Based on the LGG Study, Abiding in Jesus
Read and SOAP: Psalm 1:1-3
Oh, the joys of those who do not
Psalm 1:1-3
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
This Psalm is a familiar one, and as such, it is easy to read through it without truly reading it. So I was surprised when I found myself writing down this thought in the margin of my journal: “Connect yourself to the sewer and you will look and smell like the sewer. Connect yourself to the Father, Son, and Spirit, and you will grow strong and healthy on streams of living water.”
Instead of aligning our lives with the world and seeking wisdom and nourishment from the malnourished, we need to root ourselves in God’s Word, the Living Water. Then, no matter the season, we are secure and stable because we are rooted and established in Him.
Abiding in Jesus, p79
Friends, where and with whom we spend our time, or what and with whom we listen to, matters. If you’ve bought into the notion that a verse a day keeps the enemy away or produces a strong, healthy tree, laden with fruit, then you’ve been duped. If we want to be like a tree planted by flowing streams and yielding its fruit at the proper time, if we want our leaves to never fall off and to succeed in all we attempt, then we must spend time with God, meditating on His Word day and night, and obeying His commands. Let’s be picky about who we seek advice from or confide in. Certainly, we are to live in the world and be a light in the darkness – but Paul warns us to let God transform us into a new person, by changing the way we think, so that we do not copy the behavior and customs of the world.
May God help us to drink often from the Living Water, stay rooted in His Word, and reflect Him to the world around us. Let us not succumb to the darkness but light it up with the love and reflection of Jesus.
The More We Know
When our lives are rooted in God’s Word, our joy no longer hinges on our circumstances but rather on obeying His commands. From the world’s view, our lives might look like a mess, yet we can remain calm, knowing that our Heavenly Father is working everything according to His perfect plan. It is in those hurricanes of heartbreak that should have uprooted us that we are able to stand grounded and strong. Our leaves and fruit will never dry up because He is the never-ending, always and forever Living Water.
Abiding in Jesus, p79
Me From the Inside Out 