Freedom is Good News Part 72

Sally and I are in the process of reading through the Psalms together.  Reading in God’s word by your self is always a good thing to do, but reading out loud with another is a wonderful way to gain understanding and share the blessings of God’s word.  The Book of Proverbs 27:17 says this, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  As one of us is reading, the other might ask to stop because something caught their eye: A discussion follows and both of us have learned something new. 

God’s word is amazing, in that when this happens, there is an inner joy that nothing in this world can duplicate.  My prayer for you, my readers, is that when you pick up God’s word to read the next time, you will find a brand new nugget of wisdom and knowledge and have this same joy. 

Do this sometime soon: fathers and mothers, read to the family in the evening after supper.  Turn the TV off, put down the phones and tablets, etc. and pick up God’s word.  Read to the whole family and make it a fun time!  But you’re not sure where to start?  Let me help with that.  Start with Psalm 66.  You don’t have to read the whole thing, then close the bible and let everyone go their own way.  No, just start with a portion of this Psalm – a few verses perhaps (you don’t want to overwhelm anyone); and close with a short prayer.  Perhaps the kids may even have a question or two for discussion.  Honoring God in this way as a family will reap some very precious blessings.

Well, let’s look at Psalm 66 and see what we may find:  “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!  Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious!”  This is verse one and two.  What a beautiful start to a Psalm.  We have three verbs here: shout, sing and make.  That first verb is expanded in the King James Version of the bible to “Make a joyful noise”.  First of all, I must confess, my northern European background seems to inhibit me from literally shouting for joy.  But I know that God hears my heart and in my heart I have often shouted to God with joy. 

The second verb is “sing” or as in the KJV “sing forth”.  Now here is where I can follow the instructions.  I like to sing!  I do not have a great voice but as someone once said, “God gave me this voice and He’s going to have to listen to it!”  God is pleased with song and especially ones that give “glory to His name”.  The Psalms have many places where we are admonished to sing.

The third verb is “make”.  But it is not just make anything, but “make His praise glorious”.  This is an interesting Hebrew word.  The basic meaning of “to make” is to “put something somewhere”.  And what does this Psalm tell us to put somewhere?  We are to put our praise for Him in a glorious way.

We will (God willing) look into this some more next time.

Freedom is Good News Part 17

Last time I mentioned that there are about 1600 pages in my bible.  I commented on how difficult it can be to comprehend all of the thoughts that God has given to us in His word; yes, nigh unto impossible to apprehend them all!  In one sense this is a very good thing and in another it can be quite frustrating.

Frustrating - because it can seem like an overwhelming task to even begin studying this huge body of work.  Have you ever gone into your garage with the mind set of cleaning up the mess and when you open the door and actually see the mess, your mind shuts down and you cannot even think of how to begin such a monumental endeavor?  If I cannot, in one lifetime, come to understand all the bible has to teach, why then should I even begin?

But on the other hand, I mentioned that this difficulty is a good thing.  Why?  There are two reasons.  First:  The joy that comes with this study is never ending.  The scriptures are like unto the ocean.  A small child of 2 or 3 can be filled with joy just sitting on the edge of the water and play in the four or five inches of water that come washing up at regular intervals; and the scientist who is writing his PHD thesis can take a mini-submarine into the murky depths several miles and study things never before seen by man.  In other words there is something for everyone!  Second:  This never ending study, gives us a clue as to the depth of understanding that our Heavenly Father possesses.  It causes us to bow before such an awesome creator and acknowledge how small we truly are.  There is no end to our enjoyment and study of God’s holy word! 

But where do we begin?  Well, when you walk into that garage that needs cleaning, you start with something easy.  The hammer that is lying on the floor?  Just pick it up and hang it on the hook.  When you get to that hook you’ll see that screwdriver on the bench.  Place it in the slot for screw drivers.  Under the screw drivers there are several dirty rags; place them in the trash.  I’m sure you get the point.  (And no I am not coming over to your house to clean the garage!!!)

Start with something simple.  The gospel of Mark is pretty straight forward, easy to read and is the shortest of the gospels.  Start with it.  Then go back and read it again.  This time have a notebook handy and jot down questions that come to your mind as you read.  These questions you might have can be a wonderful spring board to doing a short study of the scriptures.  OH!  One thing I neglected to mention, as you open up your bible, bow your head and ask God to guide you in your reading and your study.  These are His words and He knows all the answers.  Our Father delights to teach those of us who are interested in the things He has to say.

Until next time….