"I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
that I might
keep Thy Word."
(Psalm 119:101)
Or would we rather say,
"I have refrained my feet from Thy Word, that I might keep my evil
way?" If we are true followers of God's Word, then His Word will keep us
from the route of the world.
"Blessed are they that keep judgment,
and he that
doeth righteousness at all times."
(Psalm 106:3)
Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you'd like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog!
6 comments:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
I finished my Bible study through the book of Ephesians and have now started one on "prayer". This is one of the first verses I came to (I'm starting from the New Testament though I will certainly be going the Old Testament as well) which really convicted me. It seems so easy to pray for those we love or are in need, but I'm thinking in general we are the most lax in praying for those that we dislike or are antagonistic toward us.
With the Lord's help this is something I would like to work on.
Thank you for these verses, Amanda! What amazed me was how close they paralleled the ones Jesus showed me during my Bible reading this morning...
"Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." Proverbs 7:25-27
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." Proverbs 4:23-27
"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:"
Matthew 15:19
After being being admonished in the ways of the Wicked Woman of Proverbs 7, God warns us to consider our own hearts. Notice the focus is not our actions, our words, or even our motives, but our hearts! The part that no man sees, the part that so easily deceives us, the part where our real affections are. Where are our hearts? Is the purity we like to display on the outside a true reflection of our heart or is there a secret corner where our affections "decline to her ways" and "go astray in her paths"?
~ Kenzi
@Janell,
Ouch; how true. Great point about "not just our enemies" as most of us don't truly have "enemies" - but there are indeed people to whom we feel antagonistic or a dislike - or they feel towards us. Prayer is a great topic to study - I know that I need more regularity in my prayer life!
Did I ever tell you that I'm studying through Ephesians right now? Perhaps we should compare notes sometime . . .
~Amanda
"Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." Matthew 7:7
@Kenzi,
Oh how neat! I love it when God verifies the lessons He's wanting us to learn! :)
Good questions - so often, we get distracted with our actions (good or bad) and our words, but it is so, so much deeper than that. We could be living morally on the outside, but on the inside are boiling to be like that wicked woman of Proverbs 7 - and eventually, as Matthew 15 exhorts, it will come out. Sobering thought to keep our hearts ever pointed towards God!
~Amanda
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9
Thank you very much for sharing, Amanda!
In my Bible reading this morning, I read several chapters, and also about Elijah. The Lord brought a few verses to my attention. :)
After spending forty days and forty nights on Mount Horeb, Elijah went and lived in a cave.
"and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of Hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:9a-10)
Elijah sounds in despair. Things look so hopeless. He's sure he's the only one left, and now they're trying to kill him.
The Lord tells him to "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." Then something happens. "And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Oftentimes we might expect God to speak to us in a mighty way, some great sign - that earthquake or fire. But a lot of the times, the Lord speaks to us in that "still small voice". (My Bible note says a "delicate whispering voice".)
"And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:13)
Elijah repeats what he said before. (vs.14) The Lord tells him to return on his way to the wilderness of Damascus, anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and that Elisha would be prophet in Elijah's stead. (verses 15-17)
The Lord then follows it with this word of promise and hope:
"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18)
7,000 in Israel. 7,000 that had not departed after the ways of evil. And Elijah thought for sure that he was the only one.
I know that I have often felt like there's not many people like us out there. Sometimes things seem a bit "hopeless". Oh, there may be people in other states, but there's hardly anybody around here, in this state! Yet just as the Lord came to Elijah, that faithful prophet of Jehovah, He has said there is a remnant.
In Elijah's day, with Ahab and Jezebel reigning over the land, one of those 7,000 was Obadiah. The Bible says, "And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)" (1 Kings 18:3-4
And there were 6,999 others that were faithful.
The Lord has His people, and this is a "still small voice" that whispers the Lord has His people everywhere: even when we fear we might be alone.
Love you!
-Patience
@Patience,
Thank you for sharing what the Lord brought out to you in your Bible reading! It was a good reminder for me to read. As I read it, I also thought that the basis of those "7,000" was that they feared God and did not turn to the false gods. I realized that I have often been guilty of thinking, "But there is no one LIKE ME." I don't just want them to love God - I want them to be like Daddy says, "To look like me, act like me, and smell like me." ;) Recently, I have made one friend and when I reflected on the sweet fellowship we had recently, I suddenly realized that the basis of our friendship is not convictions (which differ quite a bit) - it is Christ. How beautiful and encouraging that was!
Yes, there are "7,000" others out there who love the Lord, "7,000" others who are faithful to Him. Praise the Lord for not only saving and sanctifying us, but also saving and sanctifying others!
~Amanda
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25
Post a Comment