Open my eyes

Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in Your instructions.” [NLT]

There are wonderful truths in the Bible but they are not available to the person with their eyes or hearts closed. We can read the Bible with unseeing eyes for the truth. But there are wonderful truths available to the person seeking the wisdom and instruction and applying it to their own lives.

Prayer: O God help me to study and meditate on Your Word with my eyes, and heart, and will open to Your truth and its applications in my life.

Henry Luke  Psalm 119 Links to “Notes, Book link, Advertisement Disclaimer”

Live and Obey

Psalm 119:17 “Be good to Your servant, that I may live and obey Your word.“

David  ^[B] asks all-powerful God to be good to him. Many times in the history of David in the Bible David turned to God for help. The goodness David asks for may be his life because “that I may live” is the next part of the verse. David’s reason for the request “obey Your Word”. David was serious about obeying the commands of God.

Am I serious about keeping the 52 commands of Jesus in the New Testament? Ask God for help!  ^[A] 

Henry Luke  Psalm 119 Links to “Notes, Book link, Advertisement Disclaimer”

I will not forget

Psalm 119:16 “I will delight in Your decrees and not forget Your word.” [NLT]

In v.15 David said I will meditate on Your Word and in v.16 he said I will delight in Your Word. Our prayerful meditation will lead to delight in the Word. What do you and I delight in the most: family, job, church, house, car, church, sports team, Jesus, His inspired Word, etc.? Be brutally honest because Jesus your Advocate and Intercessor at the right hand of God knows the correct answer [1 John 2:1].

One of my favorite verses is “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” [John 14:15 ESV] We have to delight in His commandments and not forget them for a Disciple to keep His commandments because he loves Jesus.

Will we delight, remember, and keep His commands because we love Jesus?

Henry Luke  Psalm 119 Links to “Notes, Book link, Advertisement Disclaimer”

Reflect on the ways of Jesus

    

Psalm 119:15 “I will study Your commandments
and reflect on Your ways.” [NLT]

I will make a daily habit of studying the Word of God with an emphasis on His commands and promise. I will meditate and apply them in my life. I will consider the ways of Jesus during His 3-year ministry on earth.

He was humble, forgiving, cared for the poor, and never turned children away. He loved His friends and His enemies and spent all night praying. He maintained an intimate relationship with His Father and promised the Holy Spirit to inhabit all believers in Jesus after He returned to heaven.

Some things for us to reflect on and apply in our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Henry Luke  Psalm 119 Links to “Notes, Book link, Advertisement Disclaimer”

Gods Marvelous Design of our Body and Soul

H- ^[X] Proverbs 4:23-27… ²³ Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. NASB

E- When God made humans in His image He created very complex and marvelous persons with tremendous abilities.

There are four terms used in the Bible for the immaterial invisible soul: soul, spirit, hidden person, and inner self. ^[A]  

The Bible also uses terms that describe five functions of the invisible soul:  

• mind [ability to think and reason – I ought to],
• conscience [moral control center – I need to],
• heart [emotional control center – feelings – I want to], ^23b for from it [the heart] flow the springs of life. It is apparent from the 767 times heart is used in the Bible that God considered it to have a major part in decision-making.
• flesh– [The constant war! Our flesh or “sinful nature” tempts us to sin & ignore other inputs. The Holy Spirit is in the soul of the Believer in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in a constant battle with the Believers “sinful nature” for control of the five functions of your soul. Galatians 5:16-17… ¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. NLT. The winner of these constant battles likely determines if the Believer lives a Holy Life.]
• will [choices and decisions are made -I will]. ^[B]

The material physical body – activities for the body are initiated by the soul based on input from the 5 senses – sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste in a never-ending and very fast cycle of input and output.  ^[ZZ] 

Warren Wiersbe said “With the mind we learn God’s truth through the Word. With the heart, we love God’s truth, His Son. With the will we yield to the Spirit and live God’s truth by day.”

Therefore we are to “^23a Watch over your heart with all diligence”. Then the heart will not resist what our mind, will, flesh, and conscience tells us to do! We all know that signals from our heart &  sin nature can sometimes overcome what our mind,  conscience, and will recommend..

Diligence is a constant and earnest effort empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish watch over our hearts and live a holy life.

Vv.24-27… ” ²⁴ Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you. ²⁵ Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. ²⁶ Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. ²⁷ Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”

These verses tells Disciples ^[A] how to protect our eye, mouth, and feet inputs to the heart instead of sowing anger, bitterness, power, etc. These verses tell how to have inputs that result in “Holy Moments” by showing kindness, encouragement, smiling, helping another person in need, asking God for help in short prayers regularly, etc.  After a while, we may string together several Holy Moments in a day and then a week and they become a habit of living holy. ^[T5] 

A- ^[X]  Watching over my heart diligently will lead to a holy life guided by the Holy Spirit.

R- O God please help me to diligently focus on monitoring the inputs to my heart and live a holy life.

Q- Are you living a holy life and watching over your heart diligently?

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[Notes]: A- [1] For how to have peace with God and become a Disciple ^[Y]  click here, [2] for how to have the peace of God and grow as a Disciple click here, and [3] for how to teach Disciples to be Disciple-makers click here; B- For a complete discussion of this concept see chapter 7 of “A Theology of Biblical Counseling” by Dr. Heath Lambert. To order click here;

T- Help from [1]  Warren Wiersbe Bible Exposition Commentary or  [2] Austin Commentaries by Book or [3]  BibleHub Commentaries; [4]  Blue Letter Bible;  [5] John Phillips Exploring John; [6] Biblehub timelines; X- 4 steps in The H.E.A.R method of Bible study and worship; Y- “Disciples” or “Christians”?;  Z- For the name, I normally use for the Lord Jesus Christ, click here; ZZ-

Disclaimer: My Personal Journey by Henry Luke has no control over any advertising that may appear on this blog post and receives no payment for it. Ads & their links come from Word Press..

The Word or riches

Psalm 119:14 “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.” [NLT]

In v.14, David said, “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.” David knew that in the end, he could trust the promises of God more than riches\

In “Recite Aloud” we found that the king was to copy the Word and “read it daily as long as he lives” [Deut. 17:18-19]. David assuredly copied the Word and read it often during his years as king. David certainly knew the joy of God’s Word and tremendous riches.

Where do you stand in the choice between God’s Word or riches? What would your calendar show? How many times a day are you aware of the presence of Jesus or seek His guidance? A suggested daily prayer:

“¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 

“¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:16-23]

Henry Luke  Psalm 119 Links to “Notes, Book link, Advertisement Disclaimer”