{"id":3195,"date":"2014-05-17T12:32:29","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T12:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2014-05-17T12:32:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-17T12:32:29","slug":"the-word-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3195","title":{"rendered":"The Word of God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve mentioned on many occasions how I love God\u2019s Word. I\u2019ve thought of Scripture as a treasure and held to it dearly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC04486.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2245 size-medium\" style=\"border: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC04486-300x243.jpg\" alt=\"DSC04486\" width=\"300\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC04486-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/DSC04486.jpg 591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>A while back, I read something somewhere to the effect that we, as Christians, give honor to Scripture far more than we should. Yes, we should read it. Yes, we should study and obey it. Yes, we should believe it\u2019s the inerrant Word of God. But we should not \u201cworship\u201d the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So I took a step back and have considered my thoughts on the Bible and if I indeed had made God\u2019s Word a thing of worship\u2026an idol if you will.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But then I read a passage of Scripture that has allowed me to go back to my original way of thinking. Not because I thought it was right, but because God\u2019s Word says its right.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>King David loved God\u2019s Word and the Book of Psalm is filled with David\u2019s burning desire to know, understand and follow God\u2019s Words. If David can revere Scripture as he did, surely that is God\u2019s intention for my life as well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The passage of scripture I referred to above is Psalm 119:6-16. I\u2019ve read this passage in every translation and paraphrase to gain a better understanding of what God wants us to hear. I actually love the Contemporary English Version of this passage because there are some phrases that are a little different and it points out what is important. Take a look at Psalm 119:6-16 from the CEV.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><sup>\u201c6<\/sup><\/em><em>\u00a0Thinking about your commands will keep me from doing some foolish thing.<br \/>\n<sup>7<\/sup>\u00a0I will do right and praise you by learning to respect your perfect laws.<br \/>\n<sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0I will obey all of them! Don\u2019t turn your back on me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><sup>9<\/sup><\/em><em>\u00a0Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word.<br \/>\n<sup>10<\/sup>\u00a0I worship you with all my heart. Don\u2019t let me walk away from your commands.<br \/>\n<sup>11<\/sup>\u00a0I treasure your word above all else; it keeps me from sinning against you.<br \/>\n<sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>I praise you, Lord! Teach me your laws.<br \/>\n<sup>13<\/sup>\u00a0With my own mouth, I tell others the laws that you have spoken.<br \/>\n<sup>14<\/sup>\u00a0Obeying your instructions brings as much happiness as being rich.<br \/>\n<sup>15<\/sup>\u00a0I will study your teachings and follow your footsteps.<br \/>\n<sup>16<\/sup>\u00a0I will take pleasure in your laws and remember your words.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Does this version help you to understand this passage a little better? What were some of the phrases or words you saw that caught your attention? Let me share a few that I liked.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I loved verses 6 and 9! My life has been filled with foolish things. But the most foolish thing I\u2019ve ever done was ignore God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Verse 11 is one you probably have memorized, especially if you know the pledge to the Christian flag. Perhaps you\u2019ll recognize it as, <em>\u201cI have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 119:11 \u2013 NIV) A small change in language really helps us to understand that God\u2019s Word is to be treasured because it will help us to obey God\u2019s commands.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And then Psalm 119:15 is a delight for those who desire a deeper understanding of the Bible. When we study God\u2019s Word, we will follow in His footsteps. God has given us the example. We must follow.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is so much more in this passage of Scripture. We could talk about holiness. We could talk about what\u2019s hidden in our hearts besides God\u2019s Word. We could talk about worship and praise. We could talk about sharing the Gospel with others. We could talk about happiness in God\u2019s Kingdom. These ideas are all in this passage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My conclusion today is that we are to treasure God\u2019s Word. We are to hold it above all other books as our example for holy living. God calls us to listen to His Words. And I intend to listen intently. Learn wholeheartedly. Obey exclusively. And respect enthusiastically.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Bible holds all that God wants mankind to know. God has preserved the Bible and it\u2019s writings throughout the ages so that we might have guidelines to live by. I believe we should love, honor and obey God\u2019s Word, for within its pages are <em>\u201cWords of Life\u201d<\/em> (1 John 1:1).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve mentioned on many occasions how I love God\u2019s Word. I\u2019ve thought of Scripture as a treasure and held to it dearly. &nbsp; A while back, I read something somewhere to the effect that we, as Christians, give honor to Scripture far more than we should. Yes, we should read it. Yes, we should study [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,12,296,16,20,15,11,17,18,25,10,14,9,19,21,30],"tags":[2328,2329,2327,218,2326],"class_list":["post-3195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-believing-god","category-discovering-god","category-experiencing-god","category-following-god","category-hearing-god","category-knowing-god","category-loving-god","category-obeying-god","category-pleasing-god","category-praising-god","category-proclaiming-god","category-seeking-god","category-sharing-god","category-thanking-god","category-trusting-god","category-worshiping-god","tag-1-john-11","tag-love-of-gods-word","tag-psalm-1196-16","tag-the-bible","tag-the-word-of-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3198,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions\/3198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}