Good morning, all!
Father, we know that You alone rule heaven and earth, everything we see is in Your care. We ask, Lord, that in Your bigness that somehow You appear small enough to each of us, personal enough so that we would feel Your presence. We know Lord that if we seek You, we will find You so, Lord, keep us close, keep us near to your heart always, Amen.
Psalm 119
9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed [thereto] according to thy word.
How can a man live a clean life? By following God’s word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
I looked relentlessly to find you God; it was in Your word so let me NOT drift from it.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
I hid Your word like a treasure in my heart for I know that it will shape me and mold me to be more like You and NOT cause You grief.
Bottom line
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and it has great significance, it is broken into 22 stanzas which are defined by the Hebrew alphabet. Here’s a thought maybe God intended the longest chapter to represent our relationship with Him…ETERNAL…now that’s long and the alphabet because He covers our life with Him from A to Z…the first and the last. This is the second stanza which is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Beth which means house. So how close is God? Well, we are His house…temple so you might want to look inside-Ha! In these verses God tells us how we can keep Him close because if you’re like me sometimes He seems to be a galaxy away and NOT very close, feel me? These verses really tell us how to keep God close to us and it begins by keeping ourselves clean and there’s NO way to do that without God’s word. What exactly are we cleaning? The most important thing we need to keep clean…our HEART. And how do we keep it clean? FAITH…you gotta believe in God, trust in His love and hold onto the promises in His word.
[Psa 51:10 KJV] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. When we feel the absence of God in our life, we should look in the mirror, the problem is in our heart NOT His. Sometimes my heart gets polluted with doubt and worry and it gets polluted with reason and logic. Here’s theproblem with reason and logic, it ain’t clean…it ain’t faith. How important is faith to God?
[Heb 11:6 NIV] And without faith it is impossible to please God…hmm…you mean my reason and logic ain’t gonna please God? So how do we get more faith? Well faith comes by hearing and hearing by His word, you want more faith? Read your Bible. You want to feel closer to God? Read your Bible. You want to cleanse your life? Read your Bible. I know when I read God’s word, I feel closer to Him, I feel like he’s talking to me, I feel stronger, I feel at peace, you? And when we don’t feel close to God, we tend feel lost and when we feel lost we usually lose hope, this why David says let me NOT wander from thy word he knows how to keep God close. How well do you know God?
[1Jo 2:4 NLT] If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. Call me crazy but can you get closer to God if you don’t know Him? And can we keep Him close if we’re living a lie? Remember Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves from God, why? They listened to the serpent; they believed the lie. The serpent said you can eat from the tree of reason and logic, you don’t have to eat from the tree of faith. Surely you won’t die. You think God knew we would get lost in our own thought life? I hope you can see it this morning, they ate from the wrong tree but who sought who? God went after them even when they made the wrong choice, the world would say your life is a result of our of choices but faith says God’s coming for me regardless of my choice…FAITHFUL. You see our lack of faith doesn’t change God’s love for us, He’s in for the long haul, better or worse that’s Who HE is…CAN’T CHANGE…WON’T CHANGE.
[2Ti 2:13 NLT] If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. I don’t know about you but I’m sure glad God included that verse for us because even when I blow it God is faithful and He can’t change Who He is. And just like Adam and Eve when I try to hide myself because I feel naked and ashamed God will come for me and say, who told thee thou wast naked? I didn’t and that’s all that matters, Amen!
Point to Ponder
How well does God know us? [Psa 139:3 NLT] You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. Everything is everything!
Let’s all keep God close, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends