Questions...and Answers.

This one verse in council time at awana today was particularly striking. I'm not quite sure why. I've known this verse for like...ever.

But it ties in so beautifully with what I was talking about in my last post.

The verse was Psalm 119:9 - How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.

That verse has never hit me in the way it did tonight...I think it was due to the fact that the speaker used a different version. I'm not sure which one it was, but I came home and looked a bunch up. See if it says anymore to you by reading it different versions.

NIV - How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.

NASB - How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.

MSG - How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word.

NLT - How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word.

ESV - How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.

I particularly enjoyed the different words used in place of "taking heed"

By...
living my life according to God's word
keeping my life in line with God's word
reading the directions in God's word
obeying God's word
guarding my life according to God's word

It makes me curious to know what the original Hebrew word was.

Taking heed - that's to listen, take note, and pay attention to.
Living - that's to align all aspects of my life according to what I just took heed of
Keeping - that's maintaining it: always
Reading - that's to always be looking for more: studying, searching, desiring more of Christ
Obeying - that's to do exactly what it says, exactly how it says, exactly when God says to
Guarding - that's not letting anything else take place of our one focus: Christ

How can we live pure lives, lives centered on Christ? It's simple: listening and obeying the instructions He's given us in the Bible. Funny the revelations you have late at night....

Now doing that isn't so simple - but we have the power of Christ to guide us.

Christian-in-a-Box

I'm a Bible quizzer. I've always been the one to finish my book first, memorize it all word-perfect, and be able to pull it out of my head at any time and even tell you the color of the page the verse was on. That's the way my brain works, and I always had trouble understanding why others had such a hard time memorizing.

But recently, I've been really complacent and lazy about memorizing Scripture, to the point that sometimes it's not as enjoyable as it used to be. And not just that, but meditating on it as well.

Growing up in a Christian home, I've been able to recite Scripture as long as I can remember. I know John 3:16, Philippians 4:13, Romans 3:23, Acts 16:31, Colossians 3:20, Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 23, Proverbs 3:5-6....the list gos on and on.

Lately, however, I've let that slip in my mind. I think "oh, everyone quotes THOSE verses"
Everyone knows them. There's nothing new under the sun. Just about every so-called Christian in the world can tell you what John 3:16 is.

I mean, honestly, how many times have you head that verse? (it's actually one of the hardest verses to quote word perfect because of it's high popularity and extensive number of quoted versions) Or Romans 3:23? Philippians 4:13? Psalm 23? A Lot.

As Christians who've been in Christian homes our whole loves, we sort of forget about those verses and think "Oh, everyone knows it". We think it won't have that much impact since everyone has heard it like, a billion times before. We don't think about the importance of that verse to us because it's so over-quoted. (Honestly, who hasn't gotten a card with the blessing from Numbers that says "the Lord bless and keep you...?")

The truth is in Hebrews 4:12 - But the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divisions of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

I don't know about you, but that's pretty powerful stuff right there.

Living.

Powerful.

Piercing to my soul.

Discerning >wince< the intents of my heart.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

That by itself is powerful.

I shall not want.

Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd. What does that have to do with it? Because HE is my provision, HE is my all...when I trust in Him...my wants die away.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

ALL is a beautiful, universal word meaning everything. I think we often underestimate the power of the word ALL. It means ALL.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son - that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Meditate on the power of that.

Never underestimate the power of Scripture...even the verses we deem "trivial" or "over-quoted." Why are they quoted so much? Because of their power. Because of their meaning. Treasure those verses, hide them in your heart.

God's word is one of our most powerful tools for connecting with Him. He inspired it. (1 Tim 3:16-17), it keeps us from sin (Ps. 119:11), and makes our path clear. (Ps. 119:105)

I used to think "well, the Bible doesn't explicitly say whether or not I can do certain things. So how does it help keep me from sin?" (Rom. 3:20)

James says To him who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

And in Hebrews If we continue in sin after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

This is how scripture helps to keep me on the right path. I've had a pretty sharp conscience since I was a kid, but I've let it become dull lately. Remembering that verse has always been a sharp reminder of what I should - or shouldn't do.

I know I treasure letters and cards from people I love. I read them over and over. I save them and make sure they're never left where they could be destroyed.

Do I treat God's word like that? My father's love letter to me? It's not just a book Christians follow: it's GOD'S living word.

Treasure it.

Forever and Allways

There's this sticky note on our refrigerator that my little brother wrote.

If you can't read it, it says "ALLWAYS BE HAPPY"

He wrote it one day when someone was in a bad mood. I thought it was really cute - and sweet. :) But it also made me think. I love how he spelled "always": ALLWAYS, with two L's, making it like "all-ways"

Here is a list of the different meanings the word "always" can have.

• Seemingly without interruption
• often and repeatedly
• at any time or in any event
• forever
• throughout all time
• at all times
• all the time and on any occasion
  

When we say "always", do we really mean in all our ways? In every single thing we do? A lot of times we just see it as...well, "always". It has less depth to it the way we use it most of the time.

"I always do it this way!"
"You always are teasing me!"
"I always thought you were afraid of me"

It's another one of those words that are thrown around a lot. Does it bug you that such huge, universal words with such depth are used so flippantly? Love, joy, never, always, Jesus....the list goes on.

But take it with some more depth here.

...giving thanks [always] for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:20)

Where "always" is in brackets, read it again, but put in "in all your ways".

giving thanks [in all your ways] for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:20)

Always: In all your ways, meaning in whatever situation you encounter - choosing to rejoice, to joy in the Lord (Hab. 3),

Then I thought of another thing. You've probably heard the phrase "forever and always". I always thought it was kind of redundant..."forever and always".

(Let me rabbit trail a bit here and note how I used "always" in that sentence. I did it without even thinking. It's interesting, isn't it?)

But if you change it to "forever and allways", you get something different - not just forever and forever - forever and in every way. We should love God not only in all our ways, in everything we do, but forever. And God loves us and cares for us in the exact same way - forever and allways.

Verse Of The Day

For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So then death is working in us, but life in you...Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:5-12, 16-18