Category: God is good

Posted in Bible study, Come, Lord Jesus, Come, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

The Great Commission

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based on the Love God Greatly Study: Come, Lord Jesus, Come / w6d5

Scripture: The Road Map for The Journey
Matthew 28:16-20 / SOAP: 19-20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20. NET
Observation and Application from the Journey

This passage speaks volumes for itself! It is the climatic statement of Jesus’ mission and His final instructions for His disciples. In large part it is a message of “commission” to continue His mission of making disciples of all nations1 They are to do with others what Jesus has done with them. What they have learned from Jesus they are to teach and model to others from every people group; as Paul says in Colossians chapter three: “It doesn’t matter if they are Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free …”

Make no mistake, Jesus’ commission started with this face-to-face with the eleven, but it is clear that it was meant for all disciples who would come after them.

Followers of Jesus are to make followers of Jesus.

original source unknown

As we’ve come to the end of our present journey – Come, Lord Jesus, Come – that has been filled with these important instructions, we must not miss that the message also contains some of His final words of enduring encouragement for then and now: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” He is with us to the end of the age, He is with us when we are “going” to make more disciples, He is with us when we are afraid, He is with us when we are in need, He is with us in grief and in joy. He is with us while we wait on His return. He is always and forever with us! – Of course, He didn’t mean this as a literal. physical presence but rather in Spirit, for all who believe in Jesus receive the gift of His Spirit from God. The Spirit is our Advocate and Counselor, and His presence graces us with both peace and strength for all we face in this life/world.

“I have spoken these things while staying with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.

27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage.

John 14:25-27. NET

Prayer of Response to the Journey

Father, we wait for You – for Your perfect timing in sending Jesus to redeem His people. We wait to see His face and to be in Your presence. We wait with Hope and we pray for courage and obedient, yielded hearts to Your co-mission of us to carry the message of the Gospel to the world. We pray for Your help in living our faith out loud, in praying faithfully for the lost, in being ready with an answer for the Hope that is within us, We praise You for our salvation and the presence of Your Spirit with us – even to the end of the age! In the name of Jesus our Redeemer we pray and we watch and wait with hope and faith. – AMEN!

The More We Know: Side Trails along the Journey

From the LGG Journal – words of encouragement and of hope and beauty. May they be an inspiration to all who read them.

Jesus is with us to the end. We know our purpose. We know our mission. We are instructed to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Going out into the world means traveling to other countries, and it also means crossing the street or, in some cases, even the rooms in our homes. We need to share Christ with those near and far. We need to teach others God’s Word and how to obey it. That is more than just a conversion; Jesus wants us to disciple this generation.

When you think of the model of how Jesus chose to disciple His twelve disciples, you’ll see that He not only taught them God’s Word but also how to live it out. It’s not enough to know God’s Word in our minds; we must allow God’s Word to penetrate our hearts and change us from the inside out. God’s Word must impact the way we live our lives, the way we love, serve, and treat others. While this is all a process and takes time, we see that Jesus did life with and invested in a select group of twelve men. These men were far from perfect. They didn’t always understand Jesus, but Jesus never gave up on them.

Discipleship is hard. Discipleship takes time. But this is the command Jesus left us with: do as I have done. Numbers don’t matter. Pour your life into a group of individuals. Teach them God’s Word and how to obey it. Reach out to those locally and those at the ends of the earth. No one is too far from God. All are welcome at the foot of the cross. Jesus knew that the work He was calling us to was no easy task. But, He has promised us something that is a game-changer: He is with us always.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, thank You for the promise that You are always with us. Today, I pray for favor and open doors to share boldly with those near me and anywhere You might send me. Thank You for this opportunity to play a part in this amazing love story You are writing with our lives. Please open the hearts and minds of this generation to Your love. I pray this generation will turn from their sinful ways and turn to You. I pray for salvation for those who don’t yet know You, and I pray for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully through those of us who bear Your name. I pray for a mighty harvest like never before. I pray for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done. Until the day we see You face-to-face, we will pray, come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.

Have you heard the Truth? Do You know the Way? If not or if you’re not sure please take a minute to read “Know These Truths” – You might just be surprised how this Truth can change your life and renew you from the inside out! 🦋

Posted in Bible study, Come, Lord Jesus, Come, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time, Spirit

In a Whirlwind

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Based on the LGG Study, Come, Lord Jesus, Com / w3d2
Scripture: 2 Kings 1:1-18; SOAP verse 11

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. 2 Kings 2:11 NET

Observations and Applications for the Journey

Today, on our journey, we find ;the story of Elijah and Elisha, two of the most well-known prophets of Israel. Their impact led to revival among some of the Israelites during a dark stage of Israel’s history. You can read more about their story at Gotquestions.com. 1

There is much to be explored in these eighteen verses. For instance, Elisha’s character and his devotion to Elijah, or the miraculous parting of the Jordan river. I do encourage you to explore all of these and more in today’s, “The More We Know…” section; but for now we will focus on Elijah’s whirlwind departure, which included a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses, as well as the first of many miracles by Elisha, following his master’s death. 2

Like Enoch, from our previous post, Elijah was taken up without seeing death. I love that Matthew Henry points out that Elijah was not meditating or praying but rather continuing to go where the Lord led Him. Actually, when it occurred he was walking along with Elisha, “instructing and encouraging him.” – when suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared and Elisha watched, no doubt stunned by what he was seeing, he cried out “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” When he could no longer see Elijah, his sorrow was evident as he tore his clothes in two. Then, before returning to the Jordan he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen off him as he was taken up. When he reached the Jordan, similar to what he had seen Elijah do before they crossed over, Elisha took the cloak and hit the water and Scripture says “it divided and Elisha crossed over.” Those who saw what happened said: “The Spirit that energized Elijah rests upon Elisha.”

Don’t you just love, and I hope appreciate – the majesty and the drama of God and His Word?

From Today’s LGG Journal Entry

This is a portion of today’s LGG journal entry that I thought you might enjoy and find helpful in the application. For while we may never be taken up by a whirlwind that includes a fiery carriage and fiery horses – there are some things we can learn to put into practice as we wait for the Jesus to come …

  • There have only been three people recorded in the Bible who have been taken up into heaven: Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus (after His resurrection). All three times the being “taken away,” “caught up,” or “raptured,” happened a little differently but had the same effect.
  • Elijah knew his time to leave Elisha had come, and even though he knew the day, he did not know the hour of his departure. We know Jesus is coming soon because He has made it clear in His Word. We do not know the day or the hour, but God has let us know that the day is approaching. In the waiting, we must continue to do the work God has placed before us. We can look at Elijah as an example of how to live our lives while we are in the season of anticipation.
  • What we see in Elijah’s life are three ways to live our lives now. First, we need to walk forward in faith and not be afraid of what the future holds. Second, like Elijah, we need to invest in the next generation. And third, like Elisha, we need to honor those who have mentored and gone before us. Doing all three will help us live intentionally and effectively with the time we have left.
Prayer – Our Heart’s Response to the journey

Father, The imagery of Your Word is beautiful and engaging. The promise of Your coming and the encouragement to be about Your work – the work You have placed before us. Help us to live by the example of Elijah, living our lives while we are in the season of waiting. Help us to walk forward in faith and not be afraid of what the future hold. Help us and show us how to invest in the next generation; and to honor those who have mentored and gone before us. Help us to live intentionally and effectively with the time we have left – In Jesus’ name,, Amen!

The More We Know: Side trails for the Journey

Posted in Bible study, Come, Lord Jesus, Come, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

His Reward

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based on the LGG Study – Come, Lord Jesus, Come / w2d4

Scripture: Revelation 22:12-13

Look! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last , the beginning and the end!

True confessions … I am not one that has ever been comfortable with the topic of rewards in or for the Christian life, Don’t get me wrong, I know Jesus speaks of the rewards, and I do consider them an exciting part of what is to come, and let’s face it I would much rather be given His reward than the punishment unbelievers will face; however, I believe we must be careful to not focus on the reward and lose sight of the One who is bringing the reward with Him. Perhaps my aversion to the thought of earning rewards stems from my overly competitive personality. Board games, card games, sporting events, and nearly anything else that can be turned into a competition bring out the competitor in me … or at least it used to. At some point in the past several years (actually much further back than that), I realized just how obnoxious my overzealousness to win was – actually, I believe it was God who pointed it out to me, and He’s been working on me ever since. But, just in case you see me in overdrive in one of the aforementioned situations – please remember – God’s not finished with me yet. 😊💜

My point of sharing this less-than-flattering part of my testimony was simply meant to be a segue into the Love God Greatly devotion for today. However, when I read the Devo (after writing the segue), It let me know I’m not the only one who doesn’t like to talk about the idea of being rewarded for our good works/faithfulness. The devotion also helped me realize there might be more reason for my reluctance to dwell on the rewards to come. They suggest that because “we know we can never earn our salvation, a free gift from God, we tend to get nervous when the topic of rewards is brought up.” I don’t know that this truly applies to me as much as my competitive nature, but I do hope you’ll keep reading to see and be as encouraged as I was.

To be clear, our salvation is not a reward. It is a gift, not of works, so that no one can boast (Eph 2:8-9). You can read more about this in The More We Know section below.

Focusing on my future with Jesus helps me endure today.

LGG Journal: Come, Lord Jesus, Come / p 84

INTO THE WORD

In some of our Christian circles, we don’t talk much about this idea of being rewarded for our good works. I think it makes us feel uncomfortable. Since we know we can never earn our salvation, a free gift from God, we tend to get nervous when the topic of rewards is brought up.

But in Revelation 22:12–13, Jesus specifically says that when He returns, He will repay us according to how we lived our lives. What a comfort this promise is for those who have suffered greatly for the name of Jesus. It is encouraging to remember that nothing done for God is ever forgotten or wasted. Jesus sees the sacrifices made. He sees the injustices inflicted on those who have taken a stand in His name. He knows the things that have been taken from His people, and He has not forgotten. Because Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, He has seen it all, beginning and end, and nothing has escaped His notice. He will reward us according to our work.

When Jesus first came to earth, He came as a baby. When Christ comes again, He will come back as the roaring lion, ready to bring judgment upon the earth.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, thank You for being holy and good. Thank You for seeing it all. You never miss an injustice or heartbreak. Thank You for never wasting any hurt that I go through. Thank you for always bringing good and purpose out of my pain. Even though I pray my primary motivation for obedience will be my love for You, I thank You for the promise of Your heavenly rewards. I look forward to the day when I can lay them all down at Your holy feet. May I do everything for Your glory. Until the glorious day when I see You face to face, I will continue to pray come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.

The More We Know

Rewards for the faithful

The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our salvation; that matter was settled by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All our sins are forgiven, and there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24, emphasis added).

More on Rev 22:12

More on Rev 22:13

The Crown of Life

Second Corinthians 5:10 states: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” This is often referred to as the “Bema seat,” and is not the same as the judgment given to those who reject Christ. Unbelievers will be judged at the great white throne and be sentenced to eternal suffering in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15).

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Off the Beaten Path

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Today’s devotional is borrowed and shared from ourdailyverse.com

If I were to list my favorite ‘breath prayers,’ this verse would be among the top ten. I think I learned it because of my anxiety but it is a perfect mantra for busy days, difficult sittuations, weariness, and simply all of life in this world we live in. Try it with me … taking a slow deep breath in, whisper or think the words – “Be still and know,” then.- as you slowly exhale, think or whisper – “that I am God.”

Today’s ‘off the beaten path devotion is a beautiful explanation of this verse and why we should hide it in our heart – ready to quiet any troubling or unexpected situation that arises. Be sure and click on the pic below –

https://www.ourdailyverse.com/p/verse-day-psalm-4610-a84c

🙏 Verse of the Day: Psalm 46:10
Posted in Bible study, Devotion, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Off The Beaten Path –

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Day 5 – Celebration of Life Prayer 2.0

I posted this little blog on my 57th birthday five years ago. It was actually a prayer and one of the first prayer posts I shared under the category of “God is Good.” I have updated it to reflect my most recent birthday and share it here with you as a segue to the guest post by Ann Voskamp.

Celebration of Life / an edited post of July 20, 2019

God, you are good! You have blessed me with 62 years of life🎉 This number represents more than years of life. For it is also a reminder that …

  • through FAITH in Jesus Christ, I have known you as my God for 56 years – and
  • 35 years ago, You brought me to a fuller understanding of Your marvelous grace, which profoundly and forever changed my life1 – and
  • Since then,  I have been GROWING in the knowledge of Your grace and of my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ❤️ in the nurture and admonition of Your amazing, never-failing LOVE!

So, while I celebrate my birthday and am deeply grateful for another year of life – my greater celebration is in You!

  • I bow in worship and celebrate who You are and that You made Yourself known to me!
  • I bless and celebrate Your Name – Name above all Names –
  • I celebrate being adopted into Your family and known as a child of God!
  • I praise and celebrate You for all that You have done for me throughout these 62 years – You’ve protected, provided, and shown me Your kindness, love, and compassion. You’ve rescued me from pits of destruction and walked with me through countless valleys, and not once have You left me on my own —so I celebrate You and the day of my salvation 56 years ago!
  • again and again I praise and celebrate You for Your mercy and pursuit of this wayward lamb
  • and I celebrate the fuller understanding You have given me of Your life-changing grace and Your faithfulness to grow me up in the nurture and admonition of Your Love over the past 35 years!

When I was writing this post five years ago – a song from decades ago started playing in my mind – And will be my song of celebration every year of my life – not just for my celebration of years but even more for my celebration of life in Christ! 🎶

Listen to my birthday song. Then, I invite (and encourage)you to visit the link to Ann Voskamp’s blog. It is a wonderful musing of ideas and encouragement about God’s grace and the change that comes from knowing and embracing Him, the God who doesn’t change and can do the impossible.

Change is possible, when you embrace the God who doesn’t change and can do the impossible.

Ann VosKamp

The post is long but well worth the read – even if you read some today and some tomorrow …. How to Have a Better Second Half of Your Life

photo credits/Ann Voskamp

Clock - it's never too late
Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

Off The Beaten Path

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Day 3: Let’s Weave This Together”

Scripture: Psalm 20:1-5

In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry.
    May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
2 May he send you help from his sanctuary
    and strengthen you from Jerusalem.
3 May he remember all your gifts
    and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Interlude

4 May he grant your heart’s desires
    and make all your plans succeed.
5 May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory
    and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
May the Lord answer all your prayers.

Psalm 20:1-5

I have lived long enough, as I’m sure you have, to know that not all of the plans we make will succeed – at least not as we envisioned. However, as bibleref.com points out, “When we pray and worship God,  when we fully trust in the Lord and accept His will, He will guide us. David had not depended upon his own understanding as he prepared for battle. He had worshiped the Lord and sought the Lord’s will instead of his own (1 Samuel 23:1–2).” In order to not be disappointed in God when our plans do not succeed, we must understand that Ps 20 verse 4 is part of a congregational prayer on David’s behalf. When our desire is for the Lord’s will, we will be able to rejoice even when things don’t turn out quite as we planned or hoped.

Consider also these examples:

The apostle James counsels us not to plan what we will do tomorrow without seeking God’s will (James 4:13–15).

The Lord instructed Joshua to meditate on the Word of God and obey the God of the Word, and then he would be successful (Joshua 1:4–9).

Bibleref.com

Today’s devotion is from OurDailyVerse.com and offers much encouragement concerning our desires and God’s will: 

Our hearts often burst with desires—some God-given, others perhaps our own creations. But here's the beautiful mystery: as we draw closer to our Creator, our desires begin to align with His ultimate design. It's not about God being a cosmic vending machine, dispensing wishes. It's about Him lovingly guiding us to want what's truly best.

the rest of the post, borrowed and shared from Our Daily Verse, as received via email on 7/23/24 can be found at the link below –

https://www.ourdailyverse.com/p/verse-day-psalm-204-2ad7

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time, Spirit

Off The Beaten Path

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Speaking in Love Instead of Speaking Your Mind

This morning, long before I had spoken a word to anyone other than God, I was opening my devotion for the day. My morning devotions are not typically found in a book but in emails or texts from bloggers and speakers that I have found to be Scripturally sound. I love doing it this way since I also post a daily devotion, and I have found that it is good to glean from other trusted sources.

All of the devotions are beautiful reminders of God’s goodness and faithfulness, but some – like today’s – are filled with words of correction and/or reminders of His expectations for His children -corrections and reminders that sometimes come with a bittersweet “ouch” as you realize that the topic is something you’ve struggled with (or perhaps still struggle with).

If you’ve never had trouble with your tongue before – such as speaking before thinking instead of thinking before you speak… or tearing down rather than building up… or speaking the truth but not in love… or words of gossip, anger, unkindness, slander, hate, lies or… the list goes on, but my point is – If your tongue has never been used in any of these ways – then this devotion may simply be sweet encouragement, rather than the bittersweet ‘ouch’ I experienced. However, since James has declared the tongue to be an untameable instrument1, I would venture to say that at least one of these examples strikes a chord in your heart – reminding you of a less-than-spectacular use of your tongue at some point in your life – either way – I encourage you to read on. The author’s words may sting at first, but they are truth-filled reminders of God’s faithfulness to not only teach us His ways but to faithfully remind us of His expectations for His children … expectations like using kind, gentle, and true words. Our words are supposed to encourage and build others up and not tear them down or hurt them. As the blog points out, they are to be spoken in love – which is why this particular devo brought a bittersweet ouch for me – as I have not always used my tongue in accordance with God’s expectations.

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)

I hate to admit it, but I have struggled in the past with this untamable instrument. You see, my tongue has, at times, been quick to speak, and it has gone way off the grid of patience and self-control. So, despite the bittersweet ‘ouch’ of the author’s words, I find myself extremely thankful that this is the devotion God pointed me toward this morning. I am grateful for the loving reminder of His forgiveness and guidance and His patience to change me from the inside-out. I pray it will be a blessing of guidance and encouragement to you as well. 🦋

My prayer~ Father, the tongue is untameable - BUT You have given us Your Spirit who produces in us the fruit of the Spirit, including patience, kindness, gentleness, love, and self-control! So that we are without excuse to use our tongue for anything but good and encouraging. May Your love be evident in all we say and do. Let us not forget that our words have the power to hurt others or to point them to You. May we use our tongues to Your glory and honor - Amen!

–

Please don’t miss the following post, which is borrowed and shared from Encouragement for Today/A Proverbs31 Ministry blog received in my email 7/22/24 –

https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2024/07/22/speaking-in-love-instead-of-speaking-your-mind

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Psalm 119, Quiet Time

Run to God and His Word

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WHERE DO YOU RUN WHEN LIFE GETS HARD? / borrowed and shared from the LGG study of Ps 119

by WhitneyD | originally posted Aug 7, 2015 | 

I lay in bed next to my tender boy… the one who wears his heart on his sleeve. He feels it is unfair, but I whisper in his ear that his biggest struggle also has the potential to be his best gift. 

Help him to see it for himself one day soon, Jesus.

His high emotions serve him so very well when all is well. But when life gets hard? Well, he’s still learning how to navigate those rough waters. For now, he just wishes that he didn’t feel so much. Care that much.

He wants to see himself as God sees him, but it’s not always that easy – even with the best of intentions and in all of the trying. I get it buddy… I really do. Fair and right and easy living aren’t generally things this world hands out in abundance, and I haven’t seen a silver platter circulating the masses recently.

Ever feel like it would just be easier to run away from it all?

It starts out sounding like the best option – sometimes the only option. Only when we run, the hard still lingers within us. On this earth, no one escapes hard buddy. 

But hard has the most amazing potential when Jesus enters the picture…

___________________________

“Everyone is running somewhere,” I tell him. “But what you believe about God will determine where you run.”

May my cry come before YOU, oh Lord…

give me understanding according to Your Word.

May my supplication come before YOU;

deliver me according to Your promise.

~ Psalm 119: 169-170

trust

Doubt, fear, and shame tell us to run and hide. They tell us it would be way easier to stay in bed, to ignore that phone call, to throw our very own patented version of a temper tantrum and just plain refuse to show up.

But hard can also drive us to the cross.

Maybe hard has way more than just potential. Because of Jesus, what if hard suddenly became our greatest gift?

Hard strips away built-up pride and can lead us to a place of humility.

Hard crushes illusions of self-sufficiency and can push us to seek for a solution beyond ourselves.

Hard uncovers calloused hurts and shameful pasts and can awaken us to our need for forgiveness.

Hard exposes our deepest sins and can bring us to our knees in repentance.

Hard turns our eyes away from worthless things and can drive us straight to His Word…

… if we’ll let it.

The best time for new beginnings is now. You don’t have to run away any longer. Not because you’re suddenly stronger, but because you can run to the One who is.

Will the hard still come even after you lay it all down?

You betcha. But this time, you can turn the other direction and instead of running scared you can run in great confidence.

You can put on your brave face and embrace those waves, holding your head up high as you ride them straight into the arms of your Savior.

“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” ~ Spurgeon

God, your Word is a priceless treasure. Help us to run to it, for it’s there that we find YOU.

At His feet,

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Psalm 119, Quiet Time

Let Daily Praise Arise!

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based on the LGG Study of Psalm 119 / w8d1

Scripture: Psalm 119:161-164

Rulers pursue me for no reason,
yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions.
162 I rejoice in your instructions,
like one who finds much plunder.
163 I hate and despise deceit;
I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
because of your just regulations.

Psalm 119:161-164 NET

While our focus./SOAP is to be on the last portion of this passage, I couldn’t help getting caught up with the statement that the writer of the Psalm was more afraid of disobeying God’s instructions than he was of the authorities that pursued him without cause. It prompted the question, ‘Do I fear1 disobeying God more than I fear those who “pursue me for no reason,” or for that matter, all of the other concerns of life that strike fear and trembling in the heart and mind?” In other words, do I have more love and respect for God’s Word than I do for the dangers that threaten? –

When we fear God, we acknowledge He is holy and highly exalted the only One worthy of our worship and complete obedience.

gotquestions.org/fearing God

The second portion of today’s journey, particularly the declaration that he hated deceit and loved God’s law, brought more questions to mind. Namely, do I “hate and despise deceit?” If not, how can I then say, like the Psalmist, “I love God’s law?” For God hates a lying tongue. It is a “detestable evil to God, who is a God of truth.”2 To have anything but contempt for deceit is to disregard the Word, which is the truth of God.3

A lying tongue is one that speaks falsehood, knowingly and willingly, with an intention to deceive others. Lying can be used to impugn the character of a brother or to flatter a friend. It is a most detestable evil to God, who is a God of truth. Nothing we do causes us to more closely resemble the devil, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).

gotquestions.org/a lying tongue

The last portion of the verse presented me not so much with a question as with a challenge/inspiration to praise Him from the rising of the sun to its going down. Praise Him when you awaken, when you lie down, and all the hours in between. Look for reasons to praise Him. While I do not believe that seven times is a mandate, I do believe it represents a day filled with praise, and as we have seen from this Psalmist, in good times as well as difficult times.

The More We Know

For more insight, check out the links below as well as the Love God Greatly blog

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Psalm 119, Quiet Time

It Only Takes a Spark

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Psalm 119:145-160; Week 7 response/recap
My Response

What a great week it’s been in this week’s journey through Psalm 119! Hope…power…prayer…, and loyal love – these are all found and experienced and heightened in and through God’s Word! His true, righteous, and reliable Word is our strength in weakness, our light in darkness, our wisdom in life… our peace and comfort for fears and sorrows…and our salvation and victory over sin and death. There is no greater gift, and we must never waste it! 🦋

The following post is borrowed and shared from the lovegodgreatly.com site. I pray you will read the beautiful post and find a wealth of wisdom and encouragement from every word. Grow from it and share it as you are led – remember: it only takes a spark to get a fire going! –

passing it down to the next generation.

The precious Word of God, read and treasured…worth more than any gem or stone.