I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.
Be blessed, GOD; train me in your ways of wise living.
I'll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches.
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you've done it.
I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't forget a word of it.
The verse about delighting in what God tells me more than in gathering piles of riches reminds me of one of my facebook friends' status update today. It said, "would much rather be poor than stupid." I like that. Wisdom is far better than riches. That is a very godly attitude.
"Here we are informed that we are well fortified against the stratagems of Satan when God's law is deeply seated in our hearts. For unless it have a fast and firm hold there, we will readily fall into sin. ...if we do not imbibe the doctrine of God, and are well acquainted with it, Satan will easily surprise us and entangle us in his meshes."
I looked up "imbibe." I knew what I thought it meant, and was right. It is usually associated with drinking. "To consume by drinking." I like the idea of "drinking" quantities of God's Word. However, it also means, "To absorb or soak up, as water, light, or heat." That is equally applicable when considering our interaction with Scripture.
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"Paul's Confidence in Christ"
2 Timothy 1:12b-14
Reading from the English Standard Version
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
I will always remember the old hymn which took its chorus from this verse. "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've commited unto Him against that day." Anybody else remember that hymn?
What is remarkable about Paul's writing here is that he is using his imprisonment as a badge of honor in a culture when chains were considered shameful. He was not ashamed because he was suffering for the glory of Christ. He knew that he would, eventually, be vindicated. He was also convinced that, even though Nero would kill him, Jesus Christ would preserve his life.
Paul's use of the words "faith and love" in verse 13 are important. Matthew Henry said "faith and love must go together; it is not enough to believe the sound words, but we must love them, believe their truth and love their goodness." "Christian faith is not revealed in intellectual assent to biblical doctrine alone but also in a true love for what God has spoken."
"Request or Command?"
John 15:14
Reading from the English Standard Version
You are my friends if you do what I command you. (Jesus speaking)
We are under grace. So is the will of God a request or a command? "Request" implies desire, while "command" indicates "authority to require." "Response to a desire is optional; response to a command is not."
There are some who say that God desires us to be holy, but that he does not require us to be holy. Under grace, they say, we have been freed, not only from the consequences of breaking the law, but from its requirements as a "rule of life." They believe that insisting on obedience to the commands of God is legalism.
However, God's grace does not change the "fundamental character of God's moral Law." God's grace does provide for forgiveness of those of us who have broken his law. Legalism is not "yielding obedience to the law." Legalism is attempting to seek justification and right standing with God through the merit of works, rather than through faith in Christ.
I believe that God's will for us is not a request. I believe that he commands us to be holy.
I pray for holiness in my life. I pray that I will never give up this pursuit. Help me obey your commands. Let me never back away and look at them as mere requests. I believe this to be insulting to you. However, I recognize my weakness when it comes to obeying. I don't pray for strength, because you have already given me strength. I will pray for you to help me find it and use it wisely.
Grace and peace, friends.