Savoring the Scripture

  In 2 Chronicles 14, we read about King Asa, the King of Judah. The account of his life starts out well saying, “And Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God” (14:2). The Chronicler continues by recounting the good things Asa did: removing foreign altars and high places, tearing down sacred pillars, cutting down Asherim, and commanding Judah to seek the LORD (14:3,4). Furthermore, we read that the kingdom was undisturbed, and the LORD had given him rest on every side. Even in the midst of an attack from the Ethiopians with a million man army, Asa boldly calls to the Lord and says, “LORD, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O LORD, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee” (14:11). And the LORD responded to Asa’s prayer by routing the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians fled and they were “shattered b...

It was nearing the beginning of another homeschool year for us. I had most of my curriculum choices made, but there was still one subject I was unsure of for my older boys: history. There were so many options and there were some I had ruled out, but I still had no idea which one we should use. I had been teaching through James at a small bible study, and we had covered James 1:5, which instructs believers to ask God for wisdom.   I decided to give even this seemingly insignificant detail to the Lord and ask for His wisdom in choosing a history curriculum. Not too much later, I was talking to a friend and she mentioned a curriculum I had never heard of before, and I decided to check it out. I decided to go ahead and order it and give it a try.   Well, that year, in that history curriculum, changed my life.   Primarily what impacted my life was reading the biography of Hudson Taylor and the autobiography of George Muller.   They both were men of the Word and prayer. ...

In the first post, I noted that one of the requirements for a widow that was to be put on the list for the church to care for was that she would have brought up children, nurtured them. I am first exploring how a mother can nurture her children spiritually. Next, a mother can nurture her children spiritually by teaching them to apply the Word of God in their daily living. Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”       The first thing I see is that the Word should be “on your heart.” The Word of God must first be on our heart, our inner person.  The innermost place in us that only God Himself can discern is the place where His Word is abiding.  Col. 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing ...

While studying 1 Timothy 5:3-16 and specifically the qualifications of the widows who were to be cared for by the church in verses 9-10, one of the qualifications stated that the widow was to be one who had brought up children. I looked at the meaning of “brought up” and it means to bring up children and to fulfill the duties of a mother.  It came from a word meaning to nourish and nurture.  Nurturing is the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something. A Christian mother, as she brings up her children, ought to nurture them.  In what ways should a Christian mother nurture her children? In what areas should she apply diligent effort in caring for and encouraging her children to grow and develop? I thought of four: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. The specifics of how these are to be applied will vary from family to family and may even vary from child to child within a family. However, there are general princi...

When God graciously gives us suffering there are some purposes God has in the suffering of His people. Suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory. 2 Cor. 4:17, “ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison .” Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”   Notice the contrasts. Light affliction/weight of glory. Momentary affliction/ eternal glory. Beyond all comparison. Sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed. In suffering, we learn His statutes. Psalm 119: 71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.” When we endure suffering or affliction, we learn how to count it all joy (James 1:2) and how to trust in Him through difficult times and pour out our hearts to Him (Psalm 62). We learn to persevere in prayer and to never give up (Luke 18:...

God's Omniscience     In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, it asks this question, "Does God know all things?" The answer states, "Yes, nothing can be hidden from God." The immensity of that truth overwhelms us at times. We understand this to mean that God knows the vastness of each galaxy and every star He placed in it and, in fact, knows each one by name (Ps. 147:4). He knows every tiny creature that creeps on the earth.  There are millions of beetles alone and the Lord knows each one's location, what it ate for breakfast, and even its very life span, for He gives to every creature its food in due season and life and breath to all (Ps. 104:27; Acts 17:25). There are no scientific, historical, mathematical, economic, or personal facts or details He does not know.  And when we talk about mankind, He knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. He knows us and is intimately acquainted with all our ways. He knows our thoughts, our lying down and going out,...

The Care of Widows in the Scripture In the Old Testament, a widow was left in a difficult position with the death of her husband.   She could not inherit from him and thus if she was childless she may have the opportunity to marry her husband’s brother and stay in the family.   If she had children, her eldest son was to care for her. In the OT, God made provision for the widows by having them participate in the triennial third tithe, gleaning, and religious feasts (Deut. 14:29; 24: 19-21; 26:12). There was blessing from the Lord for those who followed this command to help provide for the widow, orphan, and alien.   God commanded the people not to pervert justice for the widow (Deut. 27:19), and He Himself would be her defender and execute justice on her behalf (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 10:18, 24:17,19; Ps. 146:9). In the NT, Paul expected families to care for their widows (1 Tim. 5:4-8), and the church would care for widows who were widows indeed (1 Tim. 5:3-16). However,...

Empathy is defined as the capacity for understanding, being aware of, being sensitive of, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another. Christ in His tenderness towards His children empathizes and sympathizes with them, for indeed, we are His own body that He “nourishes and cherishes.” His sympathy is such that “in our pain, Jesus is pained; in our suffering, he feels the suffering as his own” (Ortlund, Dane. Gentle and Lowly). In fact, He co-suffers with us (Acts 9:4). Christ’s own testimony is that He is gentle and lowly (Matt. 11:29). He is “Tender. Open. Welcoming. Accommodating. Understanding. Willing” (Ortlund, Dane. Gentle and Lowly). We are to imitate Christ in our treatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are members of His body (1 Cor. 11:1; 12:18-20).  We must be most tender with those who are weakest—spiritually, physically, mentally. We must strive to show solidarity with them; to be understanding of their infirmit...