Where Can We Turn For Strength?

Sometimes we are so worn out by loss and grief that we do not have the strength to go on.  Where can we turn to for strength to carry on?

"My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." Psalm 119:28.

MY SOUL
We are creatures of body, spirit, and soul. The soul is often referred to in a poetic way to describe the deepest, truest part of a person. It is the part that is thought to be eternal and essential. The writer of this verse is speaking of his deepest feelings.

WEARY
Weary is more than being tired after a day of work. It is the bone-deep exhaustion that comes after the constant use of your energy and strength. It is the result of the sustained struggle.

SORROW
Sorrow is not just sadness but grief.  We may be sad, but this sadness is far more.

STRENGTHEN
The prayer of this verse begins with the need of the petitioner. The request is not to escape but to be strong and endure. It is not to avoid sorrow but to thrive through it. He asks God to prop him up and give him the ability to stay the course.

ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD
The Bible is full of promises from God to His children that offer hope, blessing and encouragement in times of struggle and sorrow. The verse does not reference any single promise in particular but the totality of scripture.

The psalmist speaks as if he is confident. There is no doubt in his mind that if he calls God to honor his word, there will be grace and blessing.

YOUR WORD
It is the word of:
     * The One who never breaks His word,
     * The One who is holy.
     * The One who is all-powerful.
     * The One who is all-powerful.
     * The One who never lies.


OUR PRAYER
We can take this verse as an example. We can ask for the enduring strength of the Almighty, loving Father with confidence that He is willing and able to give strength.

We must learn His Word, the Bible, and study it to know the many promises it has for each of us. Take time to read the Bible and look for the comfort it can bring as God speaks to you through it.

If you have never come to the Father in faith and are ready to learn more about the promise of salvation, then CLICK HERE to find out more.


© Adron 3/13/16

How Can God Keep His Promises To Men? Joshua 21:45.

Is God's word good?  Can He keep His promises when they seem so big and we are so far from him?

"Not one of all the LORD'S good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." Joshua 21:45. NIV.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
God made many promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regarding their inheritance and future generations who would receive the Promised Land.  They lived in Egypt for 400 years during which time they became great people.  When they were delivered from the oppression of Egypt they returned to the land God had promised them.  This verse is quoted at the conclusion of the book of Joshua which tells of the taking of the land from the Philistines and other peoples.

NOT ONE ... FAILED
God is all-knowing and all-powerful therefore it is not possible for Him to make a promise He could not keep.  Since God is all-knowing He would know not to make such a promise, but being all-powerful there is nothing He cannot do so if he promised it he can do it.

If a promise was only partly kept it would undermine God.  It would mean he is not all-knowing or all-powerful or that he was capricious.  The promises of God must be kept 100% or not at all; if they are only kept in part it would mean He cannot be trusted and we would have reason to doubt.

EVERY ONE
The double emphasis is a method of scripture used often to give what the Bible calls witness or testimony since by the testimony of two or three a thing is established in Levitical law.

None of the promises of God were overlooked or forgotten.  If you had a list in front of you and you were checking them off you would check them all off.

WAS FULFILLED
God didn't just keep the promises He makes- He abundantly keeps them more than we can imagine.  They were not half full but overfull.

God kept the promises in spite of the kind of people they proved to be in the wilderness, where they rebelled and sinned against him numerous times.

THE LORD'S GOOD PROMISES
God's Word is full of promises to us today just as broad and great as he had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those promises to us are good and generous; God has no reason to be stingy but to the contrast, his gift of his son illustrates his tremendous generosity.

That God kept his promises to Israel should encourage us to search His Word for the promises he has for us so we may learn them, observe their conditions, and experience the blessings He has for us.

(c)Adron Dozat 2/21/15

What Do We Know About God? Truth From The Bible.

We do not know much about God, but some things we can be sure of. 

"As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless: He shields all who take refuge in him." Psalm 18:30.

GOD'S WAY

God is sovereign, which means He rules all things. He is the ultimate authority and absolute power. He has the merit to be ruler since He is Creator, and as the Righteous One, He deserves to be the ruler. Because God is sovereign, His way is right, and just- and logically perfect.

The phrase "God's way" must mean the way He does everything. We might say this person has a certain way, and we mean there is a consistent manner in which that person does things. God has a certain way, too. His way is unchanging, consistent, right, holy, just, loving, fair, and it is all that we would consider perfect. 

PERFECT

We are not perfect. Therefore, we cannot truly understand perfection, and because of that, we cannot fully understand The Lord. A mouse could not understand the complexities of human affairs because humans are above mice in sophistication and technology; since we know The Almighty is higher than we are, we know we cannot fully understand Him, except for what He chooses to reveal us. He has chosen to reveal something of Himself to us, and what He has revealed is comforting and glorious.

Psalm 18:30

WORD
The Word of God is many things. It is more than a set of commands and rules. It reveals who He is and what He desires from us. It points us to His plan of salvation.

If God is perfect and all-powerful, then His Word must be, too; if there is any corruption in His Word, He is weak and not perfect. Those who accept the challenge to objectively test the Scriptures testify that this is true.

SHIELD

You can imagine some disaster that lays waste the land and society, but in the midst of the calamity, the shielding arms of the Almighty are a barrier between destruction and those who look to Him. This is the act of a Loving Father. A shield does not mean that danger is not present, and we still live in a world afflicted with problems, but we can be confident that He is a shield to us. We may not see it that way, but remember, we cannot fully understand God, so we cannot fully understand His shielding. 

REFUGE
A refuge is a safe and unique place in an area or time of trouble.  That it exists does not mean you are automatically protected. You must enter refuge; you must decide to go to it; if not, you are not protected.  Entering the refuge is a decision and an act of will. We must come to God to find refuge in Him. He does not force himself upon us but awaits our choice.

We need to find refuge in God during the many crises in our world these days. The greatest need is not sheltered from a storm but our need for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from the judgment of sin.

God fulfilled the need for refuge when he became a man and died to punish our sins.

(c) Adron 12/2/13

How To Be Blessed By God, What the Bible Says, Psalm 1:2

Who doesn't want God's blessing, but how do we get it?

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on is law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2

THE BLESSED MAN
This verse is part of Psalm 1 which describes the character and habits of the man who is blessed. Beginning with relationships he does not entertain it progresses to the difference in how he thinks and what he thinks about.

HIS DELIGHT
The man blessed by God takes delight in the things of God- it should not surprise us. When you delight in something you...
     * Give it time,
     * Make room for it in your life,
     * Value it,
     * You talk about it,
     * Your thinking becomes consumed with it.

LAW
The law is not so much all the commands and regulations of the Bible but the truths about God, which the laws were to teach us, (Galatians 3:24).

MEDITATES
The man blessed by God has the Word of God on his mind. He ponders it and turns it over in his mind. This blessed man is always thinking about the scriptures. He must memorize much of it, spend time reading it, and studying it.

DAY AND NIGHT
Clearly, the Word of the Lord has a place in every part of his day. The day and night suggest that the Law of God is constant in his thoughts.

BLESSING
No doubt his decisions and actions will be filtered by God's commands he will be careful to do what pleases the Lord and his life will be in tune with the will of the Father.

Find ways to put God's Word in all the parts of your day and your life, there are many resources around today to help you.

To learn more about finding salvation and eternal life see my other blog.

(c)Adron Dozat 11/26/13

Can We Trust The Words of Jesus?

Are the words of Jesus special?

Everybody likes to quote a favorite quip from the teaching of Jesus, usually when it justifies our actions or to humble someone else. Are the words of Jesus different from teachers of other faiths, can we trust his words more?

"Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away."Matthew 24:35, NIV.

JESUS' WORDS
For Jesus to make a claim that his words will never pass away and even outlast heaven and earth is to claim something that only God can say. It would be arrogance or insanity if someone said this sort of thing, but Jesus went around doing what only God could do, like raising the dead, stopping storms, commanding demons, healing the incurable with a word or touch, etc. so the evidence of his life makes his words trustworthy. Because he did the things only God could do, he had the authority to say what only God could say.

COMFORTING WORDS.
It is comforting that Jesus said, "My words will never pass away." Salvation is based on the words of Jesus where he promised that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Therefore, we trust in the words of Jesus' promise of salvation. Since salvation is a promise God gives to us, and His word will never pass away, so also salvation will never pass away.

TRUSTWORTHY WORDS
The circumstances of life may change, but Jesus' word and God's promises in the Bible will never change. What Jesus promised to us yesterday is true today. We cling to the promise of God's love and need never worry that His promise will change. We hope in his promise of forgiveness through Jesus blood, and we know that promise will never pass away. We call upon his promise to abide with us, and never fear He has departed, because his word will not change.

OUR WORDS
We should make the words of Jesus our own words. Our lives and the world are temporary; our achievements are passing, our monuments do not endure, and our possessions decay. Jesus's words are eternal and righteous, and good for us- wouldn't it be wise to invest in it?

We need to spend time learning his words and teaching. We must stop spending so much time on things that don't last even a few years and completely ignore something that will last forever- God's Word. We spend too much time watching TV, playing games, window shopping, and generally amusing ourselves for a little while. Instead, we need to study God's word and build a life that will have eternity in it.

(c)Adron Dozat 5/25/13

Can We Count On God?

We are human and know we should keep our promises, but we break our word; we are unable to control all circumstances and we often promise what we can’t perform. That is how we are but what about God is he like us does he break promises?

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” Psalm 145:13. NIV

FAITHFUL
It is an understatement to say that God is faithful. He is faithful because He can be, and because He has decided to be. He will not sin by breaking a promise He keeps his promises because he is God. He is all-powerful and can exercise his power as creator of the universe and overcome every obstacle to any of his promises.

LOVING
He has made promises because He loves us, to provide for us, and because He is good. The promises of God teach us about Him; through them God reveals that He is worthy of trust, service, and devotion.

OUR REACTION
We should find comfort that, "The Lord is faithful to all his promises." It has huge implications. Just think that the creator of the universe, who rules forever and is Lord of all, has made promises to mankind. There are hundreds of promises in the Bible. They are for each of us, and if we really believed it we would search scripture for all his promises and watch with eager anticipation for their fulfillment.

That the God of Heaven gave promises for us to find and accept as our own should fill us with awe. It should cause us to begin a treasure hunt for the wealth of God.

We should ask ourselves...
     * What are his promises?
     * Do we know his promises?
     * Have we rejected blessing because we have neglected his promises?
     * Do we not believe his promises?

We should resolve to...
     * Search scripture to learn God's promises.
     * Remember the promises we already know.
     * Make them part of our prayer life.
     * Claim them and receive them by faith
     * And thank God for them.

THE GREATEST PROMISE
God's greatest promise found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." This promise of salvation brings us into a life of promise. It is foolish to neglect all the other promises this one opens up to us; and we fail God, ourselves and others by ignoring his promises.

To learn more about the promise of eternal life follow this link: Salvation.

(c)Adron Dozat

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Adron

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What Is The Key To Solving Problems? Zechariah 4: 6

What does the Bible say about solving personal problems? We all have problems such as debts, woes, worries, and fears. We try different things like education, money, bigger guns, or a louder voice, but nothing works.

"So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, 'Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty.'" Zechariah 4: 6, NIV.  (Link to See other Translations).

The quote above is from the vision of the Prophet Zechariah, in which he is given a message for the governor of Jerusalem to not lose heart in rebuilding the destroyed temple. It was an awesome and overwhelming project, opposed by the enemies of Israel and discouraging since it had been languishing for forty years.

THE WORD OF THE LORD
The word may not seem like much to go on. We would rather trust in might and power, but the word of God is trustworthy. God always keeps his word and never breaks a promise. The prophet's statement implies that the Word of the Lord is not only instruction but also God's promise. It is an echo of the Genesis account, where God performed acts of creation by speaking the universe into existence.

MIGHT AND POWER
As Governor Zerubbabel would have understood, might and power were essential to ruling a city or nation. We seek our own might and power; we look for the strongest, smartest, and most advanced thing to solve our problems. God has a different way he wants us to allow his Spirit.

MY SPIRIT
God's Spirit is not something we cannot see or feel. We turn from what we can do to fix our problem to faith in God. His Spirit is not a force or positive influence, but God speaks here of his personal divine self. "My Spirit" is God saying he is the one, not us, so we must do away with our efforts and allow God to build.

SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY
We need to remember the source—this is the word spoken by the Lord Almighty, the all-powerful, all-controlling, all-loving, all-knowing creator and sustainer of the universe who holds every molecule together. He is not random but deliberate in his actions and has a loving plan.

The building's completion was a guarantee. Zerubbabel needed to believe God and trust in his word, for God said it would happen. For our problems, we need to remember that God gives us many promises in His Word, the Bible. We need to trust God, believe his Word, and allow his Spirit to work.

© Adron 11/20/12

Does Following The Bible Do Any Good? Luke 6:47

We know what the Bible says a lot of good things but does it really make any difference in our lives? Jesus thought so and explained it in Luke 6:47.

"I will show what he is like who hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.  When the flood came the torrent struck the house but could not shake it because it was well built." Luke 6:47, NIV.

Jesus gives us a picture in words that teaches more than is on the surface.

HEAR

The Bible

We must be like the person in the illustration who hears and puts the word into practice. Whether hearing or reading, the effect is the same.  Much nose in the world around us drowns out the Word of God; we must filter out the background racket and hear God's Word. An easy way is to spend time daily quietly reading the Bible attentively and reflectively or to participate in a Bible teaching community. We need to hear God's Word; we must listen to it, which requires effort.

HIS WORDS
There are many philosophies, creeds, and religions, but Jesus did not encourage any of them. He did not even direct his audience, and subsequently, us, to find some way or higher teaching of his Hebrew heritage. He did not say all paths lead to salvation or that one teaching was no better or worse. He did say his teaching was the ultimate word that would shelter us in the storm of judgment.

OBEY
Hearing God's word is not enough; we need to put it into our lives via daily practice. We must hear God's word with intent. A concert pianist must practice many hours a day to achieve the level of ability he needs just so we must daily practice obeying God's word. Practice is not a casual fumbling about with God but diligent, dedicated, repetitive, concentration on the discipline being practiced in this case, God's truth in our lives.

FLOOD?
Why did Jesus use the metaphor of the Flood and not earthquake, storm, or hurricane? In the minds of the first-century Hebrews who lived in a desert region, a reference to the Flood of Noah and the judgment of God upon mankind connects the two. So Jesus puts the picture of keeping and practicing his teaching in the context of surviving God's judgment.

For us today keeping God's Word is no less critical to our lives and eternal blessing than Noah's obedience meant for the salvation of mankind, we each must hear God's word and obey it.

(c)Adron Dozat 9/2/12

What Does It Mean To Believe? Galatians 3:6

What Does It Mean To Believe

People ask us to believe; even God asks us to believe. What is it, and what difference does it make?

"So Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Galatians 3:6 NIV.

BACKGROUND
Abraham received a promise from God that was impossible to humanly fulfill; it required a divine miracle. Despite the impossibility of the promise, Abraham believed God, who esteems Abraham as being right with him.

The word "believe" causes much confusion. To some, it means just holding an idea, an intellectual assent, or opinion. We must have a correct idea of what belief is and why it is important.

BELIEF IS IMPORTANT
The wrong idea of belief means we miss much of what God is trying to say to us about himself and us. Much of what God communicates to us in the Bible is in terms of belief. If we miss what God is saying, we miss more than an interesting message; we miss His blessing, life, and we may miss salvation.

BELIEF IS NOT JUST AN IDEA
Abraham used belief; for him, it was an act. The belief was something he did; as far as Abraham was concerned, God made a promise, and Abraham considered His word good since God can keep the promise because of who God is.

THE RESULTS OF BELIEF
He was credited with righteousness. Credit is to have something given to you ahead of your ability to provide it, like receiving merchandise before you have the money to pay for it. Abraham was given the consideration of being righteous with God before he was righteous.

We all need righteousness. To be righteous with God is to have no sin before God and be accepted by him without judgment. Abraham was given this standing without earning it by any work but by believing God's word.

HOW DO WE BELIEVE
Trust, confidence, and faith help us understand what believing is. It is not just an understanding of a fact; it is a knowing that acts on the truth- like you believe the food is not poisoned, so you eat it, you believe the car will start, so you turn the key, you believe the bridge will hold, so you cross. Believing has to be expressed in action.

The Bible says, "Believing comes from hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God."* Being exposed to God's Word deepens our faith in God; many engage in a daily Bible reading plan for this purpose.

We may have the righteousness that God gives by believing his promise. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." **

*Romans 10:17, ** John 3:16.

To learn more about coming to God, follow this link to my other blog: Click here.

© A.E. Dozat

What Makes Christians Grow in the Lord?

How does one go about "growing up" as a Christian? 

"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you man grow up in your salvation." 1 Peter 2:2, NIV.

When Jesus comes into your life you are born again and begin a new life. This new life starts out like an infancy. We need to grow, no one wants to remain immature,

• It is dangerous, 
• It is foolish if you have the choice to grow and fail to,
• It is not God's best for you, 
• It is not your best for those you interact with, 
• And runs the risk of spiritual disaster.

Newborn babies need feeding, and milk is designed to nourish them best.  Babies who don't get fed become stunted in their growth or worse. Christians, like newborn babies, need to feed. We need to find nourishment for our spiritual selves or else we will be stunted spiritually.

CRAVE

To crave something is like an obsession; you feel urges for it, and you think about it always. When you crave something you want to experience it; if it is food you want to taste it, if it is an experience you want to have the emotional thrill of it. Christians need to have this type of craving for the things that make us grow spiritually.

MILK

What makes spiritual growth.

What is the pure spiritual milk we should crave? It is the word of God, it is solid sound teaching, it is being in fellowship with mature men and women of God. Our age is full of deceit and we must be aware of impure spiritual milk; many false teachers and false teachings abound but we must be like the saints of Borea who searched the scriptures diligently to see if the things taught by the apostles were so.

DIGEST IT

In its intended state milk is easy to drink, it is not cooked or chewed or forked- you just drink it. God's spiritual nourishment is similar, his word must be read or listened to. We must think about it often, talk about it, memorize it, and meditate on it, it is not hard we do not need to make it complicated.

Resolve to crave the spiritual milk of God's word. Begin by reading it faithfully and memorizing it. Find a place where it is taught purely.


To learn what the bible teaches about the plan of salvation follow this link Click here.

© Adron 5/10/12

What Will Last Forever? 1 Peter 1:23-24

Here is a beautiful passage of scripture and at first glance, it looks like pure poetry but when you start to think about it then you see that it is much more than pretty words.

"For you have been born again not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God, For ‘all men are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of the Lord stands forever.’" 1Peter 1:23-24, NIV.

NOT OF...BUT OF...
Eternal salvation cannot be based on our earthly efforts but on the "Living and enduring Word of God." Nothing that we can do will last eternally or is good enough to merit salvation because we are of that “perishable seed,” anything we do will reflect the limits of our perishable origins, but eternal salvation must be from imperishable seed or else it will not endure for eternity.

No human effort or good deed could ever equal God's standard so salvation could only be a gift of God based on His Word of promise. God’s word endures and the promise of salvation is based on His word so we can have confidence in an enduring salvation.

PERISHABLE
God gives us eternal life but we focus much of our lives on passing things such as TV, hobbies, job, housework, and driving the kids to places. If we had a life full of achievements, awards, success, possessing fame and fortune- what will it matter in eternity? Like the flowers of the field, and all the monuments of mankind, our trophies will crumble into dust but “the word of the Lord stands forever.”

THE WORD OF THE LORD
Our generation lives with constant change. Governments change, business policies change, laws get struck down and we feel uncertain of our place in the world, but God's Word never changes. We see things moving in cycles, but that is not how God’s Word is- it is always the same and true. Our lives may change, we may have failure and loss but God’s living Word is not affected by it. Every time we open His Word its timeless truths are still relevant to guide and comfort us.

A WORD FOR US
We must not neglect God’s Word. It is living and has an agenda to make us more like Christ. We must keep the Word of the Lord in our activities, our decisions, and base our actions on the Bible.  If our daily choices are founded on Scripture that day will have eternity in it and the good will last forever.

One of the most loving things God has done is to give us His Eternal Word. One of the wisest things we can do is to embrace it, learn its truths and make them our own.

To learn more about how to have eternal life in God read this other post. CLICK HERE.

(c) Adron 2/23/11

The Word Will Achieve its Purpose: Isaiah 55:10-11.

God has a purpose for every word in the Bible, but often it is not what we think it is.

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11. NIV.

A POPULAR VERSE
You might quote this verse in a prayer meeting or for some outreach, or you give someone a gospel tract and say to yourselves, “God's word will not return empty.”

ABUSE
Though it is a promise you can claim you must beware of thinking it justifies our own agenda. This verse should challenge us to read the Bible daily and thoughtfully. We need to get God’s Word in our hearts and mind. We need a positive change it brings in our own lives. The word of God is not to be a tool to nag someone to our fussy way of thinking, but the Word of God is to turn us to God’s way of thinking.

RAIN
Rain has an effect, it will soak into the soil at least a little, and rain on the seed will bud and offer the potential of a harvest. The Word of God has and effect too. To thoughtfully read the Bible is better than any college course, or mantra, or rosary, it is better than therapy and counselors. It will change our lives, convincing us of sin and the need for renewal. God’s word reveals the truth about the reader and the truth about the Son of God. The Bible WILL bring change in you. It will make you a better person; (it may first make you miserable about your wrongdoing so you will stop doing wrong). God’s word offers forgiveness, joy, the ability to love, it causes us to be hopeful, and empowers us to do good to others.

HARMONY
It is wise to be in harmony with the purposes of God. He has a purpose for His Word and a purpose for you; neither will be accomplished without the other. Whatever specific purpose God has for your life you need to be immersed in the Scriptures to prepare for it.

PURPOSE
The word “Purpose” can mean agenda. God's agenda for the Bible is not so you can use it to change another person but for God to use the Bible to change you. Every time you read the Bible you may experience afresh His purpose.

IT WILL NOT
God says it wit emphasis. like a guarantee and a warning. One thing you need never doubt is that God's Word will not come back empty-handed.

Let us read the scriptures often, for our own sake, and find its purpose for us today.

(c)Adron Dozat

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Adron

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Why is the Bible so dull to me? Jeremiah 15:16

The Bible should be a Christian's joy and heart's delight. Why isn't it?

"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God almighty." Jeremiah 15:16, NIV.

JEREMIAH
The prophet Jeremiah had a hard time.  The prophecies God gave him were dire and complex, and many times the Word that came to him was bad news for the nation.  Yet he says, "When your words came, I ate them," though the "word" was difficult, hard, and condemning, he treasured it.

THE WORD
The Word of God does not come to us like it did for him, but we have the Bible as God's complete Word.

EAT
Who can say that when God speaks to them through the Bible that they eat it?  The prophet says, "I ate them," he consumed it; it was nourishment for him.  The Bible is spiritual, so it nourishes your soul.  You need to absorb as much of it as possible to stay fit spiritually.

To eat the Word is to give it time and effort. When something is a "joy and a heart's delight," it is something you like thinking about all the time.

We should

• Give God's Word a selected time every day.
• Take ample time to spend in the Word.
• Value the scriptures.
• Repent of sins that deafen you to the Word.
• Resolve to obey the instructions of the Bible.
• Allow the Bible to to get into you- have an effect.
• Meditate on the Word of the Lord.

A DELIGHT
The reason was that the Word was his joy and heart's delight is that he bears the Lord's name.  He carried the name of the Lord before the people and stood up for God's interest.  When the Word came to him, no matter its content, it was a blessing to him since he was serving God.  He loves the Lord. Therefore, he loves the words that come from the Almighty.  Without the Word of God, he could not bear the name.

BEAR THE NAME
The Word stops being a blessing when you fail to bear the name of the Lord before your community and friends.  When you stand for the Lord, His Word becomes effective in your life and becomes sweeter.  Service to the Father and the Word go hand in hand. You cannot be blessed in one without the other.

Think of it as obedience.  If you are not obeying His Word, you will not be blessed by His Word.

May you be blessed as you resolve to obey God's Word and to bear the name of the Lord before men.

If you have not received salvation and are ready to come to Jesus, see my other blog; follow this link: click here.

© Adron 10/3/09

Longing For Fruit In My Christian Life. Mark 4:13-20

We wonder why we are not growing as Christians. We have God, church, the Bible, and fellowship, but we are the same old people we have always been. Jesus said something about this and similar conditions.

"Jesus said to them, "don't you understand this parable? 13. ...The farmer sows the word, 14. ... some people are like the seed along the path, 15. ... Others like the seed in rocky places.16... Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19. but worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word making it unfruitful." Mark 4:18-19.

When we read this and think it is about others who have yet to give their lives to God, they should do so before they become the seed that is lost, or have no root, or choked by the thorns. But Jesus told it not to explain others to us but to point out truths about ourselves.

CHOKE

"Choke" is a frightening word; when something is being choked, it does not get what it needs to survive, like air or nutrients. It can happen slowly and may not be noticed until too late. In the parable, it is the slow kind of choke.

WORRIES

It is easy to see why after the years, we are still unfruitful. We have worries over marriage, children, and careers. We struggle in our efforts to provide for our family, retirement, and kid's college. We have fallen to the seduction of "Other things" that we see on TV and other advertisements.

FRUIT NEEDS DEEP ROOTS

How can we prevent God's Word from being "choked" out of our hearts? We must:

• Be open to God's Word.
• Allow God's Word to establish deep roots.
• Ask God to protect my understanding of the Word from Satin's lies.
• Resolve to adhere to God's Word even in trials and persecution.
• Pray and repent of those things that choke God's Word.
• Beware the seduction of things and money.
• Pray for God to reveal His Word.

TIME IS A FACTOR

On the other hand, sometimes seeds just take a long time to grow, and sometimes fruit takes a long time to mature. Even though you may not have much to show for it now, you may still hope to be as: "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." 20.

If you have not the fruit you long for, do not give up, and you will harvest a crop of blessing for yourself and many others.

© Adron 9/5/09