Savoring the Scripture

Call Upon the Lord Psalm 14 How horrible the insanity which leads a man who owes his all to God to cry out, "No God"! C.H.Spurgeon  Do you have a loved one who is an unbeliever? Today we will be praying for those we know who do not yet know Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that the Lord would shine into their hearts to give them the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). Foolishly Denying God  14:1-3 “The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.  Let’s pray: ▫️Those we know  that confess openly or in their hearts that “there is no God” would be confronted today with the reality that God is alive and true. ▫️Those who are blinded b...

From Turmoil to Tranquility God is a never-failing comforter. C.H. Spurgeon In today’s Psalm, we see the Psalmist crying out to the Lord, and in the midst of his hardships, he has gladness and joy because he trusts in the Lord. Let’s seek the Lord on behalf of a loved one.  Calling to God 4:1 “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!  Pray : ▪️ for the Lord to respond to our cries for help in the lives of those we love. ▪️ that your loved one would rejoice and give thanks that God is the God of our righteousness. Through Christ, we have been justified, or made right, with God. Does your loved one know Christ through faith? Or are they trusting in their own good deeds? Pray that they would understand that our righteousness is not our own, but we have the righteousness of Christ counted on our behalf, through faith.  ▪️And thank God for His past deliverance. When has He given rel...

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...

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,...

In my last post encouraging women to study the Scripture, I looked at three reasons to study the Word of God. As believers we want to know God truly for who He has revealed Himself to be, we want to know the truth and guard ourselves against deception, and we have a deep privilege to dig into the Scripture. In this post, I will look at three additional reasons why we, as women, should study the Word of God: to grow and bear fruit, to be adequate and complete, and to have His Word richly dwelling in us. Grow and Bear Fruit We study the Scriptures so that we can grow and bear fruit.   The Word of God is necessary for our growth. 1 Peter 2:1-3 says, “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”   The word long means to desire earnestly and is a command. The object of our longing is “the pure milk of the word.” Milk is used figuratively here as the sincere and sweet word of Christ by which believers grow in...

The Westminster Confession of Faith states plainly about the Word of God, that the people of God: ...have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them...that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope (Art. 1.8). This understanding of the necessity of reading and searching the Scripture is for all the people of God, not just for pastors, seminarians, or bible teachers. The Word of God to the believer is to be more desired than gold and sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10). In fact, we live not by bread alone but by these infallible words which have proceeded from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Women are included in the church of God and ought to take seriously our call to search His Word deeply. In this post, I will explore three reasons why we should study the Scripture. Know God First, we study the Sc...