Extracted from 'Our Daily Bread'
A Passion For The Word
Reading and Meditation
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statues. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (Psalm 119:97-104)
The Bible - how much of it do you know and understand? Does it seem overwhelming? Do you feel it's too late in life to study it seriously? Consider Cyrus' story. Although his parents were Christians, he didn't have much use for the Bible. He was more interested in Shakespeare and history. By the time he was 12, he had charted the entire course of human civilization. But the Bible? He was not interested.
Cyrus grew up to be a respected lawyer. When he was 36, a friend came to his office and confronted him about why he was not a Christian. This conversation led him to faith in Jesus Christ.
Realizing that he knew almost nothing about the Bible, Cyrus determined to know God's Word better than anything else. Soon it became to him "sweeter than honey" (Psalm 119:103). Thirty years later, in 1909, The Scofield Reference Bible was published. The great work of Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was complete.
Do we all have to give up everything else in life to study Bible fulltime? Of course not. But we must recognize that a consistent study of God's Word is a vital part of our growth as Christians. It's the way we learn what God expects of us, and the way to know God Himself. - Dave Branon
A Passion For The Word
Reading and Meditation
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statues. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (Psalm 119:97-104)
The Bible - how much of it do you know and understand? Does it seem overwhelming? Do you feel it's too late in life to study it seriously? Consider Cyrus' story. Although his parents were Christians, he didn't have much use for the Bible. He was more interested in Shakespeare and history. By the time he was 12, he had charted the entire course of human civilization. But the Bible? He was not interested.
Cyrus grew up to be a respected lawyer. When he was 36, a friend came to his office and confronted him about why he was not a Christian. This conversation led him to faith in Jesus Christ.
Realizing that he knew almost nothing about the Bible, Cyrus determined to know God's Word better than anything else. Soon it became to him "sweeter than honey" (Psalm 119:103). Thirty years later, in 1909, The Scofield Reference Bible was published. The great work of Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was complete.
Do we all have to give up everything else in life to study Bible fulltime? Of course not. But we must recognize that a consistent study of God's Word is a vital part of our growth as Christians. It's the way we learn what God expects of us, and the way to know God Himself. - Dave Branon
Gaining knowledge of God's Word
Can be a worthy goal
If it leads us to the Lord
And nourishes our soul - Sper
Can be a worthy goal
If it leads us to the Lord
And nourishes our soul - Sper
One of the marks of a well-fed soul is a well-read Bible.
Extracted from Every Day with Jesus written by Selwyn Hughes.
What can we do with a cross?
Reading and Meditation
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefits those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of Go with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32)
The thought occupying us at the moment is that Jesus said, 'If anyone would come after me, he must ... take up his cross daily and follow me' (Luke 9:23). Though our cross is a much lesser cross than that which Jesus experienced, it can still be painful. In a church I once pastored, there was a woman who had lost her husband in early life. From the moment of her husband's death she lived in bitterness. Though she came to church regularly, she admitted to me,' I can never forgive God for taking my husband from me.' Her life was not an easy one, but I sometimes trembled for her when I saw the extent to which bitterness had soured her life. She twisted the cross she was on, doubling its pain and, what is more, missing its ministry.
In the same church there was another woman who had also lost her husband while she was still young. Her sorrow was just as great as the other woman's but instead of going about with bitterness, she moved into the community with joy. At times there were tears and deep sadness, but she would wipe away the tears and get on with the task of involving herself in the lives of others who, she said, 'are less blessed than I am.'
Two women with the same cross: one made it a cross of rebellion, the other a cross of redemption. Sooner or later we all reach some kind of Calvary. Perhaps you are there right now. The experience may have come because of some cruelty or neglect by others or because of your own choices of ignorance. The question you have to face now is: What shall I make of my Cavalry? What can I do with my cross? Don't, I beg you, turn it into a cross of rebellion, twisting the cross and doubling the pain. Do what Jesus did with His cross - turn in into redemption.
O God my Father, I long to be rid of all that corrodes my soul. I know that any attitude of bitterness eats like acid into my moral nature. Take from my heart all resentment, and help me to love as You love. In Jesus' name. Amen.
What can we do with a cross?
Reading and Meditation
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefits those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of Go with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32)
The thought occupying us at the moment is that Jesus said, 'If anyone would come after me, he must ... take up his cross daily and follow me' (Luke 9:23). Though our cross is a much lesser cross than that which Jesus experienced, it can still be painful. In a church I once pastored, there was a woman who had lost her husband in early life. From the moment of her husband's death she lived in bitterness. Though she came to church regularly, she admitted to me,' I can never forgive God for taking my husband from me.' Her life was not an easy one, but I sometimes trembled for her when I saw the extent to which bitterness had soured her life. She twisted the cross she was on, doubling its pain and, what is more, missing its ministry.
In the same church there was another woman who had also lost her husband while she was still young. Her sorrow was just as great as the other woman's but instead of going about with bitterness, she moved into the community with joy. At times there were tears and deep sadness, but she would wipe away the tears and get on with the task of involving herself in the lives of others who, she said, 'are less blessed than I am.'
Two women with the same cross: one made it a cross of rebellion, the other a cross of redemption. Sooner or later we all reach some kind of Calvary. Perhaps you are there right now. The experience may have come because of some cruelty or neglect by others or because of your own choices of ignorance. The question you have to face now is: What shall I make of my Cavalry? What can I do with my cross? Don't, I beg you, turn it into a cross of rebellion, twisting the cross and doubling the pain. Do what Jesus did with His cross - turn in into redemption.
O God my Father, I long to be rid of all that corrodes my soul. I know that any attitude of bitterness eats like acid into my moral nature. Take from my heart all resentment, and help me to love as You love. In Jesus' name. Amen.
