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PINIMAGEToday I celebrate, not only the wonderful opportunity to vote, but the fact that I won’t have to watch any more campaign advertisements. I hate being lied to, being tricked. And I feel like it happens almost on a daily basis these days. Today, I share a post that I originally shared in 2016 just after the election. We can live in certainty and peace as we build our lives upon the Word of God. I’m feeling grateful for His grace and for His Word.
This morning I met the kids in the living room at 6:30 just like every other morning. Mark and I like to pray with them before they leave the house and I usually share a verse for them to think about. Now, remember, and I’ve said this before, they don’t usually sit there all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We have grumpy mornings. We have mornings where they stare at the clock and wonder when I’ll finish. We have twilight zone mornings with glazed far-away looks. But it’s part of our day and I trust and believe God is using it for their good.
This morning, I shared one simple verse with them.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your Word. Psalm 119:9
The word guarding here is from the Hebrew word shamar which means: to keep watch, preserve, be careful to keep, beware.
Why would God tell us to guard our way according to His Word? Because deception won’t be easily distinguishable.
Did you catch that? When we are deceived it’s because what we hear SOUNDS RIGHT. Deception is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the act of making someone believe something that is not true. So we are to guard our way with God’s Word.
Just last night Hudson came home from school and was sharing all the talk going on at school since the election. Some of the things he heard I knew were absolutely false. I told him it’s important to know the truth before you speak and to keep that in mind when he dispensed his words. I could tell his wheels were turning. It actually seemed to bother him that others were saying things so dogmatically without having the proper proof.
This morning while discussing the verse, I told the kids, “Notice the verse says, ‘young man’. Each of you can learn truth from God’s Word and apply it to your lives.” I told them God makes His way known to all who will seek Him. Even a child can and must choose to serve God or not.
Proverbs 20:11 says, Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.
I encouraged them to begin now hiding God’s Word in their hearts. (Psalm 119:11)
And it’s here that I really want to share a heavy burden with you and speak a word of caution. It seems to be very popular these days, (especially for women) to join “movements” centered on Christian living. I’m not going to go into detail because there are many and they’ve risen up over many years. Now these movements seem more popular than ever.
Over the weekend, I spent time with a friend. While we sat drinking coffee at her kitchen table, she received a text from another friend with an article attached written by a well known, influential woman in Christian circles. She was encouraged to read it and consider what it said about loving others better since that’s what Christians should do.
Out of curiosity I asked my friend if I could see her phone and I clicked on the link she shared. I scrolled all the way to the bottom and saw that there was not one scripture reference in the whole article.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with writing an article that doesn’t contain scripture. It can have a very strong impact on others for good. The danger here is when we make our steady diet the words of a man or a woman about God at the expense of reading God’s Word given to us for the purpose of guiding and guarding our way.
I’m burdened by the dangers lurking in “relevant” opinions and flowery ideas that are all around us. My prayer is that God would help us to stop filling up with and building our lives upon what others have to say about God and instead teach us to build our lives upon what He has to say about Himself.
May God teach us to build our lives upon what He has to say about Himself.
Friends, my opinion doesn’t really matter. My feelings don’t have a say when it comes to obedience either. My life very often must be lived contrary to what my feelings want to do because God tells me in His Word how to live it. I am prone to wander!
Where I find my safety (sometimes even from myself) is in His Word. His Word is Eternal. His Word is faithful and true. His Word does not mislead or deceive me. It’s safety. It’s life.
So, let’s go to His Word, the Bible, to end this blog post. How do we navigate this world and all the blogs and opinions and books and ideologies while keeping our way pure?
Psalm 119:9-16 says,
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rules[c] of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
This is how we keep our way pure…
- We must guard our way with God’s Word.
- We must seek Him with our whole heart.
- We must cling to His commands – which are good and right.
- We must hide His Word in our hearts.
- We must LEARN His statutes. statutes from the Hebrew choq – meaning allotment, boundary, limits.
- We must speak His rules. – rules from the Hebrew mishpat mode of life, manner, plan, standard.
- We must mediate on His precepts. precepts defined: thing appointed, given charge, instruction
- We must fix our eyes on His ways.
In doing so we will take great delight in Him and find our safe ground. And with that firm foundation we also find blessing in following hard after Him. Up at the top of Psalm 119 we read,
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
Psalm 119:1-2
I want to encourage you to take the time to read the full chapter of Psalm 119 when you get some time today. It offers wisdom and guidance for us. Ask God to reveal His heart to you through His Word. Highlight or write down any scripture verse that speaks directly to you today and let God minister to your heart.
Keep the faith, brothers and sisters. Hold fast to the TRUTH and don’t let go!
