"This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." (Ps. 119:50)
The 24th of the month, so it is Psalm 119. It is my life's testimony, everything the psalmist says, all the promises, the prayers, the affirmations therein. I learned this in the "school" of suffering and pain. I was a young pastor in seminary when we lost our oldest child, Stephen, at the age of 4 years, eleven months; I had no strength, no words to say or pray, no comfort, no, "life." It was not some stubborn, "Well, no one is going to comfort me in this. My pain is too great for anyone to understand or help." No. There was no thought process; I was too weak to be stubborn or proud. It was as though all life had been drained from me. Then came, "The Word of God," Jesus, and His, "All Scripture is God-Breathed." The Breath of God entered me in a continual flow of His Words, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. Jesus, Word of our Father, fulfilled our text in me, "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life."
People may think I put emphasis on the Scriptures at the expense of prayer and the ministry of the Church, the People of God. I do not. Prayer is a little child coming to Father, perhaps crying, pleading, yes, even confessing, declaring, interceding, "mak[ing] your requests known." But prayer does take "work," effort. I was in a meeting with an internationally known Bible teacher about 10 years ago. When he heard what I was doing in Washington, DC, his response was, "Prayer is hard work." Yes, prayer initiates in God, is energized in the Holy Spirit, and is aligning ourselves with His purposes. But it still requires effort. As for the Church, I cannot put too much emphasis on and thanksgiving for the Members of the Body of Christ, for the support, prayers, and fellowship. This is not "either or." But to me, what is so powerful in, "the Words of God," is that they come entirely from Him.
Can you not see today the tremendous power in that reality? No possibility of "the flesh" involved, no strength needed to utter or even "think" something, just, "....Your word has given me life." In Psalm 119:130, the psalmist says, "The entrance ('unfolding') of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple." One Hebrew scholar says that the sense is, "Thy words as a doorway." What a great reality, "a doorway," into His Very Life. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." The confession of my faith and desire today is Psalm 119:97, "O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I repeat the words of the psalmist, Your Words, "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." Amen.
****************
Please note the very large and influential Unreached People Group today:
www.apfunreachedpeoples.blogspot.com
The 24th of the month, so it is Psalm 119. It is my life's testimony, everything the psalmist says, all the promises, the prayers, the affirmations therein. I learned this in the "school" of suffering and pain. I was a young pastor in seminary when we lost our oldest child, Stephen, at the age of 4 years, eleven months; I had no strength, no words to say or pray, no comfort, no, "life." It was not some stubborn, "Well, no one is going to comfort me in this. My pain is too great for anyone to understand or help." No. There was no thought process; I was too weak to be stubborn or proud. It was as though all life had been drained from me. Then came, "The Word of God," Jesus, and His, "All Scripture is God-Breathed." The Breath of God entered me in a continual flow of His Words, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. Jesus, Word of our Father, fulfilled our text in me, "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life."
People may think I put emphasis on the Scriptures at the expense of prayer and the ministry of the Church, the People of God. I do not. Prayer is a little child coming to Father, perhaps crying, pleading, yes, even confessing, declaring, interceding, "mak[ing] your requests known." But prayer does take "work," effort. I was in a meeting with an internationally known Bible teacher about 10 years ago. When he heard what I was doing in Washington, DC, his response was, "Prayer is hard work." Yes, prayer initiates in God, is energized in the Holy Spirit, and is aligning ourselves with His purposes. But it still requires effort. As for the Church, I cannot put too much emphasis on and thanksgiving for the Members of the Body of Christ, for the support, prayers, and fellowship. This is not "either or." But to me, what is so powerful in, "the Words of God," is that they come entirely from Him.
Can you not see today the tremendous power in that reality? No possibility of "the flesh" involved, no strength needed to utter or even "think" something, just, "....Your word has given me life." In Psalm 119:130, the psalmist says, "The entrance ('unfolding') of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple." One Hebrew scholar says that the sense is, "Thy words as a doorway." What a great reality, "a doorway," into His Very Life. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." The confession of my faith and desire today is Psalm 119:97, "O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I repeat the words of the psalmist, Your Words, "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." Amen.
****************
Please note the very large and influential Unreached People Group today:
www.apfunreachedpeoples.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
