This chapter starts out with an admonition to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God.” Not every teaching or spirit is true. There is a very important test which can be used to know if a spirit is from God, or not. “By this you know the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (4:2). The test does NOT say:
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and yet is fully God
that God has come in the flesh as Jesus Christ, taking on a human nature
that Jesus Christ came from some pre-existent state into the flesh.
We must be very careful to read the text for what it says and not read into it what it doesn’t say! The phrase “come in the flesh” means that Jesus the Christ (Messiah) is a real human being, not just dressed up like one.
1 John 4 is actually the “love chapter” in the Bible as love is mentioned 26 times, almost three times as many times as in 1 Corinthians 13 (9 times). A friend once read this chapter as a devotional thought on Valentine’s Day, and it stuck with me as the “love chapter.” So much so that when I read it last February 14th, I thought that maybe the children’s song could also go “Yes, God loves me, yes, God loves me… the Bible tells me so.” Ultimately, it’s God’s love that ignites our love for others through His Son, Jesus the Messiah. A key verse that summarizes this chapter of love showing how love is of God is verse 9. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to bethe propitiation for our sins.”
God took the initiative, motivated by love, to remedy our sin problem.
Knowing that “God is love” (4:8,16) should motivate us to love others. But the author is not calling for a hippie kind of “All you need is love, love”. He is admonishing us to a love of other “brothers” who believe that Jesus, the human Jesus, is the Messiah/Christ (5:1). This admonition to love is a call for unity among like-minded believers, because they are family as the children of God. The way we love other like-minded believers whom we can see demonstrates how much we love God, whom we can’t see. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also (4:21).
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (4:7)
Bill & Stephanie Schlegel
(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on Sept 17, 2019 – good enough to share again! Thank you Bill and Stephanie.)
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan chapters at BibleGateway.com here – Hosea 5-6 and 1 John 4
I John 3:2 reads in part, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and It has not appeared as yet what we will be….” It has not appeared as yet what we will be. I am now in my 50’s. If you are my age or older, you have had the pleasure to watch the kids around you grow up. When they were little, it was hard to imagine what they would become as adults. Some of those little kids that I knew many years ago have grown into wonderful adults. Even some of those irresponsible teenagers have done well for themselves. Some have become doctors, nurses, professionals, experts in their field, responsible caring parents, teachers and business owners. All I can say is “Wow.” This was hard to imagine when they were very young. “It has not appeared as yet what we will be…” We can’t yet imagine what we will become.
Of course, the 1 John 3:2 also adds, “…we know that when He appears , we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” This describes the transformation that we will experience at the return of Christ. One day we will find ourselves in the very image of Christ.
However, in the meantime, what will you become? How will you change and grow? John’s words here are hopeful and optimistic. It has not appeared as yet what we will be… The possibilities are great. God, in Christ, has put you on a road to growth and transformation and new discoveries. You will face joys and sorrows. You will suffer. You will be challenged. You will be tempted. You will have victories and defeats. Yet, the Lord is leading you to Him. It has not appeared as yet what we will be. So, go out and discover and find that very thing. Become the person that God has created you to be. Grow into the image of Jesus Christ.
-Pastor Scott Deane
You can read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Hosea 3-4 and 1 John 3
Have you ever had a broken heart? Perhaps, your first experience with a broken heart was as a child. That first crush was a “crushing” experience. You gave your true love a note: “Do you like me? Check yes or no.” The answer was “no” and you were devastated. Your heart was broken. However, broken hearts are not just for kids or teens. (How many of you parents had to console your teenager who was just dumped?) Broken hearts are for big girls and big boys too. I remember hearing the story of a woman. Her husband came home from work one day and simply announced, “I want a divorce!” There was no warning or reason given. His mind could not be changed. She was devastated. I also had a friend who arrived home to an apartment that appeared ransacked. He discovered that his wife had taken all her stuff and anything else that was valuable and left without a word. A few days later he learned that she had actually moved to another state. The divorce papers arrived in the mail. It is no wonder that there are so many country songs about heartbreak. In heartbreak, it is not only the pain of separation. It is also the message that you are not loved, that you are not good enough, and that you are not valuable to the one that you love. It is a personal injury and It hurts… bad! Did you know that God feels heartbreak?
Hosea was a prophet. Hosea had a message for the wayward people of Israel. However, his message did not merely take the form of words. Hosea’s message was found in his tragic life of heartbreak. God commanded Hosea to marry a wife of harlotry. In other words, Hosea was to marry a prostitute! He married Gomer, however, it was not marital bliss. Gomer was not a woman who was in the habit of being faithful. She pursued other lovers. In fact, Hosea had reason to doubt if the children born into marriage were even his. Eventually, Gomer ran away and became enslaved. The names of their children not only reflect the tumultuous relationship between Hosea and Gomer, but they also represent the strained relationship between God and Israel. The children are named “Jezreel” (a place of a massacre and symbol of the violence in Israel), Lo-ruhamah (No compassion) and Lo-ammi (not my people). The relationship between Hosea and Gomer was a parallel to God’s relationship with Israel at the time. For Israel had been an unfaithful wife to the LORD. The nation of Israel had forgotten their one true God and went off in pursuit of idols. They had broken God’s covenant by indulging in all sorts of immoral acts and by embracing violence and by allowing injustice. God was heartbroken. Hosea, in his sorrow, could see the heartbreak of God.
Now, if Hosea and Gomer were your next-door neighbors, what advice would you give to Hosea? You would probably sympathize with Hosea. You would say, “Forget that woman. Move on with your life!” However, the surprise in the book of Hosea is that God commanded Hosea to seek Gomer out and rescue her from her enslavement. In a strange twist of fate, Hosea “redeemed” or bought his own wife out of slavery and brought her back home. In the same way, God has not given up on us sinners. He seeks us out. He has sent His son to die on the cross for our sins that we might be redeemed. Also, we begin to appreciate the hurt and sorrow that God feels over the human race. For we have broken His heart. Yet, God still loves you.
-Scott Deane
Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Hosea 1-2 and 1 John 2
Imagine living in a country where the wider culture is not sympathetic to your faith. Perhaps, the world around you is even openly hostile to your Christian confession. At this very moment, there are countries around the world where it is dangerous to be a Christian. You might face persecution. You face social stigma and even penalties simply for being a believer. The government may even scrutinize every thing that you say and teach. Sermons would be submitted to government for their approval. You might become the victim of mob violence. These things where once isolated to countries on the other side of the globe. Now, even in Western democracies, Christian beliefs are coming under increasing criticism. Those who stand for truth are being libeled as “haters” and “bigots.” It takes courage to stand alone for the faith, to stand for truth when the whole world opposes you.
We are not the first to travel this road nor will we be the last. Our story focuses upon the courage of Meshach, Shadrach and Abed-nego. Along with Daniel, these three young men were taken from their home in Jerusalem to the city of Babylon. They found themselves in a strange place with strange customs. However, these young men wanted to honor the God of their fathers in this foreign land. They refused to defile themselves with the “unclean” food provided to them and instead ate vegetables and drank water (Daniel chapter 1). Because they made themselves an exception, they became exceptional young men. Their abilities were obvious to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and he appointed them to high positions within his empire.
Nebuchadnezzar erected a large golden idol on a plain near the city of Babylon. It was rather large at 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. It was covered in gold and glimmered in the sunlight. Nebuchadnezzar’s own ego was wrapped up in this creation. He arranged an elaborate event. All of his middle managers, lesser and greater bureaucrats, and all his officials were commanded to come to this image. It really became a test of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar himself. It was a mandated gathering. It was not optional! It was a day of much pomp and circumstance. When the orchestra began to play, it was the signal for all to bow down and worship this massive idol. If one failed to worship, they would be thrown into a furnace of fire. When it was discovered that Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-nego failed to bow down, Nebuchadnezzar, though angry, offered these three a second chance. Nebuchadnezzar threatened in Daniel 3:15, “…what god can deliver you out of my hand?” However, though respectful to the king, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-nego made it clear that they would not be unfaithful to the true God by bowing down to this vile image. In Daniel 3:17,18, they reply, “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and he will deliver us out of your hand O King. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you set up.” Whether they lived or died, they determined to be different than the rest. They would honor God. This is courage. Of course, we know that these three were rescued from the fire by an angel. Nebuchadnezzar did not have the final word. He was not, as he had claimed, all powerful. There is One who is greater than all. We remember that the final judge is not the government, or the mob, or the culture in which we live. God will always have the last word. He rewards those who are faithful to Him.
-Scott Deane
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Daniel 3 & 4 and Psalm 139-141
As we close our week of devotions together, it’s fitting to end with the words of David himself. Known for his incredible Psalms (though he surprisingly didn’t write them all), David is a perfect example of what it means to be a worshipper of God.
In the first verses of Psalm 138, we see David connect to Psalm 136. “Give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness”. David follows the pattern of thanking God for who he is before thanking God for what he had done in his life.
This is key. God didn’t have to do anything for you for him to be worthy of praise. He gave you life and breath. He gave his Son. He gave you the hope of eternal life. Our creator did it all. Regardless of the blessings he has brought to you in your life (which are awesome, please don’t misunderstand me), God has earned gratitude and praise from you. He deserves it. Don’t forget to show gratitude and recognize that he is God when you come before him in prayer.
David follows in verse three showing how God answered prayer in his life. This wasn’t the first, nor the last time David called and God answered, but I love how simple this prayer is.
“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” (v 4 Ps. 138)
How beautiful is that? I called and you answered. That is such a rich picture. David is wanting everyone to understand the power of prayer. More importantly, he wants God to know that David heard God answer his call. God wants to know when we recognize how he works and moves in our life. It brings him joy when we get it. It’s like a father seeing his kids opening up a gift he gave them. Our father loves it when we love the gifts he brings us.
Reading down, David proclaims that all of the kings that have heard God’s word shall praise you. I believe this is a calling to us as well All of us that have tasted and seen the works of God are called to sing his ways–because his glory is great.
But for us, we know more of the story than David did. Which gives us an even greater calling. We have the Son of Man who died on a cross, was raised from the dead, and sits at the right hand of God. Jesus gives us access to the throne room. He is our victor. Our forerunner. Our king.
Though David never met Jesus, he still understands the power that the anointed one holds…
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands. -Psalm 138:7-8
I can’t help but think that David is seeing a picture of the Christ at the right hand of God in this. As Jesus is a descendant of David, it is incredible to see the connection between these two men.
The right hand of God delivers us as well. How gracious and miraculous is that?
I have loved going through these scriptures with you this week. I hope your devotions continue to draw you closer to the LORD and his Son. I hope you feel inspired to praise and sing to our God. He hears each moment. And, he will answer your call.
Our final song is: See a Victory by Elevation Worship. Because, I think David would bring his drum and sing this one with us.
-Leslie Jones
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 137-138 and Daniel 1-2
I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. We are continuing in Psalms today with Psalm 136. Here, we see a proclamation of God’s great works for this people through history. The author expresses how the LORD struck Egypt and brought freedom to Israel (Ps 136: 10-11). That same God also parted the Red Sea, overthrew Pharaoh and his army, struck down famous kings, and gave the land of those kings to Israel.
The author is proving that the LORD is righteous and steadfast. The God of Genesis 1:1 who created all things endures forever. He ALONE is the God of Heaven. He is the one who performed those miracles the author exclaims in this Psalm. And, he is the same God that the apostles honored and praised. He is the same God that our Messiah, Jesus, relies upon, heeds to, and loves.
This same God will rescue you too. He isn’t finished yet. As long as you have breath in your lungs, God isn’t done with you. He gave each of us a purpose. It’s our job to bow low and follow his lead.
Start with giving thanks. If you take anything away from these devotions this week, I hope that you recognize that God has earned every ounce of gratitude and praise we can give.
After thanking him, remember this: “You are the only you God has.” (Sadly, not my quote. I wish I could take credit for this, but alas). This means that you have work to do! You have to walk through the seas God parts for you. You have to be willing to move. Be brave.
Today’s song doesn’t directly quote this Psalm. However, it encourages you to pray for God to move in your life as he did for the Israelites discussed in Psalm 136. Pray that God will mold you into the man or woman you need to be for him. He knows what’s best for you.
Listen to “Canvas and Clay” originally written by Pat Barrett. My favorite version is sung by Katie Torwalt (The live version). If you have time, listen to both!
“When I doubt it Lord remind me, I’m wonderfully made. You’re an artist and potter. I’m the canvas and the clay…“
-Leslie Jones
You can read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 136 and Ezekiel 47-48
This morning, we are reading Psalm 132-133. The author of these Psalms calls upon God to remember David, his afficitions, his praise, and the promises that God gave him. We get a taste of David’s endurance and God’s faithfulness to him and the people of Israel.
I read these scriptures as a prayer. This author is intimate and transparent. They desire for God to rise up for them. And he is specific about it. He asks God to remember the promise he gave to David and to keep going. Wow. I admire the spiritual confidence of this author.
The idea of calling upon God in this way is tricky. We should never go to God with demands and tell him what to do for us. “Okay, God. You WILL do this.” Nah… I don’t think that will get us anywhere. We can never forget the privilege it is to be able to sit at our Father’s feet and pray to him. We can thank the Messiah for that–along with so much more.
However, I think this Psalmist is doing something right. He is praying in a way that we likely don’t do enough. We praise God for what he did, what he’s doing, and what he WILL do.
The LORD wants us to remember. Hebrews 1 is another amazing biblical example of this idea. The author of Hebrews exclaims the faithfulness of so many of those that came before him–all to the glory of God.
By the author asking God to remember David, the author is expressing to God that he believes, relies, and wholeheartedly trusts in him to work and move. The author is expressing that he is right where David was–open and available to God.
I want to pray like this. I want God to know that I am excited for him to fulfill the promises he made to the men and women who walked with his Son, our Lord Jesus first. I want him to know that I am making him my resting place as they did. I will always remember.
Our God never fails. He is faithful. He is true. And he always will be.
Today’s song is Faithful Now by Vertical Worship.
-Leslie Jones
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 132-133 and Ezekiel 43-44
Today, we will be reading from Psalm 126, 127, and 128. Wow, what an incredibly rich set of scriptures. As a worship leader at my local church in Nashville, I am always convicted to meet God in a deeper place when I read Psalms. These authors understood the honor and glory that worship brings to the LORD.
I am in awe of the authenticity and vulnerability of these authors. I have always wanted to be able to worship like David — I hope to worship with him in the Kingdom.
These specific Psalms are short in nature but packed for exaltation and prayer to God. I was specifically drawn to Psalm 126.
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;” -Psalm 126: 1-2
Have you ever been filled with so much joy that you can’t help but laugh? It’s the feeling where in that moment nothing else matters. All of the anxieties, worries, and struggles vanish in that brief time. I would like to think of this as a taste of the kingdom– where joy will be at home every morning.
Today, my message is simple and short. Be a dreamer in God. Pray that he draws you closer to him. Pray for his plans for you to be made evident! And when he shows up (He is never late afterall), remember to give him the glory he is owed.
Our God is a doer of great things. He has done so much for you. From raising his Son from the dead to bringing breath into your lungs, God has worked in your life. And he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Today’s song is “Great Things” by Phil Whikham. Is it theologically perfect? No. However, I believe it expresses the heart and mind of the author of Psalms who was brought to laughter from God’s providence. Yes and amen.
-Leslie Jones
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Ezekiel 39-40 and Psalm 126-128
While we have been thinking about the importance and beauty of God’s word in Psalm 119, we have also been reading Ezekiel. I want to lead you on a speed run through Ezekiel 25-36.
For the most part, Ezekiel is given a message of judgement against the nations. These nations are those who have harmed the people of God. Many of the Minor prophets got similar messages which could be summed up in modern words as, “You have hurt and abused God’s people, and he will give you justice.” The nations that are judged in these chapters are Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt. He spends quite some time on both Tyre and Egypt, and even speaks to their kings directly. The praise he gives in his lamentations over these nations is rather grand. Read Ezekiel 28:11-19. God had blessed the King of Tyre, given him so much, and yet look how far he fell! I hope you can see why a number of people have thought that God started talking about Satan here; an angelic powerful force from the beginning of the world falls to the pit because of pride. I don’t think the text is specifically talking about Satan, but that the King of Tyre represents the satanic spirit and lives his life parallel to the Satanic fall. In these laments, I don’t think God is necessarily mocking their fall. I don’t think he wants to bring the evil back on their head (see 36:11), but the nations and their rulers acted pridefully and never sought the good of his people. God does not allow that to go unpunished.
And so God sends in his man. So now we get to see the Israelite King or General or War Hero who vanquishes his foes and becomes King over the Kingdom…
Right?
No, God didn’t work that way. God instead says, “I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon and put my sword in his hands.” (30:24) God used Babylon. The same Babylon that would later take his people into captivity, the same Babylon that would later be used as the image of the proud nation, as the one who exiles the people of God. What is God doing using Babylon?!
He’s doing what God always does; His will.
God is smart enough, wise enough, powerful enough, good enough, loving enough, to take all the broken pieces and people in this world, with their free will and desires and urges and traumas and prejudices and hatreds and pains and hopes…
And God can use it for the good of his people
and the working of his plan.
Babylon acted in freedom, maybe even sin, and God can take that and make it work for him.
God can give true freedom to love him or reject him, to walk in righteousness or sin, and he can still work out his will in people.
You have this freedom. In Ezekiel 33:10-16, God tells his people, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Are you living a life of wickedness, separated from God? I stand, like Ezekiel, as a watchman(33:7), begging you to see the truth. To turn from that sin and live! If you choose to believe in the God of this prophecy, the God of the Torah, the God of all Scripture, who gave us these words and the Word, made flesh in Jesus Christ, If you choose to follow him, then the promise from Ezekiel 36 will happen in you. “ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” (25-28)
May you trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ.
May you turn from sin and judgment.
May you turn to righteousness, hope, and love.
May you have YHWH, the one true God, be your God today.
May you all be the people of God.
-Jake Ballard
Jake Ballard is pastor at Timberland Bible Church. If you’d like to hear more from him, you can find Timberland on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TimberlandBibleChurch/ ) and on Instagram (https://instagram.com/timberlandbiblechurch?igshid=t52xoq9esc7e). The church streams the Worship Gathering every Sunday at 10:30. Besides studying and teaching God’s word, he is raising three beautiful children with the love of his life, loves Disney (especially the princess movies), and believes that Christmas music is acceptable from the first Sunday in Advent to January 6th. If you’d like to reach out to talk Bible, talk faith, or talk about your favorite Christmas Song (and why Mariah Carey sings it), look Jacob Ballard up on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jacob.ballard.336 ) or email him at jakea.ballard@yahoo.com. God bless you all!
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Ezekiel 35-36 and Psalm 120-122
Before you click away, don’t be scared, turned off, or apprehensive of the words “spiritual discipline”! It’s a shorthand term for something like “the practices and habits that, when performed in love for God, move our hearts and minds to such a place that God can change us.” You can see why “spiritual disciplines” is easier. Psalm 119 has, implicitly and explicitly, four of these practices running through the text. If continually done, these practices and habits can put us in a place to live the best kind of life, the kind of life God wants us to live.
Prayer
First, the psalm itself is a prayer. The psalmist is constantly calling on God. God is the “you” in the psalm. “You have ordained your precepts” and “By keeping it according to your word” are both ascribing worth and prestige to God. He is the God who gives precepts. He is the God who gives his word. The ground of every discipline is prayer, speaking to God and allowing space for him to speak back. In verse 147 this is the most clearly said. “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.” The psalmist speaks and is ready to listen. The psalmist has cultivated a prayer life in God as he opens the pages of the Torah and begins to read.
Bible Reading
Second, an extremely important spiritual discipline is Bible reading. While we should be open to hearing God’s voice in a miraculous vision from heaven, in speaking in tongues, and in prophecy (all which may have a place in the Christian life), the most common and most sure way to hear the words of God is to open a Bible and start reading. What an amazing gift it is that we can do this on computers, tablets, and in our homes. The psalmist would have to wait to go find a scroll in the temple to be able to read or hear the words of the Lord. The psalmist delights in the commandments of God. (See verse 47) Twice in two verses (47-48) he says that he LOVES the commandments of God. How can we love a book we never read? The psalmist knew that the only way to ground his life in truth was in God’s words. “Your Law is truth.”(142) He also knows that it’s not just a truth “out there” that we assent to and merely know, but truth that we can live by. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”(105) Do you read the word of God to know truth and to know how to live truly?
The third and fourth discipline is also founded on this one. Simply reading God’s word is necessary to be able to spend more time with it.
Biblical Meditation
And spending time with God’s word is the way to define “Biblical meditation.” Meditation has grown in popularity in the west in the past few years. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Yoga, meditation is quieting the inner voice so that enlightenment and oneness may connect you to everything else. (At least, that is the claim of these philosophies and beliefs.) In these practices, one wants to detach and empty oneself from the world. In modern, western meditation, self-emptying is a part, but so that one can fill up with visions of the future they would like to make manifest, or they speak words of affirmation over themselves. You focus, but the focus is on you.
In Biblical meditation, you engage your mental faculties on God. You pour over his words. You take words into your mind, but so that they can travel the 18 inches from you brain to your heart. “I will delight in Your commandments, which I love. And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Your statutes.” (47-48) The psalmist loves God’s word, so he wants to allow them to rumble and roll around in his head and heart. Meditation is allowing the words to tumble in your mind. To read with love is different than to read to understand. When I read a love letter from my wife, I don’t parse every word to make sure I have the proper tense of the verb. But I do mull over the words in different ways. Each turn of phrase leaves a sweet taste in my mouth as I sound them out. When we were apart before we got married, every “I miss you” text felt like a dagger. And the same is true for the words of the Torah. We mull them over and feel the pain when we are no longer with the Father who loves us and the God who made us. The psalmist in his delight of God meditates. “I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” (15-16) It seems the psalmist reads early in the day so that the words can be there all day long. “How I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the day.” (97) And meditating on God’s word, focusing on his words to the exclusion of everything else, is both facilitated by and facilitates the final discipline.
Bible Memorization
How many verses of scripture do you know?
Did you know that by 10-13, most Jewish boys were expected to memorize the Torah?
Someone said recently “Well, they memorized their whole Bible!” And I said “Yes, but it was shorter!”
But, I don’t have the Bible memorized, not even an entire book. I do have sections down, many verses memorized. But I could always learn more.
Meditation helps memorization and vice versa. When we read a verse in the morning and spend time thinking about it, and allow it to be the focus of our thoughts through the day, then we will have an easier time memorizing. If we memorize verses, then we will be able to have then stick in our heads.
The psalmist clearly did this. “I have treasured Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You.”(11) The psalmist treasured up the words of God in his heart, meaning they were not just known but acted out. BUT, to be acted out, they must be known, memorized. In the midst of temptation the psalmist wasn’t fumbling around for a Bible, or a scroll. “The snares of the wicked have surrounded me, but I have not forgotten Your Law.” (61) The way of life was know to them. He understood that it was vital to memorize God’s law. It was life or death! “My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your Law.” (109) He knew that following the words of God was because God was the one who gave him life through his birth (73) and the one who gave him new life every day. (93)
Brothers and sisters,
May you connect with God through prayer in a new and powerful way today,
May you hear his voice as you read his words, in this and every book of the Bible,
May you hold his words in your mind,
And as you have them memorized, may they transform your heart.
Seek Grow Love 