Saturday, September 20, 2014

Love God’s Word – Part 1


Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Pastor Kyle focused this Sunday’s sermon message on the Word of God in our life, and specifically, in the deepest part of what we are: “Do we love the Word of God?” It’s easy for us to sit down with a piece of paper with a line down the middle and list on one side the things that we love and on the other side list the things that we hate. Today, our society is way too quick to use the words “love” and “hate”, and we find that in most cases we are using these words for our personal preferences. Also, “hate” should only be used for sin as God hates sin, and especially we hate our sin, which Jesus died for.  

Ephesians 2:1-5 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

But what does it mean to have a deeper walk with Jesus and have a blessed life? This passage tells us that it means, first, “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” as a way of life. The sinful and ungodly scoffers of the world need to pull other people in with them into their mockery of God. 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Secondly, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”  Lovers of God’s Holy Word have three amazing benefits: like a tree planted by the rivers of water (1) they are fruitful; they bear fruit in season; not year-round, (2) they shall not wither; their faith does not fade, and (3) whatever they do shall prosper; meaning “everyday prosperity”, the child of God who succeeds in the little things of life.

Psalm 1:4-6 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.


On the other hand, the wicked will blow away come Judgment Day, like weightless and useless chaff tossed up in the air to fly away from the good seed. But how do you tell what one you are – the good seed or the worthless waste? Do you love God’s Word and do what it says?


2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

We'll finish Pastor Kyle's Sunday Sermon message on the next post.
In Christ, Brian

2 comments:

child of God said...

Hi Brian,
A closer walk with the Lord is what I desire & I measure love by His word. How can the world measure love by worldly standards? They are often changing. Only God's Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Blessings brother,
<><

Brian Ray Todd said...

Child of God, your comment reminds me of that that Christian Hymn "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" and that is the desire of the heart. We naturally desire to spend time and get to know those who we love, but sometimes, we throw the word "love" around to where is be used for so much that it loses its "high and deep" meaning to where we can love anything equally. "Agape" is a Greek term for one of the four types of love in the Bible, which literally means the unconditional love of God exclusively. Can we love who we do not know? We can love God for what He has done (Salvation), is doing (Sanctification) and going to do for us (Glorification), and everything in between, but that naturally leads to the desire to get to know our Creator Father, Redeemer, Savior, Providence, Refuge whose agape love floods into our live, and that drive us to His holy Word and prayer for that closer walk daily. Excellent point my precious sister. Blessings to you and yours.