key areas:
(1) Spirit of wisdom and revelation - to know God better.
(2) Eyes of my heart need to be opened so that I may know
(i) the hope that we have in God
(ii) the riches and inheritance I have as His child
(iii) the incomparable great power for me, as a believer
(3) Strengthened in my inner man with the power of the Holy Spirit so that God lives in my hearts through faith.
(4) Be rooted and established in the love of God
(5) Power to grasp the great depth that Christ has for me, so that I can be filled to the measure of all fullness of God.
I need definitely need help...so I am going to start to trust God by praying with faith. I believe He will answer. Stay tuned for my progress.
_
Monday, April 14, 2008
Memorising Psalm 84
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How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord Almighty.
My soul yearns, even faints,
For the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God
Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may have her young,
A place near your altar.
O Lord, my King and my God!
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
They are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
Who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
When they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs.
The autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
Till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty!
Listen to me, O God of Jacob!
Look upon our shield, O Lord!
Look with favour upon your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts,
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord,
than dwell in the house of the wicked.
The Lord is a sun and shield.
The Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does He withhold,
From those whose walk is blameless.
O Lord Almighty!
Blessed is the man who has put his trust in you.
I wrote this out from memory, as I attempt to memorise Psalm 84.
Not word perfect, but I am getting closer...:)
Through this process, I begin to appreciate the wisdom and heart of SP.
It is indeed a different experience to work hard in committing key scripture passages to memory. As I repeat the phrases to myself again and again, it made me meditate on them more than before. And as I reflect on them, I realised that if I can trully identify with the psalmist's intense desire for the presence of God....then surely I will be so much closer to entering into the rest of God.
And guess what? Memorising scripture was not quite the chore I thought it would be. It was actually quite fun. :)
_
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord Almighty.
My soul yearns, even faints,
For the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God
Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may have her young,
A place near your altar.
O Lord, my King and my God!
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
They are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
Who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
When they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs.
The autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
Till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty!
Listen to me, O God of Jacob!
Look upon our shield, O Lord!
Look with favour upon your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts,
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord,
than dwell in the house of the wicked.
The Lord is a sun and shield.
The Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does He withhold,
From those whose walk is blameless.
O Lord Almighty!
Blessed is the man who has put his trust in you.
I wrote this out from memory, as I attempt to memorise Psalm 84.
Not word perfect, but I am getting closer...:)
Through this process, I begin to appreciate the wisdom and heart of SP.
It is indeed a different experience to work hard in committing key scripture passages to memory. As I repeat the phrases to myself again and again, it made me meditate on them more than before. And as I reflect on them, I realised that if I can trully identify with the psalmist's intense desire for the presence of God....then surely I will be so much closer to entering into the rest of God.
And guess what? Memorising scripture was not quite the chore I thought it would be. It was actually quite fun. :)
_
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