This week let's take a Study 4 Meditation 4. Psalm 119 is rich and each verse can fill us with many reflections. Take your time and dive into this study prayfully.
Wow! There certainly is a lot in this Psalm and in this week! I have been going over my answers and comparing them to TK's to see what I missed. Also I have been thinking of the passage we have been studying on Wed. a.m.s 's..John 9 and keeping in mind what TK is saying about scripture . I /we do love this book of John , thirst for it and scour it for truth as he says . Sometimes I am not quite on the same page as he is , for example, he states "we are to experience absolute awe in our study of scripture"( ques#1 vs 48). I would change the "are to " to "we will" experience . My thought here is that it is a promise , not a demand . I am not certain that a study teacher learns more than anyone else, but I am thrilled every week by what the Lord has opened up to me and the women in the group . Recently we have dwelled upon Christ's reply to the disciples question about the reason the man was born blind ( John 9:3).." that the works of God might be displayed in him ". Look also at the second part of verse 7; "so he went and washed and came back seeing ". How simple and profound ! How many of us can relate here ?
I must say though , that when a passage impacts me like this one has / is , I do not think to praise the scripture ( although I am thankful for it and its revelation )but the God and the Son who are revealed, so I shall have to think further on this . Joyce
I think that when TK talks about praising the scripture he is in essence equating scripture with God our Father. Since this is really the most important way that we can discover Him. Of course we also get into a deeper relationship through prayer following our scripture study. There are some days that I still think about Hans and Graciala--those missionaries who were taken hostage in the Phillipines years ago---and wonder at how they coped with only scripture that was "hid in their hearts". As you may have remembered, Hans lost his life there in the jungle and Graciala certainly suffered intensely. But in interviews following her rescue she spoke of God's grace to her during those times and how memorized scripture became essential. We are raising a generation of children who do not memorize and adults who do not press it. I see this in our Sunday School. I do not have great lengths of passages put fully to memory, but the essence of many still come to mind because of what my parents instilled in me and the discipline they taught me through memorizing scripture. However, I still need to work on doing that---my memory skills have really fallen off !!
Well, TK certainly "hit home" with me when he talked about our inner orientation away from God's truth. I had let this week pass by filled with other things, not really delving fully into the study when really that should have been a priority. Psalm 119 is so filled with good instruction on how we are to conduct our lives. And we are living in times, worldly-speaking, that cause many to question what is going on and what will happen in the near future. This study reminds us to stay focussed on the Lord for He is where our hope lies. This is where I am praying for His help and strength, in staying focussed on His word and the teachings that are true and right.
I hear you Angela---this week was not my best either. I can get so easily distracted and wake up in the morning with my feet in running mode. We need to encourage each other in our spiritual disciplines. One way is certainly through this blog cell group and the other is through praying daily for one another. I really love you gals, my sisters in Christ. This week I was feeling kind of blue---missing Faith and wishing I could just talk with her again. But God reminded me through this Psalm of the many things that He and His scriptures provide for me---more than Faith ever could!! So although there are days that I desperately miss her companionship, just as Joyce misses her late husband and you Garrett, Christ in the end is more than we need!!
Thanks gals ! Kathy I can certainly relate to the waking up with feet in the running mode although this is something I have been trying to change . Most of the time even if there is much in my day I am learning to just let it be and thank God for the things he is revealing to me along the way . I believe that studying the book of John is helping me here but no doubt prayers of others are helping also .I will have to confess that I have been lazy about intentionally memorizing scripture so should work on that .I know how valuable it is to "hide it within our hearts ". I meant to only put the word "Amen" as my comment here as that is what came to me first after reading your last message. Kathy.
Psalm 119:41 says "May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to your promise." Let's pray this for each other as we are missing loved ones.
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One last try ......
Wow! There certainly is a lot in this Psalm and in this week! I have been going over my answers and comparing them to TK's to see what I missed. Also I have been thinking of the passage we have been studying on Wed. a.m.s
's..John 9 and keeping in mind what TK is saying about scripture . I /we do love this book of John , thirst for it and scour it for truth as he says . Sometimes I am not quite on the same page as he is , for example, he states "we are to experience absolute awe in our study of scripture"( ques#1 vs 48). I would change the "are to " to "we will" experience . My thought here is that it is a promise , not a demand .
I am not certain that a study teacher learns more than anyone else, but I am thrilled every week by what the Lord has opened up to me and the women in the group . Recently we have dwelled upon Christ's reply to the disciples question about the reason the man was born blind ( John 9:3).." that the works of God might be displayed in him ". Look also at the second part of verse 7; "so he went and washed and came back seeing ". How simple and profound !
How many of us can relate here ?
I must say though , that when a passage impacts me like this one has / is , I do not think to praise the scripture ( although I am thankful for it and its revelation )but the God and the Son who are revealed, so I shall have to think further on this .
Joyce
I think that when TK talks about praising the scripture he is in essence equating scripture with God our Father. Since this is really the most important way that we can discover Him. Of course we also get into a deeper relationship through prayer following our scripture study. There are some days that I still think about Hans and Graciala--those missionaries who were taken hostage in the Phillipines years ago---and wonder at how they coped with only scripture that was "hid in their hearts". As you may have remembered, Hans lost his life there in the jungle and Graciala certainly suffered intensely. But in interviews following her rescue she spoke of God's grace to her during those times and how memorized scripture became essential. We are raising a generation of children who do not memorize and adults who do not press it. I see this in our Sunday School. I do not have great lengths of passages put fully to memory, but the essence of many still come to mind because of what my parents instilled in me and the discipline they taught me through memorizing scripture. However, I still need to work on doing that---my memory skills have really fallen off !!
Well, TK certainly "hit home" with me when he talked about our inner orientation away from God's truth. I had let this week pass by filled with other things, not really delving fully into the study when really that should have been a priority.
Psalm 119 is so filled with good instruction on how we are to conduct our lives. And we are living in times, worldly-speaking, that cause many to question what is going on and what will happen in the near future. This study reminds us to stay focussed on the Lord for He is where our hope lies.
This is where I am praying for His help and strength, in staying focussed on His word and the teachings that are true and right.
I hear you Angela---this week was not my best either. I can get so easily distracted and wake up in the morning with my feet in running mode. We need to encourage each other in our spiritual disciplines. One way is certainly through this blog cell group and the other is through praying daily for one another. I really love you gals, my sisters in Christ. This week I was feeling kind of blue---missing Faith and wishing I could just talk with her again. But God reminded me through this Psalm of the many things that He and His scriptures provide for me---more than Faith ever could!! So although there are days that I desperately miss her companionship, just as Joyce misses her late husband and you Garrett, Christ in the end is more than we need!!
Thanks gals ! Kathy I can certainly relate to the waking up with feet in the running mode although this is something I have been trying to change . Most of the time even if there is much in my day I am learning to just let it be and thank God for the things he is revealing to me along the way . I believe that studying the book of John is helping me here but no doubt prayers of others are helping also .I will have to confess that I have been lazy about intentionally memorizing scripture so should work on that .I know how valuable it is to "hide it within our hearts ".
I meant to only put the word "Amen" as my comment here as that is what came to me first after reading your last message. Kathy.
Psalm 119:41 says "May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to your promise." Let's pray this for each other as we are missing loved ones.
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