Sunday, January 05, 2014, 6:00 a.m. – After I had woken this morning, the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “We Will Sing!” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 1 (NIV).
Walk in Step
Our walk is our way of life; our lifestyle; our value system; i.e. the way or manner in which we choose to live our lives. Happy and fulfilled are we who do not walk in the manner of the wicked. We are at peace when we choose to not keep in step with this sinful world, i.e. to not be influenced by them to such an extent that we move with them at their pace, and imitate their actions, value system and/or behaviors. What this means is that, to the best of our ability, we must limit the input of the world’s system into our lives so that we are not allowing ourselves to be purposefully influenced by it, so that we are not as likely to walk in its ways.
To be honest here, when we spend a great deal of our free time watching TV or movies, surfing the net, playing video or computer games, especially to the exclusion of or to the vast reduction of time spent with the Lord Jesus at his feet, in his word and in prayer, by contrast, we just set ourselves up to walk in the steps of the wicked, and not in the ways of Christ, because we will tend to adopt the ways to which we dedicate the most time, attention, affection and value. When we stand in the way sinners take, in other words, we submit ourselves and we subject ourselves to their ways; and we may even buy into and fight resolutely for sinful ways and practices we have now adopted into our lives.
We should also not sit in the company of mockers. A mocker is one who treats others with scorn or contempt or who mimics others in such a way as to disdain them and to make fun of them, often in a very disapproving manner, and also often in a manner which is intended to make the other person appear ridiculous to others. The reality is that, here in America, this is so commonplace in our culture, but much of it is derived, I believe, via the media – movies, TV shows, internet “mimes,” comedians, and even is evident in music. We become like what we choose to expose ourselves to most often. What we take into our minds, and we give approval to by being entertained by it, is often what then becomes our own value system, and is what comes out in our speaking and in our behavior. We are not to keep company with mockers, which means we should not make them our close friends and companions, whether in real life or via those we keep “company” with via the media.
Our Delight
Instead, our delight (joy, pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction) should be in the word of God. I think so many people have this idea that, as followers of Christ, we are to have a specified time each day in which we pray and read God’s word, and we call this our devotions or our quiet time, and many will teach that even 5-15 minutes a day will suffice. And, we have the idea that this time we give to God each day is enough and then the rest of the day is ours to do what we choose. This is not God’s idea of delighting in him and in his word and of meditating on his word day and night, yet many of us have had this modeled to us or taught to us, and so that is what we follow, if we do even that much. And, even many who perform this daily ritual or duty do so mechanically and thus walk away and forget what they even read, and thus it has no influence in their day to day lives.
To delight in God’s word, though, gives us a completely different image. Is the word of God truly our delight, joy, satisfaction, enjoyment, and pleasure? Or is our delight more in the things of this life? We should take delight in our children and in our spouses, and I know, as a mother of four and a grandmother of 12, that little children consume much of our day hours, and so for parents of small children it can often be a challenge to find that quiet time alone with God before the children wake in the morning or before we go to bed at night, so we have to be more creative, if this is our situation. The word of God can be playing in the background during the day while we care for our children, or we can take it in via spiritual songs and hymns. The Lord Jesus has blessed me with a gift for writing spiritual songs these past few years, and what a blessing they have been in my life, for they are all based off scripture, and thus I have the word of God going on in my head throughout the day.
I think many times, here in America, Christians find way too much delight in the things of this world, including sinful things (which can be being entertained by sin via TV/movies), and Christ and his word have little place in their lives, if they even spend any time with him throughout their day at all. This is all backwards. Christ and his word should permeate our lives, all throughout our day, as he and his word should be so much a part of our lives that we live and breathe it throughout our day in all that we do. Christ and his word should never be taken for granted, or placed inside a small ritualistic form of worship we go through each day, but Jesus and his word should be our joy to the extent that he and it are the greatest influence in our lives, and that we walk in his ways, and do what he says, and that we do so, not begrudgingly, but we long to be with him, to take in his word, and to do what his word says for the glory of God and for the advancement of his eternal kingdom.
A Tree Planted
God does not promise us that following him will be easy or that we will no longer be faced with trials or tribulations. In fact, he promises just the opposite. So, this is not a promise here, that if we delight in Christ and in his word, and if we do not walk in the ways of the wicked, that things will now be smooth and unruffled. No, what this promises us is that if truly our delight is in Christ and his word, and if truly his word is planted in our hearts and minds in such a way so that we walk in the ways of the Lord and not in the way of the wicked, we will be steady, committed, and faithful followers of Christ who find their life source and fulfillment in him, and who thus bear fruit (outgrowth) for his kingdom.
The way (lifestyle) of the wicked (sinner), though, does not yield such fruit, for it is not firmly planted in Christ and his word, but in the ways, methods and value system of this world, which will never satisfy the deep longings of our soul, and which will only bring temporary happiness but never lasting and eternal joy. So, make sure today that your delight is in Christ and in his word and not in the ways of this sinful world, for this world and its desires will soon fade away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
We Will Sing! / An Original Work / December 4, 2013
Based off The Psalms
I will praise You, Lord, among all peoples.
I will praise You for all that You have done.
I called to the Lord, and He heard my cry.
He turned weeping into a song of joy!
I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God evermore.
I will praise You, Lord, for Your mighty works,
For Your love is great, reaching to the heav’ns.
O my Strength, I sing my praise unto You,
For Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God evermore.
Shout with joy to God all who’re on the earth.
Say to God, “O how awesome are Your deeds.”
The redeemed sing praise to their Savior, King,
For He saved them all in His righteousness.
We will sing praise to our Lord all our lives;
We will sing praise to our God evermore.
http://originalworks.info/we-will-sing/
Walk in Step
Our walk is our way of life; our lifestyle; our value system; i.e. the way or manner in which we choose to live our lives. Happy and fulfilled are we who do not walk in the manner of the wicked. We are at peace when we choose to not keep in step with this sinful world, i.e. to not be influenced by them to such an extent that we move with them at their pace, and imitate their actions, value system and/or behaviors. What this means is that, to the best of our ability, we must limit the input of the world’s system into our lives so that we are not allowing ourselves to be purposefully influenced by it, so that we are not as likely to walk in its ways.
To be honest here, when we spend a great deal of our free time watching TV or movies, surfing the net, playing video or computer games, especially to the exclusion of or to the vast reduction of time spent with the Lord Jesus at his feet, in his word and in prayer, by contrast, we just set ourselves up to walk in the steps of the wicked, and not in the ways of Christ, because we will tend to adopt the ways to which we dedicate the most time, attention, affection and value. When we stand in the way sinners take, in other words, we submit ourselves and we subject ourselves to their ways; and we may even buy into and fight resolutely for sinful ways and practices we have now adopted into our lives.
We should also not sit in the company of mockers. A mocker is one who treats others with scorn or contempt or who mimics others in such a way as to disdain them and to make fun of them, often in a very disapproving manner, and also often in a manner which is intended to make the other person appear ridiculous to others. The reality is that, here in America, this is so commonplace in our culture, but much of it is derived, I believe, via the media – movies, TV shows, internet “mimes,” comedians, and even is evident in music. We become like what we choose to expose ourselves to most often. What we take into our minds, and we give approval to by being entertained by it, is often what then becomes our own value system, and is what comes out in our speaking and in our behavior. We are not to keep company with mockers, which means we should not make them our close friends and companions, whether in real life or via those we keep “company” with via the media.
Our Delight
Instead, our delight (joy, pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction) should be in the word of God. I think so many people have this idea that, as followers of Christ, we are to have a specified time each day in which we pray and read God’s word, and we call this our devotions or our quiet time, and many will teach that even 5-15 minutes a day will suffice. And, we have the idea that this time we give to God each day is enough and then the rest of the day is ours to do what we choose. This is not God’s idea of delighting in him and in his word and of meditating on his word day and night, yet many of us have had this modeled to us or taught to us, and so that is what we follow, if we do even that much. And, even many who perform this daily ritual or duty do so mechanically and thus walk away and forget what they even read, and thus it has no influence in their day to day lives.
To delight in God’s word, though, gives us a completely different image. Is the word of God truly our delight, joy, satisfaction, enjoyment, and pleasure? Or is our delight more in the things of this life? We should take delight in our children and in our spouses, and I know, as a mother of four and a grandmother of 12, that little children consume much of our day hours, and so for parents of small children it can often be a challenge to find that quiet time alone with God before the children wake in the morning or before we go to bed at night, so we have to be more creative, if this is our situation. The word of God can be playing in the background during the day while we care for our children, or we can take it in via spiritual songs and hymns. The Lord Jesus has blessed me with a gift for writing spiritual songs these past few years, and what a blessing they have been in my life, for they are all based off scripture, and thus I have the word of God going on in my head throughout the day.
I think many times, here in America, Christians find way too much delight in the things of this world, including sinful things (which can be being entertained by sin via TV/movies), and Christ and his word have little place in their lives, if they even spend any time with him throughout their day at all. This is all backwards. Christ and his word should permeate our lives, all throughout our day, as he and his word should be so much a part of our lives that we live and breathe it throughout our day in all that we do. Christ and his word should never be taken for granted, or placed inside a small ritualistic form of worship we go through each day, but Jesus and his word should be our joy to the extent that he and it are the greatest influence in our lives, and that we walk in his ways, and do what he says, and that we do so, not begrudgingly, but we long to be with him, to take in his word, and to do what his word says for the glory of God and for the advancement of his eternal kingdom.
A Tree Planted
God does not promise us that following him will be easy or that we will no longer be faced with trials or tribulations. In fact, he promises just the opposite. So, this is not a promise here, that if we delight in Christ and in his word, and if we do not walk in the ways of the wicked, that things will now be smooth and unruffled. No, what this promises us is that if truly our delight is in Christ and his word, and if truly his word is planted in our hearts and minds in such a way so that we walk in the ways of the Lord and not in the way of the wicked, we will be steady, committed, and faithful followers of Christ who find their life source and fulfillment in him, and who thus bear fruit (outgrowth) for his kingdom.
The way (lifestyle) of the wicked (sinner), though, does not yield such fruit, for it is not firmly planted in Christ and his word, but in the ways, methods and value system of this world, which will never satisfy the deep longings of our soul, and which will only bring temporary happiness but never lasting and eternal joy. So, make sure today that your delight is in Christ and in his word and not in the ways of this sinful world, for this world and its desires will soon fade away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
We Will Sing! / An Original Work / December 4, 2013
Based off The Psalms
I will praise You, Lord, among all peoples.
I will praise You for all that You have done.
I called to the Lord, and He heard my cry.
He turned weeping into a song of joy!
I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God evermore.
I will praise You, Lord, for Your mighty works,
For Your love is great, reaching to the heav’ns.
O my Strength, I sing my praise unto You,
For Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God evermore.
Shout with joy to God all who’re on the earth.
Say to God, “O how awesome are Your deeds.”
The redeemed sing praise to their Savior, King,
For He saved them all in His righteousness.
We will sing praise to our Lord all our lives;
We will sing praise to our God evermore.
http://originalworks.info/we-will-sing/