Posted by: pastorapbell | June 25, 2010

As we keep the words of the Lord guarded in our hearts

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:11 NIV).

heart with hinges

As we keep the words of scripture in our hearts they steer us away from danger and from doing the wrong things even for the right reasons. The psalmist knows that given the right circumstances and without the restraint of a living conscience, we will always do the wrong things.

It is our consciences that rain us in ensuring that we do the right things for the right reasons. It is for this reason and this reason alone that we are encouraged to treasure the words of the Lord so that as a result we will not sin against him.

Sin is still the big problem. It was many years ago and still is, and can simply be defined as disobedience. The problem we face as a society is this: not knowing what God requires of us, dictates that we just do not know where the lines of demarcation are. And not knowing what God say about particular conditions causes that line between sin and right living to become sullied.

It is for these reasons, i.e. having a clear picture of where the lines are, so we do not cross over them, that the psalmist informs us of the importance of keeping the words of scripture in our hearts so that we do not err. To make the word come alive we can:- sing the word; put them on the walls in your bedroom; recite them as part of your daily devotion. Take copious amount daily so that you know and understand what God has said, is saying and will say. If you treasure them in your heart, then the propensity to sin, that is to disobey them is greatly reduced.

Today’s question is: how can young person keep his way pure? Answer: By living according to the word.

Read Psalm 119:9-16.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 24, 2010

As we hide the word of the Lord in our hearts

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105 NRSV).

the light of the world

As we discussed earlier, references to the heart is notionally talking about the centre of our being, but practically talking about our minds. Our minds are unique among all living creatures. And controls our language, speech, how we remember, imagine and perceive the world. And for me, these are the very reasons why our mind must be renewed when we are saved from ourselves and to the Lord.  

Our memories play a huge part in our humanity. This is why we have so many rituals and focal points in scripture. Here are just a few; we have the rainbow as a memorial to us that God will never destroy the earth again with a flood. The next time you see a rainbow, think of the devastation of the flood during Noah’s time and thank God that he is true to his word.  We also have the various Jewish feasts such as the feast of Passover. This reminds the Jewish people of their passage from slavery to the Promised Land. And so every time they celebrate the Passover they remember the pain of slavery and celebrate the miraculous deliverance of their God. The act of remembering makes us human. Without the ability to remember, we lose the essence of what it is to be human and may revert to acting like some animals and carry out inhumane acts. 

It is for this reason that we are encouraged to renew our minds and think like Jesus did (Philippians 2). When we do, we are able to forgive those who use us and despitefully abuse us. Be reconciled to those who are estranged from us and praise God for the fact that we can remember that his mercies are from everlasting to everlasting and it is he who punishes those who are wicked and not us.

Read Psalm 119:105-112.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 23, 2010

as we guard ourselves against a heart attack.

Your words have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against you (Psalm 119:11 NKJV Paraphrase).

When the Psalmist uses a phrase like this we should recognise that he does not literally mean putting the word in the physical heart. What he is conveying is this: the word of the Lord is placed in the innermost part of the human being,

broken heart

the control centre, from which our character is determined. This is the mind.  It is here that all major decisions are made and actions taken. Our most precious asset is our minds. When we lose our minds we lose the ability to reason and hence we become unreasonable or even vegetables. Not that reason is our guide, but that we are able to make conscious decisions and take a stand.

The writers of the sacred text we live by had the notion that the heart, the organ on the left-hand side of the body, was the centre of the human being. Therefore all their speech was centred on that organ. So Jesus is quoted as saying “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:24) ; and the apostle Paul says “with the heart man believes and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

For the psalmist then, when the word is placed in our control centre, our lives are regulated by it. On the contrary if we are ignorant of the word, we are judged by that ignorance and in ignorance we are condemned. This is why time and time again in scripture we are encouraged to keep our hearts clean, Psalm 51:10, and reminded that we will be blessed and we will see God if we have a pure heart, Matt 5:8.

Today hide the words of the Lord in your heart, that is, read the word and meditate on them, for they shall keep you in times of trouble.

Read Psalm 119:1-13.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 22, 2010

As we remember that all God wants from us is our worship!

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34:1 NRSV).

Praising God at all times requires an enormous amount of discipline. The “ALL” suggests that even when things are really bad, the onus should be on us to praise God. And there are valid reasons for developing an attitude of gratitude. Until you encounter the truth of God’s word and see with your natural eyes the things that are orchestrated through his divine favour, you will not understand why the psalmist makes such a statement.

Praise is a deliberate act of using your vocal cords to make a noise. In the current sporting climate many people are doing this to praise and worship eleven representatives of their country who are chasing after a small ball with the determination of getting it in the opponents net. Some are so passionate that they have saved up thousands of Pounds/Dollars/Francs or Euros to travel thousands of miles to offer up their praise and their worship to these demi-gods.

For us who follow Jesus, it is imperative that we develop the attitude to praise him continually.  This should be regardless of our circumstances. V.18 tells us that the Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves those whose spirit is crushed. Our God is a God of the oppressed, who delivers those who call to him in desperation when they have nowhere else to go.

Today, learn to praise him regardless until worship comes, and worship him until his glory is manifested in your situation. He will come in power.

Read Psalm 34.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 21, 2010

As we bask in the graciousness and mercies of the Lord

The Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 145:8 NRSV).

hold on to God

When we develop the discipline of living close to God there are certain attributes that we become aware of immediately. Unlike other faiths, our God is a merciful God.

He does not require us to sacrifice our children or loved ones to appease him; indeed it is he who takes the bold step and makes the sacrifice on our behalf. So while we were yet sinners, that is we were still doing the wrong things and living for ourselves, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). It is these acts that demonstrate the mercies of God. He is willing to die for us so that we should live for him! The fact that the Lord is gracious to all dictates that all humanity can have access to the mercies of God.

Compare this with Buddhism. To achieve Nirvana, or the end of suffering, Buddhist followers must follow the Noble Eightfold Path as set forth by Buddha over 2,500 years ago. The eight steps of the path form the fourth truth of the Four Noble Truths, which are among the most fundamental of Buddhist teachings. A follower of Buddha must follow the eight steps to achieve release for the cycle of perpetual rebirth.

For followers of Jesus we are encouraged to develop our faith in God so that his steadfast love can keep us while we are alive and when we eventually leave this earthly tent we shall be with him in glory!

We only have to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe his words, walk in the Spirit and live life to the full!

Because the Lord is gracious and merciful, let us do what he has called us to do. That is to live justly, love mercy and walk humbly before our God today.

Read Psalm 145:8 and Romans 5

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 20, 2010

As we learn to discern

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass (Psalm 37:4-5).

Who are you listening to?

As we grow in our spirituality we must of necessity learn to discern the difference between the voice of the Lord and that of the devil. Too often we get our stuff together and then tell God what we have decided to do. So because we are good speakers and can use our gifting sensibly, we trust in our abilities rather than in what God says.

God is a God of order that is, there is a definite structure about the way he does things. Once we stop relying on him and start to rely on our own strength and abilities, then he will just let us get on with it. This is why the psalmist encourages us to do the following:

  1. Delight ourselves in the Lord. This means that we must find our pleasure, our joy or our fulfilment in the Lord. Then he will give us the desires of our hearts. We can be the smartest cookie in the pack, but if we do not find all our pleasures in the Lord, then we will get eaten.
  2. Commit our ways to the Lord. Many Christians today are walking in rebellion because they do not want to be under authority. Anything that starts in rebellion will constantly rise and fall like a roller-coaster.
  3. Trust also in him and he will bring it to pass. When we trust the Lord, we do not have to struggle for things to happen or for him to bring us to make the right connection. When we are in our rightful place and are walking by faith, then God will change things around so that we get the favour we deserve.

Today learn to discern the voice of the Lord and like young Samuel, whose name mean the God who hears, listen to what he says.

Read Psalm 37 and meditate on the above verses.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 19, 2010

As we ascend the hill of the Lord

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? (Psalm 24:3).

The Hill of the Lord

As we have determined earlier, when we are in Christ in God, we are in a place of safety. Not only are we in a place of safety, we are in a place where we can clearly see the enemy and mitigate against all his plans. This is why the psalmist describes the Lord as the ‘strong tower’ or the ‘hill’ or the ‘place of refuge’. And we cannot get to this place just like that. 

There must of necessity be a cleansing. ‘Only those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who have not lifted up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully’, can ascend into the hill of the Lord.

For all of us to gain protection that comes from the Lord, so that he can be our hiding place or our shelter, we must divest ourselves of the things that sully our hands and our hearts. Things like, malice, rage, anger, deceit and falsehood.  Then and only then can we say like the psalmist to ourselves, ‘lift up your heads o gates and doors and let the king of glory come in.’

Today for us to become clean we need to ensure that we are washed in the precious blood of Jesus. This is achieved by washing ourselves with the word and following what the Holy Spirit directs us to do!

Read Psalm 24

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 18, 2010

As we look to the hills from where our help comes from

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).

Hills of Jerusalem

When the Lord is our hiding place we will look to him for everything. In ancient times it was almost a criminal offence for a slave to look their masters in the eye, or to turn their back to them when retreating. And even today in countries where this mentality is still prevalent people would look down when shaking your hand or retreat backwards when leaving your presence.

From our passage today we see here the psalmist encouraging his hearers to lift up their heads and look the hills, presumably of Jerusalem, where their help comes from. Because Jerusalem was a place where the Lord lived, the people of God made it their task to make regular journey’s there or if they could not get there then they would look up towards Jerusalem, the city of peace.

When Mary found out that she was chosen to bring the Messiah into the world, she looked to Jerusalem, the hill where God lived, and exclaimed; My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in the God of my salvation” Luke 1:46.

It was in the temple of Jerusalem that Jesus would be presented as a child, where as a man he would drive out those who were profiteering in it and where he would be condemned and later killed. 

Today we also need to look up, but not to a place or a religious system but to the invisible all knowing Yahweh and his son Jesus who came down so that we can go up!

Read Psalm 121 and Luke 1:39-56

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 17, 2010

As we walk with integrity with the Lord

For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways (Psalm 91:9-11 NKJV).

Angels Are Watching Over You

The benefits of walking with the Lord are enormous, but it is predicated by us putting total trust in him. We are encouraged by the Psalmist that we shall be kept in all our ways when we make the Lord our hiding place.

As we have gathered before, this Psalm was probably written as an encouragement to those who were going to ‘spy out the land’ to give them a sense of hope when facing their enemies, who turned out to be giants.

However, on closer examination we notice that these are the same words that were used by the devil in his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness just after he had finished his 40 days of fasting (Matt 4:6b). So we see that when we get into a place where God’s presence is, the devil will always come after us. And unlike the ten spies we must recognise who is greatest. Although the devil may present himself as something huge and as someone who can quote the scriptures, once we are in that place of intimacy we can say like Jesus did, “don’t try to temp me satan, because I know in whom I trust”.

So today as you get closer and closer to God, be aware that your enemy the devil will never give up in trying to trip you up. But be like Jesus; don’t get angry use your weapon, the word!

Read Matthew 4:1-11 & Psalm 91:9-12

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Posted by: pastorapbell | June 16, 2010

As I make the Lord my dwelling place

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways (Psalm 91:9-10).

A place of refuge

Making the Lord your refuge suggests that it is to him you run to in times of trouble and despair. It is obvious that there will be times of trouble and times when the evil one comes near to us to derail what God has called us to do. It is at these times when doubt and anxiety sets in and like the fledgling nation of Israel escaping from the clutches of the evil king of Egypt, once he seems far enough away we soon forget the bitterness of slavery and argue to return to the ‘easy’ life of bondage.

The journey towards the fulfillment of what God has called you to is fraught with danger. On the one hand we can become so busy fighting the surrounding enemies that we forget that we are on a journey and there is a destination, which is not where we are now. Our journey like that of Israelites through the wilderness, dictates that we will face many types of adversaries who use different methodologies to fight. However, their aim is the same; to keep us from getting to where God has ordained for us to be. That is to make him our dwelling place! To be in that secret place where he leads and guides us! Where our motives and pure and our trust is in him alone; where we recognize that there are angels watching over us, even though we can’t see them. This is the thin place, the place of refuge, the secret place.

However, if we use our intellect and our initiative to get ourselves out of sticky situations we put God on the subs bench and he will stay out of the game until we are injured or exhausted.

If we make the Lord our dwelling place today, His angels will watch over us and His Spirit will lead us to become more and more like Jesus.

Read Psalm 90 &91

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