SV#28lover of word
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 18 viewsNotes
Transcript
I grew up in the faith...
...I was raised by parents who love the Lord...
...growing up in the church...
...i was taught to do 3 things...
...pray… worship… read my bible...
...I came to see these three things as the core of...
...building a relationship with my God...
...the worship is how we are able to focus on God...
...we praise Him for being so good...
...so loving...
...so righteous...
...worship opens our hearts...
...makes us sensitive to the Spirit...
...helps us draw near to our God...
...Prayer...
...that is how we talk to God...
...that is how the thanks Him...
...ask Him for help...
...voice our fears… our doubts...
...our joys and pleasure in HIm...
...the one of these 3 I wish to focus on today...
...is the bible...
...the written work of God...
growing up...
...this was always the one I had the hardest time with...
...I was never one that enjoyed reading...
...and for a long time...
...I always thought of the bible as a book...
...as a very important book...
...a book that showed me how to live as a christian...
...and showed me what rules i needed to follow...
...and in part...
...that is the role of Scripture...
...but there is so much more to it...
...it has so much more depth...
...that simply a book that shows us how to live as a christian...
...from the writtings of Moses...
...(He wrote the first 5 books)...
...to the revelations of the apostle John as He was exiled on an island… ( book of Revelation)...
...the bible is the inspired word of God...
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
all the authors...
...the leaders...
...kings...
...artists...
...prophets...
… apostles...
...dicsiples...
...all these men...
...they where inspired by the Spirit to write the words they wrote...
and there is still more...
...in my young adult life...
...i did not really understand why the bible was so valuable...
...in my 20s...
...i was taught that we can look at the bible in 3 ways...
read… study… and meditate...
...we can better understand these three using this picture...
..reading the bible is like flying from coast to coast...
...It gives us a great overview… but not a lot of detail...
...this is important...
...because that overview helps us with the next two...
the second way is studying...
...this is like driving coast to coast...
...we get much more detail...
...but it takes way longer...
...
the final way is meditaing...
...this is the longest of all...
...but the one that gives us the greatest detail...
...this is what we need to do everyday...
...meditation means that we roominate and dwell on the word of God...
...on the bible...
...instead of looking at entire books or passages… we focus on one vs...
...this practice is not about developing an understanding of that passage...
...it is about allowing God to speak to you through those words...
...it is about praticing the art of listening for God to speak...
...that is the beausty of the word...
...that iwas missing...
...the part that took me a long time to understand...
...even when i praticed this...
...it was hard for me to experience a joy about the bible...
...I recognized in myself..
...a lack of excitment about the word of God...
...and I did not like that...
...did not like that I was a child of God...
...that He wrote this increadible book to me...
...and I am not reading it...
...in a lot of ways...
...I am not interested In it...
there was a point in my times in the moring when I was praying...
...and this very thing popped into my head...
...that morning...
...I came across Ps 119
Ps 119 is the longest book in the bible...
...it has 176 vs in it...
...in those vs...
...all but 3 of them refer to the word of God...
...that is amazing to me...
...that a man...
...could wit down and write out 173 vs about the bible...
...and this was written when He would have only been reading the first 5 books...
...you know...
...the books that we all of us avoid...
...because of all the boring and confusing lists of rules and geneologies...
...i had to wonder to myself to myself what that psalmist saw in the bible...
...that inspired Him to write all He did...
...so I made a deal with God...
...i desided that I was goin to meditate on...
...think about and chew on every vs of Ps 119...
...and that by the end of that journey...
...the God was going to make me a man of the word...
...that I was going to have a heart for the bible like I never had before...
that journy had ended...
...last week...
...it took me 2 yrs to do it...
...and it made a huge differnece in my understanding of the bibie...
...here is how I did it...
( speak outline)
(read list)
I came to see that the word of God...
...it is not only the most valuable work of instruction… and guidance...
...and history...
...It is also a big way that God speaks to us...
...it is the very woice of God,,,’
that is amazing to me...
...we can sit down any time we want...
...we can open up this book...
...and we ca nhear God speak to us...
...the final vs of this Ps...
...i feel...
...really sum up my experience in this journey...
Let my cry come before you, O Lord;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word,
for all your commandments are right.
Let your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
Let my soul live and praise you,
and let your rules help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.
the word I chose to represent this section was...
...preserving...
...I saw a man of God...
...that understood…
...what God was doing in His life...
...we read that he cried out to God...
...that He knew He could because He loved Him...
...Read meditation...
this is a beautiful truth about our God...
...He understand wha we are dealing with...
...and He will help us...
the next two vs...
...this shows us the importants of praising God...
...that understanding the word...
...learning how to meditate...
...hearing Him speak to us...
...allows us to be more aware of just How amazing He is...
(read meditation)
we are all created to enjoy God...
...and seeing His glory...
...It allows us to experience that joy...
then we read...
( vs. 173-174)
these vs show us a man who saw...
… a God who wanted him to sucseed...
...this is amazing to me...
...we Have a God that wants us to thrive...
...that wants us to live a life full of the richest...
...most secure joy and peace possible...
..He is with us through every step of this life...
...every speed bump...
...every valley… every mountaion top...
(read meditaion)...
He is hear to help...
...and when I saw that played out...
...and hear that in the word He would speak to me...
...as I took the time to meditate on these vs...
...I was impowered to live this life...
...because I knew He would be with me through it all...
...the final vs.
(175-176) are my favorite of this book...
Read meditaion...
this shows me a beautiful truth...
...I always questioned in myelf...
...If i realy loved God...
...always wondered how i could love Him and still sin...
...and then I saw both in this mans heart in the last vs...
...we read his cry out to God to save Him...
...because He has gone astry like a lost sheep...
...we can all relate to this...
...we all sin...
...even after we are saved...
...and we all hate that sin...
...because we know how it hurts our savior...
...Matt. 18:10
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
this shows us an amazing truth about the will of God...
...He understands that...
...He knows the battle of this life...
.
...knows that we will go atray…
...knows that we will get lost...
...and promises to come save us...
to hunt us down...
...to bring us back to the fold...
the ps here...
...is aying that he loves the words of God...
...yet strays from them...
...basically...
I love you my God...
...and I know you love me...
...I know becasue of your word that you are everything to me...
...and that I am not enough...
...save me from this world...
...save me from yourself...
...because your words...
...they have changed me...
you see...
...the Holy Sprit inside of us...
...has made a way for us to communicate with God in an amzaing way...
...in a way that allows us to hear the voice of our Father...
...and that to me is one of the most miraculous and exciting things in my life...
...that my god...
...the God...
..He takes the time to talk to me...
...to tell us He loves us...
...to encourage us...
...to pull us close to Him...
...there will be a day...
...when we get to meet our Father...
...face to face...
...there will be a day...
...when we get to commune with Him...
...in person...
...when sin and pain and strife of ths world...
...will no longer interfere...
...we will no longer have to fight to hear Him...
...and these times we spend with Him here...
...as we press into...
...and learn how to listen for His sweet voice...
...they matter....
...they are casueing us to fall in love with our savoir...
...they are preparing us for that day when we get to meet with Him...
...we have all been given the ability to talk to god...
...and to hear from HIm...
that is an amazing gift...
...and I pray that all of us...
...take advantage of that gift every day...
