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
Blessed
is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or
stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers…
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
…but
whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
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
That
person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and
whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not
so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore
the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For
the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to
destruction.
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.
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