The Lord’s Passion For Us
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him.
– Psalm 103:8, 11, 17 (ESV)
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How to Fill Your Life with Joy – Matt Chandler via Jonathan Parnell (DG)
For years I tried to figure out what’s the best way for me to flourish in my relationship with Christ. And when all is said and done, I learned I needed to fill my life with things that stir my affections for Jesus. And then pay attention and keep away from my heart the things that rob me of my affections, even if those things are morally neutral.
Warm Yourself at the Fires of Meditation – David Mathis (DG)
In meditation, we pause and reflect over his words. We roll them over in our minds and let them ignite our hearts — we “warm ourselves at the fires of meditation.” We pose questions and seek answers. We go deep in God’s revelation, take it into our very souls, and as we are being changed by his truth, we respond to him in prayer.
How to Memorize Entire Books of the Bible – Jemar Tisby
You don’t have to start by memorizing an entire book. Commit to memorizing a single chapter. If you’re like me, you’ll be hooked and want to keep going. And pray that God would bless your efforts. He wants you to know His word.
Where Preferences Go to Die – Trillia Newbell (GC)
I’m convinced many of our problems with the church result from running away from difficult or uncomfortable situations rather than persevering through them. Since we don’t enjoy facing our fears or finding ourselves in challenging circumstances, the thought of escape brings great comfort.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church worshiping our glorious and gracious God!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Your Most Courageous Resolution for 2014 – Jon Bloom (Desiring God)
Let this be the year that we pursue love. Let this be the year that we stop talking about love, that we do less regretful moaning about how little we love and how much we need to grow in love and actually be determined to love more the way Jesus loved…
True Freedom is Freedom to Be My True Self – John Stott (via Trevin Wax)
True freedom is freedom to be my true self, as God made me and meant me to be. And God made me for loving. But loving is giving, self-giving. Therefore, in order to be myself, I have to deny myself and give myself….
Why Real Christians Are So Odd – A. W. Tozer (via Justin Taylor)
A real Christian is an odd number, anyway.
He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen;
talks familiarly everyday to someone he cannot see;
expects to go to heaven on the virtue of another….
The Centerpiece of Sunday Worship – Marshall Segal (Desiring God)
Even in corporate worship, with sermons every week, we can too easily wander from our wonder at all that we have in Scripture. What if we came to church hungry, even starving, for the word of God (Matthew 4:4)? What if we expected God to inspire, change, and commission us in the sacred moments we spend together over these pages? What if we thought we’d become more like him — undeserving sinners wading into the divine nature — when his words wash over us as the Bible is read and explained (2 Peter 1:3–4)?
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day being incredibly odd as you love your brothers and sisters in Christ and hungrily dig into His Word!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Temptation Is Not the Same as Sin – Kevin DeYoung
20 Tips for Devotions in the Digital Age – David Murray
The Practice of Meditation – Tim Challies
Thank You, Lord – Charles Swindoll (via Trevin Wax)
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Last week we looked at three areas where we should be full. We should be full of the Spirit, full of wisdom, and full of faith. But how do we get full? How can we be filled? This is not something we can do on our own. Each of these things comes from God, and so if we are going to be full we must look to God.
Last week, we talked about delighting in the Word. If we delight in the Word, we will want to spend time in it. We will want to read it. We will want to meditate on it. I have added a new page to the site with a Bible Reading Plan. You read from different portions of the Bible six days a week. Day seven is to catch up on a day you missed or to review ways that God has challenged you during the last six days.
There are of course a lot of reading plans out there. This one works for me, because the review/catch-up day helps keep me from falling behind. But whatever approach you take, the important thing is to read and meditate on the Word. With that in mind, here are a few ideas for meditating on the Word:
10. Ask more application questions:
11. Try Luther’s contemplative method by asking three questions:
(Adoration, Confession, Supplication)
Yesterday 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?
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:
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.
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:
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!
Here are some good posts on the Word and prayer for your weekend reading:
How to Listen to a Sermon – Phil Ryken (via reformation 21)
So what is the right way to listen to a sermon? With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.
A Smorgasbord of Bible Memorization Methods – Jean Williams (Matthias Media)
Every Bible memorization method has one or more of the three Rs at its heart: Repeat, Recall, Review. Repeat a passage over and over until you’re familiar with it; practise recalling it until it’s worn a path in your memory; then review it so you don’t lose it. But there are different ways to do these three things, and not all of them will suit you.
Does Your Church Pray Together? – Sinclair Ferguson quoted by Justin Taylor
I greatly wish that our churches would learn to keep the main things central, that we would learn to be true Churches, vibrant fellowships of prayer, Gospel ministry and teaching, genuine mutual love.
31 Petitions to the Lord on the Occasion of my 31st Birthday – Trevin Wax
My knowledge of You as a loving Father is what compels me to come before You, to ask You, plead with You, beg of You: Accomplish these 31 things in the years to come….
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord as you sit under His Word and come before His throne.
Brian J. Mikul 