For the past few weeks in Europe the big news surrounding the soccer world has involved the sad story of Chelsea and England captain John Terry, who was found having a relationship with another man’s girlfriend. What complicates an already ugly scenario is the fact that the other man whose girlfriend John Terry slept with, has a child by this other man, and the other man was a teammate, both on Chelsea and England’s National Team.
Psalm 37:31 “The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.”
Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do your will O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
Today’s study continues our theme of magnifying the worth of Christ in our lives through a heart (substance or guts) that is devoted to Him and that therefore desires Him, seeking satisfaction in Him. That desire plays out in how, and how much we pursue Him.
In our last session we ended with this brief comment below, a comment that cannot be left as it is.
“A second means for stoking fervor in God is being in the Word, the Bible, daily. This must come as no surprise to even the most casual Christian. God has revealed Himself in a book, and if we remain ignorant of what is contained in these pages, we will remain ignorant of God Himself, and all of our thoughts about Him will be little more than vague and vain speculations.”
We are continuing to examine ways in which we can add fuel to the fire of our faith in God, arguing from the premise that God is more glorified by His glory being seen and rejoiced in, rather than by His glory merely being seen. This should be self-evident to every Christian, but it is not.
“But when the Pharisees had heard that He (Jesus) had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test Him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” Matthew 22:34-40
Today’s text is Psalm 84:10, a verse that is well-known in Christian circles through the song whose chorus goes, “Better is one day in Your courts than thousands elsewhere.”
In the ESV (English Standard Version) the verse reads,
“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
We continued our consideration of texts that lend support to the idea that God is more glorified when His glory is not only seen, but rejoiced in, that God wants not only our minds but also our hearts. Here are two we examined;
“O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed (happy) is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8
(These notes are an exerpt from a Bible study I led in December)
“. . . for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:13-15