Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet And A Light Unto My Path

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  –  Psalm 119:105

A few days ago, I was reading Psalm 119 as part of my devotion.  When I came to this verse, the Lord pointed out something that I had never noticed before.

God’s Word is a light to my path, enabling me to see where I am going. I see this as me understanding God’s overall plan of salvation, so that I can understand my entire path through life and eternity, from my sin in Adam all the way to my glorification in Jesus when He returns, and beyond.  From the Light of God’s Word, I can see the overall path that God has designed for all believers.

But there is not only the general light, there is also a “lamp unto my feet”. I see this as much more focused. The lamp at my feet does not show me the broad strokes of God’s plan, but rather it allows me to see the next step that God wants me to take. Or maybe, if I peer deeply into His Word, I might be able to make out the next two steps. The lamp does not have a long-range, so it will not show me, except on rare occasions, what God wants for me a year from now, or five. But it will show me what He wants for me today. And, if I am living in faith and in trust of my Lord, being able to see today is enough.

I hope that you find this passage of His Word as much a blessing as I do.

God bless!

Worthy Is The Lamb

^{Revelation 5:11-14}

¹¹ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

¹² Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

¹³ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

This God, who is exalted above the highest heaven, is the same God who reached down into the depths of my sinful life and humbled Himself to the point of death, for me!

When the day comes, I will be there among those millions who worship His name for ever and ever.  Will you be there with me?  Are you worshiping His name today?

Lord, This Blog Belongs To You

Recently, the Lord has been leading me to surrender certain areas of my life that I have been holding on to, so I have been placing those areas under His Lordship and acknowledging that He is Lord of all parts of my life and that it is all His to do with, to use, or to discard, as He wills.

So, in church this morning I came to realize as our Pastor was preaching on The Good Samaritan, that I had never surrendered this blog to Jesus’ Lordship.  I quickly jotted a note so as not to forget and so I could let go the thought and listen to our Pastor’s message.

The Lord has been speaking to me for some time about spending more time with this blog but I never knew how I might accomplish that.  I just have never had a steady stream of ideas coming that I should be able to write more frequently.  Until today.  The Lord showed me the way, and it had only to do with His leading, and was not dependent at all on me coming up with ideas.  And it was only after that revelation that I realized that I had never truly given this blog over to the Lord’s care.  It was always my blog.  I maintained it, and I was the one responsible for the writing.

So, today I write for the purpose of dedicating this blog to the Lord.  I will write as directed by the Lord, and respond to posts in the same way.

Lord Jesus, I bow humbly before you now as I dedicate this blog to You.  From now on, may You be solely responsible for its content, and may the work that I do for it be always in keeping with Your will.  Amen.

God’s New Math: Addition Through Subtraction

This morning our Pastor’s sermon was on sanctification and his title was the same as this post.  He preached from two texts, which I quote:

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness andworldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³  waiting for our blessedhope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  –  Titus 2:11-14

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.  –  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

The best part of the sermon though was the illustration, which was about the purifying of silver.

Silver is mined from the ground in the form of silver ore.  The ore is pulverized into powder and then put into a pot or cauldron where it is heated to over 900 degrees Celsius.  As the silver melts, it sinks to the bottom, being heavier than the surrounding ore.  Once all of the silver is melted, the slag, or dross, is left on the top where it is scooped off and disposed of.  When the process is almost complete, the refiner will stir the molten silver to make sure that there are no pockets of slag remaining under the surface.  As these pockets are loosened, they too float to the top, where they can be disposed of.

The refiner knows the process of purification (or in human terms, sanctification) is complete when he looks into the surface of the silver and sees his own image reflected without blemish.

The analogy of God purifying His saints is perfect.  As God subtracts the sin from our lives, He replaces it with His holiness.  His work in us is complete when He looks into our being, and the reflection He sees is His own, perfect in holiness.

 

My daily prayer:  Lord, I ask that You remove from my life anything that displeases You, until all that You see when You look at me is You.

This Is Who We Are

I realize this is a long video, but trust me, it is well worth it! Please, make the time to watch and be inspired!

He Is Risen And Lives Forevermore!

No words are needed.

Random Thoughts On Food, Love, And Obedience

I have tried to come up with a blog topic for days but have been unable to come up with anything  coherent that I could write about.  The problem is, I have had several things churning through my mind, so no one thing will bubble to the surface and present itself as a single topic.

So, I have decided to just share some of my thoughts as a blog post.

Are You Prepared To Do Battle Today?

I just read That’s Why They Play The Game which talks about the importance of preparing to meet your opponent when playing a game like basketball or soccer.  No matter what the other team’s abilities or record, we must never assume that we have won the game before the game is played.  We must never assume an attitude of over-confidence, but rather, of being fully prepared for battle in every contest we engage in.

It is true of sporting contests.  How much more true is it if our Christian walk?

Cast Off The Mooring Lines

Once in a while, God will ask one of His followers to leave everything he has accumulated over a lifetime and move half way across the world as a missionary.  He is asked to leave his home, job, car, possessions, and in most cases, even family members, all out of obedience to the Lord.

Most of us would have a very difficult time following in those footsteps, and for all sorts of excuses.  ”I can’t sell my car, its less than a year old!”.  ”I don’t want to sell my house, and I don’t trust it to renters.”.  ”I can’t leave now, my parents aren’t getting any younger, you know.”.  I’m sure the Lord has heard them all.

We can think of our various possessions as mooring lines on a boat, holding us fast in place.  A home, a car, and a good job are all nice things to have, but with each of these things, our mobility tends to decrease.  Worst of all,  our possessions may take precedence in our lives  over our Lord.

In deepening my relationship with the Lord, I sometimes find myself clinging to one possession or another, drawing the mooring lines ever tighter, even as I resist the change that God wants to make in my life.  And what am I resisting really?  If I untie the mooring line and let go of the possession that it represents, does it mean that God will immediately take it away from me?

Of course not!

Actually, it makes sense to me that the possession that God is most likely to take away is the one that I am clinging to most tightly.  The one that I release into His control He will more likely allow me to keep.  For, once I have let go of a possession, it is no longer a barrier to the Lord in my life.  Once I have released that which I thought I could not live without, once that possession no longer occupies my heart and mind, I leave more room for the Lord to come in and engage me in an even closer relationship with Himself.

And finally, when I am able to cast off the last of the lines which tie my life to this world’s goods, the true Captain of this ship will be able to come aboard and pilot this vessel according to His will.

Lord Jesus, I pray today that You would teach me what it is like to live in the center of Your divine will.  Amen.

I Can Only Imagine

By Mercy Me

 

This song encourages us to imagine what it will be like when we stand in the presence of Jesus, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

 

 

It is truly incredible to think about.  Just imagine!  Being face to face with our Savior!  What will it be like to stand in the presence of the Creator of all things?