Author: Brian

Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor

Fighter Verses

On By BrianIn PASSION Resources

FighterVersesYesterday we said that one application of delighting in the Word was to memorize it.  I have been reading the Redwall series to my kids.  They love it, and so naturally they have memorized some of the lines.  They love Narnia, and can quote lines from the books and the movies.  If we delight in the Word, shouldn’t we be able to quote lines from it?

But the Bible is a big book!  What verses should we memorize?  One good approach is to memorize verses that you have been reading and meditating on.  Which verses seem to jump out at you as a special challenge or comfort from God?  Memorize those verses.

But there are also some basic passages that touch on the basic teachings of the Bible, and basic issues that everyone of us face as we fight the good fight of faith.  The folks at Children Desiring God have chosen 260 passages as basic passages which they call Fighter Verses.  They have created a five year program that has you learning one passage a week.  Many churches use this program to encourage each other to memorize Scripture together.  I encouraged the folks at my church last week to try it in the coming year.  I just started working through it myself.  Perhaps you might want to try it too.

I encourage you to visit their site.  It is packed with helpful Scripture memory resources.  They have a bookmark with all of the 2013 verses on it, plus a strategy for learning and remembering them.  If you want to create memory verse cards, they have a link to easily do that.  They also have a blog post each week reflecting on the verse you will be learning.  Plus there are apps for your tablet or smartphone to help you learn the verses.  They have audio resources and more.  Explore their site, and ask God if he might have you use this resource in the coming year.  And if not, how else might he be calling you to memorize his Word in 2013?

Applying Our Delight in the Word

On By BrianIn Habit of Scripture, Virtue of Joy

In the last post we looked at three reasons from Psalm 119 regarding why we should delight in the Word.  Today, I want to consider three ways we should apply our delight in the Word:

  • Meditate on the Word.  If we delight in the Word, we will want to meditate on it, or fix our eyes on it (v14-15).  To meditate is to think about the passage, to ponder it, to chew on it.  If we delight in the Word, we will regularly read it, meditating on its meaning, and its application in our lives.  Do you regularly meditate on God’s Word?
  • Memorize the Word.  The Psalmist says he delights in God’s Word and will not forget it (v16).  Rather he has stored up the Word in his heart (v11).  We too need to regularly memorize the Word, so that we might always have it available in times of need or temptation.  Are you memorizing God’s Word?
  • Live the Word.  It is not enough to merely meditate on and memorize the Word.  We must also walk in it; we must keep it (v1-2).  You can’t tell me you delight in God’s Word if you are not following it.  Are you seeking to live out the Word?

If we delight in the Word, we will mediate on it, memorize it, and live it.  As the New Year approaches, this is a good time to reconfirm your commitment to God’s Word.  And if God’s Word has not been a commitment in your life, now is a great time to commit yourself to the Word for 2013.

Delight in the Word

On By BrianIn Habit of Scripture, Virtue of Joy

Psalm 119 is a psalm of delight in the Word.  Again and again the Psalmist declares his delight in God’s Word (v14, 16, 24, 70, 77, 92, 111, 143, 162, 174).  He also gives us at least three reasons why we should find joy in God’s Word.  God’s Word is:

  • A Guide to Life.  We should delight in God’s Word because it gives us counsel (v24).  The Word gives light for our paths (v105).  It shows us how to live a pure right life (v9).  It teaches us to lives as we were created to live.  How many messes in our lives could have been avoided if we had simply followed the Word?  We should find joy in God’s Word because it is a guide for our lives.
  • A Help In Trials.  In the midst of his affliction, the Word of God gave him life; it kept him from perishing.  In our trials, the Word gives us something to hold onto, to cling to.  It gives us hope, peace, comfort, strength, encouragement, joy.  It gives us life.  Even in our afflictions, we can find joy in God’s Word.  We should delight in God’s Word because it is a help in our trials.
  • A Word from the Lord.  The law is not just any law.  It is the law of the Lord (v1).  It comes from God.  He has written us a letter.  God speaks to us in his Word.  If we love God, we will love his Word – we will delight in it as we delight in Him.  We should delight in God’s Word because it is from God.

As we ponder these three reasons, and use the Word as our guide and help and word from God, may God cause our delight in His Word to grow!

Finding Joy

On By BrianIn Virtue of Joy

Christmas is a time of joy, yet many struggle to find it.  In the midst of the trials and sufferings of life, where can we find joy?  The writers of the Psalms tell us places where they found joy – places where we too can find joy even in the midst of the struggles of life.  We can find joy in:

  • God’s love (90:14)
  • God’s salvation (51:12)
  • God’s deliverance (126)
  • God’s protection (63:7)
  • God’s reign (97:1)
  • God’s people (16:3)
  • God’s Word (119:14-16)

It is not hard to see what all of these joy-bringers have in common.  All come from God.  Every good thing that brings us joy comes from God.  Each joyful blessing comes from the river of his delights (Psalm 36:8).  God is the source of joy.  We find our joy ultimately in him:

You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
– Psalm 4:7

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
– Psalm 16:11

For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
– Psalm 21:6

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
– Psalm 43:4

In the presence of God, we find exceeding joy beyond any other joy.  The joy found in God’s blessings is good; the joy found in God himself is better.  This Christmas, no matter what struggles you are facing, you can find joy in the presence of the Lord.  Won’t you draw near to him?

Quotes To Ponder: Joy 2

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Christian joy is the proper response to the presence of something desirable: God.
– Philip Kenneson

The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies, and put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.
– Matthew Henry

Joy is diminished…by walking at a distance from God. 
If you get away from the fire you will grow cold.
– Charles Spurgeon

Christ being present with you, this is your main joy.  Enjoy the feast for yourselves,
or you will not be strong to hand out the living bread to others.
– Charles Spurgeon

Search the Scriptures diligently, and your joy shall spread and deepen.
– Charles Spurgeon

All the writings of Scripture, doctrinal, experimental, or practical, all have for their object, that which John declares in these words – “that your (our) joy may be full.”
– Charles Spurgeon

Quotes To Ponder: Joy

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Because advertising cultivates the insatiable desire for the new, the improved,
the bigger and better, we find ourselves all but incapable of experiencing joy
and contentment in our everyday lives.
– Philip Kenneson

Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
– John Newton

There is enough in God to furnish us with matter of joy
in the worst circumstances on earth.
– Matthew Henry

With His great infinite heart He loves me.  It is a conquering thought;
it utterly overcomes us and crushes us with its weight of joy;
it bows us to the ground and casts us into a swoon of ecstasy.
– Charles Spurgeon

Quotes To Ponder: Peace

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

What can make those uneasy whose souls dwell at ease in God?
– Matthew Henry

That lasting peace between nations requires so much effort and attention is,
without doubt, an unmistakable sign of our fallenness as a race. 
Peace, it seems, is not our natural state. 
Rather, enmity is fundamental to the human condition.
– James S. Spiegel

If God has established peace by reconciling us both to God and to one another in Christ, then we must do all we can to embody visibly that unity and harmony
that are the hallmarks of our new life of peace.
– Philip Kenneson

Declaring The Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory

Fam2012 218

Lake Superior Shore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Three Dangers of Being Crazy Busy Part 1, Part 2, Part 3– Kevin DeYoung
When we are crazy busy we put our souls at risk. The challenge is not merely to make a few bad habits go away. The challenge is not to let our spiritual lives slip away. The dangers are serious, and they are growing. And few of us are as safe as we seem.

Purchasing Joy – Tim Challies
The things we dream of and long for so often become the things we kick to the curb. It’s true for my kids and their toys; it’s true for me and my toys.

Calling Teenagers to Treasure Christ More Than All Things – Richard Ross
We have a huge need to gather and horde possessions. We want to spend what we have on ourselves. What could motivate us to count all things as loss? Our overwhelming love for and adoration of King Jesus is what moves us to release our death grip on what we own.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day resting and finding joy in the Greatest Treasure!