Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet...
2010-07-19

Got to get my devotional in and then go to my first workshop this week, at 9 this morning. It's called "Jump Start Your Job Search."


From The Valley of Vision
THE NAME OF JESUS

All-Searching God,

You read the heart,
view principles and motives of actions,
see more defilement in my duties
than I ever saw in any of my sins.
The heavens are not clean in your sight,
and you charge the angels with folly;
I am ready to flee from myself because of my abominations;
Yet you do not abhor me
but have devised means for my return to you,
and that, by your Son who died to give me life.

Your honor is secured and displayed even in my escape from your threats,
and that, by means of Jesus
in whom mercy and truth meet together,
and righteousness and peace kiss each other.
In him the enslaved find redemption,
the guilty pardon,
the unholy renovation;
In him are everlasting strength for the weak,
unsearchable riches for the needy,
treasures of wisdom and knowledge for the ignorant,
fullness for the empty.
At your gracious call I hear, take, come, apply, receive his grace,
not only submit to his mercy but acquiesce in it,
not only glory in the cross but in him crucified and slain,
not only joy in forgiveness but in the one through whom atonement comes.

Your blessings are as secure as they are glorious;
You have provided for my safety and my prosperity,
and have promised that I shall stand firm and grow stronger.
O Lord God, without the pardon of my sin I cannot rest satisfied
without the renovation of my nature by grace I can never rest easy,
without the hope of heaven I can never be at peace.
All this I have in your Son Jesus; blessed be his name.

We have all that we could ever need in the presence of Jesus Christ.



From A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen
PSALM 83:9-12,17-18

9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 10 who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God."

17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

Asaph grows more moving and intense with his imagery. He refers to specific historical events.

"The God I worship is the God of fire and storm as well as green pastures and still waters. He alone inspires the intricate compositions of my life and it involves tension along with release."

I often struggle with what I can learn from psalms like this one; the ones that are so violent and negative. I think the best thing is that we must know that life is not all rosy. We will have conflict. We will have enemies (depending on where we live, they might threaten our lives). Our lives will involve tension. And it is okay, according to the Word of God given in Psalms, to pray in this manner for deliverance from our enemies.



From Holiness Day By Day, by Jerry Bridges

HEALTHY EXPOSURE TO GOD'S WORD

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness... (2 Timothy 3:16)

"If we are to appropriate the grace of God, we must regularly expose ourselves directly to the Word of God. It is not enough to only hear it preached or taught in our churches on Sundays, as important as those avenues are. We need a regular plan of reading, study, and yes, even memorization. Bible study and Scripture memorization earn no merit with God. We never earn God's blessings by doing these things, any more than we earn His blessing by eating nutritious food. But as the eating of proper food is necessary to sustain a healthy physical life, so the regular intake of God's Word is necessary to sustain a healthy spiritual life and to regularly appropriate His grace.

"If we're to appropriate the grace of God, we must become intimate friends with the Bible. We must seek to know and understand Scripture's great truths about God and His character, and about man and his desperate need of God's grace."

And that is why I do this journal.



Father, I want to know you more. I want to be more intimately acquainted with you and with your words. That is why I make it a priority to get into the Scriptures, at least briefly, every single day. It is also why, when I don't do that, I feel as though I am starving myself, spiritually. Father, help me make this more of a priority. Help me make the time when I am reading your words more intense. Help me be more attentive when I am reading your words and when I am reading what reputable men and women have said about them.

Let me never be ashamed to pray to you about my desires. Let me never be afraid to pray about my "enemies" to you. Let the Psalms be a continuous inspiration to me to pray to you about any and everything.

I thank you for Jesus and for everything that we have in him. All the blessings that you have made available to us are in and through Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah, my God!



From the Presidential Prayer Team site:

PRAY FOR THESE NATIONAL LEADERS THIS WEEK:

Jacob Lew, Nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Carl Levin, United States Senator, Michigan.

Stuart Rabner, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey.

General Ray Odierno, United States Military Commander in Iraq.



I pray that we will all recognize the importance of a regular "diet" of Scripture in our spiritual lives.

Grace and peace, friends.



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